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Today I’m excited to talk about the actual story of “Going Out on a Limb.” When Erin Nicholas approached me to ask if I’d participate in the launch of her Kindle Worlds collection, I was honored and excited. I would get to take a character from one of my novels and put him or her right into the heart of Sapphire Falls during the annual summer festival that’s so familiar to readers of that series.
Today I’m excited to talk about the actual story of “Going Out on a Limb.” When Erin Nicholas approached me to ask if I’d participate in the launch of her Kindle Worlds collection, I was honored and excited. I would get to take a character from one of my novels and put him or her right into the heart of Sapphire Falls during the annual summer festival that’s so familiar to readers of that series.
I knew the middle book in my series “Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys” would
be a perfect place to find a hero. The story of “The Bride Wore Red Boots” revolves
around what to do with eight veterans who were living in a group situation
while they healed
from injuries received during their tours in the Middle East.
One of my favorite minor characters was Jason Brewster, one of the group’s king
practical jokers. 
But I knew Jason—Jace—was not really the snarky joker he pretended to
be in Red Boots. All he needed was something to take the place of what he’d
lost due to traumatic brain injury. And so “Going Out on a Limb” came to be.
Although he was once a skilled airplane mechanic, now some of his
forgetfulness issues make that occupation impossible for him to perform. Jace
gets set up with a local carpenter in Sapphire Falls and arrives, ready to
intern for the summer. He’s also still been counseled to continue with therapy—so
he continues to heal. The therapist who’s
been chosen for him is a very beautiful young psychiatrist named Miri Reynolds.
Unfortunately, Jace never makes it to her office before he meets her at the
summer festival. The flying sparks are anything but appropriate for a
doctor/patient relationship.
There are horses, familiar Sapphire Falls names, missing kids, and
misunderstandings in this story. There’s also Sapphire Falls itself—a place
where people tend to fall in love fast and forever. Although there’s a lot more
to the story than falling in love, there’s nothing that’s more important! And during the festival, the very first place that
casts a spell on lovers is the Ferris Wheel.
Read an excerpt from Jace and Miri’s first ride:
The Ferris wheel
car climbed to the top of its circle and flowed over the front, sending Jace’s
stomach into the weightless thrill all carnival ride passengers sought. Not
that he needed more thrills with Miri pressed beside him, squeezing his wrist
in mild anxiety. She was beautiful when she laughed, and she sent his insides
into plenty of acrobatics all on her own. The dusk was beautiful, too, with
lights glowing all around the town square and Frank Sinatra’s voice floating
through the night. “Come Fly With Me.”
“I guess this
song’s appropriate,” he said as the words wafted from the speakers in the trees
next to the wheel.
“It’s another thing,” Miri said. “Frank Sinatra is
almost the voice of Sapphire Falls—you can always hear him in the square.”
“What? No
Stephen Tyler or Axl Rose?” He slipped an arm around her shoulders, snuggling
her a little closer.
She gave a
genuine snort. “Bite your tongue. This is Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley
country. Even Frank stretches it a little.”
She smelled deliciously
of apples and berries. Conversation flew away with Sinatra as they coasted over
the top again, and Miri laid her head on his shoulder.
“I actually feel
safe on a ride with you,” she said. “Unlike with my niece who rocks the car
like a maniac.”
“A little afraid
of rides are we?”
There was
something very sexy about a psychiatrist who had her own set of fears. She made
him feel . . . normal.
“Only a very
little.”
He shrugged to
make her lift her head and, with fingers on her chin, turned her face toward
him. Sweet sugar met his lips when he covered her mouth with his. Her tongue,
hot and willing, collided unhesitatingly with his, and moments later he
discovered how highly talented she was at invasion and conquest.
They kissed
greedily in a barely controlled rush that overtook his senses and made him
forget to care that people waiting in line for the ride would see them as they
passed the bottom. Heat dove for his groin as the wheel lifted them up and over
again. When the roller coaster sensation hit, a tiny moan from Miri vibrated
through their kiss. His body’s response was quick and male, and so cliché,
causing him to deepen the kiss and draw more contented mews and barely audible
sounds from Miri.
She pulled away
for a breath, her eyes glassy and desirous. She came back to him and caught his
bottom lip lightly with her teeth. He groaned and held her cheeks, stroking
with his thumbs from her temples to her ears, turning her head so he could
angle closer, capture her tongue and taste her over and over.
They broke apart
for good when they stopped at the top of the wheel.
“Does this count
as fitting in?” he asked, breathless and uncomfortably hard. “Or is it
literally some spell that was cast on this ride?”
“It’s just
chemistry,” she said, and swallowed.
It wasn’t, he
thought. There was definitely more than biology at work.
“I’d like to
know what chemical ingredients you chose.”
“Don’t put all
the blame on me. What you added was pretty…explosive.” She laid her head once
again on his shoulder.
“Well, if it’s
just chemistry, I can handle it,” he said.
“Because having
a spell cast on you would be too scary?”
“Darn right.
Chemical experiments can be controlled.”
“So are you
still willing to try the fireworks tomorrow night? Test this theory that you
can control the experiment?”
“He set his lips
against her ear. “Just bring your lab coat in case something boils over.”
I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone
who’s read Erin Nicholas’s Sapphire Falls series that Jace and Miri are the
next pair to fall under the little town’s spell. But how they fall is not a
straight or predictable path. I hope you’ll come by tomorrow with your fingers
ready to one-click the buy links—so you can read all about the 12 new Sapphire
Falls stories and then find out exactly what happens to Jace and Miri!
I have more Sapphire Falls and other
goodies to giveaway today. I’d like to know where you had your first kiss!
Could it have been on an amusement park ride? Or was it from the cute boy in
your fifth grade (or kindergarten!) class.
Inquiring me wants to know! (Open to international readers, too!)
TOMORROW: Meet a
couple of the SFKW authors and see the twelve titles releasing Thursday!
