AMY BLOG week of 1/7/18
How’s the New Year’s resolution thing working out for you?
I’m not big on making resolutions, but if I were, the top
entry would be: READ MORE. I really do plan to make time for catching up on my
TBR pile, and that includes re-reading my own backlist. And since Amy invited
me to share some of my back list titles with you, I decided to start with Book
I in the West Coast Happily-Ever-After series.
This collection of stories consists of seven stand-alone
novels that happens to be set in the modern American West. Book I, HER FOREVER
COWBOY, is a reunion story that’s all about family and living life to the
fullest. It’s set on a guest ranch above the Carson Valley near Tahoe. While researching the setting, I met some
real-life characters—including an older man not unlike the hero’s grandfather.
A cowboy poet, his story included meeting the love of his life in his golden
years. This little nugget was pure gold for this writer.
HER FOREVER COWBOY
West Coast
Happily-Ever-After, Book 1
Her
Forever Cowboy FIRST KISS © Loner Llama Press
“Why is
it so important to be number one?”
He
shrugged. “No doubt Dr. Freud would say it’s wrapped up in my dad dying. People
have told me he might have won Best All-Around Cowboy the year he died. My
folks were on their way home from a rodeo when their truck rolled and went into
a ditch.”
In an
effort to brush away the sadness in her eyes, he said, “Or, as your mother
liked to say, it could be cussed orneriness. She said I inherited that from my
grandfather. Bull riding is what I do.”
“Even
if it kills you?”
Will
startled. Did she know about his doctor’s report? He knew rumors had been
circulating when he left, but surely Anne couldn’t have heard anything. “What’s
that mean?”
“You’re
getting older. Your body isn’t as malleable as a young kid’s. You could land
wrong and break your neck.”
He
released the breath he’d been holding. “Actually, I may not look it, but I’m in
better shape today than I was fifteen years ago. I lift weights and run. And my
timing is sharper.”
She
took a deep breath. “I wasn’t casting any aspersions on your body.” The
compliment seemed to loom between them and she quickly added, “So, you’re
planning on going back to the circuit this fall.” It wasn’t a question.
“Definitely.”
She
rose to her knees and started to gather up their mess. “And, I’m taking a new
job, too–a promotion that’s long overdue. It sounds like we have our futures
all lined up and ready to go. To get involved on an emotional level would be
terribly foolish, don’t you agree?”
“When
you put it like that…but–“
She
didn’t let him finish. “We’re adults, Will, not kids. Proximity and unresolved
lust just aren’t good enough reasons to risk involvement.”
Will
agreed on an intellectual level, but the shimmer on her lips was speaking to
him at a different level altogether. “So, we won’t get involved, but one kiss
every fifteen years isn’t going to kill us.”
She
started to disagree, but Will knew a proven way to distract a woman. He pulled
her into his arms and kissed her.
Anne
gave a token resistance–a mumbled uh-uh that almost immediately turned to
uh-huh. There was a small clattering sound as the colored pens scattered on the
floor. Her arms encircled his shoulders, her body flattened against his as her
mouth opened.
She
tasted salty and sweet. Popcorn and soda, plus an intangible quality that made
him groan. And as their tongues met, Will knew he’d made a serious mistake.
Fifteen years hadn’t been enough to make him forget, and now, he had nowhere to
run.
~~~
HER
FOREVER COWBOY is available at these vendors:
All vendors: BOOKS2READ
Thanks, Amy. Sorry I missed this post on Monday. Busy days!!!
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