Spotlight: A Cowgirls Secret by Melinda Curtis

Could saving the ranch…

Mean a future together?

Cowgirl Cassie Diaz has a secret—a bull riding accident may have stolen her dream of motherhood. She needs to recover, but how can she rest with her family’s ranch in peril? Recent Second Chance, Idaho, arrival Bentley Monroe offers help, and his quiet strength makes her feel safe. Loving him could heal her wounds, but would she have a future with this family man?

Excerpt

“I told you so, Cassie.” Cassie’s brother, Rhett, shook his head.

Cassie dropped her saddle back on the stand, having only lifted it a few inches. She leaned on the horn and cantle, trying to ease the pain that stretched from the top of her hip to her inner thigh. “Don’t start.”

Don’t tell her she shouldn’t have tried bull riding.

Don’t tell her she should have stuck to horse training.

Don’t tell her horse training wasn’t going to pay the bills.

There came a point in every young woman’s life where she had to accept that some dreams were never coming true—hers being making a decent living training horses. At this point, unless she won the lottery, she needed to set aside girlish dreams and get “a real job,” whatever that was.

Cassie wasn’t ready. And honestly, she might never be. Rhett chuckled. “You winning that purse was a long shot, kind of like Grandpa winning the lottery with that ticket he buys every week.”

Exactly.

“And here we go,” Cassie muttered, glancing at Baby, the quarter horse she’d been trying to saddle when a spasm from her bull-beaten hip sidelined her. “Rhett is on a roll.”

“Indeed, I am.” Rhett tipped up his black cowboy hat and grinned. “I’m surprised you can walk after that bull stomped on your hip.”

The emergency room doctor had been surprised, too. Not that she’d beaten all odds. The orthopedic specialist had given some grim news. News Cassie hadn’t shared with her family, because…

“You never should have gotten on that bull, sis.”

Because of that. Cassie gritted her teeth and stared at the barn rafters at the Bar D. She hadn’t told her family she was considering giving up the ranching life, partly because it was terrifying, and partly because no one in her family had ever given up ranching life—not in five generations.

She continued to stare at the rafters, settling her cowboy hat more firmly on her head. There were cobwebs up there that needed tending to, if one was bothered by such things, which she was, unlike Rhett, who tended to go through life as happy with a tidy environment as a messy one. He preferred to spend his time on extreme experiences, like zip-lining and bungee-jumping off bridges.

Cassie’s gaze drifted back down to the photo gallery on the wall behind her brother.

During a streak of good luck and flush bank accounts, her father had insulated the Bar D’s barn, which came in handy five or six months out of the year when Second Chance, Idaho, was snowed in. But because the insulation had to be held in with something, he’d installed cheap wood paneling. And because the paneling was so very bare in the breezeway, he’d hung pictures of Rhett and Cassie competing in rodeos when they were kids—Rhett in calf and trick roping, Cassie in barrel racing and trick riding.

Back when I thought that’s what I’d do with the rest of my life: cowgirling.

Like horse training or trick riding offered a health plan and retirement benefits. How naive she’d been.

Those pictures had been taken before Cassie’s parents decided to take a job managing someone else’s ranch in Wyoming and handed back the reins of the Bar D to Grandpa Diaz. Before Cassie began keeping the Bar D’s books and worrying about making ends meet.

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About the Author

Melinda grew up on an isolated sheep ranch, where mountain lions had been seen and yet she roamed unaccompanied. Being a rather optimistic, clueless of danger, sort she took to playing "what if" games that led her to become an author.  She spends days trying to figure out new ways to say "He made her heart pound."  That might sound boring, but the challenge keeps her mentally ahead of her 3 kids and college sweetheart husband.

Connect with the Author 

Website: https://www.melindacurtis.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelCurtisAuthor

Instagram: http://instagram.com/melcurtisauthor

Spotlight: Love Is Coming to Town: A Small Town Christmas Romance Anthology

What’s a small town Christmas without a little romance?

Fake relationships, second chances, friends to lovers, and sexy brother’s best friends.

