An Angel’s Wylder Assignment Preorder Blitz – #MFRWHooks
Yippee!! #MFRWHooks presents a first look at upcoming release AN ANGEL’S WYLDER ASSIGNMENT, an #time travel, #mystery #fantasy #western historical paranormal romance. Whew! Part of a multi-author Wylder West Series from The Wild Rose Press. All books are set in the town of Wylder, Wyoming. Take a Wylder ride to the past with a Warrior Angel and Native American Shifter to save the future! WooHoo!
Preorder a copy today, and join the Wyler West Adventure! Enter the rafflecopter at the end of this post for a chance to win a $20.00 Amazon gift card!
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Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about An Angel’s Wylder Assignment. Go ahead you, know you want to, reserve a copy and join the #magical #fantasy, #timetravel #historical #westen #adventure today! You’ll be so glad you did.
What is An Angel’s Wylder Assignment all about?
Warrior Angel Killian Dugan’s annual trip to the family castle in Scotland is shattered by the arrival of Legion Commander North. Killian’s skills are needed for an urgent time travel assignment. A rogue demon has escaped back in time. He must discover the why and where and stop the demon before it can damage the past and change the future.
Killian’s girlfriend Chinoah Grace, a Native American shapeshifter is included in the mission which takes them to the wild west town of Wylder, Wyoming in the year 1878. She will have her hands full fitting in and making friends.
Nothing is as it seems. They encounter visions, spirit quests, and a mysterious shaman. On top of it all, blending in as a blacksmith is more physically difficult than he imagined. But not as challenging as keeping his hands off his undercover wife. Will they complete their assignment or run out of time?
Sneak peek between the pages of An Angel’s Wylder Assignment:
Inside the family castle in Scotland, Killian put aside his warrior angel duties and relaxed in front of a roaring fire with Chinoah, a Native American wolf shifter.
He idly swirled wine in a cut crystal glass, watching the flames glint off the burgundy liquid. It was his duty to take care of the property while his cousin, Tavish, and his family were on holiday before the highland’s harsh winter weather set in.
This year he’d be staying through the holidays, though Chinoah didn’t know it yet.
Who says a battle-ready warrior angel couldn’t handle both duty and family. Bollocks to that. His best friend, Caden, did it. Well, kinda. Legion Commander Nathanial North balanced both just fine.
He slipped an arm around Chinoah. She cuddled into him as he pulled the patchwork quilt Jalen, Tavish’s wife, had made and given them to celebrate their hard-won relationship status of dating. One step at a time, Chinoah had requested.
The brass door knocker echoed through the castle announcing visitors.
With a raised brow, he peered at Chinoah. “Expecting guests, are we?”
“Not as far as I know.” She got to her feet and padded across the stone floor.
“Wait.” Grumbling, he pushed up from the cozy warm couch, slipped his socked feet back into his boots, and clomped toward her. “Best let me answer the door since we don’t know who’s waiting on the other side.”
She slowed her pace to allow him to catch up with her. “This castle is huge. By the time we get to the door, the visitors may be gone.” She giggled.
“Way to keep in shape.” Chuckling, he kissed her. “Apparently, my cousin made the original great hall into their family living space.”
“God help us if we’re in the bed-chamber when someone comes calling.” She snickered. “We’d have to sprint down the balcony hallway, across the split staircase, and through the great hall. By then, the visitors would have decided no one was home.”
“Which could have been Tavish’s plan.” He smiled at the thought. “Besides, I didn’t hear you complain last evening when you thundered through the castle for a couple of hours on four paws.”
“That was different. My wolf needed the exercise, and you didn’t want me to go outside.” Her lips formed a pout that he found irresistible.
“Didn’t want to spring you from a trap.” He turned his attention out the window where the snow swirled in the howling wind. “Besides, who in bloody hell would be calling at this time of night and in this weather?”
She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Only one group of individuals I know.”
“Oh, no. I’m on leave. They didn’t know where I was going. Besides, they wouldn’t expect me to be here.” The ancient wooden door groaned then made a squeeing sound when Killian yanked it open. “What in tarnation are you doing here?”
Available for preorder from: Amazon, Barnes&Nobel, and iBooks Release date March 9, 2022.
Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click here.
