E.E. Burke's Featured Deal

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The most dangerous man may be the one she just hired.

In 1870, a land war between a railroad and Kansas settlers explodes into violence. Amy Langford, a strong woman who steps into her father's shoes to promote the railroad, becomes the target of attacks. When a ruggedly handsome drifter comes to her rescue, she trusts her instincts and hires him as her bodyguard. Her life is protected, but her heart is not.

Buck O’Connor is a wanted man with a dark past, which he hides from Amy, as well as his purpose for returning to Kansas. A purpose that puts him at odds with his new employer’s ambitions and makes the life she begins to imagine between them impossible. When his deceptions unravel, it threatens to destroy not only Amy’s future, but also her love—the only power on earth that could redeem him.

It's not easy being a strong woman in a man's world...

In Her Bodyguard, the heroine, Amy Langford, steps into her late father's role with a railroad that's racing to construct track to the Kansas border ahead of its rival. 
If mysterious threats on her life and rioting settlers aren't bad enough, she has to go toe-to-toe with powerful men who stand in her way. Three of these men also left their mark on history. Read on to find out who they were and what they did.

The Railroad Magnate

James Frederick Joy was the president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads (which included the MFS&G line through Kansas that Amy is promoting). 

Earlier in his legal career, Joy hired and worked alongside a young Illinois attorney by the name of Abraham Lincoln. They became lifelong friends.

Mr. Joy developed a talent for financial and executive enterprises and became one of the great railroad builders of his century. In Kansas, however, he met his Waterloo in the form of a settlers' revolt against the railroad's purchase of land they were currently homesteading.

In my novel, the fictionalized Mr. Joy hires Amy, but he becomes skeptical of her unconventional approach to the problems they face. However, his solutions only served to further anger the settlers.

The brilliant engineer

In 1869, the first bridge across the Missouri River opened a flood of westward expansion by rail. Octave Chanute, a self-taught engineer with no formal training, supervised construction on a task that daunted the greatest minds of the time. He forged his own tools, brought in pile drivers, built dredges and derricks in a makeshift machine shop. No wonder Joy put him in charge of the MFS&G.

It was hard enough to construct a line being vandalized regularly, but Chanute insisted on building a track that would last, even if it took longer and cost more. It's a decision Amy questions and warns him about in my novel. Ironically, Chanute’s commitment to quality contributed to the railroad's ultimate defeat. 

Later in life, Chanute became obsessed with flight. In the 1890s he gathered and published research, designed gliders and gave valuable advice to the Wright brothers. Octave Chanute became an engineering icon and left an indelible mark on history with his achievements. Unfortunately, the success of the MFS&G railroad was not one of them. 

The fiery newspaper editor

Amos Sanford, a Kansas politician and newspaper editor, becomes a huge thorn in Amy’s side. In real life, he was a fiery figure on the Kansas prairie who published a newspaper that railed against the railroad’s land policies. 

Sanford and his followers were so successful at stirring up unrest that the federal government had to send in troops to keep the peace. Shown here is a letter from the Kansas governor denying a Cherokee Country sheriff's request to have federal soldiers removed.

In Her Bodyguard, Amy runs into problems when a rally she plans creates an opportunity for her enemies to make trouble. One of those opposing her is the rabble-rousing newspaper editor.

BookBub Featured Deal for 99 cents

Passion and intrigue fuel this Western romance as it races through historic events with twists and turns that raise the stakes all the way to the end. Grab this first book in the Steam! series while it's on sale for 99 cents.

E.E. Burke's Best of the West featuring a heart-warming Christmas story from Linda Broday

This Rebel is about to learn the true meaning of Christmas... 

As a late November storm batters her sod house, Rebel Avery’s thoughts are on Travis Lassiter, the outlaw she loves and plans to marry. Eight months ago, he’d been captured, and she fears he’s dead. To occupy her worried mind, she tells two small orphans she’d taken in how she used to celebrate the Advent and gets an idea.

Rebel and the other women set about to make the entire town of Hope’s Crossing the Advent calendar. On their designated day, each home gives the children a treat and strikes a chord of hope and joy. Yet, for Rebel it becomes increasingly apparent that Travis will not return. Her heart breaking, she gives a lonely recluse the only thing of value that she possesses—swaths of red satin fabric she’d saved for a wedding dress.