Mix in some small town gossip, meddling matchmakers, and Christmas magic and you have a perfect holiday escape.

Finding His Cheer by Claire Wilder
He loved and lost. She’s just lost. This Christmas, will love be the thing that finds them both?

Excerpt

"We can do this, Rubes," I said.

Ruby's skinny arms wrapped around me like a rope, cinching my chest. No, like a harness tightening as I stood on the angle of a high roof, knowing I could take a risk because I was contained in the grasp of something good and real and safe.

I kissed the top of my daughter's head. "Ready?"

Then the doorbell rang. 

I was surprised to hear the sound. We rarely had visitors. It had to be my Grandma Pearl. Ophelia must have shoveled her driveway again, and she was excited to be out on the road and—

I opened the door and my battered, hole-ridden heart jumped.

This was not Grandma. Not by a long shot. It was my neighbor, Morgan Carter. She wore a mac jacket too thin for this weather with a wool hat pulled down over her dark hair. Her chest heaved as if she'd just run over here.

"Hi, Heath," she said, her breath puffing out of her pink lips in bursts.

I stared at those lips a moment too long.

What the hell's the matter with me?

 "Hi Morgan," I said.

Morgan and her husband Vince lived in the house next door, though next door wasn't quite accurate given there was a quarter of a mile of trees between our properties. I hadn't seen her this close in... I couldn't remember how long.

"You cut your hair."

Her cheeks went pink and she reached up as if to check if this was true. She dropped her hands again. "How are you doing?"

"Good," I said. "Fine."

Which is it?

I was no good at talking to people these days. I couldn't remember the last time I'd spoken to Morgan. Even though she was my neighbor, we weren't much more than strangers who waved at each other as we passed on the dirt road. She and Vince had moved in sometime in that hazy period when Jeanne had first gotten sick. Four years ago, maybe.

Morgan seemed flustered. She unfolded her arms from around herself, and her jacket fell open. Under the insufficiently warm coat, she wore mud-splattered overalls, and under that, a tank top. There was something shocking about seeing so much bare skin in the middle of winter. Especially when that skin was creamy and flushed pink.

Something stirred inside of me.

Seriously, what the hell?

Morgan was a married woman. I didn't think about women anymore, especially not married ones. I gave myself a mental slap.

         "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

Not at all. We were just about to unpack my dead wife's favorite Christmas ornaments and my daughter is—

I looked around.

Nowhere to be seen. Probably upstairs hiding.

"Nope."

Morgan pursed her lips for a moment as if deciding whether I was just being nice. Then she sighed. "Well, I'm sorry to disturb you, but do you know anything about electrical stuff? I've blown a fuse or something and it's kind of critical I get the power back up—I'm in the middle of something. I'm pretty sure it's an easy fix—I can handle most of the house stuff, but electrical, well, it scares me. Because of the, you know, electrocution part. I know you work in building stuff, and—well, I know you're a roofer and that doesn't have anything to do with electrical."

All of that had come out in a nervous-sounding ramble.

I had to twist my lips to keep from smiling.

Morgan pressed a palm to her forehead and pivoted on the step like she was going to leave. "I'm sorry. This is stupid. I should call an electrician."

"It's not stupid," I said. I felt the strongest urge to help calm her down. I hesitated. "Is Vince out?"

Morgan gave me a strange look. Then she glanced down at her shoes. She was wearing black sneakers. They were splattered with the same mud as was streaked on her clothes.

"Vince left last spring. It's just me over there now."

My stomach did a little dive. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

Morgan put on a smile that looked falsely bright. "It doesn't matter."

Now that I thought about it, I couldn't recall the last time I'd seen Vince around. Not that I'd been remotely observant over the past few years.

"I'm happy to come take a look."

Morgan seemed to soften.

That thing in my stomach came back—a little jolt I couldn't place. I was happy I might be of use to someone again, that was all. It wasn't Morgan and her adorably awkward demeanor and sweet smile.

"Thank you," she said.

I stood there for another moment before I realized I'd been staring. "Come in—I'll get my coat. And Ruby."