This is a blog hop! Visit all the Book Hooks from #MFRWHooks – Your next GREAT read is waiting!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged An Angel's Wylder Assignment, Angels, fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Paranormal Romance/Mystery, Shapeshifters, Tena Stetler, Time travel, Western, Wylder West Series by Tena Stetler with 6 comments.
The Texas Cowboy Release Party by Linda Nightingale
Give a warm welcome to Linda Nightingale and her new release The Texas Cowboy, book One, Return to Folly Series. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Linda and The Texas Cowboy!
Tena asked me about the inspiration for this story, Like my other books, I began with one character: Ash, the hero. The entire book is told from his point of view. In the Prologue, Ash is twelve years old and is leaving his home for an unknown and unwanted fate. His mother has divorced his father and is taking him to her native England. He’s leaving behind his horse as well as half his family.
When I started thinking about the story, I knew I wanted the hero to be Texan by birth but raised in England. The fact that he was British and Texan made a contrast that I wanted to explore and made for conflict, both internal and external. When he inherits Marathon Ranch, he must leave his mother and his horses in England and take a big step in relocating. His father has just died, and he feels guilty about staying away so long. Before he arrives, the ranch hands have already starting calling him the English Cowboy. He has to face the preconceived idea that he is a foreigner even though he was born on the ranch in Texas.
What would it be like to suddenly be thrust into managing a large cattle and horse breeding operation in the small Old West town of Folly, Texas? There’d be cultural adjustments for sure, and lots of getting up to speed on a totally different businesses. While Ash is adjusting to a whole new way of life, he meets the heroine—a pert, pretty, and sassy ranch hand with the preconceived idea that he is the enemy. Trish is fiercely devoted to her beloved Quarter horses, and she thinks Ash will jettison them and start breeding the thoroughbreds he raced in England. I don’t know if anyone other than another horse person will understand what a big conflict this is. It’s huge, very emotionally charged and a definite barrier against any affection between the two.
But I digress. The question was about inspiration. I suppose all those old western movies I watched with my dad when I was young resurfaced from memory and are the inspiration for this western series. I’m dating myself now, but I was very familiar with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, but was much more interested in their horses the palomino Trigger and her buckskin Buttermilk. I’ve always loved horses, and they appear in some form in most of my books. Even in the android books in the Tomorrow’s Angels series, the escaped androids go riding in Jamaica.
So, maybe part of the inspiration for The Texas Cowboy is my love of horses. I appreciate almost all breeds, but my favorite is the magnificent Andalusian, the bull fighting horse of Spain. They are noble, kind, and gentle, and absolutely beautiful. The colt in the picture with me is an Andalusian. Oops, I’m starting on a subject I adore and must say happy trails, cowgirls and cowboys.
So tell us a little about The Texas Cowboy:
When Ash Colter was twelve, his mother divorced his cattle baron father and whisked him away to raise in her native England. Sixteen years later, when his father dies, he inherits Marathon Ranch. Running a 1,000-acre spread famous for the best Black Angus cattle in the great state of Texas is the biggest challenge he’s ever faced…until he meets a pert, pretty, and sassy ranch hand who seems to have her own agenda for his ranch. Unfortunately, she makes his spurs go jingle-jangle-jingle like no one else ever has!
Trish Owens is a real cowgirl, a loner, and, though she’d never admit it, a little lonely. When the “English Cowboy” appears on the scene, her entire way of life is threatened, not only her job, but her beloved Quarter horses. She’s sure he plans to import his thoroughbreds from England. Worse of all is the chemistry sizzling between them. He makes feelings she thought long dead awaken.
Can these two unwilling allies set aside their differences to put Marathon Ranch in the Winner’s Circle…and to fall in love?
A sneak peek between the pages of The Texas Cowboy:
Rejoneador mounting a horse in a bullring
Squinting in the sudden sunlight, Ash sized up a woman about his age. In jeans with a burgundy Marathon tee, she was slender but curvy. Her blonde hair looked as if it had been hurriedly ponytailed. Wayward strands dangling everywhere framed her face. On closer examination, he decided she wasn’t hard on the eyes. In a non-fancy way. But then he was accustomed to Dorothy—High maintenance with a capital High Maintenance.
