First Kiss Friday – An Excerpt from “Collecting Secrets” by PE Kavanagh

Today on First Kiss Friday, we welcome romance author, PE Kavanagh, and an excerpt from her Steamy Contemporary Romance, “Collecting Secrets (Friends & Lovers Book 1).”

A grieving heiress.

A celebrity psychologist.

A decade of friendship.

UNDONE.

When Camille first met Jackson she was too young.

Too innocent.

Too traumatized.

Friendship was less than what she wanted, but all she could handle.

Ten years later and she’s a different woman. Strong, successful, brave.

At exactly the wrong moment, one bold move threatens everything.

The safe harbor of Jackson’s family.

The unconditional commitment of his friendship.

The collection of secrets she never knew existed.

Claims and confessions come hard and fast as Jackson and Camille navigate all that has never been said.

With each step they take, closer to the truth and each other, another layer of secrets must fall.

First Kiss Excerpt

This was not the first time Camille had looked foolish, but it might have been the first time she didn’t care. Unable to find her room key or hold back the torrent of tears, she plunked down onto the ugly hotel carpet in front of her door and sobbed, loud and hard. With nothing but the back of her hand to wipe away the tears and snot, the scene quickly escalated from tragic to gruesome.

Heartbreak was no stranger. But this break-up was beyond humiliating. How dare he? She had given him everything and he claimed it wasn’t enough. He’d stood in the cold marble lobby and yelled at her. Accused her of cheating. In front of everyone.

Humiliation mingled with anger and desperation, halting any effort to pull herself together. They’d flown across the country to attend this wedding and now she’d be conspicuously dateless in a room full of happy couples. She tried to take a breath and choked on a new wave of tears.

A soft crush of footsteps stopped in front of her, but Camille had no interest in lifting her head off her knees to look.

“Hey, Cam. What’s wrong?”

She knew that voice, as well as the gentle stroke of his hand in her hair.

“Camille. You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

His worry pierced through her pain and, with great effort, she tilted her head up to see her best friend’s face inches from hers.

His eyes flashed to fear. “Camille! What happened? Are you okay? Talk to me!”

It took so much energy to form words. “Calm down, Jack. I'm okay.”

“You don’t look okay. Did something happen with Charlie? Where is he?”

The questions were coming too fast for Camille’s throbbing, blurry head. “He dumped me.” There, she said it. Out loud.

The line of his lips flattened and his breath growled. Rage filled his expression. “That mother fu-”

Camille shook her head, trying to regain her composure. “We flew all the way here and that bastard couldn’t even wait one more day.”

Jackson’s mouth softened. “I'm so sorry.” He rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

She looked into the warm brown eyes of her closest friend, the man who’d been like a brother for the past ten years. This was how she knew him best – kind, caring, and sweet. She didn’t care how the world saw him. She had gotten to know the real man.

“Let’s get you up and into your room.” He slipped his long arms under hers and stood her up. She fell into his broad chest, melting into the arms that enveloped her.

“Where’s your key, love?” he whispered into the top of her head.

She mumbled into his chest. “I couldn’t find it.”

Keeping a firm grip around her with one arm, Jackson dipped down to pick her purse up off the ground. “Can I take a look?”

“Of course.” She had no secrets from him.

She winced when he had to unlock his arm from her waist to search through her purse. Of course, he knew exactly where she would have put the key: in the smallest zippered pocket.

He waved it in front of the magnetic pad and the loud click confirmed his success.

As expected, the room had been cleared of all Charlie’s belongings. His compulsiveness would have prevented him from forgetting anything. Camille stepped away from Jackson to look around, hoping to find a belt, or a tie, or even a tube of shaving cream. Any excuse to contact him again. But there was nothing, not even a stray hair.

Charlie had almost snuck out without her knowing. If she hadn’t had to leave the restaurant to go to the bathroom, she would never have seen him, bags in hand, striding across the lobby.

Jackson stepped in front of her, halting her examination of the room, and began wiping her eyes and nose with a tissue.

“I'm a mess.” Only the slightest tinge of self-consciousness colored the moment. This was who they were and had always been. He pressed the tissue across her nose and she blew, like a small child.

