CELEBRATE THE WEARIN' O' THE GREEN WITH A CHANCE FOR A BOOK!

Top ‘O The Mornin’ and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you're here on Friday, I'm a bit early, but the sentiment is sincere. Welcome to our Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop from March 17th-22nd, sponsored by “I’m A Reader, Not A Writer,” "Books Complete Me," and “Author Cindy Thomas” and featuring giveaways by over two hundred bloggers. My giveaway is open worldwide and is a PDF. copy of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME to one person who leaves a comment. No hoops to leap through, no gazillion steps, just a comment. Easy, right? If you follow my blog or if you're already a follower and remind me, that will count as a second entry; but it's not necessary to do so to be entered the drawing.

As one who loves almost everything Irish, I love this time of year. Outside, our plants and lawn are greening. Birds are nesting. Spring is a time of renewal and hope. Our place isn't as green as Ireland, but things are pretty nice even here in North Central Texas.

March is Irish American
Heritage Month

Our skies are overcast, which sets the perfect mood for curling up with a book. At our house, we are voracious readers always poised to seize any chance to kick back and read. What should you read? You knew I’d have a suggestion, didn’t you?

Downtown Lubbock, Texas

HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is a sweet romance set near where I grew up in West Texas. When I was ten, my family moved from a rural area to Lubbock on the high plains. It’s nothing like Ireland, except many of the pioneers who settled there were of Irish or Scot-Irish descent.

Although my family weren’t among those who founded Lubbock or other towns nearby, my hodge-podge ancestry includes many Scot-Irish, and that gives me added reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. As if I need a reason!

Derek's Sister will
find him in book two

I love family-oriented books, and love the extended family in this one. HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is the first of a trilogy about the Corrigan family and their friends and neighbors. Reviews were very good, such as 5 Stars from The Romance Studio. The next book will feature Derek’s long lost sister who will be wooed by his best friend, Rusty McCullough. I’m already building the book in my mind and have an outline written down for the time I have a chance to work on that book.

Derek Corrigan is a true hero. The victim of an abusive father, Derek was adopted at age eight by Sam and Maggie Warren. The Warrens were wonderful parents who loved and encouraged Derek until he excelled at everything he did...with one exception. Women! Derek’s wonderful gift for business failed him with women. In HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME, Derek is a widower with two small children who are his life’s focus. Meg is five and Warren is eight. Although Derek is involved in numerous investments, he considers himself a rancher. Remembering desperation all too well, he uses his wealth and time to give back to those in need, especially his neighbors. He designed and built a gorgeous Spanish-style house across the road from Sam Warren's Georgian-styled ranch home in which he’d grown up.

Courtney Madison is worthy of being called heroine. She is all about helping others and earning respect. Her policeman father died when she was eleven, only a year after her brother Jimmy was born. Courtney’s mom was ill-equipped to earn a living, and the family struggled. Then, when Courtney began junior high, her mom was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and declined until she soon was unable to work. Courtney picked up the slack by working at an Baker's Books, independent Dallas bookstore, after school. When her mom died, Courtney became Jimmy’s guardian. As the book opens, Courtney is manager of the store, but a new chain store has opened nearby and tanked the independent store’s sales. In an attempt to hold on to his investment, Mr. Baker is coming out of retirement and Courtney and her assistant manager are out of a job. In addition, her formerly sweet brother has become surly and hangs out with a rough crowd. She’s buried under a mountain of hospital bills from her mom’s care, looking for a new job, and confronting her brother’s new attitude. Desperate and barely holding on to a fraying rope, she wonders how or if she can recover and retain Jimmy's guardianship.



Enter Sam Warren, Derek’s adopted dad--or at least Sam's Last Will and Testament. When Sam was hospitalized in Dallas across the room from their mom, he met Courtney and Jimmy. After Sam went home, he corresponded with Courtney. Poor Sam remembered Courtney with a sizable legacy.

Sam left Courtney
a pot of gold.

Did he ever! He left her an estate valued at well over two million dollars! The catch, as Derek explains to her, is that she has to move to West Texas and live on Sam’s farm for one year. Woo Hoo! Not a catch where she's concerned. Instead, she sees a chance to get Jimmy away from his new rough friends, pay off her mother’s medical bills, and maybe...just maybe...get herself a few new things. Rejoicing, she believes her inheritance in West Texas is the answer to all her prayers.

