About the Book
Book: Change Rushes West: A Ginnie West Adventure
Authors: Monique Bucheger & G.L. Rasmussen
Genre: Upper MG
Release date: January 8, 2025
Twelve-year-old Ginnie West has always been haunted by her mom’s tragic accident—and by the fact that her mom’s prized trick-riding horse, Eternal Love, was sold shortly afterward.
When Ginnie and her twin brother, Toran, uncover new clues about where Eternal Love might be, they embark on an exciting journey to find the horse that holds so many memories of their mother. With her horse, Calliope—who, as it turns out, is Eternal Love’s daughter—Ginnie faces a mystery filled with unexpected twists, family secrets, and plenty of challenges along the way.
As she races toward answers, Ginnie learns that sometimes the past isn’t as far away as it seems, and love can be found in the most surprising places. Change Rushes West is a heartwarming adventure about family, friendship, and finding hope in the most unexpected moments.
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About the Authors
Monique is a bestselling author, a certified Farland Fiction Coach, and an empowerment speaker, dedicated to championing the underdog, in both her writing and real-life adventures.
Having a heart for families in crisis, Monique creates stories that capture the essence of real-life challenges and triumphs, with a touch of humor.
Monique’s upper middle-grade series, ‘The Ginnie West Adventures,’ delves into sensitive and weighty themes such as parental loss, abandonment, and overcoming abuse. She delivers stories not only for tween readers, but for those young at heart.
Drawing from her experiences nurturing a dozen of her own children and fostering over a hundred more, Monique’s experiences shape her books, creating novels in a number of genres, including a historical family saga, contemporary family dramas, a fun picture book, and a middle grade series weaving whimsy and heart into her tales.
A country boy by birth and by choice, Gary spent his youth working on the family farm, for local farmers and ranchers, on horseback or playing sports. Offered scholarships in Agriculture and Advertising Design, he opted for the bright lights and big city. Eight years in the advertising field convinced him that wasn’t where he wanted to be.
Gary freelanced in design and illustration, converted his love of writing for advertising to a newspaper column about the country lifestyle. He has also worked as a ranch manager, cowboy, rancher, and horse trainer. An avid painter and author, Gary shares his talents through mentoring others, is a past president of the Western Art Guild and Idaho Writers League and is an active member of Western Writers of America.
Gary and his wife, Margie are the parents of four children and ten grandchildren and have traveled extensively throughout Europe, Great Britain and the United States.
More from Monique
Hello Everyone,
Change Rushes West has been a long-time coming for me. It explores Ginnie’s relationship with her mom’s horse, Eternal Love. Ginnie’s mom’s tragic accident really shaped the entire series. From the beginning, I knew that losing the horse was a sore spot for Ginnie. I always wondered what happened to Eternal Love after she was sold—it felt like an unresolved part of Ginnie’s story.
The idea of bringing them back together has been in the back of my mind for years, but I didn’t seriously explore it until one night G.L. and I brainstormed ways to tie up some loose ends in the series as well as figure out what story arcs to add to this book.
That brainstorming session was pivotal. We started imagining what Ginnie’s journey to find Eternal Love would look like and realized it could be so much more than just a search for a lost horse. It could be a way for Ginnie to reconnect with her mother, heal from that loss, and explore how life moves forward—even when it feels like it’s standing still.
I also loved the idea of Calliope, Ginnie’s horse, being Eternal Love’s daughter. It felt like a beautiful connection between Ginnie’s past and present, between the mother she lost and the person she’s becoming. It added another layer of emotional depth to the story. I wanted Ginnie’s journey to feel like a true adventure, but also an internal one, where she learns that not all endings are sad—sometimes they’re just the beginning of something new.
Writing Change Rushes West was a way to bring Ginnie full circle, and I think readers will enjoy the mystery and the twists along the way. There’s family drama, of course, and the West family is as dynamic as ever.
However, at its heart, this story is not only about Eternal Love, the horse her mother was seldom apart from, but about the emotional love—both the kind you lose… and the kind you find, when you least expect it.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 14
Vicky Sluiter, January 15 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, January 15
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 16
Simple Harvest Reads, January 17 (Author Interview)
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, January 18
For the Love of Literature, January 19 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, January 20
Tell Tale Book Reviews, January 21 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books, January 22
Blossoms and Blessings, January 23 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 24
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, January 25 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 26
A Reader’s Brain, January 27 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Monique is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54136/
My Review
Monique Bucheger and G L Rasmussen's seven installment from their A Ginnie West Adventure series, Change Rushes West is by far my favorite I have had of the series to date. It has been a joy joining Ginnie and Tilly once again. I loved taking this journey with them and discovering valuable lessons along with them. I thought this story is one that many readers could relate with and found the characters are good role models to follow.
I highly recommend Change Rushes West and am giving it five stars. I believe fans between the ages of seven and fourteen will love it, as well as, the other books from A Ginnie West Adventure series.
I received a paperback copy of Bucheger and Rasmussen's Change Rushes West from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.
