Keeper of the Stars

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Authors: Robin Lee Hatcher

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Acclaim for Robin Lee Hatcher

“Robin Lee Hatcher weaves a romance with heart that grabs readers and won't let go.
Whenever You Come Around
pulled me in from the get-go. Charity Anderson, a beautiful, successful author with a deadline and a painful secret, runs into Buck Malone, a handsome, confirmed-bachelor cowboy from her past, and he needs her help. I was captivated, and I guarantee you'll be rooting for them too.”

—Sunni Jeffers, award-winning author of
Heaven's Strain

“A heartwarming and engaging romance,
Whenever You Come Around
is a splendid read from start to finish!”

—Tamera Alexander,
USA Today
bestselling author of
To Whisper Her Name
and
From a Distance

“A handsome cowboy, horses, and a hurting heroine make for a winning combination in this newest poignant story by Robin Lee Hatcher. A gently paced but delightful ride,
Whenever You Come Around
will take readers on a journey of healing right along with the characters. Readers will feel at home in Kings Meadow and won't want to leave.”

—Jody Hedlund, bestselling author of
Love Unexpected

“First loves find sweet second chances in Kings Meadow. Heartwarming, romantic, and filled with hope and faith, this is Hatcher at her best!”

—Lisa Wingate, national bestselling author of
The Story Keeper
and
The Prayer Box

“In
Whenever You Come Around
Hatcher takes a look at the pain of secrets that kill the heart. But love indeed conquers all. Robin Lee Hatcher is the go-to classic romance author.”

—Rachel Hauck, award-winning, bestselling author of
The Wedding Dress

“Robin Lee Hatcher has created an emotionally engaging romance, a story of healing and self-forgiveness wrapped up in a package about small-town life and a cowboy who lives a life honoring God. I want to live in Kings Meadow.”

—Sharon Dunn, author of
Cold Case Justice
and
Wilderness Target


Whenever You Come Around
draws you into the beauty and history of the horse country of Kings Meadow, Idaho. With every turn of the page, Robin Lee Hatcher woos readers with a love story of a modern-day cowboy and a city girl. Buck and Charity rescue each other from the lives they had planned—lives limited by fear. Instead, they discover their unexpected God-ordained happily ever after. A discerning writer, Hatcher handles Charity's past heartbreak with sensitivity and grace.”

—Beth K. Vogt, author of
Somebody Like You
, one of
Publisher's Weekly
's Best Books of 2014


Whenever You Come Around
is one of Robin Lee Hatcher's pure-romance best, with a heroine waiting for total redemption and a strong hero of great worth. I find myself still smiling long after the final page has been read.”

—Hannah Alexander, author of the Hallowed Halls series


Whenever You Come Around
is a slow dance of letting go of the past and its very real pain to step into the light of love. It's a story that
will wrap around your soul with the hope that no past is so dark and haunted that it can't be forgiven and overcome. It's a love story filled with sweetness, tension, and slow fireworks. Bottom line, it was a romance I couldn't—and didn't want to—put down.”

—Cara Putman, award-winning author of
Shadowed by Grace
and
Where Treetops Glisten

“In
Love Without End
, Robin Lee Hatcher once again takes us to Kings Meadow, Idaho, in a sweeping love story that captures the heart and soul of romance between two people who have every reason not to fall in love. With an interesting backstory interspersed among the contemporary chapters, and well-drawn, relatable secondary characters, Hatcher hits the mark with her warm and inviting love story.”

—Martha Rogers, author of the series Winds Across the Prairie and The Homeward Journey


Love Without End
, the first book in the new Kings Meadow Romance series, again intertwines two beautiful and heartfelt romances. One in the past and one in the future together make this a special read. I'm so glad Robin wrote a love story for Chet who suffered so much in
A Promise Kept
(January 2014). Kimberly, so wrong for him, becomes so right. Not your run-of-the-mill cowboy romance—enriched with deft writing and deep emotion.”

—Lyn Cote, author of
Honor
, Quaker Brides, Book One

“No one writes about the joys and challenges of family life better than Robin Lee Hatcher, and she's at the top of her game with
Love Without End
. This beautiful and deeply moving story will capture your heart as it captured mine.”

—Margaret Brownley,
New York Times
bestselling author


Love Without End
, Book One in Robin Lee Hatcher's new Kings Meadow series, is a delight from start to finish. The author's skill at depicting the love and challenges of family has never been more evident as she deftly combines two love stories—past and present—to capture readers' hearts and lift their spirits.”

—Marta Perry, author of
The Forgiven
, Keepers of the Promise, Book One

“I always expect excellence when I open a Robin Lee Hatcher novel. She never disappoints. The story here reminds me of a circle without end as Robin takes us through a modern-day romance while looping one character through a WWII tale of love and loss and the resurrection of hope and purpose.
Love Without End
touched my heart and guided me to some wonderful truths of how God's love is a gift and a treasure.”

—Donita K. Paul, bestselling author

“A beautiful, heart-touching story of God's amazing grace, and how He can restore and make new that which was lost.”

—Francine Rivers,
New York Times
bestselling author, regarding
A Promise Kept

Other Novels by Robin Lee Hatcher

The Heart's Pursuit

A Promise Kept

Heart of Gold

Autumn's Angel,
a novella found in
A Bride for All Seasons

K
INGS
M
EADOW
R
OMANCE
S
ERIES

Love Without End

Whenever You Come Around

Keeper of the Stars

W
HERE THE
H
EART
L
IVES
S
ERIES

Belonging

Betrayal

Beloved

T
HE
S
ISTERS OF
B
ETHLEHEM
S
PRINGS
S
ERIES

A Vote of Confidence

Fit to Be Tied

A Matter of Character

© 2016 by Robin Lee Hatcher

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible
®
, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org); and from the Holy Bible, New International Version
®
, NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV”and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
™

Publisher's Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

ISBN 978-1-4016-8772-4 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hatcher, Robin Lee.

Keeper of the stars : a Kings Meadow romance / Robin Lee Hatcher.

pages ; cm. -- (A Kings Meadow romance ; 3)

ISBN 978-1-4016-8771-7 (paperback)

I. Title.

PS3558.A73574K44 2016

813'.54--dc23

2015029204

15 16 17 18 19 20 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

To the Keeper of the stars

Contents

Prologue: September 30

Brad: 2003

Chapter 1: November 30

Chapter 2

Brad: 2005

Chapter 3

Brad: 2007

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Brad: 2008

Chapter 6

Brad: 2008

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Brad: 2009

Chapter 10

Brad: 2010

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Brad: 2010

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Brad: 2011

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Brad: 2012

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Brad: 2014

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Brad: 2015

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue: August 20

Note to Readers

Discussion Questions

About the Author

Prologue

September 30

A
N UNUSUALLY COLD WIND CUT THROUGH THE
K
INGS
Meadow Cemetery on the day they laid Penny's brother, Bradley Evan Cartwright, to rest. It felt as if it cut through her heart as well, slicing her in two. She would never again see her little brother's sweet smile. She would never again hear him laugh. She would never again have to be on the alert for one of his practical jokes.

And I'll never get to tell him I'm sorry for the things I said in anger.

Seated beside her in the front row of mourners, her dad put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to his side. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, but it was pointless for him to try. She couldn't be comforted. Not in this.

Reverend Tom Butler ended his graveside prayer with a
soft “Amen.” Then he walked over to Penny and her dad, his face schooled into a sympathetic expression, his eyes filled with kindness. “I am so very sorry, Rodney,” he said as he took hold of her dad's right hand between both of his own.

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