Clara and the Cowboy | Devoted Hope

About the Book

Book: Clara and the Cowboy

Author: Erica Vetsch

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: October 13, 2025

She’s the rancher’s daughter. He’s the reformed outlaw who became her father’s foreman. Love was never part of the plan.

Clara Bainbridge has loved Alec for years, long before she left for finishing school in Boston. And though she is convinced he loves her too, he seems determined to push her away now that she’s back. So when the handsome stranger who protects her during a stagecoach robbery reveals that he is her new neighbor, Clara begins to wonder if accepting his suit might be wiser than waiting for Alec.

Ranch foreman Alec McConnell has worked hard to overcome his criminal past and prove himself worthy of Colonel Bainbridge’s trust. When cattle start disappearing from the Cross B Ranch, Alec’s checkered past makes him the prime suspect. He must catch the real rustlers to clear his name, but his growing feelings for the Colonel’s daughter, Clara, threaten to undo everything he’s built. How can he protect her when his very presence in her life could destroy her reputation?

About the Author

Best-selling, award-winning author of The Debutante’s Code,
first in the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery Series,

Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports.

When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum.

More from Erica

Did you, like me, grow up watching westerns on tv? I watched often in reruns as the heyday of the TV Western was waning about the time I was born. But I watched Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Have Gun, Will Travel, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, The Virginian, and more.

And so grew my love of the old west, of cowboys, cattle drives, frontier justices, and rolling tumbleweeds.

I also read westerns. Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Abel Shott (Yes, that was the pen name of the man who wrote the series called Solo Strand: The Silver Kid.) I was a firm believer in The Code of the West.

So, when it came time to write my own ‘cowboy book’ I took much inspiration from the screen and the page.

Clara and the Cowboy is the story of Alec and Clara, a cowboy and the ranch owner’s daughter. There’s cattle rustling, gunplay, good vs. evil, a damsel in distress…all the best parts of western classic lore. I had such fun writing it, influenced by those who had written the genre before me.

The setting was chosen (Southwest Idaho) because of a series of books I had read as a teen, written by Glenn Balch, about a ranching family near Nampa, ID. I’ve never been to that part of the US, but I felt as if I had because I read those books (many times!)

As I look back on the hours I spent watching classic westerns on tv and reading western fiction, I’m reminded of the impact they had on my life. How they taught that good and evil exist in the world, and that it takes bravery to stand up and do the right thing. I learned that honor and integrity do not come without cost, and that actions have consequences.

Who would have thought that watching a rerun of The Big Valley would instill a desire to embrace the cowboy culture through my own fiction?

I hope you enjoy reading Clara and the Cowboy, and that perhaps it takes you back to your own childhood of rooting for the man in the white hat to get the girl he loves before the credits roll.

Devoted to Hope's Review of Clara and the Cowboy

Alec McConnell carries the weight of unworthiness through long days and quiet nights, convinced that his father’s failures have marked his life. Erica Vetsch writes his burden with compassion and truth, revealing how the love of God can reach where shame and unforgiveness once ruled and how mercy beautifully transforms a weary heart.

Alec’s days are built on hard work and steady resolve. When Clara Bainbridge returns home, her gentleness and strength stir a hope he never expected to feel again. As danger rises across the open range, he learns that courage begins when the past no longer defines him and grace becomes the ground he stands on.

Every chapter holds the hush of redemption. The wide skies, the rhythm of ranch life, and the quiet prayers beneath them all remind us that faith transforms what fear once held. Vetsch’s storytelling moves with both beauty and conviction, offering a glimpse of God’s tender work in ordinary hearts.

I read with eternity in view, remembering that God alone restores what shame once claimed. True forgiveness isn’t about setting the offender free—it is about freeing the heart that chooses obedience and glorifies the One who has forgiven the unforgivable in us.

For those who treasure Western stories filled with faith, courage, and quiet renewal, Clara and the Cowboy carries the warmth of grace and the peace of a heart finally set free.

I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher and Celebrate Lit Publicity Group. I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own. My review focuses on writing and story’s content, ensuring transparency and reliability.