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Friday, April 6, 2012

More on the Fabulous "Hunter Moon"


Hunter Moon
By Cait Lavender
Excerpt:

“Hey, have you heard anything about—wait, what? The fuzz is after me?” I sifted through my recent actions, but couldn’t remember doing anything illegal that would put a cop on my tail. “Wait, you’re not talking about Tyler, are you?”
One of her husband’s favorite pastimes was making me pull over without cause. I was always tempted to pull a stunt like I was on Cops and lead him in a high speed pursuit. But since I’d gotten out of a few speeding tickets by dropping his name, I guess it was a wash.
“What, Tyler? No, I wish he was this hot.” She leered. “The game warden stopped by about five minutes ago asking all about the girl who lives on the Flint ranch.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.
It was Jesse’s mission in life to set me up with a man. It was the bane of her existence that I’d sworn off cowboys. A cowboy hadn’t worked out too well for my mom, and that was pretty much all there was around Raymond. It was probably the only lesson I’d learned from my mother.
“I have to say, Matt Albert wasn’t a fan of Mr. Warden asking about you.  Gave me one scary glare when I told the hottie where you live.”
“Oh geez. You haven’t told Matt I’d date him again did you? The guy’s dumber than a box of rocks!”
The Albert clan was huge in Raymond. Half the population was related in some form or another, and Matt had his eyes on me since grade school. I’d always chalked up his infatuation with me to the fact we weren’t related. Kissing cousins were so Alabama.
Matt liked to get drunk at the rodeo and pick fights. The one date I had gone with him I ended up with four glasses of Coors on my shirt and a bruise on my cheek where the other guy had elbowed me to get at Matt. That had been four years ago. He was either tenacious to the extreme or stupid, and I leaned toward the latter.
“Of course not. Especially if you’ve got Hunky McWarden in the wings!” I rolled my eyes at Jesse’s outrageous nicknames. It was never a good sign when she waxed poetic.
“Why do you keep saying that? I thought the game warden was an octogenarian?”
“Yeah, that was Bill Freedman, and he retired last month. Officer Hotstuff must be his replacement. Lucky for us! Lord knows we need an infusion of new blood around here.”
While that was certainly true, I wasn’t in the mood to play ‘The Dating Game’ with Jesse. “Oh quit it. I’d better get home if there’s a popo waiting for me. Wish me luck!”
I walked back to my truck and looked down at Reggie.
“Sorry, I forgot your hot dog. I guess I owe you one.”
He hopped in the back, forgiving as always and off we went. I wondered why the warden would be looking for me. I hadn’t hunted or fished in years, not since grandpa’s health went downhill. I hoped one of my cows didn’t get out. That could be a nightmare if it ruined property or someone hit it with a car. Great, that’s all I needed right now.
I saw the warden’s forest green Silverado when I pulled in, but no sign of the warden himself anywhere. I lowered the tailgate of the Blazer to let Reggie down and he took off toward the barn. I trusted his instincts and followed him and found an image I could use to warm the lonely, cold nights. On the trailer of alfalfa was a 6’4’ Adonis. The man, or god, who I assumed was the warden, had his shirt off while he was unloading hay. His fantastic shoulders were bare and rippling as he unloaded bale after bale of hay. His biceps flexed as he squatted to pick up another and bless him, I had a front row seat to his fantastic rear.
The warden couldn’t have been any older than late twenties or early thirties, and his golden skin just added to the Greek god effect he had going. Something stirred in me while I watched him work, something I had never felt before. Pure unadulterated lust. I wanted that man more than anyone in my whole life.
Irritated with my surging libido, I tamped down my unwelcome feelings as much as I could. I definitely didn’t need that kind of complication in my life right now. He bent over and picked up another bale and I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from moaning. No man should look that delicious. I nodded my head in agreement with myself and continued to gawk. His shoulders were nearly twice as wide as mine, and his broad chest narrowed to flat, rippling abs and a trim waist.
In the ten minutes I supposed he’d been there he had almost the whole trailer unloaded, and it didn’t even look like he’d broken a sweat. If I’d unloaded that much I would have been a puddle of exhausted goo. I stood there, staring at all his assets, for a few minutes longer before I climbed on the trailer and started helping.
When I came up behind him, he stopped working and stared at me. His nostrils flared wide, but he didn’t seem surprised at my arrival. Unnerved a bit by his piercing gaze, I picked up a bale. He just shrugged and resumed unloading, maintaining a silence the whole time we worked. In between bales he brushed his dark brown hair off his forehead to reveal two eyes the brilliant blue of sapphires.
He looked at me for a moment, and then unloaded the last bale of alfalfa. I hopped off the trailer, suddenly needing distance from his cobalt stare. Without the hay bales to occupy my hands, they were itching to touch the ripples of all six of his abs. I stared at the ground, shifting from foot to foot.
“Thanks. I really appreciate the help. If I was by myself, this would have taken hours.” I handed him his uniform shirt that was hanging off the side mirror of my truck and glanced at the name tag. “Officer Newcomb.”
“It’s warden Newcomb, but you can call me Cash.” He put his uniform back on and I couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss. The fabric covered a spectacular chest with just a judicial smattering of curly brown hair that drew together in a fuzzy line that lead south. Talk about a happy trail.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Hunter Moon picture


