You’ve heard the term “gone country.” You’ve probably even heard the Alan Jackson song. This is what happens when city people fall in love with country living—backroads, crickets chirpin’, sweet tea on the porch swing living.
Recently I took a road trip, 2 days away from my family. No baseball, softball, dance, field trips, groomer’s visits. Just me, my piece of crap SUV and a prayer that I made it south without using my AAA card. I loved the drive through southern Pennsylvania (I live north) and found the lush greenery very inspiring. Then I hit the city.
At first, it was fun to see all the commerce and navigate the busy highways. I shopped in an actual mall that doesn’t only boast a shoe store, pharmacy and a Big K. I drank honest to goodness iced coffee that I didn’t make at home because there isn’t a Starbucks or a Dunkins within 2 hours.
Then I drove around for hours, just filling my little country soul with experience. This includes driving experience. I can avoid a deer running full-tilt across a dirt road, but jumping five lanes is scary as hell. But I did it!
All of these moments are everyday for a lot of people, but not me. And it wasn’t long before the charm wore off. Pretty soon I was hoping to see that deer. Or miles of open road. No car horns or long lines at checkouts.
I missed my world. I’d gone city and wanted my country back! (insert ugly cry) So I texted my hubby and said I wanted to come home. His response? LOL then come home. He’d taken the kids fishing and rock climbing. He was grilling chicken and they were planning a bonfire with s’mores.
So how could I resist? I packed up and set out for home after just one night. From my trip I learned that I’m a country girl at heart. Visiting the city had given me a new take on the dull things I take for granted. Now that I’m refreshed and inspired by my home settings again, I’m in the mood to write more cowboys and hardworking men.
Here’s one example. Meet Ty, hot cowboy on the Boot Knockers Ranch. If you don’t know this series, you’re in for a ride. This ain’t your daddy’s ranch…
It’ll take more than ropes and whips for this cowboy to keep his bratty woman in line.
The Boot Knockers Ranch, Book 4
At twenty-three, Bree Roberts is ready to sow some wild oats. The perfect place to start? The neighboring spread—The Boot Knockers Ranch, where twenty smokin’ hot cowboys deliver sexual therapy to women. The problem? The entry fee is more than she’s made in a lifetime.
Only wanting to explore, she figures her tanned, toned legs will be her ticket to ride. Except Ty keeps kicking her off their land. Then she begins to suspect the reason why. He likes her.
If Ty spots that little vixen wrapped around one of his cowboys one more time, he’s going to throw her over his knee. Trouble is, she’d like it. Catching her participating in the ranch’s notorious, semi-clad Cornhole tournament is one thing, but when he finds her under their resident Dom’s whip, enough is enough.
Ty won’t throw a naked woman out of his bed, namely one who deserves a spanking, but showing Bree the rewards of sex mixed with a little emotion leads to trails neither of them intended to tread.
Warning: Contains a spitfire cowgirl who excels at breaking the rules, and a cowboy who lays down the law—and a firm hand on her ass cheek.
Excerpt of Ropin’ Hearts
Ty started dragging her away. She dug in her bootheels.
“If you don’t walk away with me normal, I’ll pick you up and throw you over my shoulder, Miss Roberts.”
Ice filled her veins. He knew her. How? Was there a wanted poster on the wall somewhere? This man saw dozens of women a week—surely he wouldn’t remember her face after visiting her ranch.
“Let go of me!”
“I don’t think so, sugar tits. You’re trespassing. Wonder what Daddy would think of you down here getting corrupted.” Read the rest of this entry »
Today, I was supposed to post a blog from an author about one of my favorite subjects, Egyptian history, but the last thing I was thinking about was my blog. I’ll post that one on Saturday, so be looking for it—tons of great photographs and a fun article to go with them…
Some of you are aware of the dark cloud that’s been hovering over my family of late. It feels like we’re hexed. My dd had to close her frame shop due to too many medical issues within her family. We had to make the decision that she’ll be a stay-at-home mom for the unforeseen future. Kelly had to undergo a radical hysterectomy; her 11-year-old daughter had an extended stay in the hospital; and today, her 6-year-old had surgery to remove a tumor from her leg—and that doesn’t look like that will be the end of that little girl’s issues. The doctors think she has something called fibrous dysplasia, and that will be a chronic, life-long affliction.
So, even though we are resilient and usually very upbeat and positive people, right now we’re all depressed and doing our best to push through everything. In the meantime, writing time is precious and hard to schedule because she needs so much support. I’m doing the heavy lifting (she has a very active 20-month-old!) while her husband works. So I’m over there from early morning to evening.
