Book BIN Tuesday - Cowgirls Don't Cry

In the mood for a western red-hot romance? Lorelei James has just the ticket for you! Out today is COWGIRLS DON'T CRY, her latest in the Rough Riders series. And does it sound good!

Good girls can play rough too…

Rough Riders, Book 10

Jessie McKay has accepted her marriage to Luke McKay wasn’t perfect. After two years of widowhood, she’s ready to kick up her bootheels—until Luke’s younger brother shows up to spoil her fun. But if Brandt thinks she’ll ever take orders from another McKay male, he’s got manure for brains.

Brandt McKay has avoided his sweet, sexy sister-in-law ever since the night he confessed his feelings for her weren’t the brotherly type. Unexpectedly faced with proof of Luke’s infidelity, Brandt is forced to ask for Jessie’s help in taking care of Luke’s young son. Jessie agrees on one condition—she wants Brandt’s boots exclusively under her bed for the duration.

The sexual heat that’s always simmered between them ignites. Brandt is determined to make the temporary situation permanent, proving to Jessie he’s a one-woman man. And Jessie is shaken by feelings she’s sworn never to have again for any man…especially not a McKay.

Warning: Contains branding-iron-hot sex , the one McKay on earth who wants to be tamed, and a woman who’s decided tame is for nice girls who finish last.

Think that sounds good? Why not head over to My Bookstore and More and Buy It Now?

Rodeo Book The Second - Untitled WIP

I'm working on a second rodeo-themed book, this time about a team roper and a local he meets on the circuit. Here's a sneak peek:

The bar was insanely hot, with far too many people crammed into far too small of a space. He was lucky he'd gotten this booth to himself.

Oh, who the hell was he kidding? It wasn't luck. It was a combination of glowering and a heavy dose of "don't bother me" vibes.

He fucking hated this part of the scene.

At least with Dane around, he could handle it. He was the best wingman anyone could ask for – great at deflecting unwanted attention without hurting anyone's feelings, able to tease Cam into a better mood when he started turning too introspective.

Plus, Cam never had to worry about Dane horning in on his territory if he was interested in a woman.

And if once in a while he heard whispers that the two of them were more than just buddies, who the hell cared.

God knew he wasn't Dane's type.

And he was big enough, and mean enough, to squash those rumors before they got any traction.

The jukebox started up again, blaring out the same damn song he'd already heard five times tonight. And he'd only been here an hour and a half.

Nobody else seemed to mind, if the rousing cheer and crowded dance floor were any indication. Everybody else in the place seemed to be having a grand old time.

Cam felt tired, and cranky, and mean. Any minute now he was going to tell some kid to get off his lawn.

Christ, when had he turned into an old man?

Checking his watch again, he calculated that he had to stay here at least another half an hour before he could slip out without bringing down the wrath of the rodeo publicity guy. He could do that. As long as everyone left him the hell alone.

Five seconds later, a woman threw herself into his booth, landing on the bench seat across the table from him. Her brown hair was short and disheveled, her breath coming in short gasps. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand, clinging for all she was worth.

"I'll pay you a thousand dollars to be my boyfriend."

****

Hope you liked it!

Rodeo Book The First - The Devil Inside

So, after attending the rodeo for years over Labor Day weekend, I of course had to write a rodeo book. The Devil Inside, a Samhain release, is about a bullrider who gets injured during the rodeo, and the EMT who nurses him back to health. Here's an excerpt:

Cody woke to darkness.

Where the hell was he?

“Are you awake?” A cool hand smoothed the hair back from his forehead.

“Unfortunately,” he muttered, which made her laugh softly.

Her. Her who? Damn, he’d been on the road for a long time, but forgetting the woman he was with…

That was bad. Even for him.

The room, what he could see of it, was unfamiliar. Not surprising, considering how many days he spent on the circuit each year. But this wasn’t a hotel room.

And he couldn’t place the woman standing next to the bed.

It didn’t help that his brain felt stuffed with cotton, and the room kept wavering in and out of focus.

“Pain pretty bad?” She leaned over him, straightening the sheets. He knew that scent. Why didn’t he recognize the woman?

Okay, start with the basics. It was night. The shadows in the room were deep and quiet. And his mystery woman, the one now checking the bandage on his arm—holy hell, how had that happened?—was wearing a nightgown.

The light from the hallway spilled into the darkened room, putting her face in shadows but turning her virginal white gown almost transparent. She probably thought the long-sleeved garment was modest, but with the light behind it, Cody could see every curve of her body.

Damn.

His groin tightened, an instinctive response to this woman. He did know her. Or at least his body did, if his instant hard-on was a clue. Gritting his teeth, he searched his fogged, noncompliant brain. Why couldn’t he place her?