As they move toward the holiday, sagging spirits are renewed, a makeshift family is formed, and Rebel finds that through troubled times, love endures and conquers all.

Here's an excerpt:

  Rebel Avery was preparing supper when four-year-old Jenny came running, her sobs cutting into her. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “My dolly’s broken. Everything’s broken.” She thrust her doll’s arm at Rebel and ran crying to her bed.

  First her son Ely fighting at school and coming home angry, then the howling storm breaking her window, and now this. Something had to be done to lift their spirits. To lose Travis Lassiter, the man she loved, so abruptly with scarcely a word since had plunged Rebel into heartbreak and despair. This not knowing if he was alive or dead gnawed at her. Christmas should be full of hope and optimism, not this thick cloud of fear.

  Memories of past Christmases gave Rebel an idea. She grabbed her coat and fought the wind all the way to the Bowdre house.

  Her friend, Nora, opened the door, wiping her hands on her apron. “Rebel, come inside before you freeze to death.”

  “Thank you. This storm’s something.” Rebel untied her scarf. “Everything is wrong.”

  “What do you mean—everything?” Nora led her into the small parlor.

  “Ely has all this anger inside. He fought with Billy Truman again today. Came home with a bloody nose.” Rebel sighed and took a seat. “And Jenny’s doll’s arm came off, and she sobbed that everything was broken. It does seem to be the case. The window was just one. Then the pan of cookies I was baking ended up on the floor. And I haven’t heard a word from Travis and fear he might be dead.” A sob strangled in her throat.

  “Oh honey.” The teakettle whistled, and Nora rose. “How about a nice cup of tea while we chat?”

  “That sounds lovely.”

  Nora left the room and soon returned with a tray laden with tea, cups, and little cookies.   They sat with steaming cups in front of the fire while baby Willow, a child the couple had found next to her dead mother and taken in, crawled around them. Rebel admired the curvy, blond-haired woman who had the kind of strength she wished for.

  Rebel took a sip of tea. “I have an idea and want to see what you think of it.”

  “If it’s a way to dispel this gloom and make everyone get along, I’m all for it.”

  “I want to have an Advent calendar—only the whole town will be the calendar.”

  “Oh, yes! I always loved the cheer Advent added to my holidays when I was a child.” Nora’s brown eyes twinkled. “Tell me more.”

  “We’ll have to somehow fashion a large calendar with a little door on each day.” Rebel’s mind was whirling.

  Nora bit into a cookie. “We’ll make it out of sturdy wood so the wind won’t blow it over.”

  Baby Willow tugged on Rebel’s skirt and she picked her up, inhaling the sweet scent. “Inside each little door will be the name of the person offering treats that day and the children will go to that house.”

  “Yes! Yes! And on each Sunday leading up to Christmas, we’ll light one of the four Advent candles.” Enthusiasm lined Nora’s face.

  “Great idea. I wonder if the blacksmith will make us a holder. When this storm passes, I’ll ask him. We can get candles from the mercantile.” Rebel carefully untangled black strands of her hair from Willow’s little hand. “We’ll get the children involved. I know, maybe we’ll have them draw for a chance to be the one to light the candle in church that Sunday.”

  “If they fight or misbehave, they’ll have their name removed.” Nora reached for the teapot. “More, Rebel?”

  Rebel moved her cup closer. “Unless I miss my guess, this will teach them to get along better, and I think it’ll fill the town with much needed Christmas spirit.” Her hand trembled when she lifted her tea. “I just wish I knew if Travis is alive.”

  

Meet Linda

I'm a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 27 full length western romance novels and short stories. Watching TV westerns during my youth fed my love of cowboys and the old West and they still inspire me. Here in the Texas Panhandle, I can often hear the voices of the American Indians and early cowboys whispering in the breeze. I love chocolate, research, and watching movies.

