Babs Hightower's Blog, page 72
February 2, 2016
CANCELLED VOWS Blog Tour, guest post, review and giveaway
Book Description for Cancelled Vows:
Police Chief David O’Callaghan and Chelsea Adams’ wedding day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, at the last minute, David discovers that there is one small problem to be taken care of before he can tie the knot—divorce his first wife!
Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too, rush to New York City to dissolve David’s marriage to an old girlfriend—and he’s got five days to get it done. When murder throws up a road block, it is up to David’s best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time!
Buy the book here: Amazon
My thoughts:
Mac has to have David go the New York and divorce his wife before they can get married. They don’t have much time to get this done. His fiancé is not talking to him and he can’t even remember getting married.
Things never go as planned for wedding or anything much anymore. A murder pops up to make the days to get the divorce even shorter. Can it be done?
The book is full of mystery, drama, humor and surprises. You won’t know where to turn or what to believe. A real page turner.
Sex and the Unmarried Male—It’s Complicated
By Lauren Carr
It used to be so much easier for male characters in books back fifty or so years ago.
Generally, in mystery, suspense, and thrillers, the sexual lifestyle of single men wasn’t talked about within the pages of the books. Readers were able to make assumptions based on the character’s marital status and social reputation.
Take a look at Nero Wolfe, Perry Mason, and any of the noted mysteries. if a respectable man was unmarried, then he would “court” a young woman with the prospect of marriage in mind. If she kissed him on the lips, it was considered a home run! If there were any women before his intended, it was usually because he made a mistake by getting mixed up with a conniving little witch—she was especially a witch if she permitted him to go beyond her lips.
Because good people never talked about those things and they were certainly not written about in respectable books—readers were free to assume that both the man and woman on their wedding day were virgins.
No one ever knew what was happening between Perry Mason and Della Street—thought readers loved to speculate. Why did we never see Della going on a date? And when Paul Drake went hunting down Perry after hours (back then they didn’t have cell phones, so he had to literally hunt him down) Perry and Della were always enjoying dinner in a nice romantic restaurant.
What’s up with that?
Really, when you look back at these mysteries from generations before, how much do we know about these detectives who have set the standard for today’s mysteries. What do we really know about Perry Mason? His relationships with women? Has some woman broken his heart and that’s why he can’t make a commitment to Della?
How about Nero Wolfe? Why is he a recluse? Does he have an pack of ex-wives hunting him down to pay back alimony?
And how about Ellery Queen? Why would a grown man—a successful novelist—still be living with his father?
While these cultural limitations of the time made relationships between men and women simpler—they also made our male protagonists men with less depth. In an effort to delve deeper into their protagonists, in recent years writers have been pushing the envelope—and the bedroom door open a crack—to give readers some insight into their detectives’ love lives and—as a result—offering some clues to what makes them tick.
With depth comes complicated relationships.
Readers of the Mac Faraday Mysteries will have noticed that Mac’s half-brother, Police Chief David O’Callaghan, has been through quite a few women during the course of the series. Yet, he is not a man who willingly plays games with women’s hearts.
As David explains in The Murders at Astaire Castle, the women with whom he becomes involved often strive for careers outside the small resort area of Deep Creek Lake. Once opportunity knocks, they leave and soon after their long-distance relationship ends. A pop psychologist would wonder why he continuously chooses women destined to leave him.
Could David O’Callaghan maybe have a few commitment issues? And, if so, should he even be thinking about marrying Chelsea Adams? Well, it is clear that David O’Callaghan wants to marry Chelsea Adams. Otherwise, why would he run off to New York City to divorce his first wife?
“Wait a minute,” I can hear readers of the Mac Faraday Mysteries asking, “what first wife? I didn’t even know David O’Callaghan was married.”
Neither did he.
It’s complicated. I assure you, Perry Mason would never get married without knowing it—or would he? After all, what do we really know about Perry?
David O’Callaghan is such a complex character because he grew up with Mac’s birth father. He was a witness to everything that Mac Faraday only read about in his birth mother’s journal about his parents’ love affair, which was years before Patrick O’Callghan had met David’s mother.
Going into Cancelled Vows, I wanted to explore more deeply how that troubled marriage affected David’s relationship with women.
How better to do that than to be forced to revisit an old girlfriend when it is discovered that he had married her via a drive-thru in Las Vegas? When David, Mac, and Gnarly go to New York to get the marriage dissolved, a murder sends David on the run from the police, during which he takes a hard look at his past and makes hard decisions about his future.
In the end—readers will never see David O’Callaghan in the same light again—neither will he.
I promise.
Author’s Bio:
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday and Lovers in Crime Mysteries and the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real live Gnarly!) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
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February 1, 2016
Release Blast for THE LAST RIDERS: FIRST FOUR VOTES by Jamie Begley & Giveaway
Enter to Win a
Print Set of The Last Riders Books 1-4
THE LAST RIDERS: FIRST FOUR VOTES
Razer’s Ride, Viper’s Run, Knox’s Stand & Shade’s Fall
Jamie Begley
Released Feb 1st, 2016
Young Ink Press
The Last Riders are a Motorcycle Club created by eight ex
Navy SEALS, that make no excuses for the life they have chosen to lead. These
men fight hard and f**k harder. Get your first four votes from Razer, Viper,
Knox and Shade.
Razer’s
Ride: Book One
Beth
Cornett is the town good girl, so staying out of the way of the motorcycle
club’s dangerous members was a no brainer. Unfortunately, she manages to catch
the eye of Razer, who has every intention of tempting her to take him on
despite her misgivings. When her worst fears are realized, she is left
heartbroken, determined to forget her walk on the wild side.
Razer was
not going to change for any woman, not even Beth. Their lifestyles were too
different; betrayed she ran. Realizing his mistake too late; she was not about
to forgive and forget. It takes a killer intent on targeting Beth to bring her
back to him and The Last Riders for protection. Razer may have learned his
lesson, but this time, as long as she is at the club, she has to play by their
rules.
Viper’s
Run: Book Two
Winter
Simmons received the surprise of her life when she discovered the man she
had been dating for the last two years was actually Viper, president
of the Last Riders. A high school principal, Winter has no intention of ruining
her reputation in the community to be with a man who betrayed her trust.
Unforgiving, she turns her back on him, only to find that Viper is not the
gentleman he portrayed.
