My new book, FIERY BRIDE, is finally finished and is out, available at Amazon http://amzn.com/B00DSSVG72 I’m going to give you a taste of it with the first six paragraphs. I hope you enjoy them. In honor of this debut, I’m offering a ecopy of the first two books in the series, CAPITAL BRIDE and HEIRESS BRIDE and a $5 Starbucks card to one lucky commentor.

Here are the first six paragraphs of my new book, FIERY BRIDE.

“What do you mean, you quit? Mr. Sinclair, you just can’t quit.” Margaret “Maggie” Selby put her pen down on the desk. She would not raise her voice. She would not lose control.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Selby, but I got no choice. There’s an opening at the sanitarium in Albany and my Mary, she needs to go right now. The doctors there might be able to help her. We leave on the morning train.”

Maggie took a deep breath and nodded. She understood. She really did, but it didn’t change the fact that she was now in a difficult situation. “Of course, you must go. I know how poor Mary’s health is and any help that can be obtained for her, must be.”

“I wish I could give you some notice, but we just received the letter in yesterday’s post.”

“It’s fine, Mr. Sinclair. I’ll manage.”

He handed her an envelope. “Here are the train tickets.”

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Welcome to Sneak Peek Sunday. I hope you’ll enjoy the excerpt.

“But if we decide that we don’t suit, we can get an annulment much easier than a divorce.”

He dropped his hand and closed the distance between them. “Get one thing straight.” He took her by the shoulders. “There will be no annulment and no divorce.” Then he brought his mouth down on hers the way he’d wanted to all day. He was gratified when her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips as he begged for entry.

She eased her lips apart and he entered, slowly, gentling the kiss. Tentatively, she touched her tongue to his and he thought he’d die if he didn’t get more. He dueled with her, feasted on her, forgetting she was untried until she pulled back.

“Nathan?” she asked, her breathing hard.

“Ella. I want you, but I’ll compromise with you. We sleep together, learn each other’s body. I won’t take you until you ask me, but I will touch you. Everywhere.”

With those words he left her.

As a prize for reading my current installment, I’m giving away a copy of Capital Bride, the first book in the Matchmaker & Co series to one lucky commentor, so please leave me a comment.

Nathan and Ella are at his ranch. She’s just met the housekeeper and Nathan is showing her the house.

He followed her eyes to the bed. “What would that be?”

“I, uh, I think we should get to know each other before we, us, you know.”

Nathan knew exactly what she was talking about. It had been on his mind since he’d kissed her that morning. That kiss had been the sweetest in recent memory. His new wife was many things, including, if he wasn’t mistaken, a virgin. He hadn’t expected that. He didn’t know why, but he’d thought that anyone who’d sign up to be a mail order bride would be experienced. But there was no hiding the blush that rose from her neck clear to the top of her head.

“What would that be?”

“You know. I don’t think we should be,” she stopped and whispered, “intimate yet. Not until we get to know each other better.”

Grasping his chin by the thumb and forefinger as though he was contemplating it, he said, “No. I don’t think we should put it off.”

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Here is the next installment of my current release, Heiress Bride. Hope you enjoy.

Nathan chuckled. “She might as well be. She’d been with me since my father took me from my mother, Singing Bird. You might say Martha is my white mother.”

“Now you’ve got me thoroughly confused. Maybe later you can explain it all to me.”

“We’ll have plenty of time for that.”

Ella turned to Martha. “Please don’t let me interrupt your routine. I want to learn all I can. We had a cook, housekeeper and maids in New York, so I’m woefully ignorant, but I want to learn to do things myself. I know I’ll need your help so don’t worry about me taking over all your duties. That won’t ever happen, but I want to learn. Will you teach me?”

“Sure. I’ll teach ya. Looks like ya got a keeper, Nathan.”

“Thank you, Martha. I think so, too.” He placed his hand on Ella’s waist. “Let’s go drop off your valise and then I’ll show you the rest of the property.”

Go here for the rest of the Sneak Peek Sunday blogs. http://sneak-peek-sunday.blogspot.com/

For today’s giveaway, I’m giving an ecopy of Capital Bride, the first in the Matchmaker & Co series. Heiress Bride is book 2 in the series.

Today I’m going to start by giving you the blurb from the back of the book.

Heiress Ella Davenport survived a carriage accident that killed her father. Her life saved in exchange for savage scars marring her beautiful face. Her friends, socialites, showed their true colors, casting Ella aside like damaged goods and leaving her a social pariah. Even her wealth can’t buy her the kind of marriage she wants. Desperate to find a husband who can accept her despite her scars and, without knowing about her money, she seeks to become a mail order bride. Matchmaker & Co. is her one chance to start over and leave the pain and betrayal far behind her.