“No, Cam. You’re just hurting.” He balled up the tissue and flicked it into the small metal bin to his right. “I know you’re upset, love. But, personally, I'm glad he’s gone. He was never good enough for you. And he reinforced his complete lack of class by doing this here. I mean, he couldn’t have ended it before flying to Chicago with you?”

Camille dropped her head, another rush of tears pressing against her eyes.

His broad palms cupped her face, tilting her up to look at him. “Hey, hey, Cam. He has no idea what an amazing woman you are. There are better things in your future. I know it.”

His shoulders lifted as he took a deep breath. Something about the look on his face locked her attention on him. When he touched his lips to hers, a first in their relationship, a tiny spark of surprise jolted her awake. When he pressed in, more deeply, passionately and deliberately, gripping her and parting her lips, there was no question a line had been crossed.

A column of heat filled Camille’s body as his mouth explored hers. She could not have imagined anything as wonderful as that kiss in that moment. Until she remembered to whom that mouth belonged.

“Collecting Secrets” is available through:

AMAZON

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Meet the Characters – An Interview with Mary Hamilton from “One Breath Away” by Michal Scott

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. She’s never been courted, cuddled or spooned, and now no man could want her, not when sexual satisfaction comes only with the thought of asphyxiation. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Wealthy, freeborn-Black, Eban Thurman followed Mary to Safe Haven, believing the mysteriously exotic woman was foretold by the stars. He must marry her to reclaim his family farm. But first he must help her heal, and to do that means revealing his own predilection for edgier sex.

Today we’re talking to Mary Hamilton from “One Breath Away,” an Erotic Historical Romance by Michal Scott. Let’s get started. I’m sure our readers are eager to learn more about you.

How old are you?

I don’t know for sure. I once saw in my former master’s slave book that I was purchased when I was eight years old, so maybe I’m twenty-eight. Maybe thirty.

What is your relationship status?

I’m a woman who ain’t been asked: not to court or to spoon or to be wed. I guess I’m a spinster and destined to remain one.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

I see how dark I am, how broad and wide I am physically. I especially see the keloid that marks me as a woman who hanged. I’ve learned to love the first two. Don’t know I’ll ever be able to accept the third.

Name three of your favorite things.

1. Sunrises. Since I was freed, I love watching the day wake up, knowing it’s mine to do with as I please. 2. Cooking. I feel alive when I’m able to combine ingredients and create something I know people will enjoy. 3. Conversing with Clemma Hawthorne. She’s the oldest person I know and is a walking book of Proverbs. I come away wiser every time I’ve been with her.

What is your best memory to date?

That’s easy. The moment the hangman’s sack was removed from my head and I could see again. The light was so blinding I thought I was in heaven. Then I could breathe again and people were helping me up, holding me up, shouting I was all right. Glory be. I was alive!

What would you like it to say on your tombstone?

“She was always kind.” I try to be, but don’t always succeed. Sometimes resentment gets the better of me. By the time I die, I hope the sayin’ will always will be true.

What was your first impression of Eban Thurman?

When I first caught sight of Eban Thurman, I thought he was the handsomest man I’d ever seen. I imagined God kneeling down and forming him out of ebony clay, sculpting him into perfection like God had Adam. Eban was a glimpse of Eden.

If we could only hear your voice (but not see you) what characteristic would identify you?

It’s husky, almost mannish timbre. If it were played on an instrument, it’d have the resonance of a cello.

What would you most like to forget?

The day Judge Denton sentenced me to hang. I knew I was innocent, yet God had abandoned me to an unjust fate. Everything died for me at that moment. I was living but dead. A dark emptiness filled me from head to toe. It haunts me every time I remember that day.

What would make you completely happy?

To have a family. I look at men and women on their way to church with a passel of children running in front of them or being chided to catch up. It’s then I realize how alone I am and shouldn’t be, but probably always will be.

If you could go back in time, what one thing would you change in your life?

Not having been born a slave. The weight of having been owned burdens my spirit now and again. It’s hard to throw off when I’m around Blacks who’ve always lived free.

What kinds of things do you always carry with you?

A spoon and a little bag of salt. Wherever I am I always want to be ready to help food taste its best, especially if I haven’t cooked it.

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

Just sit and watch the sun, feel the breeze on my face, listen to nature around me and enjoy I’m just as free.

