NEW MEN OF MERCY SERIES RELEASE -- RAVAGED RIVER BY LINDSAY CROSS

REVIEW OF RUSTLER'S MOON, THIRD IN THE RANSOM CANYON SERIES

Jodi Thomas is one of my favorite authors. I loved her western historical romances, her contemporary women’s fiction/mystery, FINDING MARY BLAINE, and her contemporary romances. RUSTLER’S MOON carries on in the great tradition of her other works.

If you’re wondering what a rustler’s moon is, here is the explanation straight from the book as told by Wilkes Wagner to Angela Harold:

As they reached the porch, he pointed to the sky. “See that quarter moon? That’s called a rustler’s moon. Enough light for rustlers to slip onto a ranch and steal cattle, but not so much that anyone on guard would see them clearly.”

She leaned back and stared up at the sky. “And what would you do, Wilkes, if you could move unseen beneath the rustler’s moon?”

"I might steal your heart, pretty lady,” he answered, halfway kidding.

She laughed. “Not likely.”

“Then I’d settle for a kiss.” The words were out before they’d passed through his mind.

RUSTLER’S MOON is primarily the story of Angela Harold and Wilkes Wagner.

In Florida, Angela Harold’s father left her a cryptic note written minutes before he died. “Disappear,” he told her. She realized he’d been preparing her to leave for months. Accepting the job as curator of a small North Texas museum on the edge of Palo Duro Canyon, she immediately loads her car and heads for Crossroads, Texas. She can’t outrun trouble, and someone stalks her. She believes she has nothing of value and can’t imagine what the person can want—unless he intends to kill her.

Wilkes Wagner is the last of his family. His elderly great-uncle Vern nags him about marriage, but Wilkes is not certain he wants to marry. Vern is a bachelor who flirts with every woman he meets. Wilkes’ parents have no wish to live on the Devil’s Fork Ranch and have left Wilkes in charge of the ranch—and Uncle Vern. Wilkes loves the ranch and his uncle, but lately he’s feeling restless and as if he’s missing something.

Like all Jodi Thomas books, there are numerous subplots running through the story. Yancy Grey is inexplicably drawn to the supposedly haunted Gypsy House. Carter Mayes searches the canyon for the cave with prehistoric drawings he saw as a child. Lauren Brigman wants more closeness from Lucas Reyes. All of the threads running through the book are woven into a lovely tapestry that will delight you. You’ll long to move to the small, close-knit town of Crossroads, Texas near the characters you’ve come to love.

Although each of the books of the Ransom Canyon Series stands alone, I hope you’ll do yourself the favor of reading the two previous novels in the series, WINTER CAMP is the historical adventure/romance about the founding of the town. RANSOM CANYON is the first contemporary of the series.

The RUSTLER’S MOON buy link at Amazon is http://amzn.com/0373788622

Jodi Thomas, Author

Jodi Thomas is a fifth generation Texan who chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A former teacher, Thomas traces the beginning of her storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were young and impressionable. 

She has won many awards available to romance authors, including receiving the Romance Writers of America RITA award four times and being inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame. (The RITA is the romance industry equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscar.) In addition, she is a USA Today and NY Times bestselling author.

With a degree in Family Studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics.  Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A & M University campus at Canyon, where she currently serves as Writer In Residence.

Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas said, "When I was teaching classes full time, I thought I was making the world a better place. Now I think of a teacher, or nurse, or mother settling back and relaxing with one of my books. I want to take her away on an adventure that will entertain her. Maybe, in a small way, I’m still making the world a better place."

For more information, please check Jodi’s website at www.jodithomas.com. fif

HOW TO MARRY YOUR WIFE #MARRYBLAST @stellamariealde

Don't miss Stella Marie's giveaway!

Will the treacherous journey split them asunder forever?

Genre: Medieval Romance

Publication Date: November 18, 2015

What foul devilry is this? They told her he was dead. After six long years without a word, her knight falls onto his knees and sings poetry. Then he denies their son? Heed this well. She’s no longer an innocent who’ll giggle and tarry on his every word. The sharp edge of her tongue and knife is the only welcome he’ll get. She’ll not marry him. The pain would be too much to bear should he ever leave again.

