Blaze of Glory

Long, Tall Texans #55

by Diana Palmer

John Everett is the last of his father's sons to live at home on the Everett ranch, working with their prize bulls and trying to forget the heartbreak he's been living with when the woman of his dreams chose his brother over him. He doesn't expect to ever find love. That is, until he finds the feisty Josie Blake sneaking around his award-winning cattle. Josie is brash, bold and not interested in John—or so she says. But they soon realize their connection is deeper than either of them expected as Josie infiltrates the ranch and John's heart. 

Before long, John realizes there's more to Josie than meets the eye, and her interest in the ranch and in the town of Branntville might be more than just honest curiosity. When danger finds her, can John rely on his Everett family connections to help save Josie before she's in over her head? And will the two of them overcome the secrets swirling around them and find their way back to each other?

Long, Tall Texans

Book 1: Desperado
Book 2: Iron Cowboy
Book 3: Long, Tall Harley
Book 4: Winter Roses
Book 5: Cattleman's Pride
Book 6: Carrera's Bride
Book 7: Boss Man
Book 8: Lord Of The Desert
Book 9: Evan
Book 10: Donavan
Book 11: Long, Tall Grant
Book 12: Long, Tall Justin
Book 13: Long, Tall Tyler
Book 14: Long, Tall Connal
Book 15: Long, Tall Harden
Book 16: Long, Tall Calhoun
Book 17: Long, Tall Quinn
Book 18: Long, Tall Ethan
Book 19: Emmett
Book 20: Long, Tall Regan
Book 21: Long, Tall Todd
Book 22: Long, Tall Hank
Book 23: Coltrain's Proposal
Book 24: Long, Tall Tom
Book 25: Long, Tall Drew
Book 26: Long, Tall Jobe
Book 27: The Princess Bride
Book 28: Beloved
Book 29: Lawless
Book 30: Callaghan's Bride
Book 31: Long, Tall Guy
Book 32: Long, Tall Luke
Book 33: Long, Tall Christopher
Book 34: MATT TEXAS TYCOON
Book 35: The Texas Ranger
Book 36: Lawman
Book 37: A Man of Means
Book 38: Lionhearted
Book 39: Man in Control
Book 40: The Founding Father
Book 41: Long, Tall Renegade
Book 42: Long, Tall Bentley
Book 43: Defender
Book 44: Unbridled
Book 45: Unleashed
Book 46: Texas Proud
Book 47: Notorious
Book 48: Lawbreaker
Book 49: The Loner
Book 50: Blaze of Glory

Genres: Audiobook, Romance

Audible Audio

First published July 1, 2026

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.

(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.

She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.

Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.

In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.

Reviews

[Jenny]

adoption not for me

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blaze of Glory, AUDIO and digital, by Diana Palmer is another of her Texas cowboy romances. It features John Everett, son of Cole and Heather, owners of a huge cattle ranch outside of Brantville. The female lead is Josie Blake, who, for much of the book, is undercover for a Federal agency. She is looking to bag a hug cartel leader. Dangerous work, but she has her reasons. As it turns out, John’s brother, Tanner, is a retired Federal agent, and Marlowe, the local sheriff, who as a background as well. John and Josie meet when she is found in the middle of a field of young bulls, being raised for sale. She said the first thing that she thought of: she was hungry. A little ridiculous, but their relationship got off on the wrong foot.

John had been in love with his brother’s wife for years. Obviously, he never acted on that. His sister, Odile, was an opera singer who is scared to death to sing on stage. She is involved with an ex-gangster, older than she. This is an interesting family, some of whom we have met before. Josie was all in on this investigation, but at the same time it broke her heart that the Everetts all thought she was a criminal. Then, the whole thing came to a head, and Josie was in the middle of a gun fight and saw no way out. She ended up shot, by herself, but more importantly, the man restraining her was killed by the bullet. She had befriended a man she had met in a bar, a low level drug dealer. As it turns out, he was so much more. A bevy of terrific characters. Palmer is the queen of cowboy romance.

The narrator is Todd McLaren who is a seasoned narrator. His voice was a little heavy for this book, I thought, but he managed nicely.

