4/29/2017

Through My Lens at Magnolia in Waco

Chip & Joanna Gaines are an HGTV sensation.
My daughter is a fixer-upper watcher. She and her fiance love FIXER UPPER --it might have begun because the show features BAYLOR's home town...Waco. But the love is legit since most of America agrees.  We had the opportunity to stop by and see their store (and extras) in Waco...a city that is prospering from the store's location.  Thought I'd share some of the pics...

















































~ LAST DAY TO ENTER ~

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND?

4/27/2017

The Wolves of Willow Bend

GHOST WOLF

Most Lone Wolves have a story—a pack they left behind, a love they lost, or worse, one they buried. Some leave their packs to roam because they crave freedom, and independence. Some leave because in their hearts, they can’t bear to stay. Some leave because they see no way to go back…

Packs attacked. Humans forced to turn. Enforcers murdered. Following near miss assassination attempts on several prominent wolves. The packs are furious, out for blood and ready for war. Julian has been juggling the conflict without a real target for months, they always seem to be just one step behind the Volchitsa and even the wolves they’ve captured can’t tell them enough. With the fate of the packs resting squarely on his shoulders, Julian, the Chief Enforcer, will swallow his pride to seek out the one wolf he knows can help them all, the one who seems to know all the players, who can think like them…if anyone can find the Volchitsa it’s the ghost he’s hunted for decades…

Dallas Dalton has lived on the run so long, she doesn’t really remember any other way of life. For an all too brief time, she had her daughter with her and the feeling of family until Julian got to too close once again. The damn wolf wouldn’t leave her be, no matter how much she’d sacrificed for him. Seeing him in Russia had been both a blessing and a curse, because no matter what she did, she couldn’t get him out of her system. Then he asked her for help…

Now side-by-side, the Enforcer and the Rogue will have to work together to deal with the Volchitsa once and for all, but can they keep from killing each other in the process?

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

“Miss Dalton, there’s a procedure to these things…a custom.”
“Of course there is,” she replied, whirling to walk backwards and look at him. “There’s protocol to every interaction we have. Boring, staid, mired in way too many years of history because some overactive dominants need to have their asses kissed.”
“Are you finished?” He halted, and though his expression didn’t change, she knew she’d reached the end of the little path so she stopped, too. They were a safe distance from the pier and alone with the rocks and the sea.
Tilting her head, she considered whether she was done. “No,” she said after waiting a beat. “I think it’s important to establish where we both stand. You bark orders to total strangers and think it’s okay. I don’t listen to orders from people I don’t know, much less respect, and I definitely never kiss an ass.”
Folding his arms, Julian released a sigh. Impatience seemed to thread through his posture. Satisfied she’d found a chink in his armor, Dallas smiled.
“There, I’m done. We understand each other.”
The wolf shook his head slowly. “You are a piece of work, Dalton.”
“Maybe, but I bet you think I’m groovy now…” The tease elicited the first hint of a smile on his stone cool face.
The man had a gorgeous smile, and her tummy did a little flip. Would he play with her?
“You are something,” he said, conceding, and she resisted the urge to cheer. “Now, you’re going to listen to me or I’ll put your smart mouth on a bus back to New York with a note to your pack to keep you caged until you learn some manners.”
Dammit. So much for playing. “Boring,” she sighed. “Fine, do your worst. Give me the lecture.”
There should be a rule about stone cold foxes being stone cold meanies. Folding her arms, she met him glare for glare.
“How the hell did they let you out of your pack?”
“Because no one can keep me where I don’t want to be.” Not anymore.
It would be her mantra. She was free.
She planned to stay that way.



USA Today bestselling author, HEATHER LONG, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime.

From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family.

She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

Heather is best known for her 18-book paranormal romance series Wolves of Willow Bend, which begins:
Prequel: Wolf at Law
1: Wolf Bite
2: Caged Wolf
3: Wolf Claim
3.5: Wolf Next Door
4: Rogue Wolf
5: Bayou Wolf
6: Untamed Wolf

Heather's other fantasy romance series include the paranormal westerns Fevered Hearts starting with Marshal of Hel Dorado, Black Hill Wolves which start with What a Wolf Wants, Witches of Mane Street, Mongrels, and the forthcoming Bravo Team WOLF series.

Her contemporary romance series include: Always a Marine, Going Royal, Elite Warriors, The Love Thieves, beginning with Catch Me and Lone Star Leathernecks, beginning with Semper Fi Cowboy.

Heather is well-represented in fantasy with her superhero series Boomers, a sci-fi western called Space Cowboy Survival Guide, an urban fantasy series called the Chance Monroe Adventures, and a stand-alone ghost novel titled Haunt Me.