Her attitude is beyond understanding. What voice did he have? The king commanded and he obeyed. Regardless of her hatred, the Templar knight weds. This time she will travel with him and he will win back her favor. It’s a long road from London to Hadrian’s Wall. Evil deeds weave a plot laced with castles, kidnappings, and missives. Will the treacherous journey split them asunder forever? Mayhap only in heaven will he rekindle the passion they once shared.

Amazon

GoodReads

HOW TO MARRY YOUR WIFE Excerpt:

“My lord, your castle awaits to the north and your relatives may be held captive. We must turn back.” The words were spoken by Harold-the-Younger who would be forgiven, just this once, for his impertinence.

“And my wife is missing. Thank you for stating the obvious. If you can’t be more helpful, I suggest your mouth be best used for taking in breath.”

Jacob pointed down the river. “There. What’s that?”

Thomas’ heart sank. A flat bottomed boat lay bobbing upside down against the bank of the river. A woman’s body lay beside it in a pool of blood. He swallowed hard and dug spurs into Demon’s side. His charger tossed his head, snorted, and veered, but Thomas gained control and raced toward the grisly scene.

A dog chewed at a headless mass of flesh and snarled. He kicked the animal away, squatted, and cursed. Pieces of Merry’s bloodied tunic twisted among the innards. He dropped to his knees and shouted with first raised into the air. “Be ye damned forever.” Part of the curse was for whoever had just killed her, the other for God, and lastly for himself.

Assessing the gore was the hardest thing he’d ever done. What was left of the flesh had the length and breadth of his wife. One arm was cleaved at the wrist. His soul refused to acknowledge the scene in front of his eyes and he refused to mourn. Not yet. He’d find the bastard who’d done this to her, cleave him in to small bits, and let the vultures feed.

A horse whinnied behind him and Jacob’s flat voice spoke, “The head is gone.”

“Let me be. I’ll bury her. Alone.” He gathered stones and placed them beside the body.

“It’s way too opportune that the poor woman’s head and hand are missing. I smell a ruse.”

The blackness that threatened to devour his soul wouldn’t let in one ray of hope. “Do as you will. I’ll bury what’s left of her.”

Thomas scoured the flood plain for a sign of her. Was it possible? Crows circled above, but other than that, the land lay bare. All signs and tracks around the body had been swept away. The coward was clever. About a mile beyond, a forest loomed. Perhaps the woman-slayer trembled there.

Having no shovel, but many a stone, Thomas moved the body parts to a central area and covered them. With none to watch, tears came unbidden as he placed the last round stone atop what was left of her body. He gasped for air, knowing not how to go on, but knowing he must for his little son.

“What say you, lass? You were right. Better that I should’ve stayed dead.”

Memories, detecting the flaw in his mail, attacked without mercy. Six years ago, he’d spied her across the room with the devil in her eyes. She’d smiled boldly at him and giggled with her friends. The first time they’d sat together at table, he’d fed her like a baby bird and cut her food. All in the great dining room watched, knowing that in the doing so he’d claimed her.

He recalled that fateful night, when they’d hand-fasted before God. She’d begged him to take her and he’d been too weak to resist completely. He’d promised to come back after trading in London and marry her. How was he to know that Marcus would send him abroad at the king’s request? His soul howled, never to be consoled again.

He sobbed, falling upon his knees, with his hands covering his face. Forgive me. He’d loved with her that night as much as he’d dared. So beautiful her lovely sighs, so bountiful her breasts. She’d opened her legs and accepted his hand until she’d come undone. Mayhap a holier man could have resisted her offerings, but oh no, not him. Nay. He took all but her virginity and remembered how sweet the agony to spew his seed between her legs.