Operation: Christmas Seduction by Megan Ryder
A sexy bartender seduces his crush of Christmas trees, gifts, and cookies. But when the season ends, will their romance too?

Second Chance Christmas by Alexa Rivers
Breaking down outside her ex’s bar wasn’t part of the plan. Could a Christmas reunion reignite their old spark?

Love At Frost Sight by Bell Splendor
When two enemies come together, will it be steamy heat, or a melting iceberg of disaster?

Captivated by Danielle Pays
Needed: One fake boyfriend for the holidays. She never expected her brother’s best friend, aka her crush, to volunteer.

Twelve Days by Kate Stacy
She’s missing her usual holiday spirit, until a secret admirer gives her twelve days of Christmas she’ll never forget.

Christmas at La Villa Rosa by Rebecca Barton
Two creatives clashing on a joint project…surely it’s too cold to shut each other out, especially on Christmas Eve?

Her Second Chance Christmas by Kaci Rose
Her best friend’s Christmas wedding. A family reunion and the man she never thought she’d see again.

Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe by Dawn Luedecke
The only person who can put Sexy Santa in his place is a pain in the butt, and the perfect Mrs. Claus. 

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Spotlight: The Cowboy and His Angel by Kaci Rose

Rock Springs, Texas Book 9

Genre: Small Town Contemporary Romance 

Two Rock Springs hearts driven by a higher calling... 

Abby

After the death of my parents, I made it my mission to honor their memory by living the life they would have wanted for me. Helping others. Pursuing my career goal of becoming a midwife. Settling down with a nice guy. Unfortunately, as much as my parents would love the guy I’m currently dating, I feel exactly zero chemistry with him. To distract myself from that headache, I’ve opted to visit some freinds in Rock Springs and help out with the church’s annual carnival. Pastor Greg is as cute as they come, but a man of God seems off limits for dating prospects... 

Greg 

Knowing I’m single has prompted every member of my congregation to try and set me up with any and all available ladies they know. It had become common practice for me to politely decline, and suggest they invite them to attend service instead. Yet when Abby volunteered to help with the carnival arrangements she instantly caught my eye. I didn’t intend to kiss her on top of the Ferris Wheel, but the moment seemed right. 

Confused by her own feelings, Abby bolted. Can I convince her to follow her heart? Or will she choose the path she believes would have made her parents happy? 

Come meet the small town of Rock Springs Texas with a family that has your back, a town that knows your business, and men who love with everything they have.

This is a Steamy, Small Town, Cowboy Romance. No Cliffhangers.
This is Book 9 in the Rock Springs Texas Series.
As always there is a satisfying Happy Ever After.
If you love steamy romances with insta love, hot love scenes, small towns, and cowboys, then this one is for you.

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About the Author

Kaci runs on coffee, chocolate, and Oreos. She loves her book boyfriends with tattoos, muscles, beards, and a little dirty.

Kaci loves romance books and has been jotting down ideas since she was in high school and is now putting the ideas down on paper. She believes in satisfying, happily ever afters with a lot of steam on the way. 

She was born and raised in Southwest Florida but is wholeheartedly a mountain girl. She has been reading as many books as she could get her hands on since grade school and loves to travel when she gets the chance. 

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Spotlight: Finding a Christmas Home by Lee Tobin McClain

Two little girls need a family…in this novel by New York Times bestselling author Lee Tobin McClain

They are his nieces…

But she can never tell him.

As the new guardian to her twin nieces, Hannah Antonicelli is determined to keep her promise to her late sister—that she’ll never reveal the identity of their father. But when the girls’ uncle, Luke Hutchenson, moves in next door and takes a job where Hannah works, the truth threatens their growing connection. How can she keep the secret when she can’t even guard her own heart?

Excerpt

Hannah Antonicelli walked out of the Rescue Haven Learn-and-Play and flopped down on the bench that ran along the wall of the red barn.

“Cold for sitting outside, isn’t it?” Her friend Gabby wrapped her heavy parka more tightly around herself before sitting beside Hannah. Despite the fact that she and her husband oversaw all Rescue Haven’s programs—the dog rescue, the after-school program for at-risk boys and the childcare center—Gabby always had time to stop and chat.

