A Peek at Life in Small-Town Montana
An Alphas Fall Hard world post
It's personal...
I spent the years from ages ten to eighteen in small town Montana, the years that shape you whether you realize it or not.
When I graduated from high school, the only thing I wanted was out of town.
So I went about as far as I could go for college—to Southern California. About as different as I could get.
It wouldn't be until years later as an adult that I would appreciate my small town upbringing more and more.
We lived in Billings, but my dad's family ranched nearby in a tiny central Montana mail stop called Forest Grove. That inspired my fictional Forest Grove, the town at the heart of my Alphas Fall Hard series.
Here's the funny part: the real place hardly qualifies as a town at all. A little church, an old schoolhouse, and a post office about the size of a closet are all that is left, and the school hasn't operated there for years.
Once upon a time, the town bustled. So when I started writing the Alphas Fall Hard Series, continuing my Off-Duty Rescue Ranch collection, I gave it back everything it lost, and then some.
Building Forest Grove Back Up — A Labor of Love
Fictional Forest Grove has a real Main Street. Ivy Wylde runs Wylde West Outfitters. Harper pours coffee (and dishes gossip) at the Copper Cup. There's a bank, a grocery, a hardware store, a chamber of commerce, a mayor, and a few too-cute shops you'd want to wander through on a Saturday.
It's the town I wish I could have walked through as a teenager and even now as an adult.
The Real Memories Hiding in the Books
Read closely and you'll find pieces of my growing-up years tucked all over the series:
- Rosehip berry picking with my mom, then turning those berries into jelly.
- My grandfather's barbecues. Whole pigs roasting on a spit, a cauldron of baked beans, and the biggest pig (and piglets) I've ever seen in my life.
- A homegrown rodeo the cowboys threw together one day, just for fun. It really happened. In Apple of My Eye, it becomes a heroine's surprise birthday party.
- A home I knew well off Zimmerman Trail in Billings, which became one hero's family home.
- The Rimrocks at night. Yes, a certain couple's makeout session in book 3 happens up there (my lips are sealed if I speak from experience on that one).
- Petroglyphs carved into the cliffs on a nearby ranch. I keep their location vague on purpose. Some places deserve protecting.
- The Wolfagator. If you know the Jackalope lore, you're halfway there. Montana has its own tall tales, and I couldn't resist including the Wolfagtor among my books.
About That Montana Weather
Real talk: snow in Montana can show up any time from September to May. Steep roads like Zimmerman Trail close every winter, and as a teen I learned to drive on snow and ice fast.
I might have taken fictional license with the weather. Books 1–5 of Alphas Fall Hard all happen in the fall, with winter always threatening. In book 4, poor Carter, the New York heir hiding at the ranch in Fall or Nothing, isn't sure he'll survive the cold weather.
In Frostbite Fever, winter finally wins with snow on the ground the whole time, the pond frozen solid, and more storms on the way. Perfect for characters Poppy and Maddox getting snowed in with the wrong (or right) person.
Take a Trip to Forest Grove with me
Want to visit my fictional world based on some of my personal experiences?
Start with book 1, Cozy Cabin for Two, and meet the Wylde sisters at the Off-Duty Rescue Ranch. The continue with Book 2, where you get a view of the small town of Forest Grove (and here you might also enjoy a FREE related novella, Fall Into His Arms that also takes place in town with the Sheriff as the hero). Book 3 is where a lot of my personal experiences culminate with the rodeo and Zimmerman Trail and the Rimrocks as part of the scenes and plot.
The series is available now in ebook on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited. Or get signed paperbacks and swag from my shop.
Quick Questions About Forest Grove (FAQ)
Is Forest Grove, Montana a real town? A tiny real central Montana mail stop inspired it, but the Main Street, shops, and townspeople in my books are fictional.
Where in Montana is Alphas Fall Hard set? In fictional Forest Grove in central Montana, with a few scenes in Billings, including the Rimrocks, Lewistown, and Bozeman.
What order should I read Alphas Fall Hard in and what are the main tropes of each?
- Cozy Cabin for Two - Single Mom, Forbidden Romance
- The Spice Is Nice - Fake Dating
- Apple of My Eye - Unrequited Love
- Fall or Nothing - Hidden Heir
- She Autumn Be Mine - Single Mom, Fake Marriage
- Frostbite Fever - Haters to Lovers, Snowed-In Romance
Can each book be read as a standalone? These are standalone but interconnected books. Each couple gets their own happily ever after. No cliffhangers. You can read each one alone, but maximum enjoyment comes from reading each book in the series.
How steamy are the books? Steamy small-town romance: the love story comes first, with on-page intimacy. On a 5-spicy peppers scale, these are about a 3, typically with 2 to 3 scenes per book.
What is the Wolfagator? A fictional animal, and a Montana tall tale in the spirit of the Jackalope. It shows up in my books as local lore, with a funny hunting scene between the ranch hands in book 4.
About the author: Contemporary romance author Zee Irwin is a USA Today bestselling author of steamy small-town romance. She grew up in Montana, and her Alphas Fall Hard series is set in Forest Grove, a real town but fictionalized further and inspired by the place her family ranched.
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