ROMAN'S HOLIDAY BY SUSAN AYLWORTH

Roman's Holiday by Susan Aylworth

Four years after Roman Kincaid was catapulted into stardom as a country-western singer and A-list movie star, he is burned out: exhausted by a grueling schedule, drained by the ceaseless demands of producers and managers, weary of meeting the needs of others at the expense of his own. Leaving a sold-out show in Phoenix, he rents a car and drives north and east, landing in the Painted Desert town of Rainbow Rock.

Nearly three years after leaving her old life behind, Lottie Beale is feeding people and baking pies, managing the Kachina Café and tending secrets of her own. When circumstances conspire to give two attractive people some time alone together amid the world-class vistas of the Four Corners, they discover more than either had bargained for.

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Excerpt


“Ro-man! Ro-man!” A capacity crowd in the Ak-Chin Pavilion chanted his name under the starry desert sky, but Roman Kincaid barely heard it. He stood in the stage wings, gearing up for an encore and wondering when his dream had become a nightmare.

“Okay, guys,” he said to his back-up band via their ear buds. “One encore only. Let’s do ‘Gamble.’
Start with the chorus.” He took two steps toward the stage entrance, swinging his guitar into playing position.

Sam, his manager, caught his elbow. “Are you sure about this? That crowd adores you. You could probably play three encores, sell more CDs—”

“No.” Roman left no room for argument. “One and done. And no backstage stuff, either. I’m outta here.” He took a deep breath, pasted on the same fake, crowd-pleasing smile he’d used in the last half-dozen shows, and jogged back onto the stage to the roar of twenty thousand excited voices. He strummed the intro and launched into the chorus of his first number-one hit:

“Love is such a gamble.
You break a new deck every time.
Sometimes you’re dealt the aces;
Others you draw to nines.
But when I met you, I knew it was true.
A winning hand you seemed.
Now I have the rush of a royal flush.
You are the gamble of my dreams.”

The crowd cheered wildly as he played his way through the music he now sang in his sleep. In fact, he realized as he watched fans taking up the beat and clapping along, that was pretty much what he was doing now. He struggled to suppress a yawn during the guitar interlude as he turned to acknowledge his band.

I spent my early life dreaming of a crowd like this. When did performing start to feel like a chore? He put the thought away. Lately he’d been thinking of times when he’d heard of some celebrity being hospitalized for exhaustion and assumed it was a euphemism for drug rehab. Now he wondered.
When was the last time I felt truly rested? The question was an imponderable. Months, at least.
He hit the last chord and took a deep bow, then shouted, “Thank you, Phoenix!” and dashed off-stage.

Author Susan Aylworth

Susan Aylworth started her first book when she was nine. "It was called Buff, The Proud Stallion. I wrote eight whole pages." For her fifth grade career day, she stated her ambition to become "a rich and famous author." Decades later, she is pleased to have achieved the 'author' part of that goal. A former university professor, she enjoys researching backgrounds and careers for her novels. "It's one way to live many lives at once." She lives in northern California with her husband of 45 years and two spoiled cats.

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Book Blast Giveaway - $50 Amazon Gift Card or $50 in Paypal Cash


Ends 12/11/15


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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MAIL ORDER OUTLAW -- BRIDES OF TOMBSTONE FROM CYNTHIA WOOLF

How exciting to welcome one of my favorite authors, Cynthia Woolf. Authors are constantly trying to come up with something we haven't used before, and Cynthia has accomplished that extremely well. Her latest release is MAIL ORDER OUTLAW, the first of her Brides of Tombstone Series, and this book has many surprising characters and events. I've already purchased my copy and no doubt you'll want to do the same when you read this post. This book is so interesting that I simply won't be able to stop reading MAIL ORDER OUTLAW until the last line. Late bedtime tonight. ☺ 

Here's what Cynthia has to say:

Thanks for having me Caroline.

I want to talk a little bit about my new series, The Brides of Tombstone. I love doing mail order bride stories but for this one I wanted them to be a little different. I chose Tombstone because it was someplace that everyone has heard about, although next time I think I’ll make up my own city. I can make things exactly the way I want them then.