I was invited to listen to Blaze of Glory by Harlequin Audio and to read by Harlequin Trade Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley @HarlequinAudio @HarlequinTradePublishing #DianaPalmer #BlazeOfGlory

[Carla Hostetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I found the opening charming as John Everett saves an elderly defanged rattlesnake from harm, I do think the next chapter which contains the meet cute unbelievable. Josie Blake is found by John checking out a herd of prize bull calves on the Big Spur ranch. Her excuse-she is hungry and broke and planned to kill one for a steak dinner. Really? She does appear broke but has no car or means to butcher a calf which would amount to rustling. But rather than turn her in to the sheriff for trespassing, her takes her home to mom who feeds her a steak and then demands her son drive Josie back to town to her seedy motel. John finds her both attractive and yet is repelled by her obvious lies since she is claiming to be a real estate agent waiting on a big sale. He soon discovers she is hanging out with unsavory characters and resists any attraction to her. Actually, Josie is undercover trying to infiltrate a fentanyl drug ring planning to use the Big Spur as a transfer place for their drug runs. John is such a straight arrow he is less interesting than the sheriff with a dark past and a very charming drug lord or even his brother who married the woman he loved. There are lots of side stories here such as Josie saving a boy whose father dies at a rodeo. The kid is a little too good to be true-he cooks, plays a guitar perfectly, and is just what the Everett family wants to fill their empty nest. There is also a barely mentioned kidnapping of a sister who lives in New York which must have happened in another book though it takes place on this timeline. Oh well, you know Josie and John will get together by the end in this amiable enough story with little sex until the very end. Her fans will enjoy it, and I do commend Palmer for producing this book while have health problems which is not an easy task.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another sweet, clean read by Ms. Palmer.

John Everett is the last of the kids still living at home on the ranch. At one time the whole family was there, but now it’s just John and his parents. They have some prize winning bulls there… so when he finds a young woman (Josie) sneaking around on his land, he basically threatens her! But then takes her inside for a warm meal and a talking to. With his family.
But… Who is she? Is she trying to steal something? Kill something? What’s going on?

As time goes on, we get some key pieces revealed as to who she really is… although it’s not all laid out for us… so there’s some speculation…

We find that Josie seems to be getting into A LOT of trouble all by herself. But as time goes on we come to see that she does have some allies too.

This was sweet. Scary. Gory at times, but all around a nice story.

4 bold, bright stars for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#BlazeOfGlory by @DianaPalmer and narrated nicely by @ToddMcLaren.

This one has not been released yet. Please look for it on 6/16/26.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and @HarlequinAudio for an ALC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

You can also find my reviews on: Goodreads,
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Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends, & click ‘LIKE’ below… And, let me know YOUR thoughts if you read it!!

And as always, thanks for reading along with me! 📚⭐️📖🩷

[Sharon Corner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike many of my friends, I have not read a lot of Diana Palmer books, so I thought I would give this book a try. What I didn't realize is that this book is number 50 in the Long Tall Texans series.
We meet John Everett, who apparently had a crush on the woman who became his sister's wife and is still nursing his broken heart. He discovers Josie Blake eyeing his prize cattle. When he asks why she is there, she says she is hungry for a steak, so he takes her to his family home, where they feed her, then brings her back to her hotel.
He labels her a thief, and she doesn't change his mind. In reality, it is her job to infiltrate his ranch for a criminal, while relaying information to the FBI. And they fall in love.
I can't say I enjoyed this book. There are a lot of characters that I had no clue who they were; apparently, their story was in one of the 49 books that came before this one. Also, someone is kidnapped, and it is sort of an afterthought...the whole situation is resolved in a paragraph, not sure if that was also detailed in another book?
I am sure true Diana Palmer fans could read this and know all the stories about all the characters, but as someone who picked up this book and never read one before, it was rough going.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Todd McLaren, and he did an excellent job.

[Jennifer Ritter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blaze of Glory is Diana Palmer’s book 55 in her Long Tall Texan series. John Everett is the last of his generation still home on the family ranch working with his father with their prize bulls. When he finds a suspicious Josie Blake snooping around the young bulls, soon up for a special sale, he finds her story of being a realtor less than believable. As their paths continue to cross and his parents are most welcoming to her, Josie is wedging herself deeper undercover as her CIA mission is to bring down a drug cartel that is smuggling ever more potent and dangerous drugs into the southern states.

Although imbedded on her own, Josie is known by former agents in the area including Sheriff Don Marlowe and John’s older brother Tanner and their support is the ultimate saving grace. On the other hand, Josie’s connection, Rains, will be the cause of the treachery that results is injury and death.

This is an interesting story showing a strong female lead in a dangerous role. There are overlaps and contrasts of family dynamics for Josie, for the Everett family, and the young orphaned boy JJ that Josie brings to the Everetts. This story spotlights the precarious drug trade, shedding light on the parts we do not see. This is a very interesting story and I did enjoy it and do recommend it.

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an advanced reader copy of the audiobook. This review is voluntary.

