Two New Releases - Charlotte And The Tenderfoot And Kat And The U.S. Marshal by Celia Yeary @prairierosepubs

Kat and the U. S. Marshal

U. S. Marshal Diego Montoya rides into Old San Antonio on an assignment to track down and arrest a swindler and killer. That's his job. But his first goal is to visit beautiful Katherine Garrison, the woman he loves, to learn if she will welcome him.

Kat Garrison answers the door, thinking her gentleman friend has arrived early. When she sees Diego Montoya instead, she can't believe he's standing on her front step. All she can think of is their encounter in the barn that cold December night, while her brother and new bride occupied the house.

While carrying out his mission, Diego becomes involved with Kat. But can a beautiful society lady really love a homeless rough lawman enough to take a chance on a life together?

Marshal Montoya always gets his man, but can he capture Kat's heart?

Charlotte and the Tenderfoot

Charlotte Dewhurst leads a full life in Trinity Hill, Texas. But recently, something seems to be missing. Then Charlotte, driving home in her buggy, discovers a man lying by the road. A lawyer, William Montgomery, was passing through the area when accosted by two hoodlums.

The resulting court case keeps Will in town, and he seems quite taken with his rescuer. His attitudes are confusing to Charlotte as he seeks her company, yet proclaims he will soon be moving on looking for adventure. But Will may be the most confused one of all.

     

WHAT'S COMING UP IN OCTOBER? TAKE A LOOK!

Livia and I have been crazy-busy with the fall coming on and of course, the end of the year following on its heels! That means Christmas, and holiday stories, and of course, contest deadlines. This past 18 months has seen the closure of some small presses out there, and we have welcomed some new authors from their ranks into our PRP family. This means Livia and I are pouring on the speed to try and get even more books published!

October marks a red letter month for both of us, though, because we both managed--in all the craziness--to get a book of our own out there, each. Here's part of what we've got coming up next month--some excellent reading in many of our imprints, in all lengths, as you can see from the banner Livia made for us!

Going back to school can be a killer!

Phyllis Newsom and Sam Fletcher come out of retirement to take substitute teacher jobs as a favor for some friends, but they soon realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. That means getting up early, dealing with students and other teachers, and helping out with extracurricular activities. The problem is, for Phyllis, stumbling over dead bodies is an extracurricular activity!

When murder strikes at the school’s Friday the Thirteenth dance, it’s unlucky not only for the victim but also for the student who’s the prime suspect. Sam’s granddaughter has a crush on the boy and can’t believe he’s a killer. Neither can Phyllis. The police are convinced, though, so the only way Phyllis can help him is to uncover the true identity of the killer stalking the halls of the high school before it’s too late!

PRE-ORDER NOW! AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND DIGITAL ON OCTOBER 13!
https://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Deadly-Dozen-Fresh-Baked-Mystery-ebook/dp/B075652KDV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506057280&sr=8-1&keywords=Baker%27s+Deadly+Dozen

A woman with no home…
Beautiful Southern belle Julia Jackson has just been informed she and her niece must find a new home immediately—or else. With no family to turn to in Georgia, Julia takes a mighty gamble and answers an advertisement for a nursemaid in wild Indian Territory—for the child of a man she knows nothing about. Together, she and five-year-old Lauralee waste no time as they flee to the safety of the new position Julia has accepted. She can only hope this move will be the start of a bright future for them away from Lauralee’s dangerous much older half-brother.

A rancher with no heart…
The death of Devlin Campbell’s young daughter has ripped the light from his life. Though the birth of his son, little Jamie, should have been a source of happiness, the subsequent loss of his wife forces Dev to ignore his emotions and trudge through life’s joyless responsibilities. But all that changes with the arrival of Miss Julia Jackson from Atlanta! Not at all what Dev is expecting in response to his ad, his resentment boils over at her failure to mention her tag-along niece—a painful reminder of the loss of his own little girl just two years earlier. Yet, how can he deny the sunshine Julie brings into his drab existence with her very presence?