“One Breath Away” is available through:

AMAZON

WILD ROSE PRESS

Connect with Michal Scott

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Free for a Limited Time - "Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire" by Kayelle Allen

Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire 

by Kayelle Allen

**FREE March 23, 2018  - March 27, 2018 ONLY **

About the Book: 

When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone. But that's the problem. He's not.

Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped inside their pods and it's up to Pietas to free them. He can't release one at a time. It's all or nothing. He's facing over five hundred thousand hungry, thirsty, homeless immortals who will call on him for rescue and he has no way to answer.

It's not all bad. The beautiful telepathic warrior he's loved for lifetimes is at his side. He's bonded with a sentient panther. He hates humans but the one dumped on this planet with him has become a trusted friend.

Before Pietas can build shelter, figure out how to grow food, or set up a government, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he's fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father.

Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever... 

"WARNING"

Contains humor, sweet romance, betrayal, angst, vengeance... and a ginormous, sentient black panther who wants to be Pietas's "kitty."

Buy Links: 

Amazon https://amzn.to/2pzB0Dv

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077BRSRP4

Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B077BRSRP4

Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B077BRSRP4

Check out a great Excerpt Here:  https://kayelleallen.com/media/boc2-chapter1-sample.pdf

Book page: https://kayelleallen.com/chaos-origin

That First Kiss

No matter how experienced you are, kissing a new partner for the first time – is… well… the first time. New. Exciting. Maybe a little terrifying.

So many decisions to make. How to tilt the head so that noses and cheeks and chins line up. Where to put your hands. Do you slip them around the waist to pull the person more tightly into your body? Do you keep your fingers intertwined and hold them down at your side? Should it be a brief brushing of the lips – an appetizer, if you will – or do you dive in and get some tongue action going?

Then there are all those first kiss expectations. The butterflies in your stomach, that warm glow in the middle of your chest, those furtive glances to gauge reactions to the possibility tell you there is something about this person that has your pheromones all aflutter. But what should you feel?

Other people have described the sensation as a mingling of breaths, a connecting of souls. Every cell in your body springs to life and explodes in a sensory overload. Heat drenches you in lethargy until you want to melt in your partner’s arms. Your lips were meant for each other.

Reality can be another matter and given all the hype, we can be left wondering what’s wrong with us if our experience doesn’t measure up. Are we kissing a frog instead of our prince (or princess)? Will we as a couple need to grow in to those heights? I keep thinking back to that great first kiss scene in the movie, Baby Boom, between Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard. The giggles. The elbows. The awkwardness. The uncertainty. Will my partner be disappointed in my performance?

And finally the lips meet and everything fades into the background – at least if there truly are feelings behind the kiss. The breath does mingle. Two souls do connect. Your body sighs in delight.

What are some of your favorite first kiss movie scenes and why?

Meet the Characters – An Interview with Michael Valiant from “The Valiant Chronicles” by Val Tobin

Three Exciting Novels from Award-Winning Author Val Tobin

The Experiencers

Not killing her might be the death of him.

Black-ops Assassin Michael Valiant questions his agency's motives when he's ordered to silence a group of UFO enthusiasts who look less like terrorists than they do housewives and nerds. Michael finds himself running for his life and dragging his intended target along with him.

Can he save them both, or will the Agency and the aliens find them first?

A Ring of Truth

Some heroes come disguised as monsters.

To ensure her daughter’s safety, Carolyn Fairchild has surrendered to the Agency and the aliens. In retaliation, Michael Valiant, Agency assassin, has gone rogue. He’s made his way to the Northwest Territories to find the alien base in The Valley of the Headless Men. But time is running out, and the abductees might be executed before he can save them.

Earthbound

Nothing says bad day like waking up dead.

Who killed Jayden McQueen? Why? How?

In her quest to find answers, Jayden sets in motion events that propel humanity towards a future already written. But just because events appear inevitable doesn't mean you shouldn't fight them. Does it?

Today we’re talking to Michael Valiant from “The Valiant Chronicles,” a Sci/Fi Thriller Romance by Val Tobin. According to the author you are only a secondary character in Earthbound, which is told from Jayden McQueen’s perspective, but you are the glue that binds all three stories together. Let’s get started. I’m sure our readers are eager to learn more about you.

What is your relationship status?