And Gabby was right: November in rural Ohio wasn’t sit-outside weather. Wind whisked across the neighboring cornfields, rustling the dry, light brown stalks, carrying with it the faint, clean smell of oncoming snow. “I just need a minute before I start with the dogs,” Hannah said.

“Take a minute! Take an hour, or the whole morning off, if you need. It’s a great thing you’re doing, providing a home for Marnie’s girls.”

“The Learn-and-Play is the only possible way I’ll manage, so thank you for accepting the twins on short notice.” And she didn’t want to take advantage of Gabby’s generosity by skimping on her part-time job as the Rescue Haven dog trainer. What with everything that had happened, she’d already taken too much time off. Not to mention the fact that Gabby was pregnant and didn’t need extra stress. “Let me know if they need anything or get upset.”

Caring for her sister’s eighteen-month-old twin girls had been the right thing to do when Marnie had died of complications after a drug overdose two weeks ago. The desperate phone call from her estranged older sister had shaken Hannah’s world at its foundation. She and Mom had rushed to Marnie’s side and instantly agreed to care for the twins they barely knew.

Which meant that, for now, Hannah was back in her childhood home. Mom’s house had plenty of space, a big yard with a tire swing and was close to Rescue Haven.

Anyway, until they got the twins’ lives in order and their schedules figured out, it was going to take two of them to manage things. Being in the same house was just easier.

Mom was busy trying to keep her struggling bakery afloat during hard times. She was also grief-stricken and guilt-ridden over Marnie’s death—not in any shape to be a primary caregiver. Whereas Hannah… Hannah was more angry at her sister than anything else. Marnie had neglected her babies. She’d caused terrible pain to their mother. And she’d entrusted Hannah with a secret that wasn’t going to be easy to keep.

The blond, curly-haired twins had instantly become Hannah’s priority in life. She had to raise them right, and she would. She yawned. The twins hadn’t slept well last night—again—and she was just so tired…

She might have actually dozed off for a few seconds, and when she opened her eyes, she felt like she was dreaming. “Who’s that?” she asked Gabby as she stared at the movie-star-handsome, rugged man striding toward them.

“You don’t recognize him? That’s Luke Hutchenson.”

Hannah’s stomach lurched. “When did he come back to town?”

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About the Author

Lee Tobin McClain is the bestselling author of more than thirty emotional, small-town romances described by Publishers' Weekly as enthralling, intense, and heartfelt. A dog lover and proud mom, she often includes kids and animals in her books. When she's not writing, she enjoys hiking with her goofy goldendoodle, chatting online with her writer friends, and admiring her daughter's mastery of the latest TikTok dances. Learn more at www.leetobinmcclain.com.

Connect with the Author 

Website: https://www.leetobinmcclain.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leetobinmcclain/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeTobinMcClain

Spotlight: The Artist Colony by Joanna FitzPatrick

Publication Date: September 7, 2021
She Writes Press
Paperback & eBook; 328 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Paris, July, 1924…

Sarah, a young Modernist painter, receives a cable from California. Her estranged older sister, Ada Belle, has died under suspicious circumstances. When she arrives two weeks later at San Francisco’s Union Station, Sarah is confronted by a newspaper headline: “Inquest Verdict: Artist Commits Suicide.”

Sarah remembers the last haunting words Ada Belle said to her: “Ars longa, vita brevis: Art is long, life is short.” But Ada Belle’s work is selling, and her upcoming exhibition of portraitures would bring her even wider recognition. Why would she kill herself? Sarah’s quest to find the truth of what happened to Ada Belle leads her to join the bucolic artist colony to look for clues. As she delves into her sister’s underworld, tensions surface. The darker things get, the closer she comes to terrible danger. How far will a killer go before he kills again?