Can love find a way?
In the depths of Dev’s boundless sorrow and his accompanying anger, is there room in his life for anyone else as Christmas approaches? Can Julie convince him that love is the cure for a broken heart, and hope is the only recipe for a new beginning between THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON…


PRE-ORDER HERE! AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND DIGITAL ON OCTOBER 26!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SJX8SL/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1506057385&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Devil+and+Miss+Julia+Jackson

Here's a wonderful short story by Sarah J. McNeal about a topic we don't usually hear much about--breast cancer in men. This is a touching story of how a young musician must face that and the havoc it wreaks in his life...but can there be happiness for him again?

Gideon thought he had the perfect life as a musician with a beautiful model as his girlfriend, until he was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ashamed and afraid he may die, Gideon hits bottom when his girlfriend dumps him for a real man.

Hope comes in the form of his father’s ghost and a person he has just met. Can he beat the odds and survive? And if he does, can he ever find happiness again?

AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE ON OCTOBER 10!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075NKTZQK/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1506057455&sr=1-2&keywords=Song+of+my+Heart


I'll be back next Friday with a sneak peek at MORE of our super October releases!

New Release -- GAMBLING WITH LOVE by Kaye Spencer -- Giveaway!

When beautiful lady gambler Lainie Conrad’s husband, Seaton, is murdered, she sets out for revenge. Lainie is certain that cardsharp Rutherford Tolliver is guilty, but she has to find a way to prove it—and when she does, she’s not about to let her own little ol’ arrest get in the way! 

U.S. Deputy Marshal Nick Foster catches up with her, determined to get to the bottom of why she walked out on him months earlier. There’s a high bounty on Lainie’s head for a murder she didn’t commit, so Nick has no choice but to arrest her for her own protection—and to keep his heart safe, as well. 

But Lainie has bought in to a high stakes poker tournament in Denver, Colorado, and nothing will keep her from facing the scheming Tolliver across the poker table in a final showdown that pits skill against skill and trickery against vengeance. She escapes from Nick once more and runs to Denver. She must keep her vow to her murdered husband, for only then will she be free to find love again.

The ghosts of the past are no match for The Lady of the Cards when her future is at stake. She can’t afford to lose when she’s GAMBLING WITH LOVE…

EXCERPT:

     The fiery spark in Lainie’s eyes was the only outward indication the man had ruffled her impassive composure.

     “Yes, I will be a player in that game, and it will be my pleasure to finally take all of your money. Perhaps I’ll feel generous after I win to front you a little something so you can leave town.” Lainie nodded to the cowboys. “Again. Gentlemen, goodnight.”

     With the fluid movement of a striking snake, the cardsharp snatched hold of Lainie’s hand and halted her exit. She neither struggled nor spoke a word. To anyone who didn’t know her, she might have seemed indifferent, but Nick recognized the unreserved loathing in the steady, steely gaze she fixed upon the gambler’s face. There was a history between them that Nick wanted to know more about.

     “Stay awhile, Mrs. Conrad. We’ve known each other long enough to put aside formal pretenses. Let’s dispense with this ongoing façade. It’s tiresome. There’s no reason for either of us to spend the rest of this night, or any night in the future, alone.” The gambler raked his gaze over Lainie’s body, his lips curled in a leer that said he was a man accustomed to getting what he wanted.

     Nick’s temper rose, but he held back, watching. If he knew nothing else about Lainie Conrad, he knew she was capable of handling herself with any man in any situation. Still, he pushed back the side of his duster and flipped the leather thong off the hammer of the short-barreled .44 at his hip.

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance to win a free ebook.

      

New Release --- WISH FOR THE MOON by Celia Yeary -- Free Book Giveaway!

We will be giving away a free copy of WISH FOR THE MOON by Celia Yeary, so be sure an leave a comment to enter the drawing.

