Welcome to Dulcet, Texas, home of the legendary Briscoe Ranch Resort,
where one woman will discover that even love is bigger in the Lone Star State…
Celebrity wedding planner Remedy Lane is Hollywood royalty―until a
scandal sends her packing to the wilds of Texas. She has a knack for leaving
disaster in her wake, but she’s determined to reboot her career at Briscoe
Ranch, a luxury resort known for extravagant weddings. Little does she know
that weddings don’t happen at the resort without the approval of the town’s
cowboy-swaggering, too-hot-for-his-own-good fire chief, Micah Garrity.
Micah knows trouble when he sees it, and all it takes is one glimpse of
Remedy’s princess airs for him to know he’s met his match. Too bad he can’t
stop thinking about her―even when she brings about one disaster after another
at the resort. He and Remedy clash at every turn, but they can’t stop the
sparks flying between them. They come from such different worlds―does love
stand a chance or will this fire burn too hot for either of them to handle?
Here's an excerpt
“How is it that you have the power to wrap every man you see around your
little finger?” Micah said, nodding to the groomsmen in the distance.
“Except you,” Remedy tossed out with a shrug.
“I’m impervious to your feminine wiles. Unlike those half- wit
groomsmen.”
With a wry smile, she ran her hands down her dress. “Look at me. I’m
unobtainable and dressed like a virgin librarian. All those guys you saw want
to be the one man with the macho power to corrupt my innocence and introduce me
to the world’s many wicked pleasures.”
He laughed at the deprecating self- descriptor. Yeah, her getup was drab
as hell, but still, a virgin librarian she was not. “It’s a good thing they
didn’t see you prancing around in that bikini at the picnic at the river or
they’d realize they’re the ones in danger of being corrupted by your wicked
ways.”
An image rolled through his mind about the way her water-slick, tanned
curves had writhed and bounced as Chet and Dusty had dragged her into the river
shallows and tried to teach her how to two- step. Shifting, his body turning
restless, he locked his jaw and set his focus on the stars lifting up from the
dark silhouettes of the hilltops.
He could not have this woman. He had rules against that kind of
fraternization for a reason.
Her voice cut through his self-flagellation. “Are you making a crack
about my virtue? Because my virtue happens to love this season’s Dolce &
Gabbana swimwear collection, thank you very much.”
That was the most ridiculous sentence he’d heard uttered outside of his
TV set. He pinched the bridge of his nose against smiling, but a snort of
laughter still managed to escape. Man, was she out of place in Ravel County. He
flicked a glance in her direction, valiantly fighting the urge— and failing—to
rake his gaze over her body. “Don’t get me started about how those itty-bitty
pieces of fabric you were wearing at the river threatened to corrupt my
virtue.”
He braced himself for a witty retort or scathing commentary on the
irredeemable nature of his virtue, but she didn’t take the softball pitch he’d
tossed her. From the corner of his eye he watched her shoulders lift as she
inhaled deeply.
On a purr of an exhale, she smiled, triumphant. “Mmm. Chief Garrity, I
love knowing how much that bothered you.”
The huskiness in her voice stripped him of all control. Done fighting the
urge to drink his fill of her, he tore his gaze from the horizon, but all he
caught was her trademark sashay as she left him in her dust and walked into the
tent. Whistling under his breath, he spun away from the reception and started
back toward his truck. Time for him to get the hell out of California’s orbit
before he lost his careful control and fell into rank with the groomsmen
trailing behind her like a pack of fools.
Publisher:
St. Martin’s Press
Buy Links:
Amazon http://amzn.to/1Wqv9bv
Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1QqBphM
iBooks http://apple.co/1P48Kzb
IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250071866
Melissa Cutler is an award winning author of sexy small town contemporary
romances, western romances, and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense for St.
Martin's Press, Harlequin, Kensington Books, and Penguin. She loves to travel,
but in between trips can be found enjoying San Diego's flip-flop wearing
weather along with her her two fantastic--and only sometimes insufferable--teenagers.
Find out more about Melissa and her books at www.melissacutler.net.
I love hearing from readers at melissa@melissacutler.net, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MelissaCutlerBooks ) and Twitter (@m_cutler). Visit www.melissacutler.net to learn more about me and my books…and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter: http://bit.ly/16mkpCs
E.E.: Tell us about your One
and Only Texas series. What are these books about?
Melissa: I’m so
excited about this series. I unofficially kicked it off last year with The Mistletoe Effect which is a long
novella that features a wedding planner and a cowboy. My editor and I loved the
world of the book so much that we decided to write a series based on the
“behind the scenes” romantic lives of the workers at a luxury wedding resort in
the hills of Texas. I consider it a modern day Dirty Dancing-style set-up, with the lives of the resort workers
and the guests and the townsfolk all intertwining.
E.E.: You write several
different types of books (One and Only Texas Series, hockey romances, Catcher
Creek Cowboys, and romantic suspense).
Do you work on one book at a time, or are you writing several books at
once?
Melissa: Well,
my writing schedule is a bit more complicated than that because, typically, I
write the first few chapters of a book and an in-depth synopsis, which becomes
a proposal that gets pitched to my editor. Then, while the editorial staff is
trying to decide whether to buy the book/series—which can take up to a few
months, depending—I start working on a book that’s already under contract,
picking up with the next chapter where that proposal left off. And, usually in
the middle of writing that manuscript, one of my other books will come back
from the editor with revision or copy edit notes, so I take a break from
writing the manuscript and tackle those revisions. It’s a very fluid process
and I love that I write in several different sub-genres of romance because it
keeps my workdays fresh and fun.
E.E.: Is there a playlist
you’d recommend for reading your latest release?