He allowed one more moment of self-pity, planted the final rock upon her grave, and squeezed his eyes as they burned. He apologized for his blasphemy and prayed God to take his angel into heaven and allow him to meet her there anon. First, he would seek revenge and see to the welfare of his son.

His eyes popped open when the grasses rustled in front of him and the ground opened up. A muddy black demon arose with shiny eyes and yellow teeth. Grinning, it exited the hole with a most ordinary sword held high. Then there was naught, but darkness.

BUY:  http://www.amazon.com/Marry-Your-Stella-Marie-Alden-ebook/dp/B017KPHKVO

I love Yoga, Zumba, and DIY house projects. My latest fun toy is a tile cutter. Wheee. What else can I tile?

I grew up in New England, in Vermont and have always enjoyed making up stories. When I was a kid, nothing was sacred. Crayons would fight other crayons for placement in the box. Street lamps, when they lost their bulbs, would cry. Needless to say, I still have an active imagination.

I love traveling. I'm one of those people that all other travelers hate. I lay back, when the plane takes off, and awake when the plane touches down. 

I have two grown daughters, one lives in Brooklyn and one in Rome. My husband  loves to edit my work, and my two cats jump on my keyboard when I'm not watching. Blame them if you see typos.

Cheers and thanks for reading.

Website  |  Facebook  | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest | InstaGram

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Blast Info


Title: How to Marry Your Wife
Author: Stella Marie Alden
Publication Date: November 18, 2015
Genre: Medieval Romance

Synopsis
What foul devilry is this? They told her he was dead. After six long years without a word, her knight falls onto his knees and sings poetry. Then he denies their son? Heed this well. She’s no longer an innocent who’ll giggle and tarry on his every word. The sharp edge of her tongue and knife is the only welcome he’ll get. She’ll not marry him. The pain would be too much to bear should he ever leave again.

Her attitude is beyond understanding. What voice did he have? The king commanded and he obeyed. Regardless of her hatred, the Templar knight weds. This time she will travel with him and he will win back her favor. It’s a long road from London to Hadrian’s Wall. Evil deeds weave a plot laced with castles, kidnappings, and missives. Will the treacherous journey split them asunder forever? Mayhap only in heaven will he rekindle the passion they once shared.


Amazon | GoodReads






Author Bio
I love Yoga, Zumba, and DIY house projects. My latest fun toy is a tile cutter. Wheee. What else can I tile?

I grew up in New England, in Vermont and have always enjoyed making up stories. When I was a kid, nothing was sacred. Crayons would fight other crayons for placement in the box. Street lamps, when they lost their bulbs, would cry. Needless to say, I still have an active imagination.

I love traveling. I'm one of those people that all other travelers hate. I lay back, when the plane takes off, and awake when the plane touches down.

I have two grown daughters, one lives in Brooklyn and one in Rome. My husband loves to edit my work, and my two cats jump on my keyboard when I'm not watching. Blame them if you see typos.

Cheers and thanks for reading.


Social Media Links


Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest | InstaGram






Giveaway: There is a giveaway for this blast. Twenty (20) swag magnet/card sets. Giveaway ends 2/5. Void where prohibited. Code is provided below.


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SULLIVAN'S ISLAND PARANORMAL SOCIETY SERIES BY ROBIN MURPHY

MASTERPIECE TRILOGY IS A THREE-BOOK SERIAL OF TRIUMPH, MYSTERY, AND ROMANCE

INFINITE COMPLETION BY MICHELLE DENNIS

SIMMER AND SMOKE: A SOUTHERN TALE OF GRIT AND SPICE!

Simmer and Smoke: A Southern Tale of Grit and Spice

by Peggy Lampman

Peggy Lampman will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

GENRE:  women's contemporary fiction

SIMMER AND SMOKE Blurb:

A single mother who dreams of becoming a chef.

A food writer who just lost the love of her life.

