Polishing a Rough Diamond – Guest Post by author Cassandra Dean & Giveaway!
It gives me great pleasure to welcome back my friend and fellow Decadent author, Cassandra Dean.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Jessica.
Hi peeps, I’m so excited to be here with you all chatting a bit about the first in my Diamond Series, ROUGH DIAMOND. Part of Decadent Publishing’s Western Escape, ROUGH DIAMOND is set in the fictional town of Freewill, Wyoming and is the tale of a lady saloon owner, Alice Reynolds, and the empty-headed Englishman who proposes he buys her saloon. Rupert Llewellyn appears all foolish and lacking smarts, but Alice can’t help feeling there’s more to him than what he’s willing to show…and you know what, peeps, she’s not wrong.
Rupert, in fact, is quite the wily operator. He’s discovered Alice holds a piece of land rich with coal and his employers, a coal mining company, are looking to purchase all likely land. In his varied career, Rupert has discovered a foppish manner and an empty-headed smile gets under the guard of most customers. However, something about Alice is different. She sees through him from the beginning and he becomes…fascinated.
This story came about after a discussion with my editor on my previous release, TEACH ME. She suggested I write for Decadent Publishing’s Western Escape, and I couldn’t think of any reason not to. In fact, I got kind of excited about writing something so wholly different. I never thought I’d write a Western, so when confronted with the challenge, I grabbed it with both hands. Of course, I had no rightly clue what I was letting myself in for.
I had a few struggles with this book, but one of the most difficult was the whole Western ‘tone’. I can hear English voices in my head, no problem, but a Western twang was a bit of a challenge. It wasn’t until I’d re-devoured all three seasons of Deadwood, enjoyed Timothy Olyphant in another Western-ish TV series, Justified, and read a little of Rapunzal’s Revenge that I started to get the tone right. But even, then it wasn’t quite right.
So I read every vaguely Western book I owned, watched every show I could. I asked my friends, and was lucky enough to have a friend who spent a bit of time in Wyoming—he was invaluable in helping me understand the region. Finally, finally, I started to hear Alice’s voice in my head. Finally, the Western way of speaking was coming through. Finally, I felt comfortable writing ROUGH DIAMOND and I hope Alice and the other Western peeps sound Western-y to their very bones.
Thanks for hanging with me!
Owner of the Diamond Saloon and Theater, Alice Reynolds is astounded when a fancy Englishman offers to buy her saloon. She won’t be selling her saloon to anyone, let alone a man with a pretty, empty-headed grin…but then, she reckons that grin just might be a lie, and a man of intelligence and cunning resides beneath.
Rupert Llewellyn has another purpose for offering to buy the pretty widow’s saloon—the coal buried deep in land she owns. However, he never banked on her knowing eyes making him weak at the knees, or how his deception would burn upon his soul.
Each determined to outwit the other, they tantalize and tease until passion explodes. But can their desire bridge the lies told and trust broken?
Available From:
Amazon US | Smashwords | All Romance | Barnes&Noble | Amazon UK
Giveaway!!
Enter to WIN an ebook copy of both books in Cassandra Dean’s Diamond series!
Author Bio:
Cassandra grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. Once she learned to read (First phrase – To the Beach. True story), she was never without a book, reading of other people’s fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures.
Fairy tales, Famous Fives, fantasies and fancies; horror stories, gumshoe detectives, science fiction; Cassandra read it all. Then she discovered Romance and a true passion was born.
So, once upon a time, after making a slight detour into the world of finance, Cassandra tried her hand at writing. After a brief foray into horror, she couldn’t discount her true passion. She started to write Romance and fell head over heels.
The love affair exists to this very day.
Cassandra lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
Website | Cassandra and Lucy | Facebook | Twitter
Goodreads | Tumblr | Pintrest | Amazon.com
Follow the rest of the tour here:
June 5th – Fool’s Gold Spotlight @ Melissa MacKinnon
June 5th – Rough Diamond Review @ Out There Reviews and Stuff
June 6th – Fool’s Gold Review @ Out There Reviews and Stuff
June 9th – Both Books Spotlight @ Book Babe
June 11th – Both Books Interview @ Sizzling Hot Books
June 12th – Fool’s Gold Interview @ Theresa Stillwagon
June 13th – Rough Diamond Review @ Reviews from Beyond the Book
June 15th – Spotlight @ Release the Pages
June 16th – Fool’s Gold Review @ Reviews from Beyond the Book
June 18th – Rough Diamond Review @ Fall into Reading Reviews
June 20th – Both Books – Guest Post @ Ambrosia Arts
June 21st – Both Books Promo @ Book Reviews and More by Kathy
June 22nd – Both Books Promo @ Self Publish or Die
June 26th – Both Books Spotlight @ Deal Sharing Aunt
June 27th – Fool’s Gold Review @ Fall into Reading Reviews