“Hang on,” she said, turning toward the nightstand. The light through the thin fabric outlined one taut nipple.

Hell. He was clinging by his fingertips here.

She held out a couple of pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other. “It’s time for your next dose,” she said, helping him to a semi-upright position. As she leaned over him, her chest brushed against his arm. He tightened his jaw for reasons other than the pain coursing through him.

She tipped the pills into his palm, but he shook his head.

“I’m okay.” He hoped she couldn’t see the sheen of sweat on his brow that proved he was a liar.

She pursed her lips, obviously not fooled. She set the medicine down on the nightstand, within easy reach. “Your call.”

He closed his eyes, willing the room to stop swimming.

She sat down next to him, careful not to jostle the bed. Lifted one eyelid, then the other, which was kind of weird. “What year is it?”

“What?”

“How about the president? Do you know who’s president now?”

There was that scent again, something sweet and fresh, like fresh-baked vanilla cookies. God, she smelled good. He captured her hand with his and tugged gently. “Stop asking foolish questions and come back to bed.”

She didn’t move. She didn’t say a word. But her tension level spiked off the charts.

“What is it?” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Come on, baby.”

“I’m not your baby, Cody.” She tugged her hand from his and stood. “And I haven’t been in your bed for thirteen years.”

Thirteen years? He stared at her.

“Not that you were particularly happy to find me there. Booted me right quick. You were pretty insistent on that.”

He’d kicked her out of bed? Was he insane?

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” She shook her head. “Do you remember getting thrown off the bull? The ambulance ride? Hospital? Anything?”

“I’m a little confused,” he admitted.

“Please tell me you remember signing the release papers…”

He probably looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Crap.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I knew I should have stayed away. The rodeo is nothing but trouble.” She glared at him. “And that goes double for you, Cody Ringo Shaw.”

Oh, shit. Nobody knew his middle name except family and… “Sam?” No wonder she sounded familiar, looked familiar.

Hell, even smelled familiar.

“Got it in one,” she said dryly. “You’re good.”

Cody struggled to sit up, gasping as pain hit him from all over. Damn, he was in worse shape than he thought.

“Sam, I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “Forget it.”

“Why am I—”

She cut him off. “Rodeo accident. You’re on bed rest for the next seventy-two hours. After that, who knows?”

Bed rest? “Here?”

“Yep.” Sarcasm lurked behind the terse reply. “Lucky me.”

Shoulders set, she stalked out of the room.

Lucky? Cody fell back against his pillows. It seemed his luck had just run out.

****

You can find The Devil Inside here. Hope you enjoyed the excerpt!

Tomorrow, I'll post an excerpt from my rodeo WIP.

I'm Not A Cowgirl...

...but I play one on Labor Day Weekend.

Yep, I'm back from the yearly trek to the rodeo, and I've got lots to share! Pics, excerpts, and a sneak peek at my rodeo-based WIP. Stop by all week to see what's up!

Today, here are a few pictures from the weekend. Hope you enjoy!

Winners, Weekend Plans, and Recommended Links

The problem with planning big blog parties the week before school starts is...uhm...not actually following through because I'VE GOT SO MUCH TO DO, YEESH.

So, apologies for not posting the winners before now. And congratulations to:
Deidre
who won a free copy of Lessons In Trust,

and
Karin
who won a $10 gift certificate to Torquere Press.

Deidre and Karin, please e-mail me with your contact info so I can get you your prizes.

Thanks to everyone who commented during the giveaways. And be sure to keep posting, because there will be more parties -- and prizes - to come in the following weeks.

And speaking of parties, be sure to drop by Maia Strong's blog, where she's counting down the days to her newest release, Client Privileges, from Torquere Press.

As for me, I'll be off enjoying the scenery at the rodeo. (Gotta love them Wranglers!) Enjoy your weekend!

Blog Party -- A Tip of the (Cowboy) Hat

My husband is a big fan of westerns.

Not the romances, the movies.

So when it came time to write The Devil Inside, I knew I wanted to include a couple of Western-movie references, just for fun.

Example one: Sam Quincannon borrows her last name from the classic John Ford/John Wayne Western, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

Example two: Cody's middle name, Ringo, comes from two of my personal favorites. The first, Stagecoach, is another John Ford/John Wayne collaboration, this time from the best year of movies ever, 1939. The Ringo Kid is the name of John Wayne's character, and it made him a star.

But just now, I slipped and called the character Johnny Ringo. That, my husband reminded me, was a character in Tombstone. So really, it's a name that fits both classic Westerns and more modern interpretations.

Question of the Day: Have you ever noticed an "in-joke" in a book -- a reference to a movie, another book, or a song? If so, what was it?

Blog Party -- Why Rodeo?

