I am so over the moon. THIS IS MY VERY FIRST RONE NOMINATION!!! to make it to the finals, though, people have to vote for the book. Here’s the letter with the instructions of voting from the Rone Committee:
It is extremely important that you let all your readers and fans know! ( THAT’S WHY I’M PUTTING IT IN A BLOG POST! LOL) We would hate to think a superior quality book lost only because people were unaware of the time limit. Also, make sure that they understand they MUST be registered on our website at www.indtale.com in order to vote. ( IT COSTS NOTHING TO REGISTER!)
*****Once you are registered, you will be required to click the verification link sent to you via email. If you do not verify you registration with this link, you will be unable to vote. This is very important to help ensure that the voting is fair and maintains the high-quality standards required for this top-tier award.
Once the voting is final and the winning books announced, the finalists in each genre will then be read and judged by a group of professionals in the industry to determine the very best book in the indie and small published world! The winners will then be announced and awarded the prestigious RONE Award at the formal ceremony at the InD’Scribe Conference, October 7th, 2021. An announcement with all the information will be coming soon! Be sure to check out our website and Facebook Page! http://www.indscribe.com.
Brody has his hands full with a murderer next door trying to take over his ranch. Laura broke his heart ten years earlier. Now she’s back, and right in the crosshairs of his sworn enemy.
Laura never stopped loving Brody. And when she learns of his unscrupulous rival’s plan to take his home, she can’t stay away. Even though he rebuffs her help, she is determined to make amends for the past.
Can Brody save the ranch, keep its secrets, extract vengeance and protect Laura? All without losing his heart to her all over again?
Excerpt:
A week passed during which Brody never left the ranch, using a multitude of excuses to himself to stick close. Never far from mind was the ridiculous task he’d been set. What did he know about wooing a woman? Unsuccessfully, he tried to stop his mind from going down that dark pathway to the last time he saw Laura.
Or the first.
He’d known right from the get-go that she was above his station, but his ego got the better of him. Made sure she was intrigued by his eighteen-year-old swagger and confidence.
He heaved a sigh. Maybe this little exercise, to woo the schoolmarm, would shake off those cobwebbed memories once and for all.
Brody took his time getting ready. Shaved, slicked down his hair, put on his best shirt and polished his boots. Without a word to anyone he saddled up Phoenix and made his way to Bullet.
The schoolhouse stood off to one side, next to a field where the kids could run around and play, shiny as a new pin. He tilted back his head and studied the exterior of the building. It looked nicer than the one in Yuma. Cleaner too. Red brick must have cost Hawkes a fortune, but the man surely did like to flaunt his wealth.
Slowly Brody dismounted and tied Phoenix to the hitching post out front. Feeling like he was facing his executioner, he made his way up two steps to the front door, only to find it locked tight.
His heart lightened, feeling a reprieve. His steps were lighter, too, as he made his way back to his horse. He’d barely touched the reins, when he heard a female voice behind him.
“Brody. Brody is that you?”
Slowly he turned. Laura stood before him like a vision from the past, one he wasn’t sure was real or imagined. All the pain and confusion from ten years ago rushed through him, filling his head with so much chatter he couldn’t hear a thing.
Don’t miss the great First-in-a-series sale!
About Kathleen Lawless:
Kathleen blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys. Historical or contemporary, cowboys continue to resonate with her today.
One of her heroes, Steele, is a modern-day cowboy, so when she was dating on-line and met a man called Steel– Well, he’s not a cowboy but his is an alpha male and her forever hero. Which is why all of her stories end Happily Ever After.
Not that she can ever stick to just one genre. So many stories to tell–never enough time. With close to 30 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, erotic romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction and stories for young adults.
Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP reader newsletter for your free copy of BEFORE THE BRIDES. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1
Today’s tease is in honor of brothers. I don’t have any but if I did I’d want them to be like the 4 Keane men in Brothers, Inc.
So, for your reading and teasing pleasure, here’s a little something from A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: AIDEN ( release date sometime in 2021). Aiden has just arrived home from a two month assignment out of town and his older brother Dylan is picking him up at the airport.