Determined
to find his brother’s killer, Loker James kept his identity as President of The
Last Riders a secret from Winter. When the truth comes out, he is determined to
make her see the real man who can control not only a group of dangerous bikers,
but a woman whose life is a rulebook. Unable to prevent herself from being
drawn into the very club she despises, Winter is about to lose everything
important to her, unless Viper can prove she’s more than a moonlight
run.
Knox’s
Stand: Book Three
Knox, a
former Navy Seal, has been in several dangerous situations, but nothing
compares to dealing with Diamond Richards. Framed for murder, he needs the
passionless lawyer to prove his innocence. But when he no longer needs her
help, he’s going to show her the passion she’s capable of and walk away a free
man.Diamond plans on earning her huge fee to prove Knox is innocent, but she had no
idea the muscled biker could bring out the passion she kept hidden behind her
designer clothes. Trying to find a murderer is easier than dealing with The
Last Riders and Knox’s sexcapades. He’s going to find out there is one woman
worth standing and fighting for, despite his desire for freedom.
Shade’s
Fall: Book Four
Shade is
everything Lily doesn’t want in a man. He’s rude, obnoxious and he’s definitely
not a cowboy. The tattooed enforcer for The Last Riders is a mystery Lily
doesn’t want to solve. He’s too much for her to handle, especially with the
nightmares from her past constantly threatening her sanity.
Lily is
everything Shade wants in a woman. She’s sweet, kind and submissive. When she
discovers the truth about The Last Riders, it threatens to tear apart every
relationship within the club. Her rebellion causes the predatory instincts to
rise in the ex Navy SEAL sniper.
When The
Last Riders are threatened by another motorcycle club just as determined to
claim Lily, Shade is her only hope of surviving the approaching confrontation.
Could their passion be Shade’s downfall?
BUY NOW
Amazon | B&N
| iTunes | Kobo
“I was born in a small town in
Kentucky. My family began poor, but worked their way to owning a restaurant. My
mother was one of the best cooks I have ever known, and she instilled in all
her children the value of hard work, and education.
Taking after my mother, I’ve always
love to cook, and became pretty good if I do say so myself. I love to
experiment and my unfortunate family has suffered through many. They now have
learned to steer clear of those dishes. I absolutely love the holidays and my
family puts up with my zany decorations.
For now, my days are spent writing,
writing, and writing. I have two children who both graduated this year from
college. My daughter does my book covers, and my son just tries not to blush
when someone asks him about my books.
Currently I am writing five series of
books- The Last Riders, The VIP Room, Predators MC, Biker Bitches, and The Dark
Souls.
All my books are written for one
purpose- the enjoyment others find in them, and the expectations of my fans
that inspire me to give it my best.”
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
The post Release Blast for THE LAST RIDERS: FIRST FOUR VOTES by Jamie Begley & Giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
MURDER IN WHITE SANDS BOOK TOUR & GIVEAWAY
Murder in White Sands
by Marla Bradeen
Murder in White Sands
Cozy Mystery
Self Published
Paperback: 318 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1511578004
E-Book ASIN: B010VVQWFO
Synopsis
One dead body, one interrupted marriage proposal, and too many suspects to count.
On the night of her engagement, Rae Lynn Dobbs stumbles across a dead body on the beach of White Sands, Florida. Not only does she recognize the murder victim as one of the retirement-home residents where she serves dinner, but it looks increasingly likely that someone there also killed him.
To her fiancé’s dismay, Rae Lynn launches her own investigation. Between the gossipy widows, the home’s last surviving bachelor, and her coworkers, Rae Lynn doesn’t have any shortage of suspects. But the more she learns, the more it seems anyone could be guilty. And if she doesn’t find out “whodunit” quickly, her fiancé might just become fed up enough to leave.
About the Author
Marla Bradeen previously worked as a software consultant and analyst. In 2012, she gave up a traditional job for no other reason than to have more time to pursue personal interests, such as sleeping in late and taking naps. Although she misses seeing regular deposits into her bank account, she hasn’t once regretted that decision.
She didn’t initially intend to begin writing novels, but after several weeks of doing nothing, she realized sleeping all day isn’t as easy or enjoyable as her cats led her to believe. Over the ensuing months, she wrote Lethal Injection, which she self-published in 2013.
Join her readers’ group to receive a free copy of her cozy, chick-lit mystery novel Lost Witness
: http://hyperurl.co/rg2
Author Links:
Website: http://www.marlabradeen.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlabradeenauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marlabradeen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7192767.Marla_Bradeen
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010VVQWFO
Apple iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1018250464
Barnes & Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-in-white-sands-marla-bradeen/1122278885?ean=2940152211863
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9781513082417
Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/132b2c02-c639-49de-b574-41e25dc5dab0
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/556253
The post MURDER IN WHITE SANDS BOOK TOUR & GIVEAWAY appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
January 29, 2016
Release Blast for DESTROYED BY THE BAD BOY by Madison Collins
DESTROYED BY THE BAD BOY
Madison Collins
Releasing on January 29, 2016
Self-Published
This book contains two complete erotic romance novellas
with no cliffhangers.
Stranded …
On the way to our parents wedding in the mountains, the
mother of all snow storms attacks, leaving me stranded in a remote cabin with
my new stepbrother.
My hot as hell, I-need-to-change-my-panties
because-they’re-soaked, cocky asshole of a stepbrother, Bentley McAllister.
The kicker of it all?
The only items he’s packed are liquor and condoms, and
he’s looking at me like he wants to put both to good use.
My name is Sierra, and my libido can only take so much.
Send help!
Caged …
Two brothers…
One girl…
Rising stars in the cage fighting circuit, Cage and Tripp
Garrett are as close as two brothers can be. Fiercely competitive and
smoldering with intensity, neither has ever lost a fight. Until they face their
toughest opponent yet: Lily.
They both want her. But neither can have her. Lily is as
off-limits as they come. They make a pact that the tough-as-nails daughter of
their trainer will never come between them.
Until one of them begins to fall in love. Then all is
fair in love and war.
Caged is a sexy, fast-paced love story with a punch.
Warning: Contains adult language and sexual content.
BUY NOW
AMAZON
Madison Collins is the author of romantic
short stories such as Caged, Stranded with My Stepbrother and the upcoming
Monster Prick. She enjoys the occasional stiff cocktail, and watching romantic
comedies. Most days you can find her curled up with a good book. She currently
resides in New Jersey.