My husband and I did do a long weekend trip to Tombstone. Two days down, we live in Colorado. Two days back and one in Tombstone. All I can say is that the Tombstone that’s there now is very tame compared to what it was in 1882, the year my book is set. The City of Tombstone circa 2015, is little more than a tourist trap. The buildings are the same ones as were there in 1882, at the height of the silver boom, but they are filled with souvenirs and a few had tours. It was interesting enough, but not historically accurate which is what I’d hoped for.

The first book is called MAIL ORDER OUTLAW.  You can tell by the title that it's a little different than your average mail order bride story. Here's the blurb:

Ed Talbot isn't husband material. He's an outlaw, was forced into his father's gang at the age of thirteen, and is wanted Dead or Alive in more than one territory. But now his father is dead, he hates the life, the blood, and his brother's rages. When a stagecoach robbery goes awry, Ed ends up with a satchel full of charming letters from an enticing your miss. Unfortunately for Miss Lizzie Cobb, her betrothed is now dead, and Ed Talbot sees a way out. Impersonating a fine, upstanding young man shouldn't be too difficult. Despite the risks, falling in love with her proves to be all too easy.

Isolated on her mother's ranch just outside Tombstone, Miss Lizzie Cobb doesn't have the time or the means to find a respectable husband. As a half Apache woman in the Arizona Territory, being a mail order bride seems like the only solution to her problem until she realizes that San Francisco is too far away, and she'll have to leave her vulnerable mother and baby brother behind. Her solution? Call off the wedding.

When her groom shows up on her doorstep, she's shocked. He's handsome, strong, and has traveled hundreds of miles to claim her. His kisses inflame her body and his presence soothes her soul. Falling for the rugged man is beyond her control. But the past has a way of catching up to outlaws, and facing the truth is going to be hard...for both of them.

Does that sound enticing to you? I certainly hope so.

Here is a short excerpt from MAIL ORDER OUTLAW that I hope you'll enjoy.

Outside Tucson, Arizona Territory, May 12, 1882

Ed Talbot adjusted his bandana to cover the lower half of his face. The stagecoach his father had targeted for his latest robbery was about to crest the hill. When it did Ed and his half-brother, Harvey, would be waiting. His father, Josiah Talbot, would fall in behind the vehicle until it came to a halt.

Josiah rode with Harry and Joe, closing in behind.

Ed and his brother waited and the coach was slowing as it was supposed to. Suddenly the shotgun rider started firing his rifle at the men closing in behind.

Ed and Harvey rode toward the coach. Harvey fired his pistol and killed the shotgun rider, but not before they saw Josiah fall. The stage came to a halt and Ed kept his gun on the driver, while Harvey rode past the coach to where their father lay on the ground.

“Nooo.” A howl like Ed had never heard came out of Harvey. Ed knew then that their father was dead, but he didn’t grieve. The man Ed had hated for most of his life was dead. He rejoiced.

Harvey walked forward, reloading his gun as he came. As soon as he got had a full cylinder, he aimed at the driver and shot him dead.

Ed saw what was going to happen and jumped off his horse and ran toward his brother. He grabbed his brother’s arm. “Harvey. What the hell do you think you’re doin’?”

“He killed Pa. He deserved to die. The driver and this man are a witnesses and have to die…” Harvey’s eyebrows came together and he narrowed his eyes. “Or you do and then he dies anyway. Now you got a problem with that?”

That was no choice and Ed was about to say so, when Harvey raised his pistol and fired. The man who’d done nothing but be a passenger on the wrong stage, was dead.

“Couldn’t let you say something you might regret, little brother.” Harvey holstered his gun. “Gather up all the stuff including the luggage and then search all three men,” he instructed Harry and Joe.

Ed noticed a valise in the coach that he assumed belonged to the man. He took it and tied it to his saddle bags.

“Let’s go,” said Harvey. “Take the coach horses, we’ll sell them in town and set the coach on fire.”