The girl tilted an odd look at him. Then she suffered a wardrobe malfunction. The band holding her ponytail broke. Blonde silk gushed over her big, chocolate brown eyes. A graceful hand, stained black by hoof polish, swiped the thick mess back from a pretty face. Her unsmiling mouth was generous and wide. Feed her and clean her up, and she’d be a presentable…opponent. The chill in what should have been melting brown eyes was as unwelcoming as Deanne’s steely green gaze.
He snapped a smart salute, imitating her stance. “I’ll do that, ma’am. I’m Ash Colter. You are?”
“Trish.” One word. No introduction. More or less bugger off.
He stuck out his hand. “My pleasure, Trish. I assume you work with the horses.”
“Right assumption.” Gazing intently into his eyes, she accepted his handshake. “How could you tell?” she asked, her voice dripping sarcasm.
“The hoof polish was a big clue.”
She glanced down at her stained hand. Her handshake was firm, confident, another person he felt he could trust. The color of her eyes was quite rare with her blonde hair. Very striking, but at the moment, they challenged him to measure up to her standards. Oh but no, he refused to have two bitches to contend with. This one was no problem. Employees could be towed into line. Or dismissed.
“Maybe I’ll see you around the stables.” He popped the trunk, dismissing her as curtly as was polite but smiling inside. What a feisty filly.
“The funeral is day after tomorrow,” Trish said, loud enough to carry. Her native Texan accent was music to his ears, but he could scarcely believe what she’d said. “Mrs. Colter waited to give you time to get here.”
He froze with his hand on the hot trunk. Without turning, in a voice like ice, he spat, “Thank you for telling me, Deanne.”
“You didn’t know?” The amazed question burst from the gutsy Trish.
As a sharp pang of grief broke through his carefully erected walls, he visibly winced. He’d lost his father, and his stepmother had planned the funeral without consulting him. What else had she planned to cut him out of? Knowing her for what she was, still her cruelty shocked him. What if he’d been delayed? He’d have missed his final farewell to his father. Sick at heart, he swiped a hand across his burning eyes. He couldn’t trust himself to speak around the sudden lump in his throat. Gritting his teeth, he slammed the trunk. Shouldering his duffle, he faced a sea of surprised expressions. He could scarcely see them for the sheen of emotion clouding his vision.
Angry now, he tried but failed to modulate his voice. Dark emotion crept into his gruff tone. “No one saw fit to tell me.”
“Oh?” Trish’s eyebrows darted up, her wide eyes shifting to Deanne. “You’re kidding.” In unconcealed shock, and perhaps reproach, she gaped at her employer
Links to Linda’s books:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QP4C5NZ/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/linda-nightingale
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After 14 years in Texas, Linda returned home to her roots in the South Carolina red clay. She has eight published novels, four of which are available in audio from Audible.com. For many years, she bred, trained, and showed the magnificent Andalusian horses. So, she’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer. She won The Georgia Romance Writers’ Magnolia Award for Excellence, the Raven Award, and the SARA Merritt. In real life, she was a legal assistant. She loves to dress up, use the good china and crystal, and host formal dinner parties. She has a fondness for sports cars like her current ride, Zippy Z.
LINKS:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Nightingale/e/B005OSOJ0U
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LNightingale
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor
Web Site: http://www.lindanightingale.com
Blog: https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/ – Lots of interesting guests & prizes
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/
It’s been great having you with us today. Good luck with A Texas Cowboy, book One, Return to Folly Series !
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Contemporary Romance, cowboys, cowgirls, Horses, Linda Nightingale, ranching, Return to Folly Series, Texas, The Texas Cowboy, Western by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
A Score to Settle by Mike Torreano
Happy Holidays Everyone! Welcome Mike Torreano author of A Score to Settle among others! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron. Take your choice of a bat wing Chocolate Chip or Pumpkin, or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Mike and A Score to Settle.
- What inspired this particular story? A Score to Settle is set on the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail in 1870 New Mexico Territory. I was drawn to this locale after devouring the iconic western series, Lonesome Dove. Author Larry McMurtry used an incident in his story that paralleled something that actually happened on Goodnight-Loving. Oliver Loving was shot near Fort Sumner, NMT in 1866. After he died, his partner, Charles Goodnight, carried out his last wish by wagoning him back home to Texas. To me, this is one of the West’s most famous legends and I wanted to weave a story around it.