FOLLOW ME: 

Website: LindaBroday.com

Facebook Author Page:  http://facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbroday  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linda.broday/

Goodreads:  https://goodreads.com/author/show/1204489.Linda_Broday

BOOK LINKS:

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2NeZYWK

B&N:        http://bit.ly/2XljwcS

APPLE:   https://apple.co/2I9zWP3

KOBO:     http://bit.ly/2knJDS9

IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2ZbCi7r

Q & A

E.E. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Linda: I must’ve been around seven years old and my daddy had been burned really bad the month before and was in the hospital. I didn’t know if we’d even have a Christmas at all because Mom spent all her time with him. I hoped Santa would come but I prayed harder that Daddy would get well enough to come home. I woke to a silent house on Christmas morning, my heart heavy and went to the living room. There sat my Daddy, talking low to Mama. His face and arms were heavily bandaged, but he was home. Nothing else mattered, including the lack of gifts.

E.E.: What is your favorite Christmas song?

Linda: There are so many but the one I love most is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Elvis Presley and if you read my answer to the first question you’ll see why.

E.E.: What personality traits of yours helps you most as an author?

Linda: Discipline, determination, and persistence. I’m able to stay focused on my writing which enables me to meet my deadlines in addition to all the other hundreds of things required.

E.E.: Do you have a favorite quote?

Linda: “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” George Adair

It’s a reminder to face that fear and I’ll get the prize.

E.E.: Is your Christmas story The Christmas Wedding part of a series you’re writing?

Linda: Yes, Rebel Avery and Travis Lassiter are two characters from my Outlaw Mail Order Brides series. Rebel is a former saloon girl and rough around the edges, but she has a big heart. She’s taken in two orphans and given them a home. Travis is an outlaw and just prior to this story (in Saving the Mail Order Bride) he was captured by a bounty hunter. They’re so much in love.

E.E.: This outlaw series is interesting. Why did you want to write about a group of men who skirt the law?

Linda: If you think about it, outlaws were the original bad boys and what’s better than that? They fell into two classes—the good ones and the bad ones. The first are the men who found themselves in situations where they filled in for lawmen in areas where no law existed and found justice with a gun. They didn’t enjoy it, instead saw it as something that had to be done. The bad group were men who got a thrill out of killing and robbing and they deserved to die.

E.E.: What’s next?

Linda: THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE’S SECRET (Book #3 Outlaw Mail Order Brides) releases on January 28, 2020. This story is about outlaw Tait Trinity and Melanie Dunbar. Book 4 will release in the fall of next year and close the series. As yet I have no title for that one.

Check out the other stories in Longing for a Cowboy Christmas

Linda wants to know, do you have a favorite Christmas memory you can share?

To enter the raffle, leave your email address and a comment:

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E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Featuring a Christmas anthology with Rosanne Bittner

A Christmas chock full of cowboys! What could be better?

LONGING FOR A COWBOY CHRISTMAS features stories from six bestselling authors including Rosanne Bittner and Linda Broday.

Today we're featuring Christmas in Paradise by Rosanne Bittner

When Sage Lightfoot falls in love with and marries Maggie Tucker in Bittner’s novel, PARADISE VALLEY, Maggie is carrying a child who is the product of an attack. Sage has vowed to love the child as his own … but can he? A Christmas “miracle” birth brings the answer. Love never fails.

 Excerpt from CHRISTMAS IN PARADISE:

…  “Sage, if this baby at least belonged to James, it would be different. He was my legal husband. But those men shot him down and now I’m carrying a baby fathered by one of them.”

“And I made sure they’re all dead, didn’t I? Through it all, I fell in love with you. Have you ever once heard me call that child a bastard?”

Maggie quickly wiped at tears. “No. But I can’t help wondering if you’ve thought it.”

“And what did I tell you about that baby when I told you I wanted to marry you?”

Maggie faced him. “That you would love it like your own, and he or she would inherit part of this ranch like they had your own blood.”

“Am I a liar?”

Maggie sniffed. “No. Joe Cable once told me how honest you are, and that’s what the men like about you.”

“Then why are you doubting my word?”  …

Maggie looked out at the heavenly colors and glorious beauty of Paradise Valley. … “It’s just me, I guess. You’re all man and so sure of yourself, and some men don’t want kids at all, let alone when they aren’t their own.”