When Earthbound begins, I’m married to Jessica, a woman I’ve loved since university. Our marriage is troubled, which doesn’t surprise my partner, Torque. He warned me that assassins shouldn’t marry, but I loved her—I still love her. When The Experiencers opens, I’m afraid she wants a divorce, but I’ll do anything to keep her, even if that “anything” involves avoiding her and lying to her.

She believes I’m a scientist studying climate change. In reality, I’m a pawn of the Agency and beginning to realize I’ve been duped. When I figure it all out, my life implodes, and I take everyone around me down with me. In the end, I find a love I hadn’t known possible that helps me heal on all levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

What is your best memory to date?

The night I spent with the love of my life hiding in a cave in Algonquin Park. We’d only just discovered one another, and we were hunted by the Agency and the aliens, but I lost my heart to her that night. She became my lifeline, my reason to fight and to do the right thing.

What are you most afraid of?

As I look back on everything that happened in the Chronicles, my biggest fear is losing those I love. I lost everything and everyone dear to me once, and my biggest fear is that it’ll happen again. While my near-death experience taught me that we’re all connected and destiny is a moving target, losing the love of my life right now would devastate me. We’ve been through too much and deserve a respite from trauma and grief.

What was your first impression of her?

I won’t name names, but when I first saw the woman who is the love of my life, I didn’t recognize her as such. She was simply a target, and I’d have shot her on first sight if the Agency would’ve demanded that of me. Yet when I confronted her in her home, when I met her face-to-face for the first time, something within me recognized the connection. I couldn’t cause her harm after that, though I pretended to myself that I could.

What would you most like to forget?

I’d most like to forget the way my partner betrayed me and ruined my life. Torque recruited me to the Agency. He mentored me. He molded me into a killing machine. Too bad his killing machine turned out to have a conscience.

If you could go back in time, what one thing would you change in your life?

I’d make different choices when I was in Nahanni and searching for the alien base in Valley of the Headless Men in A Ring of Truth. I wish I’d turned away immediately when I spotted Althaea, my former partner, in the forest in Nahanni. The shock of seeing her there when I thought her in the US paralyzed me. That stupid lapse cost me and cost those around me.

But if you haven’t read the story, you don’t understand what happened between us, and as it turns out, she was manipulated by the Agency to such an extent she’d lost herself. They’d programmed her the way they’d programmed me—worse, because they’d manipulated her mind in horrific ways.

I’m not excusing whatever transpired between us, whatever decisions we made, but we didn’t know the truth then. I didn’t know Torque had manipulated to throw Althaea and me together. I didn’t know what she’d suffered at the hands of the Agency. We were monsters and thought we were heroes.

Do you see morality as black-and-white, or with shades of gray?

I’m as morally grey as the aliens who abducted the experiencers I was ordered to silence. Most of them hate the term “experiencer,” but that’s what the Agency taught me to call them. It was a euphemism. In reality, they’re abductees because they had no choice in the matter. The aliens kidnapped them as much as the Agency did afterwards to silence them.

If someone from your past showed up, who would you most want it to be, and why?

I want Jessica to show up—but I’ve already had that, haven’t I? She came to me more than once after Torque destroyed us. Even so, I miss her and would welcome seeing her again.

If someone from your past showed up, who would you most NOT want it to be, and why?

My former boss, Jim Cornell, can stay out of my life forever. He’s evil—a sociopath. If I saw him now, it would take all my self-control not to kill him, if killing him were possible, and I never want to kill again.

Who in your life has the power to hurt you the most and why?

Those I love the most have the most power to hurt me. I’m not talking about physical pain—I can endure a great deal of physical pain. Physical torture can’t touch me, but if the woman I’ve pledged my life to were to betray me, I’d never recover. When she held a gun on me and threatened to shoot me in A Ring of Truth, I’d rather have died than live with the hatred she displayed then.

Describe a typical Friday night.

After everything that happened to all of us, my Friday nights are simple but special. With minimal television and no movies being made for a long time to come, we gather together in the common room and play games the old-fashioned way. Do you know, I’d never played Charades in my life before this? I’d never been close to other people—never opened myself up like this to other people. Fun wasn’t a big part of my repertoire in my life before the world fell apart. Ironic, isn’t it?