BLURB:
At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, sixteen-year-old Annie McGinnis wishes for a chance to see more of the world, since all she’s ever known is the family farm in North Texas. A mysterious visitor arrives who will change not only her life, but her family’s as well. To save Max Landry from a bogus charge, she follows him and the Texas Rangers back to the coal-mining town one county over where a murder occurred. The short journey sets Annie on a path of discovery—new horizons, an inner strength, and quite possibly…love.

EXCERPT:

    “I’ve never been anywhere, at least far away. Oh, how I would love to go to Paris, too, and New York. Other than Brazos City, I’ve only been over to Mineral Wells, once. Did you know they have the healing water baths there in two hotels? People come from all over. Anyway, we went to a fair and rode a Ferris wheel and a carousel, and ate hot dogs from a stand, and even had fairy fluff. I didn’t really care for that pink gooey junk, though. It was sort of disappointing, you know? What you saw was something awful pretty and it promised to be something outstanding, but when you bit into it, all you got was a mouthful of airy stuff that just disappeared in your mouth.”
    Max stopped in the field, took Annie’s arm, and turned her toward him. “Did you know, Annie McGinnis, you’ve just articulated how I feel much of the time?”
    “What…what do you mean, ar-ticu-lated?” she asked with widened eyes.
    Before he answered, he lowered the tote to the ground, and placed his hands low on his hips, gazing away from her. Words wouldn’t come exactly as he wanted, but she had expressed the convoluted thoughts he had in his head much of the time.
    He turned back and said very slowly, “Often I see something nice I might like to have, a big house, one of those new motor cars they’re making now, a new tailored suit with a hat to match, or…a family…” His voice trailed off as if he forgot what he wanted to say, but really, he just didn’t know how to express his feelings.
    “Go ahead, Max, say it,” she urged gently. “A family to come home to.”
    He shook his head. “But it could all disappear in an instant, right before your eyes. Don’t you see?     It’s not worth it in the end. You think you have something forever and bang, it’s all gone. Turned to nothing in your mouth when at first, it seemed so sweet.”
    Annie stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his upper arms. He stood still and looked at her, waiting for her to speak. His heart beat hard against his ribs, and the warmth from her small hands burned through his shirtsleeves, but he didn’t move and waited for her to speak.
    “Max,” she began very softly, “don’t you see? Life hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Does that mean you hide away, and curl up and die because you’re afraid? Even animals don’t do that, Max. They move on, find another burrow, another place and maybe another family, but they start over somehow.     You can’t run forever, you know. Soon, you should stop, make a decision, and move on toward your goal. Wandering about like the hoboes that sometime sit under the trestle isn’t for you. You’re too smart and too good to give up on the life the Lord gave you. Wouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself? Stand up, Max, and move on. Find your place and live.”
    Max couldn’t move and he was even afraid to breathe. Before he could stop his emotions, a lone tear leaked out of the corner of one eye. Without thinking, he pulled Annie to him, and kissed her sweetly and sincerely on her soft lips.
    When he broke the kiss, she smiled at him like the angel she was. “Let’s keep moving, you think?” Max asked.
    “Yes,” she said, and smiled so brightly that he thought he might break down and really cry.
    “Come on, then,” he said. “Show me the way.”

LINKS:   

B&N Nook           Smashwords

#NewRelease: THE SECOND-BEST RANGER IN TEXAS

By Kathleen Rice Adams

Texas Ranger, c. 1846 (Library of Congress collection)

As a Texan, I’ve always been fond of the Texas Rangers, an elite law-enforcement agency that functions as the state’s own FBI. Like their predecessors who patrolled Texas’s wide-open spaces during the 19th Century, the 150 men and women who compose the force today are a tough, savvy bunch no one wants to find on their trail. Texans revere the organization not only for the outfit’s history, but also because today’s Rangers serve as an outstanding example of upstanding devotion to an ideal.