Nathan Ravenclaw was run out of town by the father of the girl he was courting once he discovered Nathan’s Arapaho heritage. It didn’t matter that Nathan was a successful rancher, businessman, and a positive member of society. The white community suddenly saw only a half-breed. Even his money couldn’t buy him a wife. That was ten years ago. He moved and rebuilt everything that cold rancher once took from him. He has it all…except a wife. Matchmaker & Company promises to send him a woman willing to start a new life with him. But Nathan’s battered heart lacks the ability to trust. He longs for children, not romance. His new bride, scarred and cast aside like himself, promises to be perfect for him. Until he meets his mail order bride. Fierce desire and an even more dangerous hope roar back to life within him. Two things he swore never to indulge in again.

And love? For these two battered souls, that’s the biggest risk of all

Now that you’ve got some background on to today’s six paragraphs.

As they got close, she saw that the ranch house was one story and sprawling. Shaped like a “U” with a courtyard in the center. Nathan pulled up in front of the open center courtyard. They walked through the courtyard straight to the door in the center of the middle side and entered into a foyer there.

“To the right are the parlor, dining room, kitchen and Martha’s bedroom,” said Nathan. “And to the left are the family bedrooms.”

“Let me introduce you to Martha. She’s the one who keeps the place running smoothly. I’m sure you’ll want to take over some of her duties, but I leave that up to the two of you.”

They headed to the kitchen where Ella saw a short, middle-aged woman with beautiful black hair and sparkling brown eyes.

“Ah, you are the missus for my Nathan.”

“Your Nathan?” Ella looked back and forth between Nathan and Martha. “Are you his mother?”

Hope you liked the excerpt. Click here to go to the rest of the delightful blogs for Sneak Peek Sunday http://sneak-peek-sunday.blogspot.com/

Join us at the Booklovers Buffet Blowout Sale at bookloversbuffet.net All books are just 99 cents. The are over 150 books to choose from.

Here is the selection of historical novels that are available. There are also lots of other genres and books galore to choose. In addition to that there are $400 worth of prizes up for grabs. So fill your carts with loads 99 cent books and get your summer off to a great start.

ROGUES HOSTAGE BY LINDA MCLAUGHLIN

His hostage …

In 1758 the Pennsylvania frontier is wild, primitive and dangerous, where safety often lies at the end of a gun. Mara Dupre’s life crumbles when a French and Indian war party attacks her cabin, kills her husband, and takes her captive. Marching through the wilderness strengthens her resolve to flee, but she doesn’t count on her captor teaching her the meaning of courage and the tempting call of desire.

Her destiny …

French lieutenant Jacques Corbeau’s desire for his captive threatens what little honor he has left. But when Mara desperately offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom, he finds the strength to refuse and reclaims his lost self-respect. As the shadows of his past catch up to him, Jacques realizes that Mara, despite the odds, is the one true key to reclaiming his soul and banishing his past misdeeds forever.

TAME A WILD WIND BY CYNTHIA WOOLF

Former Texas Ranger Sam Colter isn’t looking for love. He only wants a job. A break in the long weeks spent looking for his family’s killer.

The last thing that pretty widow Cassie O’Malley wants is to fall in love. But sometimes we don’t get what we want, only what we need.

When a man stalking Sam for killing his brother kidnaps Cassie, Sam discovers it’s more than duty that sends him racing to her rescue. Will Cassie realize the truth about her own feelings before it’s too late?

TO DARE THE DUKE OF DANGERFIELD BY BRONWEN EVANS

Let the Wicked Wagers Begin…

Lady Caitlin Southall’s temper has finally got the better of her. She’s challenged Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, the most notorious rake in all of England, to a wager. She wants her house back. The one her destitute father lost to Dangerfield in a card game. But if she doesn’t win their bet, she not only loses her home, she loses her dignity and pride and damn it all, maybe her heart… For the handsome Duke has decreed, when he wins, she must spend the night in his bed.

Harlow Telford is amused by his hellion neighbor, Caitlin, or Cate to her friends, who seem to encompass everyone on earth except him. When she bursts into one of his private gatherings, he mistakes her for the entertainment. Her slap across his face sets him straight and raises the absurd desire to seduce the unconventional beauty into his bed. When she issues her daft challenge to win back her father’s pile of rubble, the terms are set. And he’ll do anything to win—except fall in love…

WEAR BLACK BY ELLIS FLYNN AND HEATHER HIESTAND

Death did not end his service to the British Empire

Beneath Windsor Castle, a shadow network of immortals keeps the British Empire safe. Army captain Lucas Fitzrobbins becomes one of them when the cure for his mortal wound turns out to be a vampirism potion. He is abruptly inducted into the secret St. George Protector Society…and it’s not long before the Society’s newest recruit discovers it has dark mysteries as well…

Marked as a target

Hampering Lucas’s efforts to adjust to his after-life is An Tighearn operative Nellie Clifton, a beautiful and enigmatic assassin, who has marked Lucas as her latest quarry. But then…

Secrets are threatened to be revealed

A brutal killer stalks the seamy underside of London. Protectors and assassins alike must leave the shadows to find the fiend before their existence is revealed to the world. Tasked with the job of tracking down the murderer, Lucas discovers that the crazed butcher may have connections that go to the heart of the British Empire. One thing is certain:

The Queen must never know

THE ESCORT BY GINA ROBINSON

True love runs deep.