GoodReads
The post Release Blast for DESTROYED BY THE BAD BOY by Madison Collins appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
January 28, 2016
JODI THOMAS RETURNS WITH THE LATEST – RUSTLER’S MOON-Giveaway, Excerpt and Q&A
RUSTLER’S MOON
By New York Times Bestselling Author
Jodi Thomas
On a dirt road marked by haunting secrets, three strangers caught at life’s crossroads must decide what to sacrifice to protect their own agendas…and what they’re each willing to risk for love.
If there’s any place that can convince Angela Harrell to stop running, it’s Ransom Canyon. And if there’s any man who can reveal desires more deeply hidden than her every fear, it’s Wilkes Wagner. Beneath the rancher’s honorable exterior is something that just might keep her safe…or unwittingly put her in danger’s path.
With his dreams of leaving this small Texas town swallowed up by hard, dusty reality, all Wilkes has to show for his life is the Devil’s Fork Ranch. Though not one to let false hope seduce him, he can’t deny the quiet and cautious beauty who slips into his world and changes everything.
RUSTLER’S MOON
By Jodi Thomas
HQN Books; January 26, 2015
$7.99; 368 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-78862-0
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A fifth-generation Texan, JODI THOMAS sets the majority of her novels in her home state. 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, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence. When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, Tom, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo, and “checking up” on their two grown sons.
Chapter 2
Wilkes
Devil’s Fork Ranch
wilkes wAgner stAred at his aging uncle, wondering which of them had completely lost their mind. Common sense rarely ran in the Wagner family, but Great-Uncle Vern’s suggestion was ridiculous.
“I’ve given it some thought, and this is the only an- swer, boy,” the crippled-up old cowboy repeated as if Wilkes were ten and not thirty-two. “Look at it this way, we breed cattle, don’t we? Why not just pick out a woman with all the right traits and mate with her? It shouldn’t take but a few tries before we got at least one offspring to claim the next generation. And there’s a fifty-fifty chance we’ll get a boy on the first try.”
“You mean marry some woman, don’t you?” Wilkes was never sure when his uncle was kidding.
“Of course! There’s an order to these kinds of things. You’d need to marry her first, get her pregnant and wait for a son.” The old man lit a pipe that looked as if it might have survived the Battle of the Alamo. “Look on the bright side, half your life is about over anyway. If you’re miserable at marriage, the last thirty or forty years will seem to move slower with a mean woman
30
rustler’s moon
around the place and we’ll all work harder so we don’t come home early.”
Wilkes rolled his eyes. He needed another drink. Or better yet give Great-Uncle Vern a few more and with luck he’d pass out.
To humor the cowboy, Wilkes asked, “And what would those traits be that I’m looking for in this breeding-bride?” Vern smiled as if he’d won the argument. “Stout. You don’t want one of those skinny girls who only eats out of the garden. She’ll need to have a little meat on her bones. Ain’t nothing worse than trying to cuddle up to a skinny gal on a cold night. I did that once in Ama- rillo, and about midnight I decided driving home in a
snowstorm would be warmer.”
Wilkes grabbed a pen off the poker table and started
writing on the back of his Western Horseman maga- zine. Not skinny.
His uncle leaned back in an old rocker that had come to the Devil’s Fork Ranch in a covered wagon. “She’ll need to know how to cook and clean and sew, too, otherwise she’d be wearing out the road to town buy- ing takeout, hiring housekeepers and replacing clothes she’s lost a button on.”
“All that might be hard to find these days.” The only thing the four or five women Wilkes had stepped out with in the past six years could make for dinner was reservations. He considered them cooks if they knew how to use the microwave for popcorn.
His aging uncle wasn’t paying attention. He was busy thinking. “And she needs to be rich. Not just have money coming to her, mind, but already have it in the bank. You don’t want to count on her father liking you,
31
’cause if he don’t he might cut her out of the will. Then you’ll be stuck with a poor wife with rich habits.”
Rich. Wilkes scribbled.
“And dumb.” Uncle Vern lit his pipe. “Ain’t no smart girl ever going to marry you, even if you are good- looking. If she’s got much schooling, she’ll want to work at something or sit around and read all day.”
Wilkes had humored his old uncle long enough. Vern was the dumbest and the youngest of four children, and all his brothers and sisters claimed he’d been dropped on his head one time too many when he was a baby. He had lived on the Wagner family ranch all of his seventy- seven years. The rule was whoever ran the Devil’s Fork also had to keep an eye on Vern. Wilkes’s father and grandfather had done it, and now it was Wilkes’s turn. The few other relatives, who’d been smart enough to move to the city, never wanted to come back and take over the job.
This crazy idea Vern had tonight was the worst one yet.
Wilkes leaned forward until Vern’s whiskey-blurred eyes focused on him. “I’m real busy with the calving right now, uncle. Do you think you could keep a lookout for a possible wife? She shouldn’t be too hard to find. She’s chubby, eats beef and is rich and dumb. She’ll be wearing a homemade dress and probably have freshly made jam dripping down her chins. Oh, I forgot, she needs to be easy to impregnate, ’cause I won’t be vis- iting her often.” Wilkes fought down a laugh. “Only, that trait might be hard to prove on sight.”
Vern didn’t get the joke. He rocked back so far that the forward swing, a moment later, shoved him out of the chair and onto his wobbly legs. “I’ll do my best for
jodi tHomAs
32
rustler’s moon
you! I promise. Might go into Crossroads tomorrow and put up a few signs. I don’t think I’ve been to town since spring and the Franklin sisters always say they miss seeing me.”
Wilkes laughed. “You do that, Uncle Vern.”
The broken-down cowboy headed toward the mas- sive double doors of the ranch house muttering, “I hated to have this talk with you, son, but you ain’t getting no- where in the breeding department and ’fore you know it you’ll be past your prime or dead. Who’ll run the ranch? You had a gal once and let her go, so we got to act fast before you get any older and end up sleeping alone the rest of your life.”
Wilkes saw it then. The reason his uncle had insisted on drinking tonight and talking. He was afraid he’d outlive Wilkes and no one would take over Devil’s Fork. Vern had spent his life living on the ranch, never worrying about money or where his next meal was coming from. He’d hated school so much his mother had let him quit after the seventh grade. He loved working with horses, living alone and driving his pickup until the odometer circled twice. He was afraid of being left out here on his own.