Unofficially formed in 1823 and made official in 1835 by an act of the newly formed Republic of Texas government, the Rangers are the oldest statewide law-enforcement body in the U.S. At first the tough, hard-bitten men were a paramilitary force tasked with protecting the frontier from Indians and desperados. They were poorly paid and expected to furnish their own horses, weapons, and ammunition, but their never-say-die attitude quickly became legendary. Admittedly, sometimes they abandoned the letter of the law in pursuit of their objectives, but they always got the job done.

Fearful of the organization’s reputation, the federal government disbanded the Rangers during the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. Texas re-commissioned the outfit in 1874, after the state emerged from martial law under Union occupation forces. Shortly before the turn of the 20th Century, the Rangers acquired the motto that still follows them today: “One riot; one Ranger.”

Except for one brief-but-notorious period of corruption in the 1920s, the organization has performed its function with stellar character.

The hero in The Second-Best Ranger in Texas, a 99-cent standalone short story Prairie Rose publications released today, is a Texas Ranger booted from the force when his partner’s death turns him into a loose cannon bent on revenge...as soon as he does his brother-in-arms one last favor.


A washed-up Texas Ranger. A failed nun with a violent past. A love that will redeem them both.

His partner’s grisly death destroyed Texas Ranger Quinn Barclay. Cashiered for drunkenness and refusal to follow orders, he sets out to fulfill his partner’s dying request, armed only with a saloon girl’s name.

Sister María Tomás thought she wanted to become a nun, but childhood dreams aren’t always meant to be. At last ready to relinquish the temporary vows she never should have made, she begs the only man she trusts to collect her from a mission in the middle of nowhere.

When the ex-Ranger’s quest collides with the ex-nun’s plea in a burned-out border town, unexpected love blooms among shared memories of the dead man who was a brother to them both.

Too bad he was also the only man who could have warned them about the carnage to come.

Available as an e-book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

To celebrate the release, I'll give a copy of The Second-Best Ranger in Texas, in the format of their choice, to one of the folks who comments on today’s post.

#NewRelease: PRODIGAL GUN—All Royalties to Charity

By Kathleen Rice Adams

My debut novel, Prodigal Gun, bowed today. I am just tickled as all-get-out about that. Thanks to Livia Washburn Reasoner and Cheryl Pierson for taking a chance on an unknown author and for doing an outstanding job of putting the book together. Livia’s cover captures the characters, the setting, and the essence of the story beautifully, and Cheryl is an editing goddess (except for the occasional comma fight, but we both emerged unscarred).

Folks who know me will tell you I’m hardly ever serious (except about those dang commas), but I want to break with tradition for just a moment.

For twenty-three years, I was privileged to share life with a loving, generous man. Lee was so proud of all the anthologies with my name on the cover, and I think he was more excited than I about the publication of my first novel.

Sadly, he didn’t live to see the dream fulfilled. Lee died in June.

To honor Lee’s memory, all royalties from the sale of Prodigal Gun will go to charity. He would have liked that.

All right—enough of the seriousness. On to details about the book…and a couple of giveaways (one of which isn’t a book)!

Prodigal Gun
A dangerous man. A desperate woman. A love no war could kill.

Widowed rancher Jessie Caine buried her heart with the childhood sweetheart Yankees killed on a distant battlefield. Sixteen years later, as a Texas range war looms and hired guns arrive to pursue a wealthy carpetbagger’s agenda, Jessie discovers the only man she ever loved isn’t dead.

At least not yet.

Embittered by a brother’s betrayal, notorious gunman Calhoun is a dangerous man, come home to do an unsavory job. A bushwhacker’s bullet nearly takes his life on Jessie’s land, trapping him in a standoff between the past he tried to bury and the infamy he never will. One taste of the only woman he ever loved puts more than his life and her ranch in the crossfire.