Enjoy!
At the bottom of the escalator he spotted his older brother, Dylan, waiting and holding a sign reading, Welcome Home, Brain.
Dylan tossed him the cocky, shit-eating smirk he reserved for his baby brother. The one that, when he’d been a scrawny, shy, sickly kid, filled Aiden with insecurity. Not any longer. Now that he matched his brothers for height and strength, Aiden’s insecurity was a thing of the past.
“Hey, baby bro,” Dylan said, tugging his brother close and banging him on the back a few times.
“You’re an asshole,” Aiden said, “with that sign.”
“Yeah, but ya love me anyway.”
Aiden shook his head, while his brother tossed an arm over his shoulder and tugged him along.
“Car’s right outside. And I brought a little lady along with me.”
His mood lifted considerably. “You been taking good care of her for me? I better not find out she gained ten pounds and got lazy from laying around all day.”
“Cool your jets. She’s as fit as always. But I think she’s forgotten all about you. Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder and she now knows, firsthand, I’m the better brother in every way. She’s grown quite used to being with me.”
“Don’t bet on it. She’s as loyal as they come.”
He’d parked the Jeep outside the loading zone barrier, it’s flashers on, the motor running.
“As least you kept the air conditioning on,” Aiden said when he spotted the vehicle.
The moment he opened the passenger back door he was set upon by one hundred and twenty pounds of pure muscle and love.
Laughing, Aiden allowed himself to be licked and pawed, while he rubbed and loved on the dog that meant more to him than most people he knew.
“I missed you, too, girl. Did Uncle Dylan take good care of you?”
The dog answered by jumping and placing her paws on his shoulders, her tail swishing like a windshield wiper, and gracing his face with another slobbery lick.
“Dog’s more spoiled than you were as a kid,” Dylan said as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Come on. I don’t want to get ticketed.”
Once the brothers and the excited chocolate Labrador were settled in, Dylan pulled out into traffic.
“She give you any trouble?” Aiden asked as he continued to rub the dog’s neck where she peeked in between the front seats.
“Not an ounce. I don’t think she even barked once while you were gone.” He glanced at his younger brother, a sly grin gracing his face. “I never knew a dog was such a babe magnet. Whenever I took her for a run in the park, chicks flocked around her, and by extension, me. I got more numbers shoot my way than I could deal with.”
Aiden frowned at him. “I don’t like the idea of you using my dog to score with women.”
“I didn’t use Bronte for anything unseemly, but I couldn’t help how many women thought she was quote, the most beautiful dog they’d ever seen, unquote, and just had to pet her and ask me all about her.”
“I’m gonna bet you sang your own praises more than my dog’s.”
“I’m not taking any part of that bet.” Dylan’s smug grin pulled a headshake and a wry smile from him.
Today’s backlisted book isn’t that old, but since it isn’t new, either, I figured it would be a goodie to add.
If you like ice cream, summer vacations, and sweet romances, VANILLA WITH A TWIST ( One Scoop or Two series) is for you. Set in the fictional New Hampshire seaside town of Beacher’s Cove, this novella was a pleasure to write – especially since I had to do a lot of research on ice cream flavors…hee hee
Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenage son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life. Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment. Can the budding friendship that follows lead to something everlasting?
Excerpt:
For a few moments, she regarded him with a look his mother would have called insightful. The corners of her eyes narrowed, she dipped her chin a hair, and she pulled her mouth into another appealing pout he was tempted to kiss.
“I bet,” she said after a long, drawn-out sigh, “you were the kind of kid who took apart clocks and fans and vacuum cleaners to see how they worked.”
“It was more washing machines and lawn mowers and anything with a motor, but yeah. I was.”
She shook her head, her own lips forming a lopsided grin. “Your poor mother.”
“She survived.”
Tandy rolled her eyes and shot her hands to her hips. “So it’s working again?” She thrust her chin at the ice cream machine.
“For now.”
“Okay, well, I can live with for now. And you think you know the real reason it’s been acting up?”
