Welcome Lisa Mondello!

Today we have author  Lisa Mondello here for a guest post! 








Thank you for stopping by my blog stop today! I will be giving away a copy of HER HEART FOR THE ASKING, book 1 in my Texas Hearts series to one lucky commenter!

Today I’d like to talk about the inspiration behind THE MORE I SEE, book 3 in my Texas Hearts series. In THE MORE I SEE, Cody Gentry, becomes blind after a freak chemical accident. The proud cutting horse training can no longer run his ranch or work with horses, something he’s always taken pride in. He’s been reduced to counting steps from the house to a chair on the patio and having the people around him “step in” to do the things he can’t seem to do on his own. He can’t see a life without his eyesight.

Enter the Allyssandra “Lyssa” Orchid McElhannon, the Plain Jane woman with a love for her guide dogs and Cody’s world turns upside down. Cody didn’t ask for Lyssa’s help. Cody’s father did when he saw his son slipping deep into depression.

I loved writing THE MORE I SEE because it gave me the opportunity to try to step into the world of a man whose life was drastically changed overnight when he lost the use of his eyes. This book was personal as well as fictional for me. The guide dog I used in THE MORE I SEE was based on a real guide dog one of my dear friends had. My friend Diane was blind for about 8 years. She was determined not to sit in a chair in her house. Being such an active person before going blind, she immediately started working with this beautiful and soulful guide dog named Otis. I’ve always been amazed by the control and the loyalty of a service animal. They’re such special creatures! With Otis’s help, Diane was able to become independent again until the day she had successful surgery that gave her vision in one eye.

I can’t imagine what it was like for Diane all those years. But I do know the joy she had the day she could finally see again. You see, I’d met Diane when she was blind. So the day she could see again, all of her family and friends gathered around so she could get a first glimpse of us. I’ll never forget that day! I tried to bring both the pain and joy of Diane’s journey into THE MORE I SEE when writing about Cody and his journey. Plus, there was the amazing Otis the Wonder Dog. I just loved him, too!

Mandy Morgan swore she’d never step foot in Texas again after Beau Gentry left her for life on the rodeo circuit eight years before. But now her uncle’s heart is failing and she has to convince him that surgery will save his life. She never dreamed the first thing she’d see when she stepped off the plane would be her biggest nightmare...the one man she’d never stopped loving.

Beau Gentry had the fever for two things: the rodeo and Mandy Morgan. But for Beau, loving Mandy was complicated by his father’s vendetta against her uncle. This led him to make the hardest decision of his life and he can still see the bitterness and hurt on Mandy’s face. All these years it has killed him to think Mandy had forgotten him and moved as far away as possible from him. But now they’re back in Texas, and he’s going to do all he can to win back her love.

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Ever since Mitch Broader set foot in Texas, he dreamed of owning his own ranch. Now that he’s bought a share in the Double T Ranch, he’s one step closer to the dream. Then his past greets him in the form of a baby basket, complete with infant and birth certificate naming him as the father. He can’t change diapers and work toward his dream at the same time.

When Sara Lightfoot, “Miss Hollywood” in Mitch’s eyes, rescues him with her particular knack for handling his precocious son, he hires her on the spot as a temporary nanny. No matter how much Sara’s dark eyes and warm heart make this bachelor think of settling down and making their arrangement permanent, she’s made it perfectly clear she has other plans that don’t include him or his dreams

Sara Lightfoot never thought she’d return to her home on the reservation. Now she plans to reclaim the life she left by going back to the reservation as a Native American storyteller, teaching the Apache children stories of their culture. She didn’t expect Mitch Broader’s sexy smile or job offer as a live-in nanny to derail those plans. After all she’s been through to come home, can she open up her heart once again to love?

As a top-notch cutting horse trainer, Cody Gentry was riding high until he lost his eyesight after a freak chemical accident. Unable to see the hand in front of his face, never mind the horse or cattle he trained, he knows his life is over and slips deep into depression. His whole future hinges on the success of an eye surgery that could give him his old life back.

When guide dog trainer, Lyssa McElhannon, arrives on his ranch like Florence Nightingale coming to save him, he wants no part of her or her guide dog. But something about Lyssa’s musical laugh coupled with her tenacity digs under his skin and won't let go. Having been blind most of her life, Lyssa understands the paralyzing fear Cody feels after losing his vision. But she refuses to let the stubborn cowboy waste his life away sitting in a chair when she knows first-hand that a good guide dog can change his world. She just needs one month to prove it to him.

Falling in love with Cody was not part of Lyssa’s plan, nor was having him open her eyes to see that there was a whole lot of living she’d been missing out on.

Lisa's Website

Until next time,

Storm Goddess