Release Day Countdown
Fairest of Heart, the first book in my Texas Ever After series, releases in just five days! I can’t wait to share Titus and Penelope’s story with you.
As a young girl, I spent countless hours with my Fisher Price record player, listening to Disney storybooks and singing along with my favorite princesses on their journey to find their happily ever afters. Is it any wonder I grew up to be a romance writer? With my new Texas Ever After series, I get to mix my love for cowboys with my love for fairy tales, and Fairest of Heart gets things started with the reimagined tale of Snow White. Who needs a prince when you have Titus Kingsley, Texas Ranger? Add a mirror-loving villainess, some missing jewels, and seven retired drovers at the Diamond D Ranch, and we have all the makings for a page-turning western fairy tale.
I thought you might enjoy a short excerpt . . .
It took a moment for Titus to decipher that something other than a mound of brown dirt lay beneath the tree Rowdy indicated. Was that a face?
Titus crept closer.
Suddenly the mound moved. The men behind him sucked in a collective breath as a slender, pale arm poked out of the cocoon. Then a foot. A small foot. Wearing ladies’ stockings. But it was the face that captivated Titus and beckoned him closer. A face that seemed familiar even though reposed in sleep.
The girl from yesterday. The wood nymph who’d appeared out of nowhere, twirling, dancing, smiling. But this girl looked nothing like the one he’d met. Her dark hair hung in a wild, matted nest of twigs and leaves. Scratches marred the skin of her face and hands. Hands that led to bare arms with nothing but a mud-brown blanket to cover them.
What had happened to her? Had she been attacked after he left her? Titus’s jaw clenched. He should have escorted her back to her people. Maybe he could have prevented . . .
“Is she sleepin’ on a rope?”
“Poor thing.”
“What’s she doin’ out here?”
“And where are her clothes? You figure she’s one of them saloon gals?”
“What would a saloon gal be doing way out here?”
“I dunno. Maybe she got lost.”
“Your mind’s what got lost.”
Titus turned around and shushed the whisperers who’d crept in behind him. The last thing this young woman needed was to wake up to the sight of seven strange men hovering over her. He was about to suggest the others retreat to their original position when Dusty let out a sneeze loud enough to rival a gunshot.
The girl awoke in a flash, sat up, and waved a wicked-looking hunting knife at them.
***
“Stay back!” Penelope waved Hunt’s knife in front of her as if it had the power to stave off . . . five . . . no, six . . . good heavens . . . seven men.
She raised the blade in front of her face, noticed the sharpened side was aimed the wrong direction, and quickly twisted it around.
Maybe they didn’t notice.
“Ya probably want to fold yer thumb over yer fingers like a fist. It’ll give ya more control.”
So much for them not noticing.
A heavyset man elbowed the thinner fellow who’d offered the advice. “Shut up, Jeb,” he said in a stage whisper. “You’ll scare her.”
“I’m helpin’ by tellin’ her how to hold her knife. The way she’s got it now, she’ll prob’ly drop the thing before it can do any damage.”
Well, if he was willing to teach, she was willing to learn. Penelope corrected her grip on the knife and slowly rose to her feet. The blanket started to slip off her shoulders. Her heart lurched. She dropped the knife in order to grab the edges of the blanket and draw them closed beneath her chin. None of the men lunged at her. They kept their distance, waiting patiently for her to bend down and reclaim her knife before anyone said anything.
“We’re not going to hurt you.”
That voice. She jerked her gaze to the left, toward the only beardless man of the group. It was him.
Fairest of Heart officially releases next Tuesday, June 6. If you prefer print, it’s not too late to take advantage of the Baker Book House preorder sale. Can’t beat 40% off and free shipping! Or you can preorder from Amazon here.
What is your favorite fairy tale?
