Go Out on a Limb with a Kindle World novella from Lizbeth Selvig

 ****WINNER**** of today's giveaway prizes is JENNIFER COWAN.  Jennifer, please comment one more time with your e-mail address and I'll get you your SF swag!




Hi GLIAS Friends!

I’m so excited to get to spend three days with you this week so I can tell you all about my newest project, “Going Out on a Limb.”

It sounds like a simple new book release, right? But there’s so much more to this special new book—it has the power of Erin Nicholas and her NY Times Bestselling Sapphire Falls behind it. It’s also only one of twelve brand new Sapphire Falls stories that will all be available starting this Thursday.

In addition—it’s part of the Kindle Worlds family. That means it has the blessing of some pretty big guns at Amazon. So exciting!

IT'S AVAILABLE STARTING THIS THURSDAY, MAY 19TH

For those not familiar with Amazon’s KindleWorlds family, I’d like to introduce you to a little information about the program. Kindle Worlds were created and named by Amazon, as a way for fans of large and/or popular book series to write their own stories to their favorite “worlds.” 

Click on the logo to check out some of the many worlds that already exist:

Since Amazon licenses the worlds and all the stories all KW stories are exclusive to Amazon/Kindle and the U.S. Amazon store.

Anyone who doesn’t already have a Kindle, can download the FREE Kindle app on their phone, iPad, tablet, computer or other device and can then get these stories! Erin Nicholas, who created the Sapphire Falls series has also found workarounds for readers with devices that don’t support a Kindle app and for readers in other countries.

The Kindle Apps can be found on the Amazon website or your app store
And you can find Erin’s workaround guide right here 

Now that you know more about Kindle Worlds, let me introduce you to my book! 

“Going Out on a Limb” Is a crossover story between my novel “The Bride Wore Red Boots,” and Erin’s Sapphire Falls books. “Out on a Limb” stars a minor character from “Boots”—Jason “Jace” Brewster who moves from Wyoming to Sapphire Falls in order to find a new path in life. He doesn’t intend to stay—but then he meets Miranda Reynolds—and his "new path" takes a big twist!

 

Read the blurb from “Going Out on a Limb.”

Jace Brewster never wanted to leave his small home town of Wolf Paw Pass, Wyoming. But since his life changed drastically after suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, he has to find a new path for the future. Working with a master carpenter in Sapphire Falls, Nebraska is merely a means to an end. He plans to stay a few short months and go right back home.

He’s also scheduled to meet with a new therapist and continue the progress he’s made since his time in the army, but it’s just one more thing he doesn’t believe he needs.

Psychiatrist Miranda “Miri” Reynolds has a growing practice in Sapphire Falls, and she’s more than ready to help her newest patient continue healing. She doesn’t count on meeting Jace far from her office on a rainy Sapphire Falls festival morning,

where their reaction to each other is anything but professional.

The two of them try to brush aside their feelings, but a mustang mare, a twelve-year-old niece, and too many hot sparks to ignore make that all but impossible. By the time Jace does make it to Miri’s office, it’s clear they need each other’s help—but it’s far from the kind either expected.

Tomorrow I’ll share some story excerpts, and talk about the crossover with “The Bride Wore Red Boots.” 

Today, however, I have some surprise Sapphire Falls KW swag to give away. I’d love to know:  if you could write a storiy for any series, TV show, or movie you’ve seen, what would it be? In other words—what series could turn you into a fan fic writer? This giveaway is for national and international--so let's visit!

STILL TO COME THIS WEEK:  MORE ON 12 AMAZING AUTHORS!

Starlight's Cowboy Alec: Strong and Flawed Enough to be a Hero

Yesterday I introduced you to Joely Crockett, the heroine of my new book The Bride Wore Starlight. Today I’d like to tell you how excited I was when she met her hero Alec Morrissey. Joely needed just the perfect match because she was so completely wounded. Not only was she scarred in her car accident, but she’d been rejected by a husband who never wanted her to be anything but a trophy wife. How do you learn to believe that anyone will love you for being you—scars and all?

You meet someone who’s been through similar traumas to yours, who’s strong enough to go through your dark times with you, but who has his life together so you can lean on him.

Alec is almost all of that.

He’s definitely been through the trauma and that has absolutely made him able guide Joely through her dark moments. And when we first meet him, he seems to have his life together.

 Here’s an excerpt:

“It was a lovely wedding,” she said.

“Lovely?” He grinned. “That sounds a little understated. I saw you hip-hopping your way out here. Thought you said you couldn’t dance.”

That did it. The man was nothing but a one-annoying-trick pony. Same lines over and over. Her fog cleared and she leaned forward herself, bringing their faces just inches apart.

“Knock it off,” she said. “I don’t like the dancing jokes. I don’t like the pretty Joely jokes. Stop ruining the wedding for me.”

Once again he seemed anything but taken aback. He straightened and smiled. “It won’t seem like a joke once you’ve danced with me.”

The smallest hint of something more than teasing glinted in his eye, but she couldn’t read it. It had to be the wedding buzz—everything about it, people included, was affecting her brain.

“I’m not dancing with anybody,” she said.

He stood and shocked her again by holding out his hand. “Fine. Then at least walk with me down the outside stairs. It’ll be faster than going all the way around the back to use the ramp.”