I really liked the setting in north Texas where I live and references to Wyoming where I lived for 12 years. This is a western romance set in the current time.

The romance between John and Josie was really fun with the bantering and suspicion. When he fell for her he fell hard. They have to deal with some shady characters and lives are on the line, so expect some suspense with your romance.

I think you will enjoy this if you like cowboys and happy endings. The Everett family is very rich and also very loving and caring, especially when tragedy strikes.

Nothing against the narrator but his attempt at female voices had me chuckle. They sounded like the 6 year old boy character. Plus he made John sound way older than I suspect he was supposed to be, at least to me.

[Teri Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The FMC in this story is working to take people down. The MMC is suspicious after catching her doing something she shouldn’t be doing. She keeps doing things that soften his heart, but he has a low opinion of her. What she’s doing is dangerous and suspenseful. She is working with some scary people. There are lots of suspicions, secrets and surprises in this story. Throughout most of this book the two main characters dislike one another, but then gradually they begin to fall for one another. I was rooting for the two main characters to suceed. I liked this story. I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrators voice when he voiced for the MMC. I would recommend this novel.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 *. Josie Blake is caught looking at cattle on John Everett's ranch. Claiming she was hungry, instead of taking her to the sheriff for trespassing, he takes her home, where his mom, Heather, feeds her. But unbeknownst to John, Josie isn't a vagrant, or a suspicious realtor. She's an undercover fed, working to shut down two drug lords from Mexico, shipping fentanyl into the US. Add family drama from John's brother Tanner, who has someone gunning for him and the family, and their sister, Odalie, who's working on becoming an opera singer in New York, there's a lot going on, One of those stories where several people have secrets, which keep them from showing their true selves.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, thanks NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a pretty quick read for me. There were lots of secrets being kept by so many people in one family and town that I had trouble keeping up! Writing a story about drug dealing must be complicated. Watching the story evolve had me wondering how anyone could keep such secrets from their close relatives and potential romantic interests, but in this story they did and it seemed to play out well in the end.

[Yureli ✨]

I received this as an ALC from NetGalley in exchange for review.
I was excited to receive this one because I'm in my cowboy romance era (really, it's like my whole personality) However, this audiobook just wasn't for me. I'm not sure if it's an age thing or what, but it felt like something my grandma might enjoy. The story didn't grab my interest and the narrator sounded mature...


Even though this wasn't for me, I'd still like to express my gratitude to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

[Caroline Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Story to complete the trulogy

it has worth been waiting for,A beautiful story to complete The Everett trilogy. It was worth the anticipation. I have always wondered who John would fall in love with after all the feeling he had for his sister in law Josie was perfect for him as he was for her. I'll be certainly reading this story again and a again as I could not put it down for a second.

[Denise Schenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Everett is still getting over the woman he loved marrying his brother. He finds a woman on the ranch with the new bulls; she claims she is hungry. He takes her back to the ranch house and gets her feed. Josie Blake is working undercover and needs to keep her cover intact. The case she is working is very dangerous and she has no real back-up.
Josie is on John's mind a lot and has interested.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast read and very enjoyable about John Everett a rancher with prize bulls and how he gets over
his infatuation with his brother’s wife. Things become dicey when he meets Josie and undercover agent
Sneaking round his cattle. This is a about family,love,loyalty,caring and seeking Justice. It deals with
Drug dealing, and more and moves along at a rapid pace. Recommended.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, romantic, and had a lot of suspense to it. The ending was really good. I know I need to read the rest of the books in the series. I'm grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

[Barbara M. Markham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice ending to the Everett family series

So nice to see a happy happy ending for this family. Diverse story with lots of twists and turns to enjoy.

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading about John, Josie, JJ and the rest of the Everett’s. What a great story!!!!

[kerri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting novel but too political for me. The story line was ok.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating

This book is captivating and addictive. Josie and John's story is enthralling and romantic. I loved this book. I highly recommend this book.

[Cassie]

wow

Just love this author of a slow burn romance of love. Surrounded by Family and friends and interesting characters, new and old.
Narrated was amazing

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Ronald Brancheau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading something different. Not really a western but not a mystery either.

[Robyn Mues Citrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

Fantastic story as always. Love the continuation of family. Diana Palmer never disappoints readers. Thank you for your stories. Ms. Palmer

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Cowboy Romantic Suspense, and this is the 55th book in the Long, Tall Texans series. I have read some of the other books in this series before picking up this book. I read this book by listening to the audiobook, and I did not love the narrator. I did not love the characters in this book, but I did get into the story/plot of this book. I think the writing is a little bit not for me. There is a lot of old fashioned stuff in this book. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.