This Week - a Visual

(Yes, that's me.)

And yes, I'm looking forward to the weekend. :) In the meantime, the newest installment of The Zillionaire Vampire Cowboy's Secret Werewolf Babies is up. Go check it out!

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!

NNN Excerpt Thursday - First Kiss

And now for something completely different!

My new group blog, Nine Naughty Novelists, has started Excerpt Thursday, where each of us posts a snippet of a scene around the same theme, with links to a longer excerpt. So every Thursday I'll be posting the full excerpt here. This week the theme is "First Kiss". My excerpt is from The Devil Inside. Enjoy!

Sam narrowed her eyes. "It’s two in the morning, Cody. I’m tired and cranky and not in the mood. So save the cheesy innuendo for a better occasion, buddy."

"Yes, ma’am." He subsided on the pillow, allowing her to check his bandages and injuries with no further commentary.

She worked quickly and efficiently, refusing to let herself think about Cody’s comments.

Much.

And she’d told him she wasn’t in the mood? Liar.

The check-up finally finished, she pulled the covers back up and reached to turn off the light.

Cody stopped her with a hand on her arm.

Startled, she looked down at him. "Did you need something?"

"Just this," he said, reached up with his uninjured arm and threaded his fingers through her sleep-tousled hair. Then, tugging gently, he urged her head down toward his.

Part of her insisted she put a stop to it, right now. He was injured, on medication, and in her care.

It would be unprofessional.

But a bigger part, the part that had been crushing on Cody since she was barely in her teens, told her professional side to shut the hell up and let her enjoy the moment. God knew if it would ever happen again.

Closer, closer, until her eyes drifted shut and she pressed her lips to his.

He whispered a kiss across her mouth with infinite delicacy, pulling back a bit before touching his lips to hers again. His mouth was an intoxicating combination of soft and firm, and she sighed against his lips. She could feel his mouth curve into a little smile.

He intensified the kiss then, his lips molding to hers, his thumb tracing the curve of her neck. Her pulse beat crazily beneath his touch, and she sat down on the edge of the bed, no longer certain her legs would hold her up.

Then he stroked his tongue into her mouth, sending a rush of heat through her that would not be denied. Surrendering to the pull of desire, she met him stroke for stroke, groaning against his mouth as their tongues tangled and their breath mingled. His hand slid lower, cupping her breast, and she gasped as he circled her nipple with his thumb. This was what she’d wanted, what she’d desired for so long…

Growling in frustration, he pulled away, his hand dropping against the comforter as he sank back into the pillows. "You’d better go." His voice was raspy, his expression fierce.

Oh, God. What had she done? With a little gasp, she stood and staggered a few steps back from the bed.

"I’ll, uh, see you in a few hours," she stammered, and backed out of the room. Even after she’d turned the corner into the hallway, she could barely restrain herself from touching her mouth.

She’d studied physiology and human sexuality. Even so, she could have sworn her lips were actually on fire.

How could such a delicate touch cause such a strong reaction?

Cody’s voice carried into the hall. "Maybe you’d better wear your robe next time."

Hell, yeah. She’d wear a snowsuit if she had to. Anything to protect her from the fire burning between them.

Because if she wasn’t careful, she was the one who was going to get burned.

Big E-Book Bash At Writeminded!

Whether you love e-books or are just curious about them, the place to be this week is the Writeminded blog. They have over 100 e-books to give away, and my book The Devil Inside is one of them! (I just checked, and it hasn't been posted yet, so it's still up for grabs.)

The contests are posted at random times, so the more often you stop by the blog, the better your odds of winning. Good luck, and happy reading!

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.

The Devil Inside -- First Look

So I just got my back cover blurb for The Devil Inside this week, and thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!

It’ll take more than one go-round to win this rodeo of the heart…

Thirteen years after her father was killed in a rodeo accident, Samantha Quincannon is facing her worst nightmare. An EMT, she has avoided rodeo duty like the plague. Now her career depends on her ability to face down her fear.

Cody Shaw hasn’t seen Sam since the night of her father’s accident, and their reunion is anything but typical. So is her reaction when a bull ride gone wrong lands him, broke and bleeding, in her reluctant care. And, until he’s well enough to travel, in her bed. He knows he’s far from a model patient, but would it kill Sam not to act like she’d rather climb on a bull herself than have him underfoot?

On thing hasn’t changed—their off-the-charts sexual tension. They both put up a good fight, but soon the heat burns through their resistance.

Even as Sam fights to protect her heart from the one danger she didn’t see coming, something else becomes clear. Rodeo is in Cody’s blood, and nothing, not even Sam, can make him quit taking crazy risks.

It’s up to Sam to decide if she’s ready to put on her big-girl boots—and ride.

Warning: Lots of hot, sweaty, down-and-dirty lovin'. Cowgirl up!