Two women discover what's worth fighting for in this deliciously rendered novel that illuminates the power of food, love, friendship and family on the human heart


1. ASSEMBLE INGREDIENTS:

Shelby Preston--a young, single mother trapped in a hardscrabble life in rural Georgia--escapes her reality as she fantasizes herself a respected chef in a kitchen of gleaming stainless steel and pans shimmering with heat. Mallory Lakes--an Atlanta newspaper food writer--may lose her job, and searches for her muse in a shot glass of illusion. 

2. SIMMER:

Mallory secures her job by crafting a zealous doppelgänger to satisfy the expectations of an illusive cyber audience. This also mollifies the memories of her lover who recently bolted; no warning. Shelby persuades her mother to take care of her daughter so she can pursue her dream of going to chef school in Atlanta. She cooks them a special dinner said to bring good luck; Lord knows her family could use a pot of something good. 

3. SMOKE:

Chasing desires and ambitions, the women's lives unravel down a path beyond the kitchen, then weave together in an unsettling culinary landscape of organic farms and shadowy borders--some borders not meant to be crossed. As Mallory combats her demons with booze and pills, and Shelby battles the odds stacked against her for becoming a chef, the women discover what's really worth fighting for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SIMMER AND SMOKE Excerpt:

Mallory

Memos from the edge, self-help hieroglyphics, throwaway lines galloping off paper, most of them unfinished. These are the words I should have said to Cooper the day he left, bade farewell, adios, arrivederci—however you say goodbye. Itchy, my dearest friend, is returning a platter and will ignore them, assuming they are recipe scribbles. But if these tourniquets had a voice, their banshee wail would rant, rage and scream, shaking the foundations of Atlanta.

    

Dearest Cooper. What a splendid feast you made of me. A sprinkle of salt, a grind of pepper, you chewed me up then spit me out. Was I that abhorrent?

              

Visceral, grisly, teeth-gnashing words; much better script. I write, post, then return to my cutting board. Chopping furiously, I collect, examine, and discard words much too ordinary to assuage my grief. Words...words...I need more words; what words can I write that will ease the pain of what you’ve done?

   

Author Peggy Lampman

Peggy Lampman was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in communications, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter and photographer for Hill and Knowlton, a public relations firm. She moved back to Ann Arbor, her college town, and opened up a specialty foods store, The Back Alley Gourmet. After selling the business, she wrote under a weekly food byline in The Ann Arbor News and MLive. This is her first novel.

Amazon Buy Link

http://www.amazon.com/Simmer-Smoke-Southern-Tale-Spice-ebook/dp/B0128KSSLW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1447022165&sr=1-1

Goodreads Link

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25826817-simmer-and-smoke?from_search=true&search_version=service_impr

Author Page

http://dinnerfeed.com/simmer-and-smoke-a-culinary-tale/

Blog

http://dinnerfeed.com

***Peggy Lampman has granted an interview that I think you’ll enjoy.

If you have additional photos that illustrate something about the questions or your excerpt, please include them.

Peggy: I’ve created a slideshow of photographs I’ve taken that inspired my book. Please scroll down to the bottom of my author page for a colorful journey:

http://dinnerfeed.com/simmer-and-smoke-a-culinary-tale/

Where did you grow up?

Peggy: I grew up in Birmingham Alabama and had two younger brothers. I was considered “off-beat and creative” when I was growing up. Our country was emerging from the Civil Rights era and Birmingham was famous for radical racism that sickened my teenaged soul. My main priority, after graduating high school, therefore, was getting the hell out of Dodge. (What a shock to discover racism was not singular to Alabama!) I graduated from the University of Michigan, lived in Manhattan, then returned to Ann Arbor, my college town. I am married to my second husband and have 2 children and 3 stepchildren.

Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

Peggy: Literary Fiction, particularly fiction set in the American South. Think Sue Monk Kidd and Pat Conroy. I also love Ann Patchett and Donna Tart. My favorite memoir is Patty Smith’s JUST KIDS. I tend to gravitate to women writers, but I just finished PURITY, by Jonathan Frazen. It’s filled with psychotic twists and turns; esp. loved the quirky mother-daughter relationship.

I also love books by Sue Monk Kidd and Pat Conroy. What’s your favorite way to relax and recharge? Hobbies?