Melissa: What a
great question! I do create playlists for nearly every book I write, including sometimes
having specific songs attached to each character’s journey. Sometimes, the
songs are only connected through mood, even when the lyrics don’t apply, and
some songs are more about a single line in the song that sparks my muse.
For ONE
HOT SUMMER, as you might imagine, my playlist was almost exclusively country
songs. I listened to a lot of Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, and Dierks
Bently. The songs that probably sums up ONE HOT SUMMER the best, in my mind, is
Randy Houser’s “How Country Feels” and Dierks Bentley’s “Riser”.
E.E.: What is your hero’s
“kryptonite” – in other words, what will bring him instantly to his knees?
Melissa: Micah,
the fire chief, has a MEGA hero complex that informs his every choice. He can’t
resist saving the day, which makes Remedy, the heroine, even more alluring
because she is a super klutz and leaves disaster in her wake wherever she goes.
In that way, the two are a perfect match. As Remedy says to Micah during a
moment of passion, “What’s a town hero without a little trouble to keep him in
business?”
E.E.: What one thing about
your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine
drives her hero nuts?
Melissa: This
hero and heroine are truly from different worlds. Micah is a gun-toting,
toothpick chewing good ol’ boy from Texas who has a strong prejudice against
the wealthy and the heroine is a rich, liberal-leaning California princess
who’s the daughter of two very famous celebrities (like, if Meryl Streep and
Jack Nicholson had a daughter). So these two tend to drive each other crazy
pretty easily.
E.E.: What’s the first thing
you do when you finish writing a book?
Melissa: I love
this question. I usually have a good cry, honestly. It’s like an adrenaline
crash to finish a book and my body lets it all out by crying. When that’s done,
I crank up some music, then head to the kitchen and rummage for chocolate.
GOTTA ASK: What are the next five books on your ‘to be
read’ pile?
GOTTA ANSWER: My “To Be Read” pile is humongous right now.
I fired up the Kindle app on my phone to check and the most recent five books
I’ve purchased are “Let It Shine” by Alyssa Cole, Act Like It by Lucy Parker, 10%
Happier by Dan Harris, True Pretenses
by Rose Lerner, and Dirty by
Megan Hart.
UP NEXT: ONE
MORE TASTE, which is Book 2 in the One and Only Texas Series. That comes out
this October. You can find more information on it here:
I’ve got a special treat for one lucky commenter.
A prize pack consisting of one autographed surprise book from my backlist
(author’s choice!), two color-changing shot glasses, a drink recipe card, and
an autographed ONE HOT SUMMER cover flat. For a chance to win, please comment
on this post and let me know what some of the books on your “To Be Read” list
are. Good luck!
Mailed in North America ONLY
Melissa, welcome to GLIAS! So glad you could join us. I loved the excerpt. Now I've got another book to add to my TBR list. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, E.E. I'm so happy to be here! My thanks to you and GLIAS for hosting me today.
ReplyDeleteI have a wonderful variety of romances in my TBR pile! I have to see which book calls to me next, but I just finished reading Jennifer Faye's The Playboy of Rome & Best Man for the Bridesmaid. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy TBR list is endless. I'm diving into baseball books written by Jennifer Bernard and Erin Nicholas since I'm a baseball fan. Nice to meet you Melissa!
ReplyDeleteMy TBR is very eclectic. Romance, YA, children's books, fantasy, suspense are among some of what I'll read.
ReplyDeleteI loved this story. Melissa grabs you from the first page and never lets you go. OUTSTANDING READ. I love your blog Ms. Burke it is always full of interesting information that I didn't know.
ReplyDeleteMy TBR list oh wow do you have enough computer space for this?
Heart of Gold: Evelyn MacQuaid
Must Love Cowboys by Cheryl Brooks
Love Walks In by Samantha Chase
Luck Is No Lady by Amy Sandas
The Kingmaker: A Powerplay Novel by Selena Laurence
BREATH OF MALICE by Karen Fenech
Adam by Beth Williamson
Target Engaged by M. L. Buchman
Wine & Whiskey: Everything for You by Nikki Belaire
Primal Force (A K-9 Rescue Novel)
Forsaken by Caitlyn O'Leary
Healed by Caitlyn O'Leary
Killing Matt Cooper (The Knight Chronicles #1) by John Cassian
Always A Bridesmaid by Melinda Curtis
The Wedding Promise by Melinda Curtis
The Deadly Series Boxed Set (Deadly #1-5) by Jaycee Clark
Her Bodyguard (Steam! Romance and Rails #2) by E.E. Burke
Stealing Gran's Booty by Jamie Farrell
Shattered Dreams (Book #1) by Brenda Kennedy
Blood Loss (Bound by Blood #3) by Lane Hart
Trail of Hope (Hot on the Trail Book 2) by Merry Farmer
The Waiting (The Waiting #1) by Elizabeth Burgess
Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys
Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid
In the Arms of an Enemy by Bethany Shaw
Betting it all by Cate Masters
Chalkboard Romance by Melissa Keir
When the mission Ends Trilogy Christi Snow
Operation: Endeavor (When the Mission Ends #2) by Christi Snow
Curing the Uncommon Man-Cold by J.L. Salter
You're the One By Alix Nichols
Agents Under Fire by Dana Marton
Guardian Agent (Agents Under Fire #1) by Dana Marton
Avenging Agent (Agents Under Fire #2)
Warrior Agent (Agents Under Fire #3) by Dana Marton
Consolation Prize by Abbie St. Claire
Once Upon a Wedding Boxed Set by Kelly McClymer
That is just the ones I have written down but I have more to add. :)
too many to name
ReplyDeleteBoy my list is so big. I have the bride wore staright by Lizbeth, Phyton's Embrace by Eve Langlais, One with you by Sylvia Day, Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre etc etc those are just a few
ReplyDelete