Monday, January 7, 2019

Read an Excerpt From Her Forever Cowboy by Debra Salonen


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

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Amy. Sorry I missed this post on Monday. Busy days!!!

    ReplyDelete

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