- What inspired you to write? In fifth grade, back in Ohio, my teacher made us read a book a week, and write a report. You never knew who she was going to call on, so you had to be ready. That first week, she took us to a wall shelf stacked with books. I scanned the titles and stopped at a spine that said, ‘Zane Grey’, and I thought ‘what’s a Zane Grey’? Well, I spent the rest of that year devouring his novels and this kid from Ohio got hooked on the Old West. I could see the Cowboys and Indians racing along red sandstone buttes in the Painted Desert. Good teachers could make all the difference then-and today.
- How long have you been writing? Since I retired in 2013. Before my first novel, I used to jokingly say I was writing a book. I had all the pages numbered, all I had to do was fill them in. Little did I know then how much work it is to complete and polish a story. I’m not a disciplined writer, either. I find snatches of time to flesh out my current scene, but often spend days percolating on where to go from here.
- Why do you write what you write? Contemporary, paranormal, suspense, etc. Interesting question. I’ve thought about that at length, as I write in what is more or less a niche genre, traditional westerns with a dash of mystery and romance. I’ve always been drawn to black and white things, more so than shades of gray. In the Old West, there were things you were supposed to do, and things you weren’t. If you did wrong, consequences were often immediate, and sometimes severe. Even the bad guys knew where the line was, something that’s been blurred over the years. Many places had no law except The Code of the West, which reflected timeless values we could use more of today.
- What’s your approach to writing? Are you a plotter or follow your characters flow (Pantser)? Lord help me, Tena, but I’m a pantser. I’m thinking of writing a non-fiction work titled, The Perils of Pantsing. Not really, but while it’s easier to start a story by pantsing, I’ve found it often gets tougher the deeper into the story I go. I always have a 50,000 foot idea of what happens overall, but a lot of times I find myself wondering what happens in the meantime. We all write at the 5,000 foot level. ‘What happens now’ is my often unwelcome visitor. That’s when I wish I was a plotter. But, with only the most general outline, that allow my characters to do lots of unexpected things. Twists and turns are part and parcel of being a pantser, although I know plotters often encounter surprising happenings along the way, too. And I don’t even want to talk about how hard it is to polish a pantser story. Having said that, though, that’s what seems to work for me
Oh Mike, being a pantser myself, I know exactly how you feel. I’m writing along and all of a sudden a character takes a 180 degree turn and is off and running away with the story. Only choice you have is to follow him/her see where it leads. LOL
SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:
Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>
Favorite movie: The Natural
Favorite book: My next one
Last book read: Battle Cry of Freedom
Favorite color: Hmmm
Stilettos or flipflops: Hiking boots
Coffee or tea: Beer
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: Paperback
Pencil or pen: Pen
Favorite song: Anything by Karen Carpenter
Streak or not: Um, no
Favorite dessert: Banana split
Favorite junk food: Ginger Snaps
Favorite thing to do to relax: Read anything by Tena!
Champagne or gin: Bourbon
Paranormal or Historical: Historical
Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman
Favorite TV show: Yellowstone
Hot or cold: Hot
POV: Third close
I’d die if I don’t have: Ice cream
Review or Not: Review
A little about A Score to Settle:
Broken after his family is murdered, rancher Del Lawson signs on to a cattle drive along the Goodnight Loving trail in 1870, unaware he’s still in danger. When he falls for a pretty Army nurse, the killers target her.
If he’s to recover from his grief and build a new life, Del must set out on a gritty hunt for the men who are hunting him.
Meanwhile, Del’s mother, Maybelle, doesn’t know her son survived that murderous night. When she discovers the gold the killers are after, she uses the treasure in an elaborate masquerade to take the murderers down.
Will mother and son’s plans reap justice-or destroy what’s left of the Lawson clan?
A peek between the page of A Score To Settle:
“Tell me your story, Del. We got time.”
Del tried to piece the last few days together. He told Sonny about leaving Rose and—
She interrupted. “That your woman?”
“If she’ll have me. If I ever see her again.” He told her about the search to find Tyson. Riding through Santa Rosa, the trickery about Lost Creek, Potter’s ambush south of town amid the sandstorm. Riding for Wilkins’ ranch and Shade being played out. The desperate walk to find Sinola in the dark.
“You’ve had quite the adventure, Del Lawson.”
Buy Links: Amazon Goodreads Bookbub Books2read
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Torreano has a military background and is a student of American history and the Old West.