Joe gathered up sage brush, so prevalent in this part of the desert near Tucson and piled it inside the coach. Then he took a stick match out of his pocket, struck it against a rock and started the kindling on fire. Within minutes the stagecoach was burning and black smoke billowed into the sky. If they hung around, they’d be found by the sheriff’s posse.

“All right let’s get out of here.” Harvey turned and rode his horse the way they’d come, back to their hideout in the Mule Mountains.

Not having any choice, Ed followed his brother. Harvey would kill him in a heartbeat rather than let him go. Their father had been the same way. Fifteen years ago, when Ed’s mother died, Josiah had taken him into the gang. Ed was thirteen. He learned how to rob stages, trains and banks. He learned how to kill people but he never actually killed anyone. He’d managed to avoid that particular deed. His father and brother thought him a coward, but Ed had no taste for killing a living soul or the outlaw life in general.

Buy links:

http://amzn.com/B00XEKFLIE

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mail-order-outlaw-cynthia-woolf/1121894192?ean=2940151415125

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mail-order-outlaw/id993479746?ls=1&mt=11

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/mail-order-outlaw

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Woolf_Mail_Order_Outlaw?id=U74kCQAAQBAJ

Cynthia Woolf, Author

Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends. Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian who brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She write her first story at the age of ten...a romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at Colorado Romance Writers for saving her sanity and encouraging her to explore her creativity.

DOUBLIE BILL: KAREN MUELLER BRYSON; AUTISM

This week bloggers have banded together to heighten awareness of a growing disability sweeping the U. S. - Autism. Perhaps one of the reasons Austism is increasing is due to specialists' ability to diagnose and treat this puzzling condition. Several friends and relatives daily seek to reach and aid children and adults who are locked inside autism. I think of them as a person bound by an invisible wall which they battle daily but cannot completely break through. To call attention to autism, Kathy has set up an Autism Awareness Giveaway Hop. You can find a list of participating websites at http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com or click the badge at the top of my sidebar to be taken to her site. My giveaway is one of my ebooks, winner's choice, and the offer is open to international readers. Please leave your email with your comment. As always, a follow counts as a second entry.

Now on to today's fabulous guest. Please welcome Karen Mueller Bryson:

Karen Mueller Bryson - Author, Professor, Publisher

CC: Readers love to get to know authors. Please tell us about growing up

KMB: I grew up in rural northern New Jersey with one brother, who is 3 ½ years younger. Our family would be considered middle class but our parents spoiled us. They expected us to do well in school and my brother and I both excelled academically. My brother was extremely outgoing and funny and I was a quiet bookworm. I didn’t like to play outside or get dirty when I was a child, so I spent a lot of time reading and writing. Having high academic expectations paid off. My brother is now a scientist and I am a university professor and writer.

I am married and live in Arizona with my husband and our two wonderful bloodhounds.

CC: I also live in the Southwest. Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

KMB: My two favorite authors are Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) and L. Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Both writers created iconic characters that are still beloved over a hundred years later. My first two novels, HEY DOROTHY YOU'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE and WHERE IS WONDERLAND ANYWAY, were inspired by the works of these two literary legends.

CC: Both books have contributed many phrases to the common vocabulary. When you’re not writing, what’s your favorite way to relax and recharge? Hobbies?

KMB: Writing fiction is what I do to relax when I’m not at my day job as a university professor. Some of my other hobbies include working out, watching movies, reading, traveling and playing instruments like the keyboard and dulcimer.

CC: Writing is balm to me, unless I'm having trouble with a scene. I’m impressed you’re so diverse. Describe yourself in three or four words.

KMB: The first word I always use to describe myself is tenacious. What I lack in talent, I always make up for in pure determination to succeed.

The second word I would use to describe myself is passionate. I am extremely passionate about writing!

The third word I would use to describe myself is willing. I am always willing to take risks to achieve my goals and I am always willing to help other travelers on the journey called life.

CC: Great answers. Would you like to share any guilty pleasures that feed your muse?

KMB: I have three “guilty pleasures” that keep me sane. First, I have a subscription to People magazine and I read it every week. As a storyteller, I love reading stories about people’s lives!