ON THE WAY TO MEET HER HUSBAND
Young, beautiful Italian mail-order bride Angelina D’Alessandro is married by proxy to an older man she’s never met—her only chance to escape the poverty of Italy for the hope of a new life in America. But to join him in the wilderness of Idaho in 1899 she’s not allowed to travel alone. Now she’s torn between duty and desire as she fights her growing attraction to her handsome and enigmatic escort.

SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH HER ESCORT
Mine owner and explosives expert Tonio Domani prefers to travel alone. In his line of work he can’t afford distractions. Against his better judgment he’s coerced into playing chaperon to a beautiful and tempting bride. The dangers he faces daily in his mine are real and the increasingly volatile powder keg of North Idaho’s mining country makes his return there even more dangerous. But what scares him most is the rising passion he feels for Angelina and the danger of losing his heart to her.

REDEEMED BY JILL HUGHEY

Can a quiet widow help a damaged, secretive man find redemption?

Doeg has only two requirements in a wife and upon meeting Philantha he knows she is the one who will fulfill them. However, she has a requirement of her own that tests and eventually breaks down the barriers Doeg has maintained around himself for decades. They struggle during the day to revitalize his estate while the night-time awakening of their passion leads to binding love and redemption beyond their wildest imaginings. When an unexpected threat to Philantha emerges Doeg rises to the challenge, throwing off the shackles of his past once and for all.

TO WED THE EARL BY ANTHEA LAWSON

Miss Miranda Price detests her neighbor Edward Havens, the rakish Earl of Edgerton – but when he catches her breaking into his library at midnight, secrets are revealed that will change the course of their lives… forever.

Sensuality level: SWEET – kisses only.
This regency-set novella is 21,500 words (around 76 pages)

VENTRE A TERRE BY LYDIAM SHERIDAN

If anyone discovered that Rosamund was entertaining the great house parties of Regency England because she had to, not because she wanted to, she’d be instantly cast out of society forever. But when her desperate (and ridiculous) scheming is found out, she must flee not just to save her reputation, but her neck from the noose.

(Ventre a Terre is a humorous short story in the traditional Regency style. Rated G.)

AN IMPROPER SITUATION BY SYDNEY JANE BAILY

From dusty Colorado to civilized Boston, Charlotte and Reed encounter sinister forces and scorned women. With passions ablaze yet often at odds, they find themselves in a very Improper Situation.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I want to give you all an excerpt of my current release, HEIRESS BRIDE. Heiress Bride is currently available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple and in paperback format. To one lucky commentor, I’m giving a copy of the book, HEIRESS BRIDE in any format they want, paperback is for US only.

And now for the sneak peek. They’ve just come through Golden where a young man ran alongside the buckboard talking and wanting to meet Ella. Hope you enjoy this peek into the story.

“I bet you’re blushing under that veil,” said Nathan.

“Why would I be blushing?” she asked, all too aware of his arm still around her waist.

“Jamie and his, shall we say exuberance at meeting you. Everyone knew I was meeting my bride today. He just wanted to be the first to meet you.”

She laughed. “Yes, well, he was awfully excited, wasn’t he?”

Nathan moved his arm and took the reins in both hands again as they left the city behind. She felt a little bereft. She liked his arm around her. Liked that he wanted everyone to know she was his.

As soon as they’d left Golden City behind, Ella took off her hat and veil once again. She shoved the offending apparel under the seat and turned her face to the sun. Its warmth something she’d not felt for a long time.

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Background. Maggie Selby, matchmaker extraordinaire, has had one of her brides bolt and marry someone else while on the trip to Denver. Maggie finally arrives in Denver, without the bride for Caleb Black.

As usual I’m giving away a copy of a book. In this case, my #1 Amazon Bestselling Western, Heiress Bride. Leave a comment for a chance to win this book or a $5 Starbucks card.

Now for the excerpt.

The train pulled to a stop in front of the depot in Denver. Maggie looked out the window and saw mountains standing tall in the distance. They appeared purple and snow still covered the tallest peaks even now at the height of summer. They stood bright against a sky so blue it reminded her of her childhood on the farm in upstate New York, with its clear skies and starry nights. The soot in the New York City air kept the sky looking gray most of the time. She hadn’t realized how much she missed seeing the sky so clean.