Following his uncle to the porch, Wilkes watched Vern limp toward his cabin a hundred yards away. Light from the second-floor windows of the main house il- luminated the old man’s path. The massive home had been built fifty years ago to hold a dozen kids. It now held one. Wilkes.
Vern had watched his brother, Wilkes’s grandfather, take over the ranch. When he died, Wilkes’s father be- came the manager. Vern said all he wanted to do was cowboy. The job of boss wouldn’t suit him.
Uncle Vern had been around all of Wilkes’s life,
33
working cattle with the ranch hands, training horses with his father and eating supper every night at the fam- ily table in the big house. This life was all he knew. All he wanted to know.
Wilkes shook his head as his heart ached for Vern Wagner, who’d lived long enough to go from being Wilkes’s hero and teacher, to friend, to responsibil- ity. His uncle had taught him to ride, cussed him out when he left the pasture gate open and bought him fire- works every year, even when Wilkes’s mother said she wouldn’t allow them on the ranch. The old guy may have danced with a few girls in his day, but he had never married. He was loyal to the family, loyal to the Devil’s Fork brand.
Wilkes watched the lights flick on in Vern’s cabin. “I better start looking for a fat, rich wife so I can start breeding Vern’s next guardian angel,” he mumbled as he downed the last of his whiskey, knowing he was only half kidding. Then he climbed the stairs and slept in the second room off the upstairs landing. The first bedroom was bigger, the master, but when Wilkes had returned home to take over the ranch, he hadn’t felt as if he deserved the master suite. He still didn’t.
The next morning as he drove into town to pick up fencing supplies and eat breakfast with a friend, Wilkes thought about the conversation the night before. Vern was right about one thing. Wilkes had had a lady once. The perfect one. He’d loved Lexie Davis the minute he first saw her, chased her through high school and col- lege; but she’d never really been his. When he’d left for the army a month after they both graduated, she prom- ised she’d wait, and she had… Only, she’d counted her time in hours. Sixty-three days into his deployment,
jodi tHomAs
34
rustler’s moon
she’d written him one letter. It said simply she’d met someone else. She’d added five words below Love, Lexi: don’t bother to write back.
Wilkes told himself a hundred times that he was over her. Maybe not everyone was meant to find that forever love. Vern hadn’t. But something broke inside Wilkes the day Lexie walked out of his life and he feared he would never mend.
Hell. Vern was right. Maybe he should start thinking about finding a wife, but it wasn’t exactly a scavenger hunt. He should make a real list. It’d be pretty much the opposite of Vern’s. He liked long-legged women with midnight hair that dropped down to their waist and laughter dancing in their eyes. Women like Lexie.
Lexie, the woman he was over, Wilkes reminded himself.
While he waited for the supplies to be loaded, Wil- kes walked along the wide main street. The business district of Crossroads looked as if the stores must have been bought from a clearance rack. All different sizes, ages, styles. Nothing matched. Crossroads was a town more likely to be called quirky than quaint.
He noticed a few new stores since he’d last been in town. Businesses that had filled in where empty gaps had stood. Shiny as new teeth in an old mouth, he thought. The change made the little town look a bit more prosperous.
One empty hull had become the Forever Keepsake Shop. In his opinion, the only folks who bought knick- knacks to sit around gathering dust must be orphans, be- cause every time one of his relatives died, he inherited another crate of “treasured” family keepsakes. Some- times he wondered if his great-great-grandparents had
35
hauled their junk from the old country to Texas in a wagon train and not just one wagon. All the old trunks and lanterns and dusty quilts came back to Devil’s Fork like ugly buzzards coming home to roost.
Wilkes walked into the new shop hoping he might offer to supply the place. Old tools, butter churns, wall telephones, he had them all in supply.
Two women in their forties giggled when he stepped inside and closed the door. He knew them by last name. The Franklin sisters. They probably had first names, but years ago when his mother would point them out to him, she always said simply, “There’s the Franklin sisters. Poor things. Bless their hearts.”
He’d been twenty before he found out why they were poor things. Apparently, in the late seventies or early eighties, they’d both fallen for the same boy—a good-looking Gypsy kid with bedroom eyes and the last name of Stanley. He ran off with a girl from an- other Gypsy family in town, and both the Franklin sis- ters were brokenhearted. They swore over an ocean of tears that he was the only man either would ever love and they would never marry.
Some thought that sad; others just thought it was their escape, because the two weren’t likely to marry anyway. By eighteen, they both tipped the scales at over two hundred pounds, and at twenty-five, they’d gained another fifty or sixty. By thirty, they both sported faint mustaches.
Even on a dark night no one would mistake them as pretty. But they were sweet as warm toffee. Every few years they took up a new business in town. As far as he could remember, they’d had the Sweet Shop, the Quilt- ing Bee and a used bookstore called the Book Hideout.
jodi tHomAs
36
rustler’s moon
Wilkes smiled at the two sisters. “Morning, Miss Franklin and Miss Franklin.” Even round and hairy, there was something about the ladies that was adorable.
Both giggled. “How can we help you, Wilkes?” they said at once.
Wilkes didn’t want to seem the village idiot, so he said, “I’m looking for a keepsake to give a friend who is visiting.”
“Do you know him well?” the shorter Miss Frank- lin asked.
Wilkes lied again. “No. He’s just someone stopping by for a cup of coffee. He’s thinking about going into ranching.” Dumb lie, Wilkes thought, but he was too far in now to back out.
“We know just the thing.” Each woman grabbed a box from the stacks behind the counter.
Wilkes didn’t care what was in the boxes. He picked the smallest and thanked them. Handing them a twenty, he wasn’t surprised to get only coins back. They man- aged small talk about Uncle Vern’s health while one sister bagged his purchase.
When they passed it to him, one Miss Franklin started mentioning every relative she had who was still unmarried. “Fran’s newly divorced, you know, but she’s a treasure.”
The other sister chimed in. “Avis is a little older than you, but she’s real pretty, and then you know Molly and Doris. I think you went to school with them. Both were engaged last year, but it didn’t work out.”
Wilkes never knew what to say. He’d been tricked into a dozen meet-the-single-relative dates, and they’d all turned out bad.
The taller Miss Franklin must have gotten the message,
37
but she wasn’t ready to toss in her matchmaking wand. “I guess you heard Lexie Davis is moving back.”
He hadn’t heard. He didn’t care, but that didn’t stop the conversation.