Second, I love to watch “sappy” Lifetime movies and RomComs (aka ‘chick-flicks’). As writer, who enjoys entertaining people, these are my sources of entertainment.

Third, I love to cuddle with my bloodhounds. Even when everything seems to be going wrong, I cuddle a bloodhound, and the world seems okay again.

CC: Isn’t it nice to have the unconditional love dogs provide? How long have you been writing?

KMB: I learned to read when I was four years old and, very soon after, my mom helped me write my first book. I have been writing ever since!

CC: I also learned to read before school. Nice head start for becoming a writer, right? Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music, solitude? PC or laptop?

KMB: I prefer to write on my laptop in my library in complete silence. I am not able to write with music on; I find it too distracting.

CC: I write to classical. Anything with lyrics distracts me. 0Are you a plotter or a panzer?

KMB: I would have to go with panzer. I’m a Leo (a fire sign). People, who are fire signs, generally get a “spark” of an idea and take off running with it! Once the fire has ignited, there’s no turning back; it’s usually just “full steam ahead.”

CC: Do you do your research before you begin a new project, or as you go along?

KMB: It depends upon the project. When I wrote my middle grades time travel adventure, THE INCREDIBLY AWESOME ADVENTURES OF PUGGIE LIDDELL, I had to do a lot of research because the kids travel back in time to the 1890s. Even though it was a work of fiction, I wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible. The book took about a year to complete because I did so much research (and had so much fun immersing myself in the time period).

When I write adult contemporary fiction, I usually do my research along the way, as needed.

CC:Tell us about your writing schedule. Do you set goals? Do you write daily?

KMB: I try to write every day but I work full-time, so there are days I don’t get as much writing done as I would like. I write a lot on the weekends and in the morning before I go to work. I set fairly rigid writing goals and generally stick to them.

CC: What is your day job?

KMB: When I’m not writing, I work as an Associate Professor of Psychology and Human Services at a private, liberal arts university.

CC: Wonderful background for building realistic characters. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise readers.

KMB: I’m not sure what would surprise people! People find it interesting that I am a vegetarian and have been for 27 years. I also think it’s unique that I have been to 47 of the 50 United States and four of the seven continents on Earth!

CC: My daughter has been a vegetarian for most of her life. What is something unusual you learned while researching and writing this book?

KMB: When I was writing TWYLA’S LAST TRIP, I did a lot of research on Rt. 66, which is an historic highway that runs from Illinois to California. There are many unusual and odd attractions along Rt. 66 but one of the most unique, in my opinion, is "Stubby Stonehenge," which is The Missouri S & T’s reproduction of the prehistoric wonder and half the size of its original English counterpart. The replica is made of 160 tons of granite and was dedicated in 1984 during the summer solstice.

CC: One of the things I have one my bucket list is to travel down Route 66. I love the song "Get Your Kicks on Route 66." What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

KMB: My company, Short on Time Books, provides readers with fast-paced and fun novels they can finish in one sitting. My hope is to provide entertainment to people, who don’t have much time to read, but would still like to enjoy an engaging story.

CC: I’m sure those fast-paced novels are popular. What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

KMB: Never give up on your dreams and remember that “write” is a verb. You have to do the writing to be a writer!

CC: Pefect advice. One of your latest releases involves traveling on the famous Route 66. Have you ever driven this highway?

KMB: I have never driven along Rt. 66 but I would love to someday. As I mention in the book’s dedication, I came up with the idea for the story after one of my best friends died of cancer at a young age. Her husband and daughter took my friend’s ashes on a trip along Rt. 66 because it was something my friend had always wanted to do but never got the chance. Although TWYLA’S LAST TRIP is a romantic comedy, there are some serious undertones in the story because I wanted to express some feelings I had about losing my friend and the idea that people need to take time for the things in life that are important.

CC: Exactly what my husband and I decided. No point putting off your dreams until "later." Tell us about your latest releases.