With a price on his head, a debt to a wealthy employer around his neck, and a defiant woman tugging at his heart, Calhoun’s guns may not be enough to keep him from the grave. Caught between his enemies and hers, Jessie faces an agonizing choice: Which of her dreams will die?

Excerpt:

April 1877

A red-tailed hawk circled in the cloudless sky, dipping one wing in a silent salute before plunging to the earth like a bullet. Twenty feet from the gelding’s hooves, a jackrabbit barely had time to shriek.

The horse tossed his head and danced a few steps. Calhoun pressed his knees against the saddle and drew the slack from the reins. “Easy, fella.” He patted the chestnut’s neck. “You’re too big for him to carry off.”

Tugging the brim of his Stetson closer to his eyes to block the afternoon glare, Calhoun settled into a lazy slouch. Texas hadn’t changed—still big and open and empty. A man could ride for days with no company but his own.

He scanned the surrounding terrain. Rocks and scrub littered the sand on both sides of the dry wash. Occasional stands of oak and mesquite interrupted the grama grass and prickly pear toward the skyline, but nothing moved. No insects or reptiles. No birds. Not even a breeze. Only the gelding’s hooves thudding against parched dirt and the creak of saddle leather violated the silence.

Too still. Too quiet. Too…empty. Unease had dogged him for the past six months, ever since the trouble in Kansas. Now, deep in the Texas Hill Country, an army of ants crawled the fringes of his nerves.

Someone hunted the hunter. Who? His gaze darted from sand to scrub to rock. “Show yourself, you son of a bitch.”

The horse’s ears swiveled to catch the mutter. Good God, you’re talkin’ to yourself.

Rubbing eyes dried by heat and fatigue, he sucked a lungful of scalding air. Two weeks of hard travel could prey on a man’s mind. Both he and the horse could use a brief rest. If memory served, a watering hole and some blessed shade lay just over the next rise.

A familiar rancor swelled in his chest. Some memories persisted despite a man’s best effort to forget.

Boggs better have a damn good reason for yanking him away from the high-dollar comfort of Miss Lavinia’s in Silver City. A wry twist pinched one corner of Calhoun’s lips. Now there was a memory to savor. The heat in New Mexico Territory could burn a man clear to his bones without leaving a mark.

Wildfire in Texas left scars.

Paperback  •  Kindle  •  Nook  •  Smashwords

 

Do you have a favorite charity? Tell me in the comments! I’ll give a print copy of Prodigal Gun to one person who answers and a CD of Marty Robbins’s Gunfighter Ballads to another.

Thanks for stopping by!

HALLOWEEN "OFFERINGS" FROM PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLICATIONS IMPRINTS by CHERYL PIERSON

Hi everyone! Well, Halloween is right around the corner and Prairie Rose Publications as well as some of our other imprints have some great stories to share with you! Some are new and some have been out a while, but you might have missed them. So be sure to scroll through this post and look at all our offerings that are already here or that will be coming SOON. The first thing that we're really excited about here at PRP is our double anthology set of wild west Halloween stories with a romantic flair! These are now available for pre-order at Amazon (Kindle) and will be released in print as well as digital venues on OCTOBER 2!



COWBOYS, CREATURES, and CALICO VOLUME 1:

Halloween is here along with some romantic western-y ghost tales to share around a campfire! Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico, Vol. 1 is guaranteed to make you wonder what in the world–or in the “other” world—is going on. But are you sure you really want to know?

The Sheriff of Hel’n Gone by Lorrie Farrelly is a supernatural tale of a western lawman who must live one hellish Halloween night over and over, until a young woman from the future finds her way back to save him.

In Tanya Hanson’s The Bridesmaid, a bridegroom is doomed to marry a woman he becomes terrified of…but finds her bridesmaid is the love he’s been dreaming of. But will his sleeping or waking hours become his true nightmare?