His debut western mystery, The Reckoning, set in South Park, Colorado, in 1868, was released in 2016 by The Wild Rose Press. The sequel, The Renewal, also in South Park, 1872,was released in 2018. His latest western, A Score To Settle, will be released October 21, 2020, also from The Wild Rose Press. He has a coming-of-age novel, Fireflies At Dusk, set during the Civil War, and his short story, The Trade, a tale of the Yukon Gold Rush, was his first published work in 2014.
Mike’s written for magazines and newspapers for many years. An experienced editor, he’s taught University-level English and Journalism. He’s a member of the Historical Novel Society, Pikes Peak Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Western Writers of America and several other western writing groups. He brings his readers back in time with him as he recreates life in mid-to-late 19th century America. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Anne.
Website: www.miketorreano.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miketorreano
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Torreano-Author-107581914412283
It’s been great having you with us today. Good luck with A Score to Settle!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Score to Settle, Mike Torreano, Mystery, Western by Tena Stetler with 3 comments.
Wild Rose Pass by Karen Hulene Bartell
Give a warm welcome to Karen Hulene Bartell. It’s a pleasure to have you join us with a second guest, Cadence, from Wild Rose Pass. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Cadence, heroine of Wild Rose Pass. Last week we talked with Ben, the hero of Wild Rose Pass. In this second installment we’ll visit with Cadence, the heroin from the same book. Correct?
Thanks so much for hosting me on your blog. It’s a pleasure to be here> Yes, I’ve brought along Cadence, the heroine of Wild Rose Pass!
Cadence you’re up first, tell us who are you really?
“I’m Cadence McShane. Though I’m the daughter of the fort’s commander and expected to behave like a lady at all times, I’m a tomboy at heart, who wants adventures and challenges. I’m tired of the rounds of teas and dinner parties, parcheesi, and pinochle, I want to cantor out the fort’s gates and gallop across the Chihuahuan desert, a place with no prying eyes and no eavesdropping ears. I’m tired of being bridled, and I need something more to do than just fill my time. I want to accomplish something.
……Tell us three things we’d find if we looked under your bed?
You’d find books of poetry, my journals, and patterns for the convertible riding skirts I design that look like ordinary skirts at first glance, but that have flared pants to allow me to ride horses astride—not sidesaddle.
……What makes you laugh out loud?
Horseback riding and waltzing—I love to take off at a gallop and race my horse. I also love to dance until I’m breathless and dizzy.
……What makes you angry?
Condescending, patronizing, chauvinistic attitudes, where women are manipulated, controlled, and treated like hobbled horses or collared dogs on leashes.
……What do you sleep in at night?
I wear cozy flannel nightgowns in floral patterns with smocked bodices and necklines shirred with ribbon.
……Who were the biggest role models in your life?
My mother was the biggest role model in my life. She was always the consummate lady, but as I’ve recently discovered, she chose the safer path and lived her life with disappointment.
My father taught me to ride and encouraged—even applauded—my tomboy escapades as a child. Though I wasn’t a male heir to carry on the family name or military tradition—or if truth be told, the son he probably would have preferred—I always knew he cherished me. His love was implicit, and I never doubted his affection.
……What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with?
I want someone who’s compassionate, kindhearted, and considerate, yet brave. I want someone who’s interested in more than military maneuvers or promotions and knows where to find natural treasures, like wild plums, pine nuts, pecans, or twinned-crystal calcite. I want someone who would treat me as an equal and a cherished fiancée.
……What kind of man would you never choose?
I have no patience for a man who’s condescending or solely focused on military advancement—who’d make me wonder if he were only marrying me to become my father’s son-in-law—his protégé—instead of my husband.
.…What is most important to you in life?
Freedom and independence are most important to me. I want new experiences, not a repetition of what I’ve always done. I want to live life, not sit idly, drinking tea and watching life pass me by. I need adventures and challenges.
……What is your biggest fear?
My biggest fear is that my entire future will be plotted out on a chart, where I’ll have no choices or options. I don’t want a neatly laid-out tactical maneuver of my husband’s design, and I don’t want my life to pass without my living it.
****
Karen, tell us a little about writing this story. Was it fun or difficult?