Blurb: TWYLA’S LAST TRIP: Twenty eight-year old, Lucinda Starr is an uptight research psychologist, whose deadline to complete her doctoral dissertation is completely derailed by her estranged mother, Twyla Starr's sudden death. Lucinda must take her mother's ashes on a road trip on Route 66, in order to fulfill the requirements of her will and inherit her fortune. To make matters worse, Lucinda finds herself forced to travel across the country with her mother's easygoing country lawyer, T.J. Yates, who drives her crazy, and his drooling bloodhound, Dakota, who Lucinda finds revolting.

CC: Ooh, I like it already. Where can readers find TWYLA’S LAST TRIP?

http://www.amazon.com/Twylas-Last-Trip-ebook/dp/B0063TMP32

Blurb: ONE LAST CLASS: Thirty-two year old, Zak Spencer, is a washed-up teen idol, who decides to rebuild his life by returning to college in Arizona. Trouble ensues when Zak falls in love with the young professor, Amy Campbell, who teaches the one class he needs to complete his degree.

CC: Sounds like fun. Where can readers find ONE LAST CLASS?

http://www.amazon.com/One-Last-Class-ebook/dp/B007144NXI


How can readers learn more about you?

Website: http://www.ahorsewithnoname.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenmuellerbryson

Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenmbryson

Blog: http://shortontimebooks.tumblr.com/

Short on Time Books: http://www.shortontimebooks.com

Karen, thanks so much for sharing with us today.

Readers, thanks for stopping by!

REVIEW OF DANCE OF THE WINNEBAGOS

DANCE OF THE WINNEBAGOS

by Ann Charles

On assignment from her mother, Claire Morgan has the thankless job of keeping her grandfather, Harley Ford, out of trouble. He and his army buddies have been surfing the senior singles sites and convinced a group of potential lady-loves to meet them at the Dancing Winnebago RV Park in Jackrabbit Junction, Arizona for their annual reunion. Traveling with her grandfather and his beagle, Henry Ford, is no picnic. Both males snore, and Claire has learned way more than she ever wanted to know about her grandfather’s love life and medical problems on the trip from South Dakota.

 The RV park is owned by Ruby Martino, a widow and favorite of all the campers. Ruby hires Claire to help out in the park store, giving Claire a welcome break from her grandfather, his two  friends, their cigars, talk of women, and endless card games of Bid Euchre. She doesn't even mind the periodic tantrums of Ruby's rebellious teenaged daughter, Jess.

But Ruby is up against a bank deadline, fearing she will have to sell the land that surrounds the park to a mining company or go bankrupt. That’s why her geotechnician nephew, MacDonald “Mac” Garner comes from Tuscon for a three-week visit. He is determined to help his Aunt Ruby assess the mining company offer even if she is too proud to accept his offer of a cash loan. Mac vows to see his aunt nets every dime of the land's worth.

The ashes of Claire’s grandmother are scattered on that land, and Claire doesn’t want the site turned into a copper strip mine. She’s determined to help Ruby keep her acreage so mining excavations will never disturb the beautiful valley and ridges where grandmother’s ashes reside.

When Harley's dog digs up a bone that looks like a human femur, Claire wrestles it from the annoyed beagle. That bone is the beginning of a complicated mystery that throws Claire and Mac together, not that either minds, even though they disagree about the best results for Ruby. As the tension heats between Mac and Claire, they find themselves in the cross-hairs of the army threesome. Between her grandfather and his friends, Ruby, and Jess, Claire has given up on privacy. What can she do? As Mac says when the three buddies turn their interest in his direction, “Sometimes it's easier to drown than to fight the undercurrent.” But someone is determined to prevent Mac and Claire from investigating the mines--at any cost. I can’t tell you more without spoiling this terrific cozy mystery.

Ann Charles

Ann Charles' story is funny, engaging, and well crafted. It’s no wonder DANCE OF THE WINNEBAGOS was a 2005 finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Contest. I’m only surprised the book didn’t win first place. The book is available from Smashwords now. If you love mystery and humor, this is a book you’ll enjoy.

Please return on Monday when I tell you about another book you'll enjoy if you love history and/or historic mysteries.


Thanks for stopping by!