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About the Author

Joanna FitzPatrick was born and raised in Hollywood. She started her writing habit by applying her orange fountain pen and a wild imagination to screenplays, which led her early on to produce the film White Lilacs and Pink Champagne. At Sarah Lawrence College, she wrote her MFA thesis Sha La La: Live for Today about her life as a rock ’n’ roll star’s wife. Her more recent work includes two novels, Katherine Mansfield and The Drummer’s Widow. The Artist Colony is her third book. Presently, FitzPatrick divides her time between a mountaintop cottage in Northern California and a small hameau in Southern France where she begins all her book projects.

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The Artist Colony

Spotlight: The Texas SEAL’s Surprise by Cari Lynn Webb

New town…

New set of problems

Suddenly single—and pregnant—Abby James hopes Three Springs, Texas, will give her the fresh start she craves. But five minutes in and she’s already clashed with a former Navy SEAL on horseback. Wes Tanner might be devastatingly handsome, but Abby has no time for romance. Especially with a man intent on leaving town. Abby wants to plant some roots…and falling for the tempting Texan could upend all her plans!

Excerpt

Abby James shoved her car into Park and waited for the dust cloud surrounding her to settle.

Her jamming on the brakes of her compact two-door convertible had caused a mini tornado on the dirt road outside Three Springs, Texas. And all because of a flat tire.

But it was the cowboy sitting on a massive chestnut-colored horse in the middle of the road only a puddle jump away that captured Abby’s full attention.

He shifted in the saddle and pointed at her front wheel. “If you’d been driving the right way down this one-way road, you might have missed that pothole back there.”

If Abby had been going the right way, she’d already be in Three Springs, inside her cousin’s apartment with her face pressed against the air-conditioning vent. The AC in her car had given out several hundred miles ago, forcing her to lower her convertible top. And man, it was hot. “I wouldn’t have swerved into the pothole if you and your mammoth Clydesdale hadn’t been barreling down the road right at me.”

“Dan is a Belgian draft horse.” The cowboy rubbed the horse’s thick neck as if Abby had insulted him. “And Dan barely canters on his fastest day.”

Whatever the pair had been doing they’d made quite the image. Powerful horse and real-life cowboy set against the backdrop of a brilliant clear-blue sky and wide-open plains. It was the perfect setting for a classic Western movie. Captivated, Abby had locked her gaze on the pair and not on where she had been going. She was lucky she hadn’t driven off the road altogether. She blew a stray piece of hair out of her eye. “You really named your horse Dan?”

“He’s an old soul.” The cowboy’s fingers tangled in Dan’s light blond mane. “He’s understanding, patient and loyal. That’s a Dan in my book.”

In Abby’s book the horse was a giant and deserved a grander name than Dan. His sheer height and muscles daunting. But his demeanor was rather calm, from his dark eyes to his stillness. Yet when Abby glanced at Dan’s owner, calm wasn’t her first reaction. Something about the cowboy made her pulse kick up and her nerves fire. Most likely lingering adrenaline from her collision with the pothole. “If you could point me in the direction of a real road to Three Springs, I’ll let you and Dan get on with your day.”

The cowboy nudged his hat up his forehead and frowned. “A real road isn’t going to help you.”

Neither, it seemed, was her cowboy. Wasn’t there a cowboy rule book? Always help damsels in distress.

“You barely have any tire left on your wheel,” he continued. “Dirt or pavement, you aren’t going to make it far.”

His voice was dry and gravelly like the dust she kept inhaling. Only, unlike the dust, she breathed in the deep timbre. Wanted him to keep talking. Abby unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over her car door to peer at her flat tire and disrupt her sudden fixation with her cowboy. “I just need it to go a few more miles.” She’d already driven over thirteen hundred miles from Santa Cruz in just two days. She was so close to starting her future. “I don’t have a spare.”

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About the Author

Cari Lynn Webb lives in South Carolina with her husband, daughters and assorted four-legged family members. She's been blessed to see the power of true love in her grandparent's 70 year marriage and her parent's marriage of over 50 years. She knows love isn't always sweet and perfect, it can be challenging, complicated and risky. But she believes happily-ever-afters are worth fighting for. She loves to connect with readers.

Connect with the Author 

Website: https://carilynnwebb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carilynnwebb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carilynnwebb