by Sarah | Feb 12, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Excerpt, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo
Blurb
”You had your chance, and you threw it away…“
Five years ago, Jen woke up with a ring on her finger and her fiancé nowhere to be found. She swore she’d gotten over the betrayal, but when Clay unexpectedly hires on with the rodeo for a week, she finds herself torn between passion and regret.
Clay left intending never to see Jen again. He’s been running from his troubled past for far too long, and it’s not a life he wants for her. But it’s hard to run from the past when the past is your own family, and Clay finds himself thrown back into the chaos he thought he’d finally left behind.
Will the truth drive Jen away, or is there a second chance at happily ever after for this runaway cowboy?
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/01/runaway-cowboy-by-tj-kline.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23587127-runaway-cowboy?from_search=true
*~*
Author Info
T. J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and rodeo queen competitions since the age of 14, She has thorough knowledge of the sport as well as the culture involved. She has had several articles about rodeo published in the past in small periodicals as well as a more recent how-to article for RevWriter. She is also an avid reader and book reviewer for both Tyndale and Multnomah.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Rafflecopter Giveaway
(Digital Bundle Including: RODEO QUEEN,
THE COWBOY & THE ANGEL
and LEARNING THE ROPES)
ENTER RAFFLECOPTER CODE HERE
Excerpt
“Mind if I get a refill?”
Jennifer rolled her eyes at Clay but slid the pitcher toward him. “Be my guest.” She turned to leave. The less time she spent near him, the easier it would be to get through the next week.
“Do you realize everyone is making bets on how long it will take before you slap me?”
She arched a brow at him and leaned her hip against the table. “Really? Who has five minutes?”
“I think that would be me.” A smile curved his lips. It made him look younger and less cynical. He was always so damn handsome when he smiled.
She forced herself to look away, busying herself with shifting the food on the table and stacking empty bowls. “Then I’ll wait a few more minutes so someone I like wins the money.” She gripped the edge of a half-empty bowl of potato salad.
He tried to hide the frown that furrowed his brow and turned his lips down again. It only lasted a second before he grinned and shot a glance at her brothers, still seated near Mike’s trailer. “Come on, Jen. How can you say you don’t like me?” He moved a step closer to her, his fingers toying at the side of the bowl, over hers.
Her gaze bounced from their hands to his green eyes. “It’s real easy. I. Don’t. Like. You.” She made sure to enunciate every word. Why couldn’t he get the hint? She didn’t want anything to do with him, not now, not ever again.
Jen pulled her hand from under his, but he took a step closer, his gaze holding her own. “You used to be friendlier,” he pointed out.
“And you used to be charming.”
Clay straightened his shoulders and took another step toward her as she backed away. “I’m still charming, with people who aren’t antagonistic.”
How dare he insinuate that she was being antagonistic? Okay, well, maybe she was, but he deserved every bit of resentment she directed at him. The man left her lying in his bed after proposing and never gave her any explanation for his departure. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before she allowed a sweet smile to curve her lips.
“I’m so sorry, Clay. I didn’t mean to be so hostile.” She reached again for the potato salad. “You’re right, I used to be friendlier. Let’s start again. I’m Jen,” she said, thrusting her right hand out.
He eyed her suspiciously but took the bait, curling his fingers around her hand. “I’m Clay. Jen, do you realize you have the most amazing eyes?” He flirted with her.
“Thank you.” She gave him her most engaging smile and leaned toward him. “Tell me, Clay, who had the bet that I’d dump potato salad on your head?”
“What?”
He barely opened his mouth before she upended the plastic bowl over him. Bits of mayonnaise, carrots, and potatoes dripped down his face, and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing out loud as she quickly moved from his reach. Clay swiped at the mess on his face, flinging it from his hands to the ground. She heard the laughter from her brothers behind her and looked over at them.
“Next time, don’t make bets about me.” She shoved the bowl into Clay’s chest. “And the three of you can clean up this mess. I’m leaving.”
by Sarah | Feb 11, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes | iTunes | Kobo
Blurb
The South sizzles in New York Times bestselling author Beverly Barton’s sultry tale of a woman torn between two brothers…
Mary Beth Caine has always been the good girl in her small Mississippi town. But when a big, protective, shamelessly sexy stranger offers to console her on the night of her disastrous engagement party, Mary Beth lets him—only to discover that Parr Weston also happens to be the older brother of her fiancé, Bobby Joe.
Parr left Mississippi after years spent holding his family together. Now that he’s back, he can’t steal Bobby Joe’s woman, and he sure can’t offer Mary Beth the tidy happily-ever-after she deserves. But everything about the petite beauty—from her flame-gold hair to her artless sensuality—makes him crave her more. Love or lust, right or wrong, all he knows is that nothing has ever felt like this before, and walking away will be the hardest thing he’s ever had to do…
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/12/just-way-you-are-by-beverly-barton.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22043086-just-the-way-you-are?from_search=true
*~*
Author Info
Beverly Barton was an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including Silent Killer, Cold Hearted, The Murder Game and Close Enough To Kill. Readers can visit her website at www.beverlybarton.com
Author Links: Twitter | Goodreads
Rafflecopter Giveaway (3 print copies of Just the Way You Are)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by Sarah | Feb 11, 2015 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Cystic Fibrosis, Disney, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Special Needs
I can’t predict how many posts this is going to take over the next few months, so I’m not even going to try. Instead, I’m just going to let our story unfold. Some posts will be on one moment in time, a brief ten or twenty moments in time that impacted us too deeply to be buried with the other notes of our story.