“Her second marriage didn’t work out, you know, and her aunt is poorly. Lexie is hoping to get on at the high school. She can teach both drama and English, she claims, though she’s never had to work. Married well both times, you know.”
Wilkes had to get out of the store. He didn’t want to hear more about Lexie. Not in this lifetime. Besides, how “well” are marriages that don’t last two years?
“I wish I could visit, but I’ve got my hands full this morning.” Wilkes had a death grip on his box as he backed toward the door.
They both looked sad.
Wilkes couldn’t talk about Lexie. One goodbye let- ter while he’d been away in the army had been enough to kill any hope of love.
She hadn’t waited. He wasn’t interested. End of story. Wilkes didn’t want to reread that chapter in his life. He’d been home six years and hadn’t run into her. She was just a memory now.
He stormed out the door not even remembering if he said goodbye.
With no thought but to escape, Wilkes darted into the next business. The welcome sign clanged like a gong. The smell of hair spray and bleach almost knocked him back outside.
A beauty shop. Wilkes swore. Why couldn’t it have been a bookstore, or a Laundromat or better yet a bar? He looked around at women with aluminum foil in
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rustler’s moon
their hair and took a step backward. Alien invasion came to mind.
The gum-chewing girl with green-striped hair darted around the counter and caught up to him. “May we help you, mister?”
“No, thanks,” Wilkes managed. “I was, uh, just look- ing for my aunt.”
One of the aliens in the back yelled, “Your last aunt died five years ago, Wilkes Wagner.”
Wilkes pulled his hat down and answered, “Then I guess she’s not here.”
He ignored the laughter and walked out, head high, keepsake box in hand. Thank goodness the next place down the road was a café he knew. Dorothy’s Café had been around for as long as he could remember, and the food served was exactly the same. Fried grease with a side of starch. He might be a half hour early to meet his friend, but the café seemed a safe place. He knew it would take a little time to wash Lexie out of his mind.
As he sat down at the first booth, he saw a sign across the street that said Puppy Paradise, Dog Groom- ing and Training.
No doubt about it, Crossroads, Texas, was growing. Wilkes couldn’t wait to show Uncle Vern the new place. Maybe he’d suggest grooming the cattle.
He ordered coffee, then opened the box he’d bought. To his shock, he’d paid twenty dollars for a mug that looked to be about the same as the one the waitress de- livered with his coffee.
Only, the mug in the box was obviously worth far more because it read, “You are at the Crossroads of your life.”
Wilkes laughed. Nothing had changed in his life
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in six years. It was hard to see a crossroads when he knew he was born with only one way to travel. He had played four years of college football without manag- ing to pick up much education and served three years in the army without collecting any bullet holes, but by twenty-six, after drifting across the United States and back, he’d come back home to do what he always knew he’d do. Run the ranch. It wasn’t as if he’d given up on his dreams; he’d never really had any to begin with.
His folks weren’t dead. They were simply absentee landlords. Never around to help or fix things, but calling in now and then to check on what he was doing. They must have started packing the day they’d called Wil- kes and found out he hadn’t even bothered to look for a job after he got out of the army. He was drifting and they had the solution to his no goal, no direction life.
His mother’s folks were aging and needed help downsizing and selling several small businesses. So Wilkes’s parents moved to Denver claiming Wilkes would run the ranch while they were gone, since he seemed to have nothing else to do.
He’d agreed, thinking they’d be gone a few months. Six years later his dad looked like an aging hippie and his mother was taking meditation classes so she could teleport. They took cruises with Wilkes’s eighty-year- old grandparents and showed no sign of coming back to the work of ranching.
Wilkes told himself he didn’t care. After all, he had no plans after the army and he loved ranching.
“Morning, Wilkes,” a low voice greeted him.
Wilkes turned to see Yancy Grey coming through the door. He was a few years younger than Wilkes, but they’d become friends working on a park project
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rustler’s moon
together last year. Yancy had an awkward way about him at first meeting. He’d talk too fast sometimes or be unable to find the right words, but Wilkes didn’t mind. When Yancy settled down into a conversation, he could tell a story with the best of them and Wilkes had the time to listen when Yancy needed to talk.
“I’m glad you had time to meet me.” Yancy slid his thin frame into the other side of the booth. “I need to ask a favor.”
The café was empty, so they weren’t likely to be bothered. Yancy worked across the street as the handy- man at the retirement community. The senior citizens seemed to have adopted him when he was homeless and he looked after them like a hen with a nest full of chicks.
Since Wilkes was only talking to himself lately, a favor might pull him out of his slump. Maybe he’d even tell his friend about Uncle Vern’s plan to marry him off to the first chubby, rich, dumb girl they could find.
“How can I help?” Wilkes had no idea what Yancy needed, but if it was in his power, he was up for the job.
“I got a history question for you.”
Wilkes thought maybe he should warn his friend that just because a man had a history degree didn’t make him an expert on any time period. He’d majored in history because it had sounded easier than English. “I’ll do what I can.”
Yancy straightened, took a gulp of hot coffee the waitress slid in front of him and started. “You think a house can…you know…draw you to it? Kind of like it’s calling you?”
Nope was the first answer that came to mind, but Wilkes leaned back deciding this conversation might
41
just be interesting. “Tell me about it, Yancy.” His friend seemed suddenly far younger than twenty-seven.
“You’ll think I’m crazy.” Yancy leaned back as if pulling away. He’d spent his late teens and early twenties in prison. Sometimes that lack of trust showed through.
Wilkes didn’t judge him for his lack of skills or scars. He had his own scars.
“I can’t help if I don’t know the facts, Yancy. Just start from the beginning without leaving out anything. I’ll wait until I know the details before I call you crazy.”
The handyman nodded, took another gulp of coffee and said, “Last night, like I do a lot of nights, I took a walk down the north road. The moon seemed to be whispering secrets in the midnight air, like it does on cloudy nights, you know?”
“I know.” Wilkes’s brain cells woke up. He didn’t know any such thing, but he’d follow along where this went. He doubted he would be any help to Yancy Grey, but he wanted to hear more.
“I went down the road toward the old Gypsy House. You know the place covered by weeds and long dead trees.”
Wilkes nodded.
