EDwrites
Ranch Life Novel | Cedar Hollow Series
Weston Cartwright was seven years old when he was brought to Cedar Hollow and given a name that wasn't his by birth.
Adopted by an older ranching couple who believed legacy should be earned and shared, Weston grows up learning the work, the land, and the quiet rules of belonging from the people who run it. The cowhands teach him how to pull his weight, how to take a hit, and how to stand steady in a world that doesn't always let him forget where he came from.
At a ranch rodeo, Weston meets Lance Hawthorne-almost seven himself-and the two become inseparable. Through childhood and into high school, they grow up together as best friends, team ropers, and rodeo helpers, bound by long days, early mornings, and a loyalty neither of them knows how to question.
But as Weston grows into the Cartwright name, the cost of carrying it becomes clearer. Teasing turns sharper. Fights follow. And the choices he makes to defend his place begin to take more from him than he expected.
Weston is left standing at the edge of adulthood, forced to face what truly makes a son when blood alone isn't enough.
Not by Blood Alone is a grounded coming-of-age ranch life novel about adoption, friendship, loyalty, and the quiet weight of growing up responsible for more than you asked for.