I didn't grow up with the rodeo. Oh, I think my family got tickets to the rodeo maybe once when I was growing up, but it wasn't a typical event for us. And though I loved riding horses (even went to "horse camp" one summer), we never owned horses or any livestock, for that matter.

But then I got married. And my hubby's family does the rodeo. Every year. In a big way.

So every Labor Day weekend, we schlep halfway across the state to the rodeo. There are cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and friends and...the list goes on. It's like a family reunion, but with horses and bulls in the background.

And I love it.

We have a great time, hanging out together, while someone always writes down the stats for each ride, and the cousins try to get the attention of the rodeo clowns, and I take surreptitious photos of the cowboys (for research purposes, of course). I pull the cowboy hat out of storage and wear it with pride.

So I've wanted to write a book set at the rodeo for quite a while now. And a few years ago, a story caught my attention. Some of the long-time attendees from our group were talking about the year a rider went down on the "suicide run" and ended up getting killed. My heart ached for the family of that rider, who may have been there to see it happen, as the participants in this race were usually locals.

And that's how Sam Quincannon came into being.

As for Cody, well, I think it was the abundance of Wranglers that inspired his character. ;)

I didn't grow up with the rodeo, but my kids are, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's Party Time Again!

I hope you've got your party hats on and the champagne cooling -- because today starts Blog Party 2009!

Yes, in just one short week The Devil Inside will be available at Samhain Publishing. Yee-haw!

I'm so excited about this book. It was a labor of love -- and sweat, and tears, and...

See, it started out as a novella. But my lovely editor had some specific--and very helpful--suggestions on my first round of edits. So after much writing and revising, it's now almost 15K words longer. And much deeper, more emotional, and (I think) an all-around better book.

A book I'm proud of. A book I can't wait for y'all to get a peek at. A book that's coming out January 27.

So to celebrate, I'm throwing the Mother of All Blog Parties. Stay tuned to this station for excerpts, insider sneak peaks, background info, and hot cowboys. As always, everyone who posts is entered into a drawing to win excellent prizes. Each comment is good for one entry. So the more you post, the more chances you have to win!

And that starts with this post. So my first question is -- what book are you most looking forward to right now? (And no, you don't have to say TDI. *grin*)

In fact, I'll start. MY "can't-wait" book is actually coming out the same day as mine. The subject of quite a big kerfuffle on the intertubes, it's Suz Brockmann's Dark of Night. I haven't been strong enough to avoid the spoilers (bad Kate! Bad!), but they haven't dimmed my anticipation.

I'll probably celebrate my own release by heading to the nearest bookstore -- half an hour's drive away -- to pick up a copy.

Okay, your turn. What book are you tapping your fingers impatiently for while you count down the days?

Freebie Friday! Contests Ending!

Is it Friday already? Man, time is flying. First, congratulations to Robyn L, for winning last week's Freebie Friday giveaway. Robyn, email me with your address so I can send out your copy of Flirting With Forty.

Next, today is the last day for the 12 Days of Holiday Hell contest being run on my editor's blog. Stop by Nice Mommy-Evil Editor to enter the last contest, and don't forget to enter to win the two Kindles as well!

The Winter Wonderland contest is drawing to a close as well, with the last day scheduled for the 15th.

And today, my Friday freebie is for everyone! I'm offering a sneak peek at my upcoming e-book release, The Devil Inside. I've hidden a never-before-seen excerpt somewhere on my website. Just e-mail me the answer to the following question, and I'll send you the link!

Who is HOOKED dedicated to?

If you don't have a copy of HOOKED, you can pick one up here. And of course I'll have the excerpt up for everyone in the next few weeks.

Have a lovely weekend! We're going to decorate the tree and get started on the Christmas cards. What are you up to this weekend?

Book BIN Tuesday -- Cowboy Games

Ooh, I love me some cowboys. So I was super-excited to see that Wendi Darlin has a new book out with Siren called Cowboy Games. Here's the scoop:

At Fantasy Ranch, love is a game.

THE PLAYERS:

Gavin Carter

Gavin owns Fantasy Ranch, a resort where guests get a week of cowboy love with the hottest cowboys in Wyoming.

Rebecca Ryder

Rebecca's husband had promised to deliver her fantasy du jour: A cowboy. He died before he could keep that promise. She thinks if she plays the Fantasy Ranch game, just for a second she might have her husband back. And maybe that will be long enough to say goodbye.

THE RULES:
1) No sex.
2) No contact or attempted contact after the week is up.

Clause number two is accompanied by a clear warning: Any attempt at contact will be considered 'criminal stalking' and treated as such. A sure sign the cowboys are very good at making women think they have fallen in love.

Wanna play?

Cowboy Games was released in e-format yesterday, so y'all are invited to head over to Siren and Buy It Now, y'hear? :)