Sarah J. McNeal’s The Beast of Hazard is a story about a predator that stalks the small community where veterinarian Joey Wilding practices. But is the vicious animal-killer on the loose of this world, or another?

Author Shayna Matthews makes a riveting debut with her tale of The Legend of Venture Canyon, about an exotic young woman who dances in the circus…where the show must go on—at all costs—and love survives everything.

Cher’ley Grogg’s story, Wild Injuns, Wicked Trains, and Cerulean Blue is an unforgettable tale of a young woman who comes west to get a sensational newspaper article and pictures, but in doing so, finds out that she will never leave.

Veteran author Linda Carroll-Bradd’s story, Wanderer, Come Home, is a poignant tale of the discovery of true love and trust amidst some strange Samhain happenings on a small farm.


COWBOYS, CREATURES, AND CALICO VOLUME 2:

What better way to spend Halloween than with some handsome cowboys and feisty heroines who are determined to fall in love despite their supernatural powers—or lack thereof? Halloween’s a good time to take a chance on love—and to see what these Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico Vol. 2 stories might reveal to the unsuspecting reader—YOU!

Cheryl Pierson’s Spellbound will have you on the edge of your seat as safecracker Brett Diamond and witch Angie Colton take on a border gang leader who is pure evil. Can Angie’s supernatural powers save them? No matter what, Brett and Angie are hopelessly Spellbound.

C. Marie Bowen’s Hunter and Lily Graham is an unforgettable tale of a beautiful school marm’s love for her children that surpasses all. When a Cajun bounty hunter known only as “Hunter” shows up, Lily Graham knows he, and no one else, can help her save a young girl.

Have Wand — Will Travel is Jacquie Rogers’s offering about a handsome young mage, Tremaine Ramsey, who has a wand and knows how to use it…sometimes. Will his magic be strong enough to pull off a daring rescue of his father from the evil Gharth? Or will he need the warrior Nora’s love to help him see his Fate through?

Will Kaye Spencer’s character, Mercy Pontiere, be able to break a centuries-old curse and find true love all at the same time? It all depends on Reid Corvane and what he’ll do For Love of a Brystile Witch.

In Kristy McCaffrey’s story, The Crow and the Coyote, Hannah Dobbin is after an evil Navajo sorcerer who murdered her father, and she’s determined to see him dead. But she’ll need a bounty hunter, The Crow—to help find this vile man. With Hallowtide upon them, more evil is afoot than they can handle; but love will find a way.

A failed bank robber, Tombstone Hawkins, along with a fake gypsy fortune teller, Pansy Gilchrist, set out to make both their deceased fathers proud in one final spectacular heist. Family Tradition is Kathleen Rice Adams’s tale of the discovery of true love amid the commission of a crime—or the failure to commit a crime—while being overseen by the ghosts of the couple’s fathers. How can there be a happy ending? It’s Halloween, and anything can happen!


AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW!
COWBOYS, CREATURES, AND CALICO VOL. 1 preorder here: http://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Creatures-Calico-Lorrie-Farrelly-ebook/dp/B00NVX5Y2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411743017&sr=8-1&keywords=Cowboys%2C+Creatures+and+Calicos

COWBOYS, CREATURES, AND CALICO VOL. 2 preorder here: http://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Creatures-Calico-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00NVXNT5G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411743017&sr=8-2&keywords=Cowboys%2C+Creatures+and+Calicos

Fire Star Press: New Release: A HEART FOR A HEART by Cheryl Pierson...

Today is new release day over at Fire Star Press, so come on over and join us there.



Fire Star Press: New Release: A HEART FOR A HEART by Cheryl Pierson...: Today Cheryl will be giving away a e-copy of her story A Heart for a Heart to one person who leaves a comment on that blog. Be sure and include contact information in your comment for a chance to win!

New Release: DRINA'S CHOICE by Agnes Alexander -- Giveaway

A free ecopy will be given to one person who comments today. Be sure to leave a way to contact you if you want to participate in the giveaway.