But, that doesn’t mean I’m getting nothing done; I’m just not as communicative as I usually am, so bear with me. I’m making lists and checking them twice to make sure I don’t drop too many balls.
That’s the number of loads of laundry I have to do every week. As a stay at home mom and writer, I struggle every day finding the balance between it all. Since the home is my office, I can’t stand when it’s a mess. If the dishes are piling high, the laundry room door won’t shut, or if there is dirt all over the floor, I find it hard to concentrate. Then let’s add three screaming, singing, dancing kids in the mix with their wails for more milk and their toys with wheels, bells and whistles that are so loud I can’t hear myself think. Cliché, but so true.
But, yesterday, as I stood in my kitchen and folded, and folded and folded, I realized if it were any different I might not like the reality so much. If I didn’t have all those clothes to fold it could mean a number of things.
The best possible scenario would be that I’ve become filthy rich from my book sells and I’ve hired someone to do my laundry. Yah! That might not be so bad.
The other scenarios aren’t so great. They could mean that we’ve lost everything we have, so we don’t have any clothes. Worse, it could mean that my little people are no longer around. The thought of something bad happening to my children was too much to bear, so I began folding with a little more gusto.
Now, when I look at all those dirty clothes, I say “Bring It On.” Always try to find the silver lining in life!
Cupid’s Angels
Ellie Childs isn’t looking for love. She’s looking for an AC technician for the Forest Wood Senior Center. But, when the repairman happens to be tall, dark, and handsome, he has the goods to make her change her mind. Unfortunately, he’s taken by a blonde Barbie.
David White moved to Cupid, Arkansas, to be closer to the woman he loves, his grandma, and away from his ex-fiancée. Believing his broken heart would never work again, he’s proven wrong. Ellie’s shimmering auburn curls and compassionate nature sends his heart thumping. His mind soars with thoughts of giving love another shot. But as luck would have it, she’s taken, and the guy she’s seeing is a real jerk.
When David’s grandmother sees how perfect Ellie would be for her grandson, she gathers the troops. She and her three friends form Cupid’s Angels. Their mission, to bring David and Ellie together. Despite their best efforts, the Angels’ plans backfire, pushing David and Ellie farther apart and into the arms of others. Or, so they think.
Will the Angels’ good intentions win out, or will their plots and schemes undermine what could have been the love of a lifetime for David and Ellie?
About the Author
Erin Bevan was born and raised in Southwest Arkansas. She spent her teenage years working for her aunt at the local gas station flipping burgers and making milkshakes dreaming of the day when something better would come her way.
Fast forward ten years later, she found herself stuck inside an apartment in South Korea while her daughter went to preschool and her husband went to work. Alone and unable to speak the local language she turned to books for a friend. After reading a few hundred in such a short time, she decided to try her hand at writing one.
That first one sucked, but by the fifth and sixth book, Erin started to get the hang of this writing thing. Getting the first contract in the mail was a dream come true. Now, with three babies at home, she squeezes in stories one word at a time, one sentence at a time, one day at a time. She’s a full time mom, a full time wife, with a little writer sprinkled in whenever she can get the chance.
Think about that person who drives you nuts. You may want to like them, maybe you do, maybe you love them, but they do this…thing that absolutely drives you up a tree.
Wow, this has been a great year so far with releases and it hasn’t slowed down a bit. I’ve been so busy writing it’s hard to find time to get the word out about the books that I’m writing! So here’s what’s happened/happening/gonna happen. I have something for everyone and a lot of somethings for those who love all the romance genres!
LOVE ON THE ROCKS
This is a Kindle Worlds view into Melissa Foster’s Remingtons Series with a cameo appearance of Kurt Remington on Cape Cod. Amazon
Grieving widower, John Decker, commemorating the two-year anniversary of the day he lived and his wife died, is dragged back into life by a riptide and a blonde he can’t get out of his thoughts. Plagued with survivor’s guilt, he’s reluctant to enter a new relationship, until he meets a feisty bartender with attitude and curves to go with it.
Roxi Lanier was the typical young teen in the city, happy, full of life and bulletproof, until she became the victim of a violent crime. Her mother moved her to Wellfleet on Cape Cod, away from the scene of her misfortune to start over. Fourteen years later, she’s still afraid to date and be intimate with a man, the scars of her past overriding the happiness she craves. Though she’s an independent owner of a thriving beach bar, she has yet to find success in love. Tides change when she witnesses a suicidal widower diving headfirst into a riptide.
Decker and Roxi struggle to stay afloat through the wreckage of their pasts and the storms of the present to sail into a future together.