BOOK SUMMARY

Title – Hunter Moon

Genre – PNR

Format – Ebook

Publisher – Kindle Direct

Release Date – March 1, 2012

The Author is graciously giving away a free copy of the book at every stop on her tour.  Please leave a comment to enter the drawing.  All entrants will be randomly drawn on May 18, 2012.  Thank you.




Bawling cattle tore Shelby Flint from her bed. With lawyer fees to pay in her struggle to keep her ranch from the clutches of her greedy cousins, she couldn’t afford the loss of even one calf. When she sees a large wolf circling her cows, she aims and fires. While the wolf escapes, Shelby can’t seem to get away from her troubles when a marijuana grower sets up shop on her land, sabotaging her property and eventually coming after her. Adding to that, a handsome game warden is poking his nose into her business and working his way underneath her skin. Shelby will have to fight harder than she ever fought before to keep from losing heart and everything she ever loved.

AUTHOR INFORMATION


Cait Lavender is a twenty-six year old wife and stay at home mother of one (so far) in Central California. Living on a cattle ranch in Central California where she and her husband raise papered Black Angus cattle. When Cait's not chasing her toddler around the house or doing mountains of never-ending laundrym she's writing feverishly or reading anything she can get her hands on. Cait's favorite thing about books is their ability to transport you out of the stress and fatigue of your own life into a more interesting, sexy world.
Website – www.caitlavender.com

BOOK REVIEW

What a surprise where I started reading this book to find that it is located in my backyard.  It isn’t very often that I find someone that knows where Visalia, California is located.  I would imagine that it would be even lower for someone from Raymond, yes that’s what I said Raymond.  The town the town where our heroine lives is an actual location, a tiny “blink and you miss it” spot on the road to nowhere in particular.  The last time I read a book mentioning the area I live it was Steinbeck… not my favorite author.
So that was the first exciting thing about the book that I found.  I enjoyed reading about towns I knew and locations with which I was familiar.  The introduction of a paranormal reality to my true reality was amazing.  The reader figures out, or at least I did, the paranormal “secret” much sooner that the heroine. 
Shelby is a tough, independent, take no prisoners heroine who is having none of this “I need a man to bail me out” crap.  [SPOILER ALERT]  Already she has survived being abandoned by her parents, losing her grandfather, finding a dead body, making friends with a wolf, and being sued by her only remaining relatives for the little bit she has left.  [END SPOILER ALERT]  What else could happen, right?  And the ending left me wanting more.
I was drawn in immediately.  I love strong female character.  I love strong female characters that have strong men who respect and love them even more.  The plot is plausible with just the right amount of paranormal twist.  The characters real, flawed, and ultimately redeemable.  The story draws you in and  invites you to care about these people and moves at just the right speed to keep things interesting and moving along.  
Overall an excellent read.  I give it 4 out of 5 clouds.