Writing Wild Rose Pass was a stretch for me because I’d never written in the Frontier, Western, or Historical genres before—no ghosts and nothing paranormal. Adding to my dilemma, the timeline was 1880 Texas, so every phrase they spoke, every idiom they used, every food they ate, every dress and uniform they wore, as well as the roles they played, all had to be double-checked for historical accuracy. Writing it was slow going.
And although romance is always a part of my novels, I’d never written a true “Romance” before, so I had to learn how to write from two points of view and speak in both the heroine’s and hero’s voices.
Still, it was fun. I enjoyed getting into the Old West mindset. Guess it reminds me of the old Westerns I used to watch as a kid 😉
Do your characters always act as you expect?
Usually, but not always. My characters definitely have minds of their own!
Are you a plotter, or fly (write) by the seat of your pants?
Hmmm…a little of both, I’d say, but mostly I fly by the seat of my pants. I write mini-plots on scraps of paper that lead to a scene’s conclusion, but I never know, from that scene to the next, what the next action will be until inspiration strikes.
I know that feeling myself. LOL
Tell us a little about Wild Rose Pass
Cadence McShane, free-spirited nonconformist, yearns to escape the rigid code, clothes, and sidesaddles of 1880s military society in Fort Davis, Texas. She finds the daring new lieutenant exhilarating, but as the daughter of the commanding officer, she is expected to keep with family tradition and marry West Point graduate James West.
Orphaned, Comanche-raised, and always the outsider looking in, Ben Williams yearns to belong. Cadence embodies everything he craves, but as a battlefield-commissioned officer with the Buffalo Soldiers instead of a West Point graduate, he is neither accepted into military society nor considered marriageable.
Can two people of different worlds, drawn together by conflicting needs, flout society and forge a life together on the frontier?
My thoughts on Wild Rose Pass:
First let me say, I don’t usually read western romance, but this one hooked me from page one, a real page turner and I loved every moment of it!
Wild Rose Pass is an exciting tale of romance, second chances, and the rough & tumble Texas history set in frontier Times. Vivid details, which is something I love in a story. I enjoy being immersed in the details and the story so I feel like I am there with the detailed characters. This books fills the bill on all fronts. The details of customs/culture and mine-set of the day were spot on giving the tale historical resonance. Wild Rose Pass is an exhilarating western with high-stakes adventure and very satisfying ending. If you like tales of frontier days and western adventure, pick up this book today. You’ll love it.
Bonus – Recipes included of which I intend to try each one.
5-Stars from me!
A sneak peek between the pages of Wild Rose Pass:
Reining his horse between catclaw and prickly-pear cactus, Ben Williams squinted at the late summer sun’s low angle. Though still midafternoon, shadows lengthened in the mountains. He clicked his tongue, urging his mare up the incline. “Show a little enthusiasm, Althea. If we’re not in Fort Davis by sunset, we’ll be bedding down with scorpions and rattlesnakes.”
As his detachment’s horses clambered up Wild Rose Pass, the only gap through west Texas’ rugged Davis Mountains, Ben kept alert for loose rocks or hidden roots, anything that might trip his mount. A thick layer of fallen leaves created a pastiche of color shrouding the trail from view. He glanced up at the lithe cottonwood trees lining the route, their limbs dancing in the breeze. More amber and persimmon leaves loosened, fell, and settled near the Indian pictographs on their tree trunks. When he saw the red- and yellow-ochre drawings, he smiled, recalling the canyon’s name—Painted Comanche Camp.
“How far to Fort Davis, lieutenant?” called McCurry, one of his recruits.
“Three hours.” If we keep a steady pace.
Without warning, the soldier’s horse whinnied. Spooking, it reared on its hind legs, threw its rider, and galloped off.
As he sat up, the man groaned, caught his breath, and stared into the eyes of a coiled rattler, poised to strike. “What the…?”
Flicking its tongue, hissing, tail rattling, the pit viper was inches from the man’s face.
A sheen of sweat appeared above the man’s lip. “Lieutenant—”
Buy Links:
About the Author:
Karen is the author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, she is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories that lift the spirit. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Westerns spurred her to write (pun intended). Wanderlust inherent, Karen enjoyed traveling, although loathed changing schools. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Hill Country with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.
Connect with Karen:
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Wild Rose Pass!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged 2880d, Frontier Romance, Historical Romance, Karen Hulene Bartell, Western, Wild Rose Pass by Tena Stetler with 5 comments.