“The Valiant Chronicles” is available through:

BOOKS2READ (link to all retailers)

Connect with Val Tobin

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First Kiss Friday – An Excerpt from “Kinky Briefs, Quatro” by Seelie Kay

Today on First Kiss Friday, we welcome romance author, Seelie Kay, and an excerpt from her Erotic BDSM Romance, “Kinky Briefs, Quatro.”

Ah, the Friend Zone. That elusive place where friendship and romance are oxymorons. Also, that place to which you are sometimes relegated by a moron…Anyhoo, they say the best relationships are based on friendship, because once sexual prowess abandons ship, that’s all you have left. And if you can’t be friends when the fireworks fade, you’ve got nothing. However, you can yearn, you can dream, you can fantasize, but until the one you love opens the gate and sets you free, happiness will elude both of you. Lawyers, unfortunately, are more guilty of friend-zoning than most. We may be warriors in the courtroom, but when it comes to love? Not so much.

First Kiss Excerpt

“For crying out loud, Kenny, I’m not five-years-old anymore. I sprained my ankle, I didn’t break it. Stop mothering me. I already have one of those, and as you know, I don’t need another.”

Kendall adjusted the ice bag on Luke’s ankle, which was currently resting on an ottoman in front of the sofa in her living room. “Hey, you’re the one who begged me to take you home so I could take care of you. I’m just trying to make you comfortable before the movie starts. But, whatever. Do it yourself.” She sashayed out of the room. “Popcorn in five,” she said over her shoulder.

Luke smiled at her cute little ass, swaying back and forth as she walked. Who would have thought the squirrelly little girl with the long blonde pigtails, upturned freckled nose, and smart rosy red mouth would have turned into such a fine-looking woman? Okay, admittedly, he had been slow to notice. He had been friend-zoned long ago and no cock-throbbing thoughts were allowed. When his friends had started making suggestive comments about his best friend in the entire world, however, he had become furious. At first, he thought it was because some of the comments had been crude, but then he realized he was jealous. Damn. He had the hots for his best friend.

Kendall returned with a bowl of popcorn, juggling two cans of beer under one arm. She handed one to Luke, set down the popcorn and her can of beer, and plopped down beside him.

“You didn’t, by any chance, shake this can up so it would explode, did you?” Luke asked. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Kendall giggled. “Maybe.” Her clear blue eyes gazed up at him, her thick black lashes fluttering in feigned innocence. Her perfect little tongue settled into the corner of her full lips and she smirked.

That familiar tightening of the groin demanded that Luke pay attention. What the hell? He could always blame it on the painkillers. He set down his can of beer and lunged for her. Holding her arms above her head, he kissed Kendall, expecting her to fight back. Instead, her body relaxed and her arms crept around his neck, pulling him more tightly against her. Kendall’s mouth fell open at the insistence of his tongue, and the sensual dance began. Years of frustration, of holding back, keeping their friendship in check, bled out with that kiss. Damn.

One kiss turned into two, then he moved to his best friend’s neck, nipping and kissing and biting. Oh great, now I’m marking my territory like a caveman. But Kendall didn’t protest. In fact, she began to rub her lower body against his, writhing and moaning—damn.

“Kinky Briefs” is available through:

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
KOBO
SMASHWORDS
EXTASY BOOKS

Available soon from all major booksellers!

Connect with Seelie Kay

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Meet the Characters – An Interview with Ramsey Locke from “Cora’s Promise” by Sunny Marie Baker

Cora Sutton keeps her promise to a dying friend.

She makes the treacherous journey and delivers Berta’s most cherished possession to Ramsey Locke in Rabbit Glen, Texas. Now what? Cora doesn’t have a thought. Doesn’t have a plan. Doesn’t have anywhere to be.

Ramsey is caught by complete surprise. He never anticipated such a gift. The truth is, he spends hours in the saddle running his ranch and doesn’t have the time required to honor and preserve Berta’s Treasure. He strikes a deal with Cora. She’ll stay on to tend the household needs and make sure Berta’s last wish is upheld. He’ll sleep in the barn. No strings attached.

When the town biddies discern that Cora is pregnant, the church demands Ramsey take responsibility for her condition. “I’ve never so much as kissed the woman,” Ramsey protests. “I’m not the father of her baby.” However, the church folks get out their calendars, and it all adds up for them.

Ramsey gives Cora his name to save her reputation, but will he ever give her his heart?

