Montana Creeds:Tyler by Linda Lael Miller

Tyler is the youngest of the Montana Creeds—and he’s learned a lot from his two older brothers—mostly about how not to take on responsibility. But now both his brothers are married with families of their own and he’s not only estranged from them, but the odd man out on his own land.

Of course, Tyler has a lot to resent. His mother committed suicide when he was younger and now he learns his miserable father took the same path. It’s no wonder he just wants to be left alone in his time-worn cabin.

But when his former girlfriend, Lily Kenyon arrives back in town to help her ailing father, solitude doesn’t seem very inviting. And when he witnesses the abuse of a teenage boy, a boy that could be his own son, at the hands of a no-good “step-father”, Tyler makes room in his life for another damaged soul.

Lily has her own issues to deal with. Her husband’s mysterious death, her father’s critical illness and a daughter that needs structure and a sense of family. Given everything she’s dealing with, there is no reserves left to explore the remnants of a past relationship that had gone sour very quickly. That is until Tyler shows up on her doorstep in the flesh.

Will the past rip them apart or can they hold onto each other and face the future together?

This third installment of the Montana Creed series is hot, steamy and sexy but also filled with the emotional tugs that keep readers turning those pages. With compelling characters, difficult situations and strong emotions, this is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. Available today from HQN at bookstores everywhere and Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

The Book Cover for Return to Wayback is Here!

The book cover for the print anthology, Return to Wayback, that is going to include Re-rde at the Rodeo is here. When released, this anthology will be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, among other book outlets! Yeehaw! Can't wait.

And besides Re-ride at the Rodeo, you'll get two other great Wayback stories by two great authors, Lynda Coker and Mallory Malone.

So for those of you who don't "do" e-books, you'll have your chance to read Re-ride at the Rodeo in print. Can't wait to hold it in my hands!

Coming soon from The Wild Rose Press, part of the Wayback Texas Series

But Can the Cowboy Dance?

As everyone must know by now, Ty Murray, seven time all-around Pro-Rodeo champion and PBR President and star, is going to be on Dancing with the Stars tonight. My DVR is set! Jewel, his wife, was supposed to be on there competing against him but she fractured the tibia in both legs--both legs! Who knew dancing could be so tough!

Ty Murray has shown he's the top cowboy in so many ways. Not only is he a seven time all-around Pro Rodeo champion--a record--but he did it competing in the three most physically challenging events of rodeo, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. Doing just one event usually sets you up for a life time of physical pain from the broken bones and torn ligaments--and Ty sure has had those, with surgery on knees and other areas.

So how can someone who has those kind of physical injuries and surgeries possibly compete in the arena of dancing where grace, rhythm and having "young" legs is a requirement, Cloris Leachman not withstanding? Well, we'll know tonight but I'm guessing Ty will face this like he does everything else--with discipline, commitment, determination and a heavy dose of cowboy grit. You may say this is just dancing but then two contestants have gotten injured already, before the show has even started.

Still, I'm betting on Ty to show them how it's done!

If you aren't familiar with the cowboy who at 23 became the youngest millionare in the history of Rodeo, is a founding member of the popular PBR (Pro Bull Riding) of which he is now President and married one of the prettiest singers ever, here's a video so you can catch up:

How It Feels to Get Bucked Off.

I'll be blogging at Petticoats and Pistols this Saturday, March 7th, about rodeo cowboys of the past and present and sharing my own experience with getting bucked off--it wasn't all that fun, I can tell you that. So join me on Saturday and don't forget to leave a comment.

Review of Montana Creeds: Dylan by Linda Lael Miller

In this second book in the series, Linda Lael Miller gives us bad boy Dylan Creed—the middle son of hell-raiser and less than sterling father, Jake Creed. Dylan is carrying around a lot of baggage from his childhood and he hasn’t exactly lived down his father’s legacy. But when the mother of his child, Bonnie, leaves the child in the cab of his pick-up while he’s playing poker, he has a chance to step up and be the kind of father the young toddler needs—the kind of father his own wasn’t.

Dylan returns to his home town of Stillwater Springs, Montana determined to do what is right for his daughter. Which means setting down roots and giving her the kind of stable home her wayward mother was not capable of. But Dylan doesn’t have a whole lot of experience or any role models to rely on. But he does know a very pretty librarian, his former love, Kristy Madison, who would make a great mother.

Years ago, Kristy had issued an ultimatum after his father’s funereal, one Dylan couldn’t comply with at the time. He needed space, needed time and needed to prove himself. She got engaged to a “responsible” member of the community and only recently did Dylan learn she hadn’t gone through with the marriage. But is she willing to pick up with him again and can he convince her it’s not just a mother for his child he needs—but a wife and partner in this enterprise called life?

Ms. Miller has once again created a charismatic cowboy, but not without faults. Self-absorbed, hard-headed and just a tad domineering, you can’t help but wonder if the self-conscious, quiet librarian will be up to the task of taming him. But like all Ms. Miller’s novels, it would be a mistake to underestimate the strength of her heroines. Romantic, sexy and with a mystery that will keep those pages turning.

Available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com

And the Winner is....

Eleyne has won the free e-copy of Re-ride at the Rodeo so Eleyne if you e-mail me at annecarrole@aol.com I'll send you out a free e-copy of Re-ride at the Rodeo. I'm heading out for a week of R&R but when I get back next Thursday I'll send it right out to you. Hope you enjoy it!

It's in His Kiss?

Tis the 11th day of Romance during the Romancing February Blog Contest—and it’s my day to blog! So my topic is First Kisses. From your first kiss ever, to your first French kiss (oo-la-la) to your first kiss with your significant other—firsts are special.