The beauty didn’t escape her even if her nerves prevented her from fully enjoying it. She rose from her seat and smoothed her skirt preparing to meet Mr. Caleb Black. How she would tell him that she had arrived without his bride she didn’t know. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her back and walked off the train.

Maggie removed her gloves and shook them, the ash and soot made a small dust cloud. It was hard to believe they managed to still look mostly black despite the dirt. She neatly folded them and placed them in one of the valises at her feet. She stood on the platform in the late afternoon sun waiting for Mr. Black. Sweat trickle between her breasts and she wanted nothing more than to cleanse her body with a cold cloth and lie naked in a cool, dark room with a breeze from an open window flowing over her. Instead she watched as couples reunited with loving embraces. Families welcomed home fathers and brothers, sisters and mothers from trips to the east. The pang in her heart reminded her that she had no one in her life that would miss her or welcome her home.

She was so caught up in the reunions she hadn’t noticed the tall man’s approach.

“Mrs. Selby?” asked a deep baritone voice from beside her.

She spun around and looked up, way up, into dark, coffee colored eyes. “Yes.”

Thank you for hopping with me. Go here for the rest of the blog hop stops http://sneak-peek-sunday.blogspot.com/

It’s always a hard decision to change the cover on a book. When we first choose the cover it’s because we love it, assuming we had the choice and it wasn’t a publisher making the decision. But in this case, I chose the covers. I loved them, but apparently not too many others did, so it’s time to change them and up the ante so to speak.

Now I chose these covers, too, so it could be that they won’t help sales either. It could be that scifi romance just doesn’t sell very well. It could be a lot of things that I have no control over. But as a self-published author, I do have control over the cover and these guys are a damn sight better to look at than a black sky with some planets in it. 🙂

I hope you like them as much as I do.

Leave me a comment telling me what you think of the covers and you could be one of three (3) winners that will win a full set (ecopies) of the entire series or, if you are a US resident you can choose the single volume paperback that contains all three books, Centauri Dawn, Centauri Twilight and Centauri Midnight.

I’d love to know what you think.

Hi everyone. I’m here with week 4 of my WIP. I’m definitely going to have to write faster. 🙂

A little background: Maggie has resigned herself to the fact that she must now accompany the bride to the groom because her man quit.

I’m giving away a $5 Starbucks card and an copy of Capital Bride, the first in the series to one lucky commentor, so be sure and leave me a comment. For the book, the winner can choose any format including paperback, if they are in the US. Only ecopys to international winners.

Maybe it was time to think about another relationship. In all honesty, she didn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life, even though she had no intention of marrying again. She had no social life, no place to find a companion. This time she would make her own decision, not endure her father’s wishes. She would never settle for another Edgar. There had to be good men out there. Caleb Black seemed to be one. But who could tell from a letter or even a dozen letters.

Taking her two valises out from under the bed, she packed them with each with two full changes of clothing. She’d long ago given up wearing corsets. She had no one to help her into and out of one, so there wasn’t much point in buying them. Besides, she had a good figure that didn’t need the corset, especially in this heat. She was a little plump, but that only gave her lush curves.

Once she was packed, she sat down to read the file again like she’d done dozens of times before. She was fascinated by Mr. Caleb Black. He was a handsome man but masculine. His photograph showed a strong jaw and dark eyes. His hair was brown or black, she couldn’t tell which in the tin type picture he’d sent. His shoulders appeared wide and his waist trim. He wore a suit with a small string tie and held a Stetson hat in his hand. She’d asked him in one of her letters what kind of hat it was, as she’d never seen any like it before. She’d asked him a lot of things in her letters and he wrote her back quickly with the answers. He asked her questions about her life, what she liked and didn’t.

He included parts of his life story with each letter he sent to her. In reality, he said more to her than he did in any of his letters to Jenny. Those were sterile, formal. There was nothing of himself in them. Nothing of his funny sense of humor, his love for his daughter or his fierce protectiveness of her. All of him, everything that made him special, was in his letters to Maggie, not the ones to Jenny. And he insisted on calling her Maggie, no matter how many times she told him her name was Margaret. She kept trying to be mad but it brought back better days. Days before Edgar and the mess that was their marriage.

And Maggie read every letter he sent to her and to Jenny. She read all the letters to her brides to make sure that what these men were promising the young women they were to marry was even possible much less true. She’d had one man promise the girl she’d be clothed in silk and showered in gold. Needless to say, since the man had to make installments to Maggie, she didn’t pass on the letter and she sent the man back his money. She told him unequivocally that she only helped men who were truthful with her and her brides. Maggie had to protect the women and her business by making sure the men were trustworthy.

Now she’d meet Caleb Black. If she admitted it to herself she was a little excited. Finally able to meet the man she’d secretly been dreaming about but couldn’t have. Not without ruining Jenny’s life and she would never do that. It was her business, her life and she’d protect it at all costs.