Peggy: Cooking, writing and taking photographs, just like one of my protagonists, Mallory.  Love to settle in with a great book. Also I’m an avid hiker and I practice yoga. I travel as much as finances will allow.

Do you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about life?

Peggy: “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” E.B. White

How long have you been writing?

Peggy: I always imagined that one day I would write a novel. I bought my first diary when I was thirteen; white leather, gold embossing and a little lock. I still have it and it’s choking with pubescent angst and boy-crazed passions. Strangely and contradictory to the previous sentence, I also thought I might want to be a nun. Writing was as cathartic to me then as it is to me now.

Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music, solitude? PC or laptop?

Peggy: I prefer writing on my porch overlooking Lake Michigan. Aside from lapping water, I need silence, but silence can be an illusive lover. I prefer working on my laptop.

Are you a plotter or a panzer?

Peggy: I’m a plotter. Occasionally I let the story rip and ride, seatbelt unbuckled, but I prefer using a road map.

Road map for me, too. Do you use real events or persons in your stories or as an inspiration for stories?

Peggy: Yes. Real events; twisted, tortured and exaggerated. Real people; twisted, tortured and exaggerated.

Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number of chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?

Peggy: Yes, absolutely. I am goal-oriented. Now that I am working on my second book in the series, my goal is to write 2000 CLEAN words a week. The holiday season derailed me.

The holidays derailed most of us! What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

Peggy: Empathy and tolerance, and most certainly, an engaging ride of a read.

What long-term plans do you have for your career?

Peggy: To write until I kick the bucket, at the very least completing my Squash Blossom Trilogy within the next 3 years.

Would you like to tell us what you’re working on now?

Peggy: My second book in the series: WHERE THERE’S SMOKE.

What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

Peggy:

1. Write the best book you can possibly write.

2. Have your book professionally edited at least twice.

3. Rewrite your book, if necessary.

4. Write a damn good query and try to find an agent.

5. If you can’t get an agent, find the best cover designer your purse can afford.

6. Self-publish and promote the hell out of it.

Share a fun fact readers wouldn’t know about you.

Peggy: I write and perform country/western songs and sing them to my family and friends (after several adult beverages). Whamme Whynot is my stage name (-:

Funny! Share something about you that would surprise or shock readers.

Peggy: I was Lilly-Belle in a previous life. (You’d have to read my book.)

Is your book a series? If so, how long?

Peggy: It’s the first book in the Squash Blossom Trilogy.

Can you give readers a blurb about your book?

Peggy:

Mallory Lakes - attractive, witty, a food columnist for the Atlanta Sun - was born with a silver spoon. Shelby Preston – 24, a single mother from Coryville – was born with anything but. The Georgia women, however, share a passion for cooking.

Ambitious Shelby is inspired by Mallory’s column. Consumed with desire for a better life for her and her daughter, Miss Ann, she gets a job at Grasso’s, an upscale Atlanta grocery store, which reimburses for chef school. She makes the gut-wrenching decision to go it alone at first, leaving Miss Ann with her grandmother.

Mallory, 38, seems to have it all. Not quite. The thing she wants most is her boyfriend back. Problems escalate when the Sun makes a print to digital conversion; layoffs follow. She keeps her job by crafting a cyber-doppelgänger. Happiness is short-lived when she sees Cooper, her ex, dancing with a beauty. She retaliates in her usual self-destructive fashion. She gets wasted, sleeps with a stranger.

Picking herself up, she redirects energy into Farm-to-Table advocacy, a community-supported agricultural movement, documenting her purchase of a piglet scheduled for slaughter in the Fall. Her involvement leads to on-line fame, but not back to Cooper.

