He’s bound and determined to find peace . . . but she’s about to stir things up. 
 
Dorothy Clark dreams of writing something that will challenge people as much as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin seems to have. But in 1850s Mesquite Springs, there are few opportunities for writers–until newspaperman Brandon Holloway arrives, that is. 
 
Brandon Holloway has seen firsthand the disastrous effects of challenging others. He has no intention of repeating that mistake. Instead of following his dreams, he’s committed to making a new–and completely uncontroversial–start in the Hill Country. 
 
As Dorothy’s involvement in the fledgling newspaper grows from convenient to essential, the same change seems to be happening in Brandon’s heart. But before romance can bloom, Dorothy and Brandon must work together to discover who’s determined to divide the town and destroy Brandon’s livelihood. 

INTERVIEW WITH AMANDA CABOT

In the Mesquite Springs series, you’re bringing readers back to the Texas Hill Country (after the Cimarron Creek series). Why Texas? Why the Texas Hill Country?

What can I say other than that Texas has a very special place in my heart – and in the hearts of my readers? Even though I only lived there for six years, I have indelible memories of the warmth of small-town life in the Lone Star State. And, though each part of Texas has its own appeal, the combination of the hills, history, and – of course – the bluebonnets in the Hill Country made that the ideal place for me to set my stories.

Will readers of your Cimarron Creek series see any overlap in characters in this new series? Any connections at all?

Because the Mesquite Springs stories take place almost thirty years before the Cimarron Creek trilogy, there’s no connection between the towns and characters.

Dreams Rekindled is the second book in the Mesquite Springs series; what can readers next expect?

Next comes the third (yet untitled) Mesquite Springs book. What’s it about? Here’s a teaser. A private investigator determined to save others from suffering the same fate as his father finds more than he expects when he travels to Mesquite Springs to unmask a con man. Who would have thought that the woman who captured his attention on the stagecoach was both an heiress fleeing a dangerous spurned suitor and the daughter of the man he’s investigating?

Following that, there’ll be a trilogy set in a new Hill Country town: Sweetwater Crossing. And, because readers seem to love revisiting my fictional towns, the Sweetwater books have several connections to Cimarron Creek.

What was the hardest part of writing this book? 

Surprisingly, it was the second draft. Usually that’s my favorite part of the writing process, but as I worked through the second draft of Dreams Rekindled, I knew that although it was a good book, it wasn’t a great one. It took major changes to the characters’ conflicts and the deletion of a subplot involving a secondary romance before I was happy with the story.

Is there any person(s) you credit for being your inspiration for reading and/or writing?

The credit for my love of reading goes to my parents. Since I was the oldest child, they were my role models, and so when I saw both of them reading, I was determined to emulate them. I was fortunate that my father was a former teacher, so even though I wasn’t old enough to go to school, he taught me to read. Believe it or not, his technique included working from the back of the book to the front.