Navy SEAL “Rip” Cord Schafer is officially missing and presumed dead. It’s the perfect cover until he can catch the traitors supplying Honduras terrorists with American arms. It’s not a one-man operation, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine teaming up with a woman—Covert Cowboy operative Tracie Kosart.
Posing as wealthy newlyweds, Rip soon discovers Tracie is as skilled at playing his sensual “bride” as she is at covering his six. Despite their jungle-hot attraction, Rip senses Tracie’s reluctance to trust him. But when her cover is blown, Rip knows her life depends on his SEAL instincts and her love depends on his unwavering commitment as her “husband.”
FOURTEEN stories of thrilling romance to benefit the American Heart Association. These full length, Romantic Suspense stories come from NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHORS!
***Limited Time Offer!***Read the rest of this entry »
The contests from my blogs on Friday and Saturday are still open!
So you still have time to enter!
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It’s rare I have the last day of the month open for myself, but I do now! May passed in a whirl. I think I refound my mojo. The last couple of weeks I’ve been focused like I used to be when I was juggling a full-time job, the Guard, and writing. And I finished working on some things.
Works I completed:
I finished writing my m/m firefighter story, Hotter With a Pole, a Firehouse 69 story for Samhain.
I wrote a couple of short stories.
I wrote Her Next Breath for the SEALs of Summer anthology.
And I finished revising Truly, Madly…Deadly, the next Night Fall installment.
May’s Releases:
Click on the Covers to Purchase
June will be super-busy as well…
I will release:
Truly, Madly…Deadly, Night Fall series
Lily’s Last Stand (tentative title), a new short story
Knight in Transition, Knight Fall series
Bad Moon Rising, Cat Tails story
I’m planning to do the following:
I hope to write the remaining chapters of my Cat Tails story.
I’ll write a story for the Across the Universe box set.
I’ll write Controlled Burn for the 12-Alarm Cowboy box set.
And if I can, I hope to write the next Lone Star Lovers book.
And around all of this, I am still helping my daughter. She can’t lift anything heavier than 5 pounds until the end of July, so I have to park at her place and come every time she needs the baby changed, etc. Very distracting, but what can you do?
One good thing is that we finally have the new pool liner installed. The water is only at 80 degrees right now. It takes about half an hour before I break out in welts from the chill (I have cold urticaria). But the water is warming up!
Okay, kind of boring, I know. But it’s nice for me to be able to recap. I can see I had a very productive May. And I’ve said out loud now what I want to do in June. If you see me goofing off, you know what you can nag me about. 🙂
UPDATE: The winner of the free download is Heather S!
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The other night I was at a Facebook party and I asked the question that went something like, “What are your favorite reunion stories, either in film or book?” And then I sat stumped because I couldn’t think of one. I had to think hard whether I had ever written one, and I mentioned one of my Lone Star Lovers books, Unforgiven. But it wasn’t until this morning, when I was trying to figure out what golden oldie I could offer as a flashback, that I remembered I had another…
So, I’ll ask again… What are your favorite reunion stories?
Comment for a chance to win In Too Deep or a short story on this carousel!
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Some things never change. And some things change everything.
Triple Horn Brand, Book 2
Gabe Triplehorn can think of no better getaway from his heavy responsibilities at the ranch, than to go back to a time and place where he didn’t have a care in the world. When there was just a campground, a river and a girl.
When he gets to Red Hawk Landing, the campground and the river are still there. He just never expected the girl would still be there too. Only now she runs the place.
Lena Twohig can think of no better place to raise her young son than the family-owned campground that holds so many memories. Especially the romance with Gabe that lit up one long-ago summer like a wild electrical storm. Now he’s back, with a ranch-hardened body she knows she shouldn’t want so badly.
No amount of lies or the years that have passed can tame this tidal wave of passion.
Warning: Contains a flash flood of passion between a cowboy who knows how to pitch a tent and a woman who isn’t afraid to get a little dirty.
Excerpt:
The cowboy glanced back through the window and caught her looking. Lena whirled around and stepped off the porch. Her toe caught in the lattice next to the step and she went down hard, bumping down two steps. She landed on one hip, gravel digging into a palm.
Tears pricked her eyes, and she winced at the pain. Worse, the door behind her slammed and heavy booted footsteps stomped down the steps.
When the handsome cowboy came down on a knee beside her, Lena wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
The deep timbre of his voice did a number on her nerves. She shivered.
Something he must have taken for shock, because before she knew it, his hands were under her thighs and behind her back and he lifted her high against his chest.
This is a Kindle Worlds view into Melissa Foster’s Remingtons Series with a cameo appearance of Kurt Remington on Cape Cod.