Shelby’s success is short-lived. The store’s staff is harassed by its despicable owner, Tony Grasso, and Miss Ann, still living away from her, develops relentless flu-like symptoms. The supportive deli manager invites Shelby into her off-hour world at Squash Blossom – a working, organic farm. She takes quick-learning Shelby to a wine tasting, also attended by Mallory. Driving home, Mallory hits a man on a bicycle. Shelby stops to assist. The accident, though not fatal, leads to the deportation of the man and his family. A distressed Mallory finds solace in the bottle and pills. Illusion is dangerous territory. She becomes her persona. She lives her blog…

How about an excerpt:

Peggy:

And it was more than his sincerity that trapped me in a snare; I’ve never before witnessed a more alluring arrangement of attributes on a man. With his killer smile and glossy black hair, Cooper smells of cedar and fresh-cut lemons. Green-eyed, cardigan-clad, Irish-witted Cooper is as irresistible to me as plumb seared scallops on a bed of truffle risotto, washed down with a Burgundian Chardonnay. Gentle, understated, smoldering and hot—testosterone in a teacup—he is one beauty of a man.

Where can readers find your books?

 http://www.amazon.com/Simmer-Smoke-Southern-Tale-Spice-ebook/dp/B0128KSSLW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

How can readers learn more about you?

http://dinnerfeed.com  

http://dinnerfeed.com/simmer-and-smoke-a-culinary-tale/  

http://www.amazon.com/Peggy- Lampman/e/B010KRNUX6/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

https://www.facebook.com/dinnerfeed

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you?

Peggy: I am an adventurous eater. I can’t stand, however, canned green peas or eggs that are cooked sunny-side-up. If a friend served me one of these foods, however, I would eat it (silently gagging) with a smile. My mother raised me well (-:

Thank you for inviting me to your blog. I am continuously updating my food blog and author page. I would love hearing from you @  www.dinnerfeed.com

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CAPTURING GABRIEL IS A PARANORMAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Capturing Gabriel is book three in Lyn Horner’s Romancing the Guardians series. Staged mainly in the mountains of Colombia, this book is a modern-day western South American style. Spiced with steamy romance, the story stars a leading man with a surprising Superhero power.

Review Excerpt:

“Capturing Gabriel by Lyn Horner is part romance, part action, part paranormal and 100% entertainment as she creates a hard scrabble world and brings two souls together at a most inconvenient time! …Definitely not heavy or dark reading, this has heat, tension and a great author behind a wonderful plot!” --Dianne Bylo, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer

CAPTURING GABRIEL Blurb:

What’s a handsome Colombian psychic with super-hero-power to do with a spirited Navajo beauty who invades his territory? Why, kidnap her of course.

Chopper pilot Josie Tseda served in Afghanistan. She can take care of herself. But when she vows to find Gabriel Valdez, a Guardian of Danu, and deliver him to a gathering of Guardians, she’s in for a rough ride. She didn’t count on ending up his prisoner – or on falling for him.

Battling vicious drug lords and seeking revenge for his mother’s murder, Gabriel doesn’t trust the feisty American female who wants to fly him off to the U.S. Yet, he can’t help wanting her. Will he allow her to capture his heart or will the secret power he wields ultimately drive her away?

CAPTURING GABRIEL Excerpt:

“What are you doing?”

“Is it not obvious? I am releasing you.” He didn’t bother looking up as he spoke. Finished freeing her numb left foot, he walked around the mule and untied her right foot then reached to free her hands.

“Now what?” she asked as the last rope fell away.

His lips crooked into a half-smile. “Now you step down, Señorita Tseda.”

Josie frowned. “I can’t. My hands and feet are numb from being tied so tight.”

He glowered at Javier, who sat silently observing, and reprimanded him for binding her too tightly. The other man lowered his head and muttered a reply.

Valdez turned his attention back to Josie. “Javier should have been careful not to cut off your circulation. Perhaps if you had not fought so hard –”

“Hey! You’d fight too, if somebody tried to hogtie you.”

Arching black eyebrows, he said, “I do not know this hogtie and I think I do not wish to know. Come down now. I will help you.” He grasped her by the waist and lifted her off the mule, trying to be gentle, she could tell, but even so she uttered a strangled cry and collapsed against him. Her feet and hands tingled painfully with the returning flow of blood, but what really hurt was the raw flesh along her inner thighs and private places. Pride was the only thing that prevented her from whimpering like a child.