But Courtney learns that while money improves her life, it doesn’t guarantee happiness. You can bet this modern Cinderella encounters problems even a fairy godmother couldn’t imagine! Yes, I'm afraid I was mean to her and threw obstacles in her path. You'll thank me, though, because it makes her triumph even greater. In addition, Derek and Courtney each have secrets which haunt them and complicate their lives.

Available in Print or E-book

And here’s an excerpt from the opening of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME:


Courtney Madison rushed down the main aisle of Baker’s Books. Warmth enveloped her, a welcome change from the freezing Dallas weather outside. She was hurrying toward her office at the back of the store when a man stepped from the mystery section. Their collision knocked off his western hat and a stack of books from his hands.


“I’m so sorry.” She leaned over to retrieve his things.


“My fault. Let me help.” He bent and grabbed the Stetson.


Her head collided with his and her purse slid from her grasp. Pain radiated across her scalp. She’d be sure to have a bump tomorrow.


Both straightened and stepped back.


She stared at the books she’d knocked from his arms. “How could I have been so clumsy? You must be wondering what’s keeping the rest of the Three Stooges…” When she raised her head, her sentence trailed away.


Cobalt blue eyes met her gaze. He stood a good seven inches taller than she, which put him at about three inches over six feet. A deep tan with crinkled lines at the corner of each eye suggested a man at home in wind and weather. The white line of a scar on one cheek and a tiny crook in his nose added ruggedness to his otherwise breathtaking good looks. Close your mouth before you drool on him.


When she knelt again to retrieve the half dozen or so books he’d dropped, he bent to help, his large tanned hands making short work of the task. A unique scent teased her nostrils, a blend of subtle woodsy toiletries.


He leaned nearer, speaking low. “I thought tornado season started in March, not January.”


A smile spread across his face and created a twinkle in his gorgeous eyes. She knew he meant her, but after an upsetting meeting with her brother’s school counselor this afternoon, combined with her formerly sweet brother’s recent behavior changes, she felt as if she’d been sucked into the vortex of a tornado herself.


Her face heated in a blush. “Speaking in defense of this particular tornado—” she pointed to herself “—I was whirling along nicely until I hit your brick wall.” She pointed to his broad chest and smiled.


He swept up her purse and offered it to her as he rose. She recognized sparks of interest in his twinkling eyes.


“Thanks.” Courtney stood and slid the bag’s strap over her shoulder. Something about him tugged at her memory, but surely she’d recall meeting a man this attractive.


He shifted his reclaimed stack of mysteries and his hat while he gave her an appraising look. The twinkle in his eyes faded and his brows knit. “Are you Courtney Madison?”


Perplexed he knew her name, she nodded, but still couldn’t place him. “Have we met somewhere?”


When he held out his right hand, his smile was polite but cool. “I’m Derek Corrigan.”


“Of course, Sam Warren’s son. Sam showed me photos of you and your children.” She took his warm hand in hers, making her wish she’d worn gloves on her errand. “I was so sorry I couldn’t attend Sam’s funeral.”


Her throat closed and she fought the tears that gathered in her eyes at the mention of Sam’s name. Sighing, she patted their clasped right hands with her left. “And I’m so sorry you lost Sam. Even though you kept your birth name, I know he was your father in all the ways that count.”


“That he was.” His voice grew gravelly. “Appreciated your note and the flowers.”


She smiled up at him. “I’ve missed hearing from him. He was such a dear man.”


He eased his fingers from hers and looked around. “Is there somewhere we could speak in private?”


Embarrassed she’d held his hand for so long, Courtney also became aware that the only other customer in the store now inched closer, obviously eavesdropping. “Let’s go to my office, shall we?”

Here’s the trailer for HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME:

The buy link for print or e-book copies of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html or at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online stores.

Be sure to leave your email address with your comment if you want to be entered for the free copy of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME. To discover the other blogs on the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop, click here.

In keeping with St. Patrick's Day, I'm sending you a couple of Irish blessings:

These things I warmly wish for you-

Someone to love,
Some work to do,
A bit O' sun,
A bit O' cheer,
And a guardian angel always near.


May you always have these blessings--
A soft breeze when the summer comes
A warm fireside in winter
And always--the warm soft smile of a friend.

Thanks for stopping by!