Today we’re talking to Ramsey Locke from “Cora's Promise-Book One of the Texas Strong Series,” an Historical Western Romance by Sunny Marie Baker. Let’s get started. I’m sure our readers are eager to learn more about you.

Ramsey Keaton Locke, you are the hero in Sunny Marie Baker’s Book One of the Texas Strong Series, Cora’s Promise.

Yes, ma’am.

We first see you on your ranch outside the town of Rabbit Glen, Texas. What brought you to Rabbit Glen?

That’s a subject I don’t reckon to talk about that much, but since you asked I guess I can share a bit. I am…I was a trained physician in Cold Springs, Kansas. My fiancée arrived on the stage to join me so we could plan our wedding. That morning some rowdies rode into town and got into a bar brawl. As Caroline stepped off the stage and was walking toward me, all smiles, a stray bullet hit her. She died in my arms. None of my training as a medical doctor could save her.

Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. So, you left then and went to Rabbit Glen?

No, ma’am, not exactly. I stayed pukin’ up in the air, fallin’ down drunk for a year. If it hadn’t been for my friend, Berta Minors who pulled me in out of the cold and rain, tucking me into a warm bed, I’d most likely have died.

Berta?

Berta was the madam for the local house of pleasure in town. I knew her well because my mother was a midwife and I assisted her in keeping Berta’s girls clean and healthy.

So you came to Rabbit Glen, then what?

I’d heard there was a spread for sale. The owner had died, and his wife took the kids and returned to Oklahoma. She wanted to sell. I contacted her, and we made a deal. Working the Lost C, as I called it, got my head screwed on straight.

You’d been on the ranch five years when Cora showed up. How did you feel about that?

I’d gotten a telegram telling me that Berta had passed, and she was sending me her treasure. I couldn’t imagine what that might be. She made a living but certainly wasn’t a rich lady by no means. I wasn’t hankering to wait on another stage, figured that’d mess with my mind a bit more than I could handle. Reverend Hollister offered to pick up my parcel in town and deliver it to me. I could spit nails when he showed up with this petite woman and a kid. He just dropped them on my doorstep and took off.

That was Cora, correct?

Yes, ma’am, sure enough.

So, why did Cora come to your ranch? You didn’t know her.

It seems she’d come to hand deliver Berta’s most cherished possession.

Which was?

Her young’un.

A child? I don’t understand.

I didn’t either until Cora explained it all to me.

Do you want to talk about that?

Don’t reckon. Folks can read the book and find out for themselves.

So, what then?

Heck, I didn’t know anything about raising a child, had no time for it either. Since Cora had no place to return to, I made her an offer. She could stay on, tend to the house chores and care for the boy. No strings attached. I’d sleep in the barn.

How did that work out for the both of you?

Well, I thought it was working pretty well, until Reverend Hollister and most of the church folks showed up at the house, demanding I make a decent woman out of Cora. I didn’t have an inkling what they were talking about.

Did they explain?

They pretty much accused me of being the daddy of the baby Cora was carrying. Hell, I didn’t know anything about that. I’d never so much as kissed the woman. About that time, I told the folks I needed to have a little talk with Cora, and we headed to the barn.

Then what?

Cora told me she was pregnant with her deceased husband’s baby but had only just figured it out. That left me between a tree and a saw. I knew there was no convincing the church people that I wasn’t responsible, since Cora was living under my roof, so I offered to marry her, to save her reputation, and to keep hurtful words from falling on the kid’s ears. You know how small town gossip goes?

So, you and Cora marry, did that change anything between you?

If I were honest, I’d say I wanted it to, but I picked up from Cora that she wanted things to stay just as they had been between us. I respected her wishes, although I pushed against it some.

You and some ranch hands leave to take wild mustangs to the railhead in Abilene, Kansas. Were you worried to leave Cora and the child alone?

I worried some, but Cora assured me the baby wasn’t due for months yet, and the kid, well, he was more grown man than six-year-old. I figured they’d be fine until I got back.

And was that the case, Ramsey?

Cora got in a bad way, while I was gone. The kid knew something was wrong, and he was determined to do what he thought I would, if’n I was there. He went out in a storm to get help.

Did the situation end up working out okay?

I don’t think you can expect a young boy, riding an old slow mule in a treacherous storm to end well.