EXCERPT FROM BOOK
“You got a death wish, now? What, finding dead bodies isn’t exciting enough for you, you have to try and get mauled by a wild animal?” Her voice had raised several octaves during the course of our conversation, and I was afraid the old guys would start listening in. I switched tactics.
            “Well, getting the life kissed out of me by the hot warden was pretty exciting, I guess.”
She looked like she was going to have a stroke. “YOU WHAT?” Sure if Jesse’s voice went any higher, Reggie would start howling, I motioned with my hands for her to quiet down.
            “Sheesh, Jess. Shut up! I don’t want the whole town to know!” Her eyes narrowed as she slammed her hands on the counter and leaned over.
            “If you don’t tell me everything that happened right this second, I’m going to tell Matt that you secretly have been in love with him!” She hissed.
I swallowed and nodded. “Well, it was after you and Ty left. We were just standing there, and one second he was all sweet and quiet and then he said some really stupid thing about me just calling him next time and not needing to find a body if I wanted to see him.”
Jesse took in a sharp breath and I knew she thought about how well that must have gone over. My reputation was well founded; I had a temper.
            “I started to say this really wicked comeback,” Liar. “When all the sudden he was just kissing me.” Jesse stood back up, eyes wide and grinned. I continued before she could say anything. “It wasn’t a really big deal. I think he did it just to shut me up. And then he just left. Personally, I thought it was kind of rude to just invade my personal space like that. I’m sure Cash could tell I didn’t want him to kiss me.”
Jesse laughed and looked over my shoulder. I frowned.
            “Oh, I don’t know,” a rich baritone voice behind me said. Oh crap! “It seemed like you enjoyed it to me. In fact, I’m pretty sure I heard you moan.”
Jesse nearly doubled over with laughter. I was paralyzed with horror.
            There he was, in all his glory, standing right behind me. I opened and shut my mouth, knowing I must have looked like a fish, floundering at what to say. Ba dum, ching! Cash just stood there, all self-satisfied hotness. Finally my brain kicked back into gear.
            “I did not moan. I tried to tell you to stop, but you took that as encouragement and kept on fumbling around,” I said in my best haughty voice. “You might have heard me moan if you practiced kissing a little more.” I heard Jesse gasp for air behind me as she struggled to breathe.
             I glared at her. “A little warning might have been nice, best friend!” I hissed.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Book giveaway

2 Giveaways for Advanced Copies of Preservation

You can enter to win an advanced paperback copy of Preservation through Goodreads here, and an e-book copy at http://www.rachaelwade.com/ below. Thanks to all who enter and good luck!

Coming May 25, 2012
Adult Contemporary Romance / Realistic Fiction

Fear is sabotage’s sweetest weapon.
Kate has no time for meaningless romantic charades, and definitely no time for hot college professors who are full of themselves and smitten with her. Constantly battling eviction notices, tuition she can’t afford, and a sick, dependent mother, the last thing she needs is to be distracted with someone else’s complicated baggage.
When she stumbles into Ryan Campbell’s creative writing class, he is only “Mr. Campbell” to her, until Ryan finds himself captivated by her writing and she is forced to face their mutual attraction. His cocky know-it-all syndrome is enough to send her running in the other direction, and his posse of female admirers and playboy reputation are enough to squander any odds in her favor.
But underneath Ryan’s abrasive facade is something to behold, and she can’t stay away for long. Ryan and Kate must decide who they’re willing to become and fight against their former selves if they want to make things work. That’s if academia, vicious vixens, old skeletons, and their own mastery at self-destruction don’t pummel their efforts first.

Cover Reveal for Hollywood Ever After


Title: Hollywood Ever After

Author: Sasha Summers

Release Date: July 21st, 2012

Publisher: InkSpell Publishing


She wasn’t meant for movie stars, Hollywood, or happy endings. And then she met him.

Happy Endings are for fairy tales. Or the movies. Not for real life. At least, not in Claire’s life. Even though she’s starting over, she knows better than to want too much this time. But when she falls, literally, into the strong arms of Hollywood’s ‘it’ boy Josh Wiley, Claire’s in for some surprises. Her plans for rest and relaxation are forgotten as one incredible night with Josh becomes two… And her heart begins to want him as much as her body. Will two kids, one bastard ex-husband, and Josh’s juggernaut career mean the end of their affair? Or can Claire find her happy ending after all?

Author Website: http://sashasummers.com

Perilous Light Book Review


Book Review

 “Perilous Light” by Alyssa Rose Ivy was even better than the first book “Beckoning Light.” As before I was instantly drawn into the story and intrigued by the characters.  I was so engrossed in the story I didn’t notice it was coming to end until I could no longer go to another page on my Kindle.  I then gave a howl of disappointment as I did not want to leave my friends.

The story drew me right in and I was immediately in the dual world Charlotte, Kevin, Liam, James, and Calvin inhabit.  This book was told not only from the view of Charlotte and Kevin, but also Calvin.  The addition of Calvin to the narrative brought new insight to the characters and provided a glimpse into the dynamic hinted at in book one.

This is definitely a series worth reading.  I am eagerly anticipating the next book.  I give this book 5 clouds (a rare and therefore to be treasured rating).

Be sure to enter the drawing for a free copy while you are here.