About the Book

Book: Yellowstone Yondering

Author: Kristen Joy Wilks

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: January 17, 2020

When a free-spirited wildlife photographer loses her Scottish terrier in a herd of bison, she sets out to rescue her furbaby before he is devoured. But will she succeed when Yellowstone National Park is chock full of boiling, bubbling, and rampaging hazards (both mammalian and geographical) — not to mention a rule-obsessed park ranger whose many rescues thwart her efforts to find her poor pup?

They say opposites attract, and when it comes to Kayla Dineen and Ranger Alexander Brandt, no two people have ever been more opposed…or attractive. Old Faithful isn’t the only thing making noise at Yellowstone this season.

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MY REVIEW

I have never had the pleasure of visiting Yellowstone National Park. There are plenty of Books that are filled with pictures of large trees, camping sites and oh yes bears, moose, coyote and raccoons. Kayla is such a delightful character. I loved her enthusiasm and adventurous personality. She does not make a good impression on Park Ranger Brandt. Boy is he a stickler for rules. I wanted Kayla to kick him to see if he was alive. He was like a robot boring everyone with rules.

Alexander loved his job but he needs to lighten up some. He sure does spend an excessive time explaining the rules to Kayla. I could tell we were in for an adventure like no other. I absolutely love when author’s include animals in their story. Ainsley stole my heart and I wanted to sneak away with him for a few hours to cuddle with him and watch him run around. There is a gut wrenching moment when Ainsley gets away and is suddenly lost in this big park with dangerous wildlife. All Kayla wanted to do was get her pictures so she could send them in to be used in a story. Now she will have to find strength and faith to trust God to lead her to Ainsley.

There are sone really good laughs in the book when Kayla and Alexander team up to find out why dogs are suddenly disappearing, I loved seeing how they worked together and fought like cats and dogs at other times. Two people who think they are right will learn to comprise and trust God to keep them safe. I was surprised when the mystery was solved. It was so disappointing that greed and pride were behind the missing dogs.

I enjoyed my time reading the story and how detailed the author was as she took us on a tour of a breathtaking park surrounded by beauty, animals that God had created and a wonderful place I would love to visit. Kayla and Alexander make the story exciting and grew closer as they work together to unravel who was behind in endangering lives and animals. Overall a very clean story with nice characters and an adventure that takes us deep into the crevices of a famous park. It is a sweet story of trust and opening your heart to new beginnings.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Kristen Joy Wilks lives in the beautiful Cascade Mountains with her camp director husband, three fierce sons, and a large and slobbery Newfoundland dog. She has blow-dried a chicken, fought epic Nerf battles instead of washing dishes, and discovered a stealthily smuggled gardener snake in her sons’ bubble bath. Her stories, devotionals, and articles have appeared in Nature Friend, Clubhouse, Thriving Family, Keys for Kids, The Christian Journal, Splickety, Spark, and Havok. She writes romantic comedies for Pelican Book Group, including Copenhagen Cozenage, The Volk Advent, Athens Ambuscade, Spider Gap, and Yellowstone Yondering. Kristen writes about the humor and Grace that can be found amidst the detritus of life.

More from Kristen

Greetings and Salutations!

My name is Kristen Joy Wilks and I am a mountain woman, married to a camp director, who lives at a remote Bible camp where we don’t have access to electricity, water, or garbage services unless we do it ourselves. Yes, it is totally possible to do all these things. But it does mean some frantic running about when the generator starts making a strange noise or the water inexplicably cuts off. As a girl I did have one or two mountain kid adventures that were perhaps not typical for the average tomboy. Such as when I rode my horse through a herd of 200 elk or when I got together with my brother and cousins to build a homemade snake pit so that we could dangle one another over it by our legs from a tripod made of logs in classic Indiana Jones style. Of course, we caught snakes for our pit!

Why do you ask?

We managed to find over twenty and it was a huge success, except for the tiny issue of me being too tall and all those snakes getting into my hair. As you can plainly see, mountain kids do have more fun. I’m now the mom of three fierce sons, six pet chickens, and a large and slobbery Newfoundland dog named Princess Leia Freyja Wilks. I spend most of my time thwarting my sons’ attempts to smuggle their pet chickens onto their bunk beds and trying to keep my husband from filling another wall of our dinning room with strategy board games. Yes, you would think that 300 would be sufficient, but there is always another one, apparently. Well, he does have a point when he insists that they are great for camp ministry. I spend a great deal of time over at Camas Meadows Bible Camp photographing the daily comings and goings of counselors and campers so that their parents can look online and see that everyone is still alive. During all that photo taking, I have seen many a shy child open up after playing an exciting game of Camel Up, Snorta, or Star Trek Ascendancy. I also write the camp blog, step in as camp mother when homesickness pops up, and volunteer at our local public schools with Princess Leia Freyja who excels at reading therapy … yep, she just flops on the floor next to children while they read, which is definitely her spiritual gift. I can also be found at 4:00AM, with a cup of Jasmine Monkey King tea, tucked under my Star Trek quilt, writing crazy stories that might sound insane, but always have a tiny hint of truth. Thank you for joining me today to see what kind of misadventures I managed to put my unsuspecting characters through.