Blurb: To escape her abusive father, Drina Hamilton feels she has no choice but to make the long trek to Arizona to become the wife of a rancher she only knows from the one letter his uncle has written her.

To redeem the mortgage on his Rocking Chair Ranch, Aaron Wilcox is being forced to marry the woman his uncle has chosen from the mail-order-bride ad he put in a Georgia newspaper.

As Drina and Aaron struggle with the situation they’ve been forced into, they are unaware there is a sinister plan in the works to murder Aaron, and force the sale of the huge ranch.

Bio: In 2012 Agnes Alexander’s first western historical romance was published. Drina’s Choice is her 7^th in the genre. Agnes has lived all her life in her home state of NC, but loves to travel. Though she has visited 48 of the 50 states, she says she has an affinity with the west and loves writing and researching this genre. Other than traveling, her most favorite thing to do is spend time with her two grandchildren.   Website www.Agnesalexander.com  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/agnesalexander.549?sk   Pinterest  www.Pinterest.com/agnesalexander8

Excerpt:
    Drina Hamilton clutched her worn reticule tightly to her chest as the train rattled across Ari-zona, but the sound of her father’s words still pounded in her ears blocking out the noise of the metal monster’s wheels on the track. Was her father right? Was she making the biggest mistake of her life by deciding to accept the proposal of an unknown cowboy? Was this choice too much of a gamble for a woman who would be nineteen in three weeks, though she didn’t look it? Dare she believe that choosing to marry a stranger was the answer to her prayers? Not only for herself, but for Hannah, too. No matter what her younger sister told her, Drina was sure the girl’s life with their Aunt Verbena was not a happy one. But for several, not clearly explained, complicated reason, the youngest Hamilton daughter had to stay there.
    To calm her nerves, Drina took the letter she kept secure in her drawstring purse, unfolded it and read the words for probably the hundredth time.
    Miss Hamilton, as my ad in the Savannah newspaper stated, I’m helping my nephew look for a suitable wife who has an unsullied reputation, who can read and write and give him children. Since your letter stated you qualify in these areas, I had you investigated and found you to be everything you said you were. My nephew has decided you are the one he will marry. As soon as you let him know you are coming west, he will wire you the money for the train trip to Phoenix and sufficient funds to cover your traveling expenses, plus the ticket for the stagecoach to Hatchet Springs. If you find he pleases you as husband material, he agrees to help you with your sister, Hannah, as you requested. The day you leave Savannah, please wire him the time and date of your expected arrival and you will be met at the stage stop in Hatchet Springs. Walter Wilcox for my nephew, Aaron Wilcox.
    There was no declaration of the possibility love ever becoming a part of the marriage in the future. Of course, she didn’t expect this. She was as much a stranger to Aaron Wilcox and his uncle as they were to her. But they could have said they were pleased I accepted the marriage proposal. Unquestionably, they couldn’t know how hard it was for me to make this choice.

Links:  Smashwords    Barnes & Noble  (Coming Soon)

            

NEW RELEASE! EVERY GIRL'S DREAM by CHERYL PIERSON

Do you believe in love at first sight? Can it happen? More importantly, can it last over the long haul of the ups and downs of a relationship?

Throw in a few obstacles from the very first meeting of the hero/heroine, and the relationship becomes even more intriguing.

In my novella, EVERY GIRL’S DREAM, that’s just what happens. (Every Girl's Dream was previously published with Victory Tales Press, and has recently been re-released with Prairie Rose Publications!)

Sheena McTavish, a young Irish girl, has been raped by the son of her father’s employer. Now, with a baby on the way, Sheena is given an unthinkable choice: give her baby to the father’s wealthy family to raise, or travel to New Mexico Territory by stagecoach to live with her aunt and uncle until her child is born. At that point, she will have to place it in a nearby orphanage.