 

Ramsey, you can’t leave us hanging. What happened?

Let’s just say I arrived back at the ranch to find Cora and her unborn baby in great distress and the boy was long gone. I figured it was my fault since I’d delayed coming home to make a bit more money while in Abilene.

What did you do?

What I had to. Got Cora situated best I could and went to look for the kid. The rain had turned to sleet and temperatures dropped. There was lightning too. I knew there was a good chance that the old mule he was riding could have bucked him off and he was out in this storm freezing and alone. Maybe dead.

Did you find the boy and was he all right?

Well, ma’am, that answer is for another day. I’ll just say this, you folks reading this interview with me, get to Amazon.com real quick and get yourself a copy of Cora’s Promise to see how the story ends.

“Cora’s Promise” is available through:

AMAZON

Connect with Sunny Marie Baker

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Spring is in the Air Mulit-Author Giveaway

Welcome to Spring is in the Air 

Multi-Author Giveaway!!!

Load your eReader up with some fantastic books or boxed sets plus earn a chance to win an Amazon Gift Card or Kindle Fire. Enter today! 

Visit the event:

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First Kiss Friday – An Excerpt from “Hooked on a Phoenix” by Ashlyn Chase

Today on First Kiss Friday, we welcome romance author, Ashlyn Chase, and an excerpt from her Light Paranormal Romance, “Hooked on a Phoenix (Phoenix Brothers Series).”

Locked in a bank vault together...

Misty Carlisle works as a bank teller in Boston's financial district. She's had more rotten luck in her life than most, except when her childhood crush shows up to cash his paycheck. Then her heart races and her mouth goes dry.

They might redefine the meaning of "Safe Sex."

Gabe Fierro is a firefighter--and a phoenix. Like his brothers, his biggest challenge is finding a woman open-minded enough to accept a shapeshifter into her life. When his boyhood friend asks him to watch over his little sister, Misty, he reluctantly agrees. But when the bank she works at gets held up,

Gabe does everything he can to protect her. The two of them get locked in the bank's vault...where things get steamier than either of them ever imagined.

First Kiss Excerpt

“Gabe? When this is all over, can we go out for coffee or something? I don’t want you to just walk out of my life. I’m betting that as soon as your firefighter buddies show up, you’re going to drop me like a hot potato and saunter off with them.”

He tried to muffle his laugh in his sleeve. She didn’t know he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but even if he weren’t, he wouldn’t just walk off with his buddies and leave her there.

“Sure. Coffee sounds great.”

He opened his eyes briefly to check the progress of the hole in the ceiling. More light shone through now, and he could see they were working on two sections at the same time. More voices were rumbling. He wondered how many guys were up there. Probably a dozen or more. It wouldn’t be much longer.

Gabe suddenly became aware of the fact that he was stroking Misty’s arm from her elbow up to her shoulder and down. She sighed and sagged against him. The impulse to enclose her in his arms and hold her close was something he had been battling since this all started.

The dust was almost overwhelming. Misty’s voice was muffled when she asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re trying to breathe through a leather jacket. I have the only handkerchief. Maybe we could share it.”

He almost snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Gabe!” She kicked him.

“Oww.”

“Am I that hideous that you don’t want to look at my face up close?”

“Of course not. It’s just that… Well, it’s the opposite.”

She seemed to take a deeper breath and relax into him a little more “Oh. Well then, here.” She slapped her hand behind his head and pulled him down to her face, then dragged the handkerchief over their eyes, noses, and mouths. They were not only sharing a cloth; their mouths were inches from each other. Not even inches.

He suddenly felt her lip touch his, and without even thinking, he leaned in and increased the pressure.

It started as a chaste kiss, but soon grew in intensity. She opened her mouth, and their tongues found each other. She cupped the nape of his neck. This girl could kiss! Before he realized it, his hands were pulling her closer and wandering over the dip in her lower back. Trying to stop at her hip was killing him. He wanted to squeeze her delectable buttocks.

He didn’t know how long they stood there kissing, because his brain had left the building. At one point, he realized what he was doing and knew he should pull away. But another big part of him—growing bigger by the second—thought, that ship has sailed, and it won’t be turning around.

“Hooked on a Phoenix” is available through:

ALL RETAILERS (Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Google Play)

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