“I definitely do. But like I said, the water to the machine needs to be shut off to fix it.”
“Okay. Well, we close at nine.”
“I’ll come back a little before then. Get things ready. Is that okay with you?”
“I guess it’ll have to be.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek as her brows pulled together. “And you’re sure you want to do this?”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t offer, Tandy.”
Why her reluctance to have him help was such a turn-on was something he considered while he waited for his ice cream.
And if you wouldn’t mind, it would help me and the other authors out a lot if you’d share this promotion with your friends and family. Just forward this email to anyone you think would love to find their next favorite book!
Thanks so much for your help and support. Happy reading!
It’s hard to trust when you’re the daughter of a fallen financial scion who bilked people out of billions. Nell’s done everything in her power to keep away from men who see her as their ticket to fortune and fame. All she wants to do is run her ultra-successful business, HELPFUL HUNKS, in peace.
But it wouldn’t hurt to find a guy who doesn’t know a thing about her father’s felonious past; one she can give her heart to and trust it won’t come back to her battered, bruised, and broken.
Is Charlie Churchill that guy? On the surface he seems perfect, all polished manners and quiet mirth. Nell’s convinced he knows nothing about her, other than she likes superhero movies and views junk food as a food group.
Can she trust him to be what he appears to be? Or is he just pretending?
Today’s mug is a silly one I got in a gift basket. It was at a fundraiser for Foster Parents of Keene. At the time of the auction I was in the height of raging hormones from menopause and I was hot flashing 20-30 times per day. This mug was perfect for that time!
So, I showed your mine…show me yours. No theme today, just a cute mug.
Spring has arrived and N. N. Light’s got spring fever.
It could be all the flowers in bloom or it could be the birds singing in the trees. Hurry and hop like a bunny over to N. N. Light’s Book Heaven and enter to win some amazing prizes including a few new releases, autographed print books by bestselling and award-winning authors, audiobook codes plus e-books galore and a couple of Amazon gift card. In fact, I’m one of the authors participating and you could win BAKED WITH LOVE . The list is long and personally, I’d love to win myself but alas, I can’t. So, I’ll just live vicariously through the lucky winners. If there’s a particular book or prize you’d like to win, be sure to say which prize you want when you enter via Rafflecopter. Enter below and good luck!
Tomorrow, Saturday 4.3.2021, I have the honor of being one of several authors to help one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Wilck, celebrate the release of her newest book, A RECKLESS HEART. We’ll be having fun at the Facebook party for A Reckless Heart from Noon until 7pm EST.
I go on livelivelive at 2:30 pm and I’d love to “see” some friendly faces, hee hee!
Here’s a little about Jenn’s book:
Meg Thurgood, former society girl, took the blame for her friend and paid a steep price. Now all she wants is solitude and a chance to rebuild her life. She thinks she’s found that in an isolated house she rents from a mysterious stranger.
Simon McAlter has hidden in his house on the coast of Maine since a fire left him scarred. A successful landscape architect who conducts his business and teaches his classes remotely, he’s lost his inspiration and is trying to pretend he’s not lonely.
Simon’s new neighbor is more than he bargained for. When he learns Meg’s secret, will he retreat into the shadows or will he learn to see past the surface and trust in Meg’s love?
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Here’s my review: Goodreads
Last Christmas season, I was part of a 10 author holiday anthology titled CHRISTMAS COMES TO DICKENS. The series received such amazing success and reviews, Christmas is coming back to Dickens in 2021 with another series of stories set in the fictional New England town. This year, each story will be longer and published individually.
As such, many of the authors are doing prequels to their upcoming stories, myself included. SANTA BABY ( Dorrit’s Diner) will be released in july. It’s a novella/prequel to the full-length story, FIXING CHRISTMAS, that will be published on November 9th of this year. Here’s a little tease from SANTA BABY:
38 years ago, on a cold Christmas Eve morning in the tiny town of Dickens….
