Celebrate with me! THE RANCHER’S PERFECT
BRIDE is up for pre-order and will release on Monday, June 25, from Amazon.
This is book 7 of the Loving a Rancher Series, a sweet western historical
romance. In this story, Zenobia Stanton wants to be the perfect mail-order bride
for Callum McFadden—if only she knew how to cook and clean! She’s a fast
learner, but has what I hope you’ll find are interesting encounters along the
way. The purchase link is http://a.co/5ORxMym.
The previous titles in this series were part of Debra
Holland’s Montana Sky Series for Kindle World. Because Amazon is dropping the
Kindle World program, the rights to these books (with Debra’s permission)
return to me on July 16. I will be republishing them as soon as possible after
that date. Of course, the names of Debra’s characters have been changed because
they belong to her. Now I'll be able to offer the books in print as well as e-books.
THE RANCHER'S PERFECT BRIDE Excerpt: (Zenobia is alone at the ranch on the fifth day of her marriage. The day before, Callum gave her shooting lessons.)
She saw the stocky man’s muscles
bunch and recognized he was going to jump up and lunge at her.
“Mister, you try to stand up and
I’ll shoot you.”
He raised his head and sent her a
lethal glare. “I’ll bet you don’t even know how to shoot. You look like that
there gun is getting too heavy for you.”
“If it does, I have a revolver in
my apron pocket. Would you prefer I shoot you with a revolver?”
The skinny man’s voice was an
unpleasant whine, “Don’t shoot us at all. You let us ride away and we won’t
bother you none.”
“As if I’d believe that. Thieves
like you two aren’t going to change your ways.” Where was Callum? He should
have come by now.
She took a step back and fired
three more into the air. When she did, the stocky man leaped to his feet. Her
fourth shot was at his feet.
He kept coming at her so she shot
at him, this time plugging his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise and he
stopped momentarily.
“I’ll teach you to fire at me.” He
called her horrid names.
The man recovered his momentum and
rushed at her. She shot him again, this time hitting his knee. He dropped to
the ground cursing and repeating what he would like to do to her.
His talk caused her knees to shake
but she couldn’t let him know. She scowled and pretended to regard him as
expendable. “If you’re of a mind to continue, I still have ammunition. When I
said ‘on the ground’, that’s what I meant.”
He continued calling her names and
cursing. “You shattered my knee. I’ll have the devil of a time walking after
this.”
“I didn’t ask you to come at me
and I have no sympathy for you.”
The sound of hoofbeats reassured
her. Callum and his hands rode into the yard at a gallop. When he stopped, he
was off his horse and running toward her.
The three ranch hands converged on
the two thieves.
Callum grabbed her shoulders and
searched her face. “Are you all right? What’s happened here?”
She set the rifle on the porch and
clung to his arms. “I’m okay but have never been so grateful to see anyone.
These two men didn’t know I was here. They waited until you and your men were
gone then rode in to steal hens and meat. They’re living in your old soddie.”
He pulled her into his arms.
“Zenobia, I’m sorry you had to confront them, but you held your own.”
She rested her head against his
strong chest. His accelerated heartbeat reflected his anxiety. “I thought I
would have to kill that stocky man. He was determined to reach me. The leering
way he looked at me scared me witless.”
She leaned close and spoke quietly,
“Callum… um, I have to tell you the truth. The first time I fired at him, I
intended to hit his boots and got his shoulder. The second time, I aimed at his
other shoulder and hit his knee. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t miss
entirely.”
He hugged her to him again. “Don’t tell
anyone. You’ll have a reputation now as a woman who can defend herself. Let’s
keep it our secret that you aren’t as good a shot as you’d like.”
“I don’t want to be tested again by the
likes of those two but I think I should practice more. If I’d missed him he
would have overpowered me.”
FREE SAMPLE BOOK
We always like something FREE, right? A sample of an
anthology I’m in is now available from most vendors at http://a.co/f0JZ1Rj.
MEDLEYS AND MUSINGS includes blurbs, excerpts, recipes, historical tidbits, and
bios from the nine authors in the upcoming UNDER A MULBERRY MOON western
historical anthology being released July 19. I’ve loved what I’ve read of these
stories so far and have found they offer a nice variety.
UPCOMING RELEASE NOW ON PRE-ORDER
You can pre-order UNDER A MULBERRY MOON now at http://a.co/dSvcFdc and it will magically appear on your e-reader on release day. Don't you love technology? (When it works, that is.) Authors included in the anthology are Zina Abbott, Patricia Carroll, Caroline Clemmons, Carra Copelin, Keta Diablo, P. A. Estelle, Cissie Patterson, Charlene Raddon, and Jacquie Rogers. Snap it up now at only 99 cents.
Thank you to all those who have purchased my books! I love writing but can only continue as long as I have readers. Thank you also to those who have left reviews. Reviews are helpful to authors as well as prospective readers.
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