Desperate to buy some time and protect her baby from its father, she chooses to travel west. Alone and afraid, she starts on the journey that will change her life forever. Before Sheena’s stage leaves, she meets handsome Army scout Callen Chandler. The attraction is there, even under difficult conditions.

As the story progresses, Sheena must learn to trust again, and Cal begins to realize he doesn’t have to live the solitary existence he’s endured up to now. Being half Comanche has left him with no place in either world—white or Indian. When Sheena comes along, everything changes…for both of them.

>

I WILL BE GIVING AWAY PDF COPIES OF EVERY GIRL'S DREAM TO TWO LUCKY COMMENTERS TODAY! BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT!


To check out the rest of my work, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/author/cherylpierson

I’ll leave you with an excerpt of EVERY GIRL’S DREAM, available now for only $1.99.

Cal is a half-breed U.S. Army scout, who has just rescued Sheena, the heroine, from a Kiowa attack on the stagecoach she was in. They had met briefly the morning before, and as luck would have it, Cal comes upon the stage after the Kiowas have attacked and are getting ready to ride away with Sheena. He tells them he and Sheena are married and the Kiowas reluctantly let him take Sheena, but then…

Cal felt…something. His back tingled as he waited for the stinging burn of a shale arrowhead. He risked a glance backward, and saw the Kiowa leader’s stare heavy upon him.

“Sheena, hold on tight.”

“The baby—”

“I know, sweetheart. We won’t ride hard any longer’n we have to. Lowell’s Ridge is only about four miles away.” A very long four miles.

She nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry, Callen.”

“No call for that.”

“You came for me.”

He smiled at that. There was a small amount of disbelief in her tone, overshadowed by a huge amount of wonder. Who wouldn’t come for her?

“You could be killed because of me,” she said softly, as if she had only just realized it. She laid her hand over his, and in that moment, he wondered if dying for her would be worth the twenty-seven years he’d lived so far.

His heart jumped at her touch, then steadied. But as he risked another glance back, he saw exactly what he’d feared. Two of the braves were mounting up, and they weren’t riding the opposite way. “That still might happen,” he murmured.

He leaned forward, trying to protect Sheena with his body as he slapped the reins against the horse’s side, urging him into a lope, then a full-out run.

The Kiowas were close behind them. There must have been dissension among them. The leader had seemed content to let him take Sheena and ride away. One of the others must have disagreed with that decision.

Cal reached to pull his revolver from his holster.

They were strangely quiet, he thought.

The first bullet cracked from behind them, and Cal reflexively bent lower. The bullet whined past his ear like an angry bee.

Sheena gasped. He fired off a shot and got lucky. One of the warriors screamed in agony and fell from his saddle. But the other rode low, hanging onto the side of his mount. And he kept right on coming.

The next bullet sang over Cal’s head. He concentrated on eating up the miles to Lowell’s Ridge. Riding double was slowing them down considerably. Sheena’s body was tense beneath the shelter of his own. Fragile, but strong. Delicate, but determined. His hand splayed over her stomach, holding her close, cradling her from the jarring of their wild ride.

A whoop from behind them accompanied the crack of a rifle, and this time, the Kiowa warrior’s bullet found its mark. A bolt of fire seared through Cal’s right shoulder, and for a minute, the pain was so strong he almost sawed back on the reins. But at his harsh curse, Sheena glanced up at him, her hand instantly clamping tightly over his. The reins were still wrapped in his fingers, but Sheena kept her hand on his, reminding him to let the horse have his head and continue their flight for freedom.

“Hang on, Cal!”

The pain was so breathtaking he could do nothing but nod his understanding.

“Dammit!” she cursed. That almost made him smile, but the agony in his shoulder surged up and stole his breath again as the horse’s hooves pounded the ground below.

The road was not much more than a trail, and where it narrowed, branches reached out to scrape and snarl in hair and clothing, scratching their faces as they blindly rode toward safety.

www.prairierosepublications.com