Valdez scooped her up, drawing a surprised gasp from her lips. He issued an order to his men and they dismounted while he carried her to a spot at the side of the trail. Pausing, he called to Berto and added a few curt words. A moment later the young man trotted over with a folded blanket and laid it on the ground where his boss indicated.

Josie didn’t know exactly when her arms had circled Valdez’s neck, but she was very aware of his male scent and the hard wall of his chest against her side. When he lowered her onto the blanket, she experienced a sense of loss as he separated from her.

Crazy woman! He’s an arrogant bully who kidnapped you. You can’t let yourself feel anything but anger toward him.

He stood and walked to his horse, returning shortly with a canteen. Uncapping it, he bent and handed it to her. She nodded, disturbed by her unwanted reaction to him and unable to speak. Leaving her to rest and drink her fill, he sauntered over to the other men, several of whom had taken the opportunity to sprawl in the shade.

Covertly watching him from beneath the screen of her lashes, Josie couldn’t help admiring his tall, sinewy build and fluid grace. He sat near Javier and Berto, leaning against the trunk of a convenient palm tree with his long legs crossed at the ankles. Removing his hat, he raked a hand through his rumpled black hair and replaced the hat. He carried on a casual conversation in Spanish with his companions and laughed at some comment from Javier that made Berto scowl and turn red, plainly embarrassed.

Javier slung his burly arm around the young man’s head, knocking his hat off, and ruffled his hair. At that point, Josie noticed a resemblance between the two and it dawned on her that they were likely father and son. She might have seen it before if she hadn’t been so wrapped up in her alarming situation . . . and in ogling their leader, she admitted.

Valdez only allowed them a few minutes’ rest. As the men mounted up, he strode over to where she sat. Wondering how she was going to survive the rest of the day in the saddle, she struggled to her feet and bent stiffly to retrieve the blanket.

“Let me have that,” Valdez said, taking the blanket from her. “Come, I will make you as comfortable as possible.” He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. When she hesitantly placed her much smaller hand in his, he didn’t lead her to the mule, her beast of torture. Instead, he steered her toward his sleek bay gelding, which looked to be at least sixteen hands high.

“Wait, I can’t ride him,” Josie said, hanging back, trying to tug her hand free. “He’s too tall.”

Chuckling, he refused to let go. “Do not worry, señorita, I will not let you fall off Cezar’s back.”

“What? Are you saying I’m to ride with you?” She shook her head in disbelief.

“That is precisely what I am saying. It will be far more comfortable for you than bumping along on that wretched creature.” He tilted his head toward the mule. “Do you not think so?”

“No! I don’t think any such thing. I’m not riding with you.” She tossed her head indignantly and stuck out her hand. “Give me the blanket. I’ll pad my saddle with it and I’ll be fine.”

A muscle ticked along his square jaw. “You are stubborn and full of pride, but you will not win this battle, chiquita.”

Purchase or borrow on Kindle KU: Amazon

 

Lyn Horner, Author

Lyn Horner resides in Fort Worth, Texas – “Where the West Begins” – with her husband and several very spoiled cats. Trained in the visual arts, Lyn worked as a fashion illustrator and art instructor before she took up writing. She loves crafting passionate love stories, both historical and contemporary. Lyn also enjoys reading, gardening, visiting with family and friends, and cuddling her furry, four-legged children.

The author’s Texas Devlins series blends authentic Old West settings, steamy romance and a glimmer of the mysterious. This series has earned multiple awards and nominations, including Crowned Heart reviews and a Rone Award nomination from InD’Tale Magazine.

Lyn is now hard at work on her romantic suspense series, Romancing the Guardians. These books combine her trademark flashes of psychic phenomena with Irish folklore and a chilling apocalyptic theme. Along the way, readers are treated to thunderous action, terrifying suspense and sizzling romance.

Find all Lyn’s books here: Amazon Author Page

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