About the Book

Book: Hunted in the Wilderness

Author: Kellie VanHorn

Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense

Release date: June 28, 2022

Protecting the evidence
means facing down assassins and an unforgiving wilderness…

Framed for murder and corporate espionage, future aerotech company CEO Haley Whitcombe flees in her plane with a camera full of evidence that could clear her name—until she’s shot out of the sky. Now trapped in North Cascades National Park, her survival in the wilderness depends on park ranger Ezra Dalton. Yet escaping the wild will mean nothing if they can’t outrun their merciless hunters…

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Kellie VanHorn is an award-winning author of inspirational romantic suspense. She has college degrees in biology and nautical archaeology, but she’s always found her sense of adventure most satisfied by a great story. When not writing, Kellie can be found teaching her four children, camping, baking, and gardening. She lives with her family in west Michigan.

More from Kellie

One of my favorite things about being a writer is living out wild adventures in my imagination. I get to enjoy all the action and feels without any of the unpleasant real-life problems I’d face if I were actually being chased by bad guys with guns. The more exciting and far-off the setting, the better! My family loves to travel and to camp, so we’ve spent a lot of time visiting national parks around the U.S. Our favorites include Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Devil’s Tower, and Badlands. We pile our four kids into the car, fill it to the brim with gear, and tent our way from park to park for weeks at a time in the summer.

For Hunted in the Wilderness, I wanted to explore a park we haven’t had the chance to visit yet—North Cascades National Park in Washington state. In fact, my first glimpse of the story came to me when I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw a picture of a lake in the Cascades. Inspiration struck, and I knew the heroine of my next book had just crash-landed her Cessna airplane in those mountains, and she needed a handsome, single park ranger to come help her escape the bad guys.

What makes this park such a perfect setting for a romantic suspense is not only the gorgeous scenery, but also the fact it’s very remote. The region is easy enough to access via road from Seattle, but most of the protected land can only be reached on foot, horseback, or float plane. Because I hadn’t been there myself, I relied on a topographic map and lots of research to help me craft the setting and make it an indispensable part of the plot.

Of course, now that I’ve studied the trail systems so extensively, I’d love to visit the Cascades in person one day. One of my teenaged sons who loves hiking has all sorts of plans for us to take a long backpacking trip out there, even though neither of us has ever backpacked before. I might have to work up my courage a bit before I’ll be ready to hit the trail without our minivan full of gear. 😉

Interview with Kellie

Share something your readers wouldn’t know about you.

Hello! I live in west Michigan with my husband and four kids, ages 16, 14, 11, and 4. The older three were homeschooled up until this past year, but now they’re in school and enjoying all the extra-curriculars and sports they missed out on during the pandemic. Before I embarked on the adventure of having kids, I worked in a molecular genetics lab doing research, and I studied nautical archaeology (shipwrecks) in graduate school. Neither job really fit, though, because deep down I wanted the excitement of being a fiction writer and just hadn’t figured it out yet! Once my kids were born, writing became my outlet for “me” time and quickly developed into something I couldn’t imagine not doing. I’m so grateful for God’s gentle and patient leading!

What book is currently on your bedside table?

Somehow, I always end up with multiple books going at once. I’m reading “The Count of Monte Cristo” – the hefty, 1200-page unabridged version – for a book club I’m in with some other moms. Every year we challenge ourselves to read one or two classics we probably wouldn’t finish on our own. I’m really enjoying The Count though! I also am reading “Mirror for the Soul: A Christian Guide to the Enneagram” by Alice Fryling, which has been an interesting exploration of the enneagram, helpful both for understanding people in my own life and for crafting my characters. Last up, I try to keep a Love Inspired book on hand, and right now I’m finishing Darlene Turner’s “Lethal Cover-Up.”

What has been your favorite part of the publishing journey?

While I love so many aspects of the process, my favorite part by far is receiving my author copies. It’s the first time I get to see the finished project, and there’s nothing like the thrill of seeing my words in print. When my kids spy those Harlequin boxes on our front porch, they race to tell me, then squabble over the honors of cutting the tape and flipping through the first copy. I always hope they’ll be inspired to work hard and not give up on their dreams when they get to see firsthand one of my dreams fulfilled.

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

I really enjoyed writing both main characters in “Hunted in the Wilderness,” perhaps because each of them represents a little part of me in their own way. Ezra is struggling with a crushing loss and while He doesn’t blame God, he doesn’t exactly trust Him anymore either. He’s walking that fine line between faith and feeling like he has to look out for himself, something I can relate to as someone who likes to be in control. I also loved writing his outdoor skills (which I don’t have, at all), and when combined with his care for Haley, he’s just swoony all the way around. 😉

Haley is the type A, overachieving, people-pleasing heroine with plenty of intelligence but limited survival skills. Like her, I’d be lost trying to survive alone in a national park with bad guys after me – unless Ezra showed up, of course. Her journey of learning to let go, walk in relationship with God, and follow her own heart instead of trying to please others reflects something God has been teaching me too.

What were the highlight or key challenges you faced when writing this book?

One of the challenges in writing this book is that I’ve never been to the setting, North Cascades National Park. True confession: I haven’t backpacked either. My family loves car-camping though, and we’ve tented our way across several western national parks. I also visited Seattle, Puget Sound, and Mount Rainier out in Washington state as a kid, so I had a general concept of the area and what would be necessary for my characters’ wilderness survival.

To nail down the details, I ordered a topographic map of the park and pored over the trail system to create their route. Online research helped fill in the gaps for what the landscape would be like, along with asking one of my husband’s colleagues who’s taken several trips out there. Between watching YouTube videos about backpacking and a few trips to REI, it wasn’t too hard to imagine life on the trail. My biggest challenge now is that my fourteen-year-old son is determined he and I should take a backpacking trip to the Cascades, and I’m not sure how an armchair adventurer like me will manage!

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

I love connecting with readers! You can find out all about me and my books on my website, https://www.kellievanhorn.com. I’m also on Facebook at @authorkellievanhorn and Twitter at @vanhorn_kellie. If you follow me on Bookbub (Kellie VanHorn Books – BookBub), you can stay up to date with notifications of my latest releases. Finally, if you love reading Love Inspired books, be sure to check out the Love Inspired Reader and Author Facebook Group (Love Inspired Authors and Readers Group | Groups | Facebook), where I drop in periodically to spend a day with readers and give books away.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, June 29

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 29

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, June 30

Genesis 5020, June 30

Texas Book-aholic, July 1

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, July 1

Inklings and notions, July 2

EmpowerMoms, July 2

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, July 3

Christina’s Corner, July 3

A Good Book and Cup of Tea, July 4

Book Looks by Lisa, July 4

Paula’s Persuasion, July 4

For Him and My Family, July 5

Blogging With Carol, July 5

deb’s Book Review, July 6

Simple Harvest Reads, July 6 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, July 7 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 7

Mary Hake, July 7

Betti Mace, July 8

Locks, Hooks and Books, July 8

Bigreadersite, July 9

Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 9

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, July 10

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, July 10

Labor Not in Vain, July 11

Through the Fire Blogs, July 11

Bizwings Blog, July 12

Pause for Tales, July 12

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kellie is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1f7ef/hunted-in-the-wilderness-celebration-tour-giveaway