The story of how we ended up where we did was both long and then very short. Short of it is after not being approved two years ago we were contacted by Make-A-Wish in April, saying that Kennedy and Denver could both qualify now and to call them. After that it was a heartbeat later that the Wish volunteers were sitting in our living room getting the kids wishes.
Kennedy wished for Disney/Universal.
I don’t think any of us was prepared for the amazing that followed.
The first step toward our trip involved a party. We got to invite some friends and met at a local restaurant.
All three of the kids were treated to Disney delights. No child was left out in the preparations, and they all got gifts.
The biggest one of all was, of course, for Kennedy. That big giant package was an elaborate Princess Anna costume for Kennedy (pictures to come in another post).
We were able to sit and relax with friends, while the kids played with the bevy of toys they were given. The volunteers went over many things that my head couldn’t wrap around, and as I’ve said several times, we had no idea what we were in store for.
The party went on for several hours, and then we all went home. Kennedy was an ecstatic mess, and even though we still had a couple of weeks before we left, the impatience for the trip was mounting.
Of course, the kids were bouncing off the walls, and so was I, but I was also packing and planning and stressing (Oh but I didn’t need to…). Oh, and planning and packing and stressing a little more. Talking to other people I knew that had done Disney through Make-A-Wish who had glowing reports just like I do now after the fact.
And so…we prepared to go. Left the dog with my parents, my hard drive w/ a neighbor for protection, got the fridge emptied and the laundry done.
We were ready to take off!
(Part 2 soon!)
by Sarah | Feb 10, 2015 | 500k, Books, Challenge, Goals, Writing
Last year I set some pretty lofty goals for myself, and I’m really happy with where I ended up. I wrote around 535,000 words, published 8 books, and received a contract for 7 more books this year. So while I didn’t reach my 600k goal for 2014, I’m very pleased with how my year went.
2015 has gotten off to a slow, yet super fast start for me. I’ve already had 2 books published with another due in a month (and 5 more at least expected this year, I’m hoping for 8 again, maybe 9). I’ve got some promo events coming up online, and plans to do more promo this year. Yet, I’ve written only 35,000 words so far.
So, I knew it was time to write out my goals and my plans for books to be written this year again. Writing everything down and keeping decent track last year really helped me move forward with my goals in 2014. Here’s hoping doing the same will let me really push off and get moving with 2015!
First, some overall goals to set the tone for the year…
- I’ve challenged myself to write 600,000 words in 2015.
- I will build my audience and work harder at promotion – including tours for my three series during the year.
- I will regain my focus.
- I will detail at least one of the new series I have listed to play with.
- I will decide by July if I’ll continue in Lake Point through 2016.
And next is my list of projects. Right now the list is “small” compared to last year. The list will grow once I work on figuring out what other series I will work on/develop this year. The books in ORANGE are current works-in-progress.
- Free Falling (Holidays in Lake Point 10) – 30k (2,108 done)
- Love for Hire (Holidays in Lake Point 11) – 30k
- Haunted Hearts (Holidays in Lake Point 12) – 30k
- Mistletoe Mixup (Holidays in Lake Point 13) – 30k
- Into a Mirror Darkly (Morgana Chronicles 1) – 100k (~10k done)
- Natural Selection – 40k (27,103 done)
- Switchback (Dominion Falls 6) – 100k
- Dead Man’s Switch (Dominion Falls 7) – 100k
- The Virgin Madam (Dominion Falls 5.5) – 20k (This one is possible, but not definite)
- The Raven (The Tribe #4) – 85k
- The Child (The Tribe #5) – 85k
- Escaping Humanity (Co-authoring w/ Mary Terrani) – 100k (22k done)
I’m not taking it easy on myself this year. I am working on getting more promo out and working the lines, but I still want to get my words. My current goal is to get all of my Lake Point books done early in the year so I can work on everything else without deadlines looming over my head. I’d really like to get the first two books on this list done before the end of February, and the last two by March. Fingers crossed!
by Sarah | Feb 9, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes | iTunes | Kobo
Blurb
The risks ex-cop Sam Petrie has taken have turned his life into a train wreck. So he has nothing to lose by doubling down as the elusive Svetlana Ardova’s unwanted bodyguard on a potentially deadly trip to Italy.
Ever since the McClouds rescued Sveti from certain death, her crusade against modern slavery has blazoned a bulls-eye on her chest, but when one of the threats against her almost hits the mark, Sam’s protective instincts go into overdrive. Every lethal obstacle and trap they encounter ups the stakes—and the undeniable heat between them.
Now they’re spiraling in on a deadly and explosive secret—one that could either redeem them or destroy them . . . and the closer they get, the shorter the fuse . . .
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/12/in-for-kill-mcclouds-friends-11-by.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18758537-in-for-the-kill?from_search=true
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/41703-mcclouds-friends
Author Info
Shannon McKenna is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous romantic thrillers and several novellas. After a bizarre assortment of jobs, from singing cocktail waitress to medical secretary to strolling madrigal singer, she decided that writing hot romantic suspense suits her best. She lives with her husband and family in a small seaside town in southern Italy.
Write to Shannon at her website www.shannonmckenna.com
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Rafflecopter Giveaway (3 Print copies of IN FOR THE KILL)
GIVEAWAY CODE HERE
Blurb 
Author Info