Sage pulled her back into his arms. “Well, I do want kids. … I’ll love the one you’re carrying because I love his or her mother.  …  I’ve found the perfect woman to share this ranch with me, and as far as anyone other than you and me knows, that baby you’re carrying is mine.”  …

Longing for a Cowboy Christmas can be found in most Barnes & Noble book stores and WalMart. It can also be ordered at Amazon.com, and can be “one-click” ordered from Amazon through my web site. Check out this book trailer for more information:

Meet Rosanne

USA TODAY best-seller Rosanne Bittner has written and published 68 novels over the past 40 years.  Rosanne’s first love is American history, the Old West and Native Americans.  Her well-researched books cover real events and locations from all facets of the birth and growth of America. She has won numerous writing awards, including a RITA nomination from Romance Writers of America for SONG OF THE WOLF and a WILLA award from Women Writing the West for WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS.  She was named “Queen of Western Romance,” by Romantic Times Reviews, who nominated her second “Outlaw” book, DO NOT FORSAKE ME, for best western romance for 2015. Most of Rosanne’s novels have garnered over 95% five-star reviews from Amazon readers and great reviews from Publisher’s Weekly.  Rosanne belongs to several historical societies and is an active volunteer in a home-town charity organization.  She and her husband of over 50 years live in southwest Michigan.

www.rosannebittner.com

www.rosannebittner.blogspot.com

Facebook/Goodreads/Sourcebooks/Amazon/Diversion Books

CONTACT INFO:

Web site: http://www.rosannebittner.com/

Blog: http://rosannebittner.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosanneBittner

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosanneBittnerAuthor

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B000APXL10

e-mail: rosannebittner17@outlook.com

E.E.: What’s your favorite “love” word?

Rosanne: Adore

E.E.: What sound or noise do you love?

Rosanne: The hundreds of birds in the pine trees in my back yard in spring.

E.E.: What is your favorite movie of all time? 

Rosanne: That’s a hard one. I have a whole list of favorite movies, mostly westerns of course. But I also have favorite comedies. I guess I can narrow the favorite historical/westerns down to three –

QUIGLEY, DOWN UNDER – Tom Selleck’s great line - “This ain’t Dodge City, Mister, and you ain’t Bill Hickock.” Bam!

OPEN RANGE – Kevin Costner’s great line – “A lot of men are going to die today, and I’m going to kill them.”

LAST OF THE MOHICANS – Daniel Day-Lewis’s great line – “I will find you!” The heroine was about to be taken off by Indians, but she damn well knew he would find her.

And I have to add here that I absolutely love THE SHOOTIST, John Wayne’s last movie. It was about a dying gunfighter – so fitting for such a hero of western movies who was dying in real life.

And I can’t leave out THE BIG COUNTRY. Its theme song immediately takes you out west and into its magnificent landscape of “BIG” country!

E.E.: What is your biggest vice? 

Rosanne: Nibbling while at the computer. It destroys every diet I ever try.

E.E.: Be honest – when reading, do you put yourself in the heroine’s role?

Rosanne: Sometimes when reading – but  ALWAYS, ALWAYS when I am WRITING!

E.E.: Which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise, and why?

Rosanne: I DID live in it. The 70’s! Yikes! Flowers everywhere! Oranges and golds! Daisies! Bell-bottom pants! Hair down past the eyes, even on men! Terrible movies! Green or gold appliances! Shag carpet! Ugly, ugly suits! Big, wide ties! Giant hoop earrings! Gaudy jewelry! Horrible era for fashion!

E.E.: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day? 

Rosanne: BIRDS

We have some great giveaways today thanks to Rosanne's generosity!

(Third Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology, LONGING FOR A COWBOY CHRISTMAS.

(Second Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology AND an autographed copy of my March 2019 book, LOGAN’S LADY.

(First Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology, PLUS an autographed copy of LOGAN’S LADY, PLUS autographed copies of all four of my “Outlaw Hearts” books and a $25 Amazon gift card.

WOW! 

To enter the drawing, enter your email in the Rafflecopter and leave a comment. You must leave a comment to be considered. Thank you!

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