  
GHOST WOLF CHARACTER INTERVIEW
Enforcer Hadley Sexton has a lot of questions for Rogue Dallas Dalton – and this is her chance to get a few answers.

HADLEY: Thanks for grabbing a drink with me.
DALLAS:  I’d say you’re welcome but you didn’t offer me a choice.

HADLEY: It’s always better to apologize than ask for permission.
DALLAS:  A woman after my own heart.

HADLEY: Actually, I’m just here to pick your brain. You agreed to eight questions, correct?
DALLAS: I did, and now you have seven left. *lifting her drink, she took a long pull* Use them wisely.

HADLEY: You’re a smartass. I knew there was a reason I liked you. Let’s start with the simple things. Julian’s ass or his eyes?
DALLAS: *still chuckling* The man has an ass you could bounce a quarter off of—but his eyes remind me of the sea.

HADLEY: Not really a straight answer.
DALLAS:  Only answer you’re going to get. *winks*

HADLEY: What was he to you first? Friend or lover?
DALLAS: Pain in the ass—though to be fair, we weren’t the best suited to friendship.

HADLEY: What made you two work?
DALLAS: We didn’t work or did you not notice that?

HADLEY:You two were tight—you have your own language—you know things about him no one else does. So what made that work?
DALLAS: I’m not afraid of him and I know how to listen.

HADLEY: Huh, nice…now for the question I have to know the answer to—what was up with all the sitting rooms?
DALLAS: *laughing* Options…options for a gilded cage.  

HADLEY: And the set miniatures? Yours or his?
DALLAS: Between us girls—?

HADLEY: Of course. I’m dying to know.
DALLAS: Strip Risk. *she waggled her eyebrows*

HADLEY: No. Shit. Seriously?
DALLAS: No. You’ll be wondering won’t you.

HADLEY:You’re killing me.
DALLAS: Last question…make it worth this.

HADLEY: If you could go back, and get a do-over—would you?
DALLAS: Nope. I wouldn’t change a single thing. Our lives are a product of our choices—change even one and it could change everything.

HADLEY’S GOTTA ASK: What’s on your bucket list?
DALLAS GOTTA ANSWER:   *smiling* Everything…

UP NEXT for HEATHER
WHEN DANGER BITES
Bravo Team Wolf, Book One

Buttoned-up Corporal Kaitlyn Amador is dangerous on every level. As a human, she poses a threat to Marine Captain Jax Raymond’s special Force Recon unit. Though the team has a reputation among the other recon units, only their commanding officer knows their secret. As a woman, the danger posed is entirely different. Jax can survive the temptation for only so long before his wolf takes over and pursues what it wants.

Military intelligence specialist Corporal Kaitlyn Amador is the first woman in the Marines to be assigned to a recon team. And everyone’s watching her. Her mission? Not only prove herself worthy of her place in the group, but uncover the mystery of why Bravo Team is so successful. A mission that gets more difficult every time she’s near Jax…

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

A laughing couple escaped out the doors as they continued their dancing. Then the male picked his companion up and kissed her. The scent of their passion twined and Lesley-Anne allowed herself a smile. The couple didn’t carry the promise of mating in their scent, but they were young and having fun. That was all that mattered.
Another couple slipped out the doors, both laughing and giggling like children. They hesitated when they saw her, but the male gave her a self-conscious grin followed by an incongruous wink before tugging the woman away. Lesley-Anne smiled again—not all wolves wanted to know if they were possibly mates, so she tended to keep what she knew to herself.
She had been known in the past to warn a wolf who seemed to be getting too attached, if only to prevent them from heartbreak later. The desire for a mate didn’t always result in a happily ever after for all parties, particularly if they wanted it too badly.
She lifted her mask and wiped away some of the sweat from around her eyes. Fortunately, she didn’t favor a lot of heavy cosmetics or this weather would’ve already eaten half her makeup. She’d just got it back into place when the doors opened again. A rush of sound and light and scent lashed out. Every nerve in her body electrified. Not only did she scent mate potential…
She scented hers.
Not possible.
Pivoting, she found a tall, lean wolf studying her as he made his way outside, drink in hand. Like so many of the men at the party, he was dressed in a full tux and tails. It might surprise some to know that when Delta Crescent dressed up, they did it right. Even the alpha’s mate cut a dashing figure in his suit, and his vest and tie had been designed to match the alpha’s stunning red dress. They made such a striking couple.
The male continued to approach, and Lesley-Anne lowered her gaze a fraction. Her wolf rose within her,  unexpected in her interest. The last thing she wanted was to leap on the unsuspecting approaching wolf. A matchmaker was a tracker with a finely attuned sense of smell—one which detected certain notes in body chemistry. Although, in Lesley-Anne’s case, it also had something to do with her degree in psychology.
“Running away already?” The husky masculine voice wrapped around her like a leash seeking purchase.
“Hardly.” She lifted her drink. “I came out to cool off and have a drink. You?”
“I came looking for you.” What a pity he delivered the hope-inspiring-line with such practiced ease. Even knowing he possessed all the right scent markers, declaring him her potential, the smoothness with which he declared he’d come in search of her suggested his goal was more a warm body for the night rather than a heart seeking shelter.
 “I see. It doesn’t seem as though you have to look very hard.” She didn’t bother to disguise the challenge in her voice. She didn’t want an operator, and while wolves might be highly charged and very sexual creatures, it didn’t mean she had to accept whatever life had to offer. Mate potential didn’t mean mate acceptance.
“How do you know I haven’t searched the whole of the bayou for you?” Playful flirtation seemed to shimmer within every syllable.
“Because there’s not a speck of dirt on your very shiny shoes.” He was lucky she didn’t snort in his face.
He chuckled then tugged off his filigreed mask. Oh, she could have wished he hadn’t done that. Hugo Ferrar. Really? She wanted to take her wolf out back and shake it. Hugo Ferrar was a Hound, second only to Jerome, and exceptionally well known in the pack—both for his reputation as a fighter as well as a lover.