Amy Dorrit considered it one of life’s simple gifts that she didn’t have to commute to work each morning. She could jump out of bed five minutes before she needed to be ready, and, courtesy of the shower she religiously took each night to rid her of the day’s clinging aromas of grease and coffee, could simply run a quick washcloth over her eyes to rid them of the sleep nestled there. A dab of deodorant, a speedy dance with her toothbrush, a tug of her shiny, waist-length, honey-colored hair into a ponytail, and then she threw on her work uniform of old and much-loved jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers, before skipping down the thirteen steps from her apartment to the diner.
As the owner and operator of one of Dickens’s favorite eateries, and the only one opened 364 days a year, Amy turned the closed sign to open each day and then reversed the act every night. A dedicated work ethic had been drilled into her from the time her parents brought her home from the orphanage at the age of three.
As a child, she’d completed her homework sitting at the lunch counter every afternoon while her mom poured her a glass of milk and her dad cut her a slice of the day’s pie. As a teen, she’d filled out her college applications sitting in one of the booths with her mother and her mother’s best friends, Corrine and Matilda, looking on, giving sage advice and opinions. She’d bussed tables and learned how to brew a delicious cup of coffee before she learned to ride a bike. She’d washed dishes, and when she could be trusted not to burn herself, learned to sling hash and grill a mouthwatering Dickens Burger the locals still asked for by name.
In the two winters since her parents’ deaths within days of one another from the flu, running the diner and serving the citizens of Dickens consumed the bulk of Amy’s life. To honor the parents who’d loved her unconditionally, and to keep their memories alive, Amy kept the diner flourishing.
On this cold Christmas Eve morning, Amy bounded down the stairs, her lips lifting at the knowledge Santa would visit the children of Dickens tonight. The smile broadened when she considered how long she could linger in bed the following morning since the diner would be closed.
And who she’d be lingering there with.
As she moved through the breezeway connecting the diner to her apartment, Amy heard a mewling sound at the back alley door. Her cook, Willie, often left scraps out for strays, especially in winter, and sometimes when she took the trash out at the end of the day, Amy would find a mamma cat searching for something to feed her kittens.
When she opened the door, expecting to see a hungry animal looking for a handout, Amy got the shock of the century when she found a baby carrier, complete with a bawling infant nestled in it.
And so begins the tale…hope this intrigues you! hee hee
SO today’s backlist book isn’t very old or backlisty- it’s from November 2018, but it’s a good little story and I wanted to garner some press for it.
HOPE’S DREAM is part of the Deerbourne Inn Novellas from the Wild Rose Press. It’s a story of lost dreams and career disillusionment set in a tiny Vermont town during the winter ski season. The h/h, Hope and Tyler, are two people that in the real world would never have met and fallen in love. Thank goodness for fiction! heehee.
Hope Kildaire gave up her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner when a car accident killed her father and left her mother an invalid. Working two jobs and caring for her mother leaves the twenty-seven-year-old with no time for fun or relationships. When a law firm representing her paternal grandparents sends her several letters, Hope ignores them. She despises the family who disowned her father and wants nothing to do with them.
Lawyer Tyler Coleman’s job is simply to obtain Hope’s signature on a legal document. Getting it is harder than planned, though, when an unexpected attraction blossoms between them. If Ty is honest with Hope about why he’s in Willow Springs, he’ll fulfill his assignment but may risk hurting her.
The opportunity to have everything she’s ever desired is at Hope’s fingertips. Will her dream come true at the expense of Tyler’s love?
As he started back toward the inn, his hands secured in his pockets against the night chill and his neck burrowed under his scarf, he realized he needed to tell her who he was before this went any further. He should have done it tonight, as he’d originally planned. Why he hadn’t was as clear to him as the night sky above: he was frightened once she knew the truth she’d want nothing to do with him.
Could he blame her? While he hadn’t outright lied, he hadn’t told her the truth, either. Which was worse? An intentional fabrication or a lie of omission? Both felt equally wrong right now.
Disappointment had clouded her face when he’d broken their kiss. She felt something for him. That look proved it. He could only hope once she knew who he really was and why he was in her home town, she’d be able to forgive his subterfuge.
Peggy Jaeger, Author 