Yancy continued, “I’ve heard there are folks who swear they saw strangers as foggy as ghosts going into the house after dark and never coming out. Accord- ing to the retired folks across the street the place is haunted by dead Gypsies or hippies. No one knows which. Some say the crumbling old place almost took four teenagers’ lives a few years ago, but I was too much into my own problems back then and don’t re- member the details. When I ask about the house, folks
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rustler’s moon
claim evil lived there. One even said he thought he heard a scream once when he passed the place.”
“I’ve heard the stories, too. Did you feel the evil?” Wilkes interrupted.
Yancy shook his head. “The house had been drawing me since I arrived in Crossroads, even before I’d heard it was haunted. I guess you probably heard I came to town broke, alone and fresh out of prison.”
“I heard. Also know you helped the sheriff catch a gang of rustlers who almost killed Staten Kirkland.”
Yancy smiled. “Yeah, after that folks accepted me. I’m doing all right now. Got a good job. Hell, I even saved enough to buy a car outright, no payments, but still I walk at night out to that old place. I feel like it’s mocking me. Daring me to step inside. Sounds crazy, don’t it?”
Wilkes shrugged. “I’m tracking you. Keep talking.” He didn’t want to admit that stressing over a woman who left him years ago might fall into the crazy folder, as well.
Yancy continued, “As I got close to the house last night, it seemed to grow. Maybe it was in my head, but with every step closer the place looked bigger. I’ve seen some bad things in my life, but last night I swear I felt a shiver run down my back like someone walked over my grave.”
Wilkes smiled realizing, truth or not, the guy could tell a story better than Uncle Vern.
“When I felt it calling last night, I gripped the flash- light in my pocket like a weapon and stepped off the road, determined to get to the bottom of this nightmare. I headed through the high weeds that circle the place like
43
a moat around a monster’s castle. I had to do something.” Yancy’s hands balled into fists.
“I yelled that I was going in, but I sounded like a frightened boy. I’m tired of having bad dreams, Wilkes, and last night I figured to put an end to it.
“The warped frame of what had once been a screen door tapped against the side of the house as if knocking on a crypt’s door in a forgotten cemetery. I planted my boot on the porch and stepped up, relieved that the wood took my weight.” Yancy took a few seconds to breathe.
Wilkes waited.
“I yelled like I wasn’t afraid. ‘You don’t frighten me.’ I took one step toward the door. The boards creaked as if crying out for me to stay back, but I didn’t stop. I widened my stance and pulled the hammer I’d brought from the loop on my pants. With as much force as I could manage, I pulled the nails from the two-by-fours blocking the door.
“As the boards rattled across the porch, I took a long breath. What I was doing was probably a crime. The place has do-not-enter signs posted at every corner of the house. But I didn’t care. I’d made up my mind.”
Wilkes shoved his coffee cup aside. He felt as if he was at the old house with Yancy. His senses hadn’t felt so alive since the army.
“Once the boards were off, I shoved the door open and flashed my light inside. Three rotted steps led down onto what looked like a dirt floor. If there was wood beneath the dirt, I couldn’t tell. When part of the roof must have tumbled in on the high school kids, no one thought to clean anything up.
“I avoided the steps and jumped down into the lower level of the house. The remains of a staircase leading
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up to the second floor lined one wall. They reminded me of rotting, broken teeth hanging lopsided in an open mouth. When I passed my light over the floor, I noticed a few old broken chairs and a bed frame.
“All the noise of loose boards rattling and wind whis- tling through cracks seemed muted inside. I just stood there, too afraid to go farther. If something fell on me, I’d be nothing but bones before anyone thought to look for me in that old place. Then, in the stillness, I swear I felt a hand on my shoulder, a slight tug pulling me deeper into the blackness.”
Wilkes could barely breathe waiting for what came next.
“Whatever drew me to the house seemed to want to keep me there.
“Fear stampeded through my blood, I raced out and hammered the boards back across the door knowing even as I did it that I’d have to come back.”
Yancy took a drink. “The house calls me, Wilkes, I swear, and it won’t stop until I figure out why.”
Wilkes exhaled deeply. “That’s some story. What’s your question?”
Yancy grinned. “Can you help me figure out what it wants with me? I need to know the history of the place and who I have to get permission from to go in without worrying about being caught. I’ve thought about it all night. You’re the only person I know who might go back with me. I remember that night on the Kirkland Ranch when we were waiting for the rustlers in the dark. You said, after the army, you gave up being afraid of any- thing. Well, now is your chance to prove it. Go back to the house with me.”
Their waitress must have been tired of waiting for
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them to motion her over. She appeared, notepad in hand, ready to take their order. “If you two don’t order break- fast soon, you’ll have to switch to the lunch menu.”
Both men apologized to her and ordered the special. She refilled their coffee and mentioned something about how Dorothy should charge for squatters.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Wilkes smiled. “I’m in. I’ll see what history I can find on the house and we’ll recon the site one night soon.”
Q&A with Jodi Thomas
Author of
RUSTLER’S MOON
This is your second book in the Ransom Canyon series. Tell us about the town.
In RUSTLER’S MOON the town of Crossroads has grown. After allowing their museum to sit empty for a year, the book opens with a new curator coming. The museum comes alive and brings the town together as Angela Harold wakes up to life and loving for the first time. The quiet, shy curator carries a secret that will threaten the whole town and leave rancher Wilkes Wagner fighting for his life as he protects Angela.
We’ve heard you have an inspiration room for your writing. Tell us about the spot.
Ransom Canyon room: When I began the series, I moved my computer to a little room out back of my house. We call it the bunkhouse. It’s not big, mission designed and almost a hundred years old. I took down all the western art and put up white boards. Removed all books except those on ranching, horses, Texas, or research I might need. Family histories of characters fill one wall. Plot lines another. When I step into the bunkhouse, I step into the world of Ransom Canyon. One by one my characters come in and sit down to tell me their story.
I even have pictures of the flowers of Texas taped up in the bathroom and a Jack Sorenson print of horses running into the canyon on the door.
Are there any characters in the series you’d consider for a spin-off?
Yes. There are characters outlined on one board of my study that may not make it into this series. Who knows? Maybe they’ll find their way in the future.
If RUSTLER’S MOON were made into a movie, who would you cast as the lead characters?
Like many of my readers I spent my Christmas holidays snowed in and watching Hallmark movies. Almost every movie I’d say, “That actor would be perfect as this character.” I’d love to hear from my readers about who they see as playing Wilkes Wagner in RANSOM CANYON.
What’s up next for the series?