My first ever kiss was when I was nine years old. Shocking isn’t it? But then I didn’t experience another one until I was sixteen so I’m chalking it up to curiosity or the boy, Frankie T., all of twelve, being a little, well, exhuberant.

We were sitting in a tent in his backyard, sharing a bag of salty potato chips. How did he know that potato chips were my favorite snack?

I didn’t know him all that well, but he was very cute. He was always getting into to scrapes, always very daring and adventurous. There were lots of neighborhood stories about Frankie T. These facts should have been clues of what might happen, but a nine- year-old's trouble antennae isn’t very experienced yet.

He leaned in close, looked right into my eyes and said, “Wanna, kiss?” My pulse rate, which was already thumping away just being in a tent with him, went into overdrive. I don’t remember saying anything, just staring into his golden brown orbs. Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine, salty and firm. He was kissing me. I held my lips tightly shut and barely moved. It was exciting—but nothing more. He kissed me again. This time, I remember, it wasn’t even exciting—just salty.

Finally, my trouble antennae started sending signals. Before he could try again, I rose. Grabbed a handful of chips (had to have those chips) and told him I had to go. Walking home I wondered about what I had done. And figured I probably shouldn’t have. So I never went over to Frankie’s again. And he never said more than hi to me. I probably wasn’t much of a kisser.

Still, for seven more years, I clung to the fact that I had at least been kissed once! And I can promise you, my kissing experience at sixteen went a whole lot better.

On the web, the site Virtualkiss.com has a whole section on first kiss stories. A quick perusal of sixty-five first kiss listings showed that the majority of people (40) were under fourteen when they had their first kiss. Of them, twenty-seven experienced their first kiss at age thirteen or fourteen. Only one cited age nine. (My cheeks are red!)

And did you know that there are sites that will give you step-by-step instructions on kissing? Check out Kissing.net/French kissing tips for matter-of-fact, fairly reasonable kissing instructions. Who knew?

Some of their suggestions include brushing your teeth and taking a bath—ahh, definitely. And “don’t bite. Just nibble. Whatever, you do, don’t bite.” Can’t argue with that. LOL.

But nothing beats the first kiss of the man you fall in love with. The heart-stopping, world- jarring, lightening-striking kiss of real love.

In my story Re-ride at the Rodeo, Dusty is surprised by her first kiss with Clay and it foreshadows the rest of the story. Dusty wants nothing to do with a rodeo rider for reasons all her own. Clay can't resist the challenge of someone who's "not that into" him. Here’s an excerpt that contains the first kiss:

She turned around to the sight of Clay bearing down on her. Her heart skipped a beat. His white shirt almost glowed in the moonlight while the rest of his body was etched in black against the gray night sky. He moved with the rolling gait of the cowboy he was, all fluid motion and power, a trim muscled torso on long lean legs. He held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t I count? You gave Jesse a dance. Don’t I get one?”

He sure was a hunk of man. Her heart thumped hard inside her chest. She couldn’t tell his expression with the brim of the Stetson shadowing his face but she guessed it wasn’t a happy one.

“I didn’t know you wanted one,” she managed to get out, just as he stopped short in front of her.

His looming height made her feel small. She looked up at a set of unyielding lips, midnight blue eyes and the gray shadow of a beard etching his strong jaw.

“I want.” His voice had a husky timbre to it. He reached for her and she endured the slight brush of his hand against her shoulder as he fingered strands of her hair. Goosebumps danced where he touched. “Your hair is down. I knew it would be worth seeing.”

She couldn’t move.

He smoothed a tendril back behind her shoulder with the barest touch. “I’ll take this instead.” He bent down.

He was going to kiss her. She knew it and still she rooted in place. Firm lips gently breezed across hers. The taste of hops filled her senses. His lips brushed again as his hand touched her shoulder and tugged her closer. She tingled clear to her toes. His lips pressed harder against hers, seeking a response. She opened and his tongue slid inside. A whimper of surrender escaped. He reacted to the sound by pressing her head closer to him, holding her for his taking as his mouth devoured her. She barely noticed the stubble of his beard scraping her cheek.

“So sweet,” he mumbled against her lips. Strong fingers threaded through her hair. Hot and hungry, he deepened the kiss as he fitted her between his legs and moved against her like he couldn’t get enough, like he was ready to swallow her up.

Her legs weakened.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, skimmed her fingers through the hair that feathered his collar, and hung on, giving into the desire for a connection with someone warm and willing. Need pounded within her. It had been such a long while since Bradley. Clay’s hands, hot and heavy, moved to her waist as his mouth drank her in. One hand slid across her back and pressed her nearer, while the other inched near her breasts. His thumb rubbed against her nipple. A jolt of sensation shot through her, and her mind switched on.

What was she doing?---From Re-ride at the Rodeo available at The Wild Rose Press

So do you have a “kiss” story—first or otherwise? Leave a comment, regardless, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Re-ride at the Rodeo. And if you are participating in the Romancing February Blog Event Contest the next blog to go to tomorrow is fellow western writer, Anna Kathryn Lanier’s blog : http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/.

For those who want to start and catch up in the Romancing February contest where the grand prize is a $75 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press, go back to Ginger Simpson’s blog at http://mizging.blogspot.com/ to follow the thread back. You need to list each author's blog and the book of that author for all the authors who are blogging this month (one for each day) and send them to christmasrideblog@live.com by midnight CST Feb. 27th 2009 to enter.

Thanks for stopping by! And stop in again for romance with a western flair. Don't forget to leave a comment!