PREVIOUS RELEASES by HEATHER
SPACE COWBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE
First in the series

Rule #42 – Don’t be a hero. Heroes do shit for free and get themselves killed. It’s a lose-lose proposition.

From his leather Stetson to his long coat and choice of weapons, Shaw Sullivan is just a space cowboy who lives by his own code. A loner by choice, he accepted the contract to conduct a stellar census under duress…it was the only way to save his family’s ranch.

Sullivan has four years to complete the mission, and he has zero intentions of letting anything get in his way least of all a desperate woman who wants to hire him to be a hero.

Warning: This novel is not a romance. It’s a wild, space romp with some rough and tumble characters who aren’t all that likable most days.

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

WOLF ON BOARD
Wolves of Willow Bend, 9.5

The wolf days of summer are here...
READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

SOME LIKE IT ROYAL
Going Royal #1

It's The Role of a Lifetime...

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK



HEATHER is giving away an ebook of your choice from her backlist!
International giveaway

ANGI'S back next Wednesday with
DANICA FAVORITE
Get Lost on Facebook
or our Facebook Readers’ Group: The READERS’ SPOT
a Rafflecopter giveaway


HEATHER WANTS TO KNOW: WHAT MAKES A NEW SERIES ONE-CLICK FOR YOU?

4/26/2017

Get Lost in Atlanta With A Sexy Cowboy...

Purchase for only 99 cents
Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo
An urgent need...

High-powered executive Jen Chandler can’t ignore the urgent ticking of her biological clock. The nesting instinct has kicked in big-time and she wants a baby -- without acquiring a husband in the process. Taking control of her future, she sets out in search of a donor.

An unexpected proposition...

Logan Hardt, a laid-back cowboy who shows up at her Atlanta home one day, turns out to have the right genes, as well as a pressing need for cash. But he’s seduced by more than Jen’s generous offer, and the closer the time comes to say goodbye, the less willing he is to honor an agreement that would require him to walk away and never look back.

Could a contract between them lead to more than a baby? Maybe.

Here's an excerpt:

Jen hurried into the house, changed into her workout clothes and let the dog into the back yard. Why not practice yoga on the brick patio and enjoy the pleasant fall weather? Afterwards, when she was done with her calls, she could do more research and with luck find a potential sperm donor.
With a deep breath, she lifted her arms to the sun and then bent, planting her palms on the mat and pushing her hips toward the sky, stepping back with each foot until her body formed an inverted V.
A spotted muzzle nudged aside her dangling ponytail and sniffed.
“Go on, silly, we’ll play later.”
Freckles dashed off, no doubt to chase one of the many squirrels up one of the many pine trees or into the branches of a hundred-year-old live oak. The dog couldn’t roam far. High hedges concealed a wrought iron fence, extra security for pets—and children.
Exhaling, Jen gazed upside down between her legs at the rear of the renovated Tudor, which looked like a transplant out of Stratford-Upon-Avon. The yard reminded her of a secret garden out of a book she’d escaped into when she was a child. Her dog wasn’t the only one who favored the new digs over their last home, a trendy apartment in New York City. What a relief to inhale fresh air that smelled of grass, not garbage.
She’d made the right decision in taking over the agency’s Atlanta office and moving into the historic neighborhood close to her job downtown. With a low crime rate and top-notch schools, it was the perfect place to raise a family.
The challenge now would be to find a perfect donor. She distrusted sperm banks. After all, she wouldn’t purchase a car without driving it, or a house without walking through it, or fresh produce without having a chance to touch it. No, that wasn’t a good analogy. She had a lengthy list of requirements, but touching wasn’t one of them.
Numerous business associates were bright, successful men, reasonably good-looking and seemingly healthy, one of them might donate. Except, seeing the donor on a regular basis would make business meetings awkward. Ideally, the donor would be someone she could meet, investigate thoroughly, but have no ties to him. How could she go about finding this Mr. Right? Rather, Mr. Y, who could provide the chromosome she needed, as well impressive DNA.
A throat-clearing sound came from behind.
Jen snapped her eyes open, head down and looking between her legs. She stared in confusion at scuffed cowboy boots topped by worn jeans covering manly legs that seemed to go on forever.
With a gasp, she leapt out of the pose and spun around—bad enough to be caught off guard by a total stranger, much less with her ass in the air. Instinctively, she assumed a defensive stance, and looked up…and up… At five-six, she wasn’t considered short, but the intruder had to be well over six feet. She was forced to tilt her head to look him in the eye.
Her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth.
The color of his eyes reminded her of endless skies stretched across wide-open spaces. Tanned, chiseled features were softened by a growth of brown stubble a few shades darker than his collar-length sandy hair.
His gaze flickered over her body—over the sports bra and skin-tight yoga pants she wore only when she was at home by herself—before returning to her face, reflecting his blatant appreciation.
“Didn’t mean to startle you, miss. Would you mind if I trimmed your bush?” His resonant Texas drawl distracted her a second before the bizarre remark registered.
“My what?”
He blinked, as if her question surprised him, a moment later a dark stain flooded his face all the way to his cheekbones. She’d never seen a man blush so deeply. “The bush next to your fence,” he quickly clarified. “I, uh, thought you might not have the right tool.”
 “The right tool?” Jen followed a line of Western snap buttons down the front of his faded chambray shirt, past a Texas-sized belt buckle—only then did she notice the gas-powered hedge trimmer clutched in his left hand. She jerked her attention to his face. He meant the shears, for God’s sake. How had she missed the fire engine red lawn tool? And he had to have noticed where she looked to start with.
Flustered, she shot back. “Do you make a habit of strolling into people’s backyards looking for work, cowboy?”
His answering smile landed like a punch to her solar plexus. God help her, a dimple, visible even through the scruff. “Only if I leave my horse at home.”


A new book launches a new series...

Maybe Baby comes out today as #16 in the Magnolias and Moonshine collection. This book will also introduce characters who'll appear in a brand new Contemporary Romance series debuting later this year.

Texas Hardts


Let me give you a little background on where the idea for the Texas Hardts series came from. When I was first asked to write a contemporary novella for Magnolias and Moonshine, I'd just finished my latest historical romance for The Bride Train series. I thought it would be fun to spin off a contemporary series based on descendants of the couple in Seducing Susannah

I went to work on a genealogy to give me a better sense of the family's connections through the years. The series is set in Texas on an ancestral cattle ranch.

What do I know about cattle ranching? Um. Not a lot. So what did I do? I went to a cattle school. Seriously. I attended the Graham Cattle School in Garnett, Kansas. Talk about an immersive learning experience! I won't go into details, but suffice to say I now know much more about cow/calf operations. 

I've still got more research to do, but that's what makes starting a new series so much fun!

In the meantime, meet Logan Hardt, the fourth of five brothers who've descended from a long line of cowboys...

“Tell me more about your family.” She left the door open, purposely. Whatever he chose to share would be revealing.
“That could take all night.” His slow smile made her lips tingle.
All night didn’t sound bad.
“I’ll give you the condensed version so you don’t get bored. I have four brothers: Ross is the oldest, he’s a sheriff’s deputy; Clay helps out with the horses in between rodeos; Huston just got discharged from the Army; then there’s me, and my younger brother, Austin…”
He hesitated a moment, and Jen filled in the blanks with a guess.
“Rides broncos?”
“No. He works at a fancy restaurant in Fort Worth.”
“As a waiter?”
“Head chef.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Glad you think so. He gets a load a crap from my brothers about wearing apron strings.”
Macho guys could be jerks. “What do you think about it?”
“I think he’s a damn good cook. Wish we could afford him on the ranch.”
Jen smiled, pleased by his response. “You love your little brother.”
“I love all my brothers.”


I hope you enjoyed these two sneak peeks. You can purchase Maybe Baby for only 99 cents.

Purchase for only 99 cents
Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo


Today on the Magnolias and Moonshine Facebook Page I'll be sharing more about my writing, my Southern roots and my books, as well as offering an exclusive drawing for $25 Amazon gift cardClick here to join the party! 

In the meantime, do you have a favorite Southern character? Can be from a book or movie. Tell me what about this character makes him or her so appealing. 

At the end of the day, I'll pull a winner from a random drawing for a free copy of Maybe Baby.




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