Coming this spring will be LONE HEART PASS. Another modern day ranching story set in Texas. It opens with a woman giving up on a career and taking what she thinks is her last chance to survive by coming to a small ranch her grandfather left her. She hires a cowboy to help who has a pickup full of baggage, a five-year-old daughter and a determination that surprises her.
If you had to wear a t-shirt with the same saying every single day, what would it say?
That is an easy one. When I started writing I went to a writer’s conference in Oklahoma one year and bought a t-shirt. Every night when I stepped into my closet sized study, I put on that shirt. I wore it out, but I wore it until I sold. It said, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, in training.
If you were a punctuation mark, which one best suits your personality?
If I were a punctuation mark I think I’d be a semi-colon. Half the time I don’t know where I belong. No one really understands me. I think I’m kin to a comma. Which were left on earth millions of years ago by aliens just to confuse us so we’d never evolve completely.
If you didn’t live in Texas, where would you most like to call home?
I love traveling. Wherever I go, I always think I’d love to live there. I was twenty-one when I first crossed the Mississippi heading east. I spent so much time pointing out all the trees my new husband stopped the car. “We’re heading to Fort Mammoth, New Jersey. There are trees from now on, Jodi, so stop yelling every time you see one.” The next three years we crossed the USA several times in a 1970 Camaro and everywhere we went I was excited at all there was to see.
But, in truth, when the time comes, bury me in Texas with the open sky and land so flat you can see the curve of the earth. It’s where I belong. It’s in my blood.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I’d be a teacher. Teachers change the landscape of your life. Mrs. Dickerson in the fourth grade saw that I couldn’t read. She took the time to learn why and send me to a school for two summers. She opened the world of fiction for me. Without her, I would have been fine. With her, I’ve lived a much richer life.
I’m the writer in residence at West Texas A&M University and the best part of my job is sitting down with students in my office and beginning our journey with, ‘So, you want to be a writer?”
What authors do you most like to read?
I can’t answer that question because the answer changes every day. I love curling up with an old book and reading it for the second or third time. I love discovering an author and seeing a new fresh voice.
I have a loose grip on reality. Give me a good story. Take me away into another world for a few hours. Make me laugh. Make me cry. Make me fall in love again for the first time.
The post JODI THOMAS RETURNS WITH THE LATEST – RUSTLER’S MOON-Giveaway, Excerpt and Q&A appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
January 27, 2016
DEATH OF A BROOKLYN LANDLORD by Susan Russo Anderson
Death of a Brooklyn Landlord
by Susan Russo Anderson
Death of a Brooklyn Landlord:
A Lorraine McDuffy Mystery
Suspense – Woman Sleuths
Self Published
Publication Date: December 23, 2015
Print Length: 319 pages
ASIN: B017KORLJG
A Mystery, A Kidnapping, A Missing Mom … The First Book in a NEW Spinoff Series!
Synopsis
When newly widowed Lorraine McDuffy gets a call in the middle of the night, it’s not the ghost of her dead husband on the line, but the trembling voice of an old flame, Frank Rizzo, a local butcher. He’s found the battered body of rent-gouging Brooklyn landlord Viktor Charnov. Felled by blunt trauma to the back of his head, the victim lies in the fetal position in the back of Frank’s shop, a pork chop clenched between his teeth. The distraught butcher asks Lorraine to investigate.
As the story moves through the entangled web left behind by the landlord’s evil dealings, Lorraine searches for Viktor’s estranged wife as well as a missing teen with ties to the landlord, believed to have jumped in despair from the Brooklyn Bridge two months earlier. Along the way, Lorraine spars with Detective First Grade Jane Templeton and cares for the victim’s ten-year-old son, baseball-loving Joey Charnov, while she searches for his mother. And despite her guilt, Lorraine and Frank deepen their relationship in fits and starts.
If you’re a fan of Fina Fitzgibbons and her crew, you’ll recognize the main characters in this new series—Lorraine McDuffy, Fina’s mother-in-law and protagonist in charge of the Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency while Fina and Denny are on their honeymoon; detectives Jane Templeton and Willoughby, her partner Minnie, admin assistant at Lucy’s and now taking on a greater role in the agency; Cookie and her husband, Clancy; and a newcomer, Fina’s estranged father, Paddy Fitzgibbons, who creates his own boozy havoc as he tangles with Lorraine and Cookie.
About The Author
Susan Russo Anderson is a writer, a mother, a member of Sisters in Crime, a graduate of Marquette University. She’s taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, an opera company. Like Faulkner’s Dilsey, she’s seen the best and the worst, the first and the last. Through it all, and to understand it somewhat, she writes. Too Quiet in Brooklyn
, the first book in the Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn mystery series, published December 2013. The second book in the series, Missing Brandy
, about a missing teen, published September 2014, and Whiskey’s Gone
, about the abduction of a single mom, completes a trilogy. The working title of the fourth is Dead in Brooklyn.
Author Links:
Website: http://susanrussoanderson.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Russo-Anderson/349374975075796
Twitter @SusanRussoAnder
Purchase Link
Amazon
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January 26, 2016
Release Day ON THE REBOUND by Jim Cangany
ON THE REBOUND IS NOW AVAILABLE!
Author: Jim Cangany
Release Day: January 26, 2016
Genre: Sports Romance
Publisher: Penner Publishing
SYNOPSIS
On The Rebound is a sweet, sports romance set on the campus of fictional Irving University. It’s a story about second chances and features a women’s college basketball team. Here’s a teaser for you.
After he’s caught in a grade fixing scandal, men’s college basketball coach Greg Miller is thrown a lifeline when an old friend offers him a job with the small-school Irving University women’s team.
Academic Advisor Ciara Monaghan knows first-hand the heartbreak and havoc a cheating man can wreak. She wants nothing more than to protect the University’s reputation by seeing to it that Greg’s stay at Irving is short.
The last thing either of them wants is the attraction they can’t deny. Can a struggling member of the basketball team bring them together to see how wonderful a second chance at life, and love, can be?
ABOUT JIM CANGANY
Jim Cangany was forty pages into his first manuscript when he realized it was a romance. He went with it and has great joy writing sweet, contemporary love stories. A lover of things that go fast, when Jim’s not writing, you can probably find him checking into the latest from IndyCar or pro bike racing. He lives in Indianapolis with his saint of a wife Nancy, his sons Seamus and Aidan, and the princess of the house, kitty cat Maria.
Visit him: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Tumbler
BUY NOW AT YOUR FAVORITE RETAILER!
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Release Blast for THE KNAVE OF HEARTS by Elizabeth Boyle & Giveaway
Enter to Win a Print Bundle of
Rhymes with Love Series Books 1-4
THE KNAVE OF HEARTS
Rhymes With Love #5
Elizabeth Boyle
Releasing on January 26, 2016
Avon
In the fifth novel of the captivating Rhymes with Love
series from New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Boyle, a young woman’s
hopes of a match encounter a wickedly handsome complication…
Lavinia Tempest has been eagerly anticipating a
spectacular Season. But one disastrous pile-up on the Almack’s dance floor
derails all her plans. Add to that, the very stunning revelations about her
mother’s scandalous past have become the ton’s latest on dits. Lavinia’s future
has gone from shining bright to blackest night in one misstep.
Alaster “Tuck” Rowland admits he’s partly to blame for
Lavinia’s disastrous debut. But it’s not guilt that compels him to restore her
reputation. Rather, he’s placed a wager that he can make Lavinia into of the
most sought-after ladies in London. Who better than an unrepentant rake to set
Society astir?
Tuck’s motives are hardly noble. But in teaching the
lovely Lavinia how to win any man she wants, he suddenly finds himself tangled
in the last place he ever imagined: in love.
BUY NOW
Amazon | B
& N | Google
Play | iTunes |
Kobo
ELIZABETH BOYLE has always loved romance and
now lives it each and every day by writing adventurous and passionate stories
that readers from all around the world have described as “page-turners.” Since
her first book was published, she’s seen her romances become New York
Times and USA Today bestsellers and win the RWA RITA
Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice awards. She resides in Seattle
with her family, her garden and always growing collection of yarn. Readers can
visit her on the Web at www.elizabethboyle.com.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
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RANSOM CANYON and RUSTLER’S MOON by Jodi Thomas blog tour
RANSOM CANYON BLOG:
With seven generations of my family in Texas, of course I write about the state I love. In this new series I’m going more modern-day western than I ever have. Step into the life of small towns and ranching with me. I promise, you’ll fall in love with the people of Ransom Canyon.
I knew I had to open RANSOM CANYON with Staten Kirkland. He is a well-respected rancher who believes he needs to work harder than any hand he hires. He’s strong and honest and broken inside by the death of his only love, his wife. When his son is killed during a storm a few years later, Staten runs to a quiet woman who has been his friend since grade school and his wife’s best friend. Shy Quinn asks nothing of him. She offers understanding amid the storm of his life.
Their friendship develops into a gentle, loving affair that grows to rock both them with its depth. Staten will have to learn to love again and Quinn will have to open up to someone. The whole town watches the birth of passion and love as Staten stands beside her letting her be strong, and quiet Quinn discovers one man’s love can wash away all the pain in her past. Through storms, cattle rustlers, and facing Quinn’s greatest fear, they fight for each other as the whole town stands behind them.
Readers will feel, not like they came to visit, Crossroads, Texas, on the edge of Ransom Canyon, but the town will start to feel like home. My goal as a writer is to keep you up late reading because you have to know what happens next.
So, saddle up with me and step into RANSOM CANYON.
RUSTLER’S MOON BLOG
In this second book of the RANSOM CANYON series called RUSTLER’S MOON, I wanted to add a mystery whispering through my story. Angela Harold is running for her life after her father is killed. She has no family she can trust and no close friends she wants involved. Applying for a job as a curator for a small museum in Crossroads, Texas seems her only way out.
It was great fun to bring someone to Texas for the first time. Angela is surprised how fast the whole community takes her in as one of their own. Wilkes Wager was also fun to meet. I felt like he walked into my study and sat down for a talk already fully formed. Writers love that when it happens. He considers himself a simple man who has given up on love but the reader soon learns that he’s far more complicated than he seems.
The setting for RUSTLER’S MOON is a ranch called the Devil’s Fork and a museum set on the edge of Ransom Canyon. Since I grew up going to the Panhandle Plains Museum in Canyon, Texas, it was easy to build a museum in my mind. Come along with me to the adventure in RUSTLER’S MOON. You might just fall in love again for the first time. I love writing about the people in this place and Texas is my home. I like watching how peoples’ lives bump into others and change their courses ever so slightly.
A fifth-generation Texan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jodi Thomas 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.
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, 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.”
When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo and “checking up” on their two grown sons.
For more information, please visit
Jodi Thomas
www.facebook.com/jodithomasauthor
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January 24, 2016
MOLLY’S MISADVENTURES BOOK TOUR spotlight and giveaway
Molly’s Misadventures
by D.E. Haggerty
Molly’s Misadventures
Romantic Comedy
Self Published
Release Date: January 11, 2016
Print Length: 225 pages
ASIN: B018BKJOLQ
Synopsis
I’m having the suckiest day ever. First, my father, aka Mr. Grumpy Pants, calls to say his nurse just walked out on him. Likely story. I rush home to pack only to walk in on my husband getting it on with his younger, skanky secretary. Unfortunately, my quick weekend trip home to fix Dad’s problems turns into a stay of a few weeks. Luckily, I’ve got Danny, the neighbor boy I had a crush on when I was a dorky, braces-wearing, nose-buried-in-a-book teenager, and a brand-spanking new blog to keep my mind off things. Before I know it, I’m writing product reviews of vibrators and getting questioned by a store rent-a-cop at the world’s worst date ever. All while trying to figure out how to take things with Danny to the next level. Not to complicate things or anything but my boss decides to give me an ultimatum – come back in four weeks or don’t come back at all. How in the world did my life get so complicated?
About The AuthorI grew up reading everything I could get my hands on from my mom’s Harlequin romances to Nancy Drew to Little Woman. When I wasn’t flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although I did manage every once in a while to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. Another job change, this time from lawyer to B&B owner and I was again fed up and ready to scream I quit, which is incredibly difficult when you own the business. Thus, I shut the B&B during the week and in the off-season and started writing. Several books later I find myself in Istanbul writing full-time.
Author Links
Website: http://www.dehaggerty.com
Blog: http://www.dehaggerty.com/mymusings
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty
Twitter: https://twitter.com/denaehaggerty
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DEHaggerty/posts
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1438239628&sr=8-5
Purchase Links:
Amazon
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/594767
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