“I’m perfectly happy to use the ramp.”

“No you aren’t. You don’t want to stand out, right? Just stick with me and you won’t.”

The man was unbelievable. What was his obsession with torturing her?

“I can grab three strong guys to help me haul you and the chair down together, like a queen on her litter. Would you rather that?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Not a thing.” He laughed. “What’s wrong with you?”

She couldn’t believe this conversation was taking place moments after a beautiful wedding ceremony, with Bruno Mars still singing the guests out of the church. Alec Morrissey was a lunatic. A borderline mean one.

“Would you like a run-down?” Petulance and anger mixed to form a sort of hissing retort, like she was a cat being forced to swim.

“Of what’s wrong with you?” he asked. “Other than being the most defensive maid of honor I’ve ever met, you mean? No. I already know you have a leg that doesn’t function properly, and I totally understand that. I’ve also heard you can stand on your own, so I assumed you could hop down the steps if forced. I’m willing to act as a helper, that’s all. Other than that, the list of what’s wrong can’t be all that long.”

Cramps and muscle spasms when she did try to hop, a crooked spine that loved to cause her pain, scars on more than her cheek . . . She thought about throwing all the proof of how wrong he was in his face, but a stab of pride kept her from letting them fly. How did he know so much about her anyway?

“Why?” she asked.

“Why what?”

“Why have you chosen me to pick on? Because I’m the poor girl in the wheelchair? Do you have a bet with one of the other guys that you can get me to dance and make a fool of myself? Are you fascinated with disfigurement?”

“Hey.” He stopped her with the firm word and the first flash of anger in his eyes. “I don’t do things like that. I don’t know anyone who would. And you need to stop doing them to yourself. I saw a beautiful woman who intrigued me, so I asked about her. That’s the whole of it. So stop making yourself more important than you are, stand up, and take my arm.”

She covered her mouth with one hand, thinking it would hold in a stream of furious retorts. What flowed around her palm instead was laughter—first a snort, then helpless giggling, and finally a full-fledged laugh.

“Unbelievable,” she said, when she could. “You have to be the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.”

“Why, thank you, ma’am.”

“As well as a liar. Alec Morrissey. No cowboy my broken ass.”

He leaned down again and whispered this time. “Your ass ain’t what’s broke. I asked. If it were, we’d have come up with a different plan.”

Once more her mouth opened in surprise, and then she caught an unmistakable glint in his eyes. She snapped her jaw closed and released a resigned sigh. “I can’t deal with you. Go away.” But the corners of her mouth twitched mutinously.

“C’mon, Joely.” He took a step back and held out his hand. “I’m not proposing a lifelong commitment. Just let me take you on a short walk, and then you can be done with me.”

“That’s all it will take?”

“For now.” He raised and lowered his brows in an abbreviated waggle.

“Heck,” she said. “That’s no kind of promise.”

He smiled. For the first time, she noticed he had two shallow, handsome dimples.

Dang.

 

But things unravel quickly for Alec and Joely after this. What Joely doesn’t know is that Alec lost a leg below the knee while searching for his missing cousin (his best friend) in Iraq. He has learned to move so perfectly on his prosthetic limb that nobody who doesn’t know about it can tell. And while he seems to have come to perfect terms with his loss, he had to walk away from his rodeo dreams. He’s also walked away from letting himself get too close to people he might lose.

So as much as Joely needs help learning to trust and believe in her inner beauty, Alec needs to learn that hiding his past doesn’t make him stronger—it makes him weaker. And falling slowly for Joely makes him see the weaknesses clearly.

It’s hard for him to stay casual, however. The two of them have far too much in common—a love of horses, a love of laughter, a love of family. It’s the combination of their fears that almost proves stronger than their growing love.

It’s Alec’s giant of a dog and nemesis of a horse that end up pushing the stubborn humans together. Although Alec has refused to go anywhere near a rodeo since his injury and Joely refuses to bond with another horse since she lost her favorite in the accident that wounded her, they can’t resist the pull of the animals they both love.

Ghost Pepper the veteran bucking horse—is the only saddle bronc Alec was never able to ride.  Rowan the Irish Wolfhound sends Joely on a long-distance ride she never believed she could make when the dog is severely injured far from home.

What happens once Alec and Joely overcome not just wounds but fears is nothing short of a miracle—and a triumph of true love.

I’m giving away a $10.00 Amazon gift card and several books including one of our own Angi Morgan's latest romantic suspenses. Enter the rafflecopter to be eligible, but then tell me your what things would scare you to try. For me? Skydiving. I would be terrified!

Here's where you can find The Bride Wore Starlight and pre-order it for delivery on

RELEASE DAY - FEBRUARY 9th!!

  Amazon 

B&N

iTunes

Kobo

And be sure to check out the first two books of the Seven Brides For Seven Cowboys series:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Starlight" Explores What it Means to Be Beautiful

Hi GLIAS friends!

I’m excited to be here talking about my newest release, The Bride Wore Starlight, the third book in my “Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys” series.  I couldn’t wait to bring to this particular story to the world, because I’ve loved this heroine from the moment I started the series.

Joely Crockett was first introduced in The Bride Wore Denim along with her five sisters. When the Crockett girls’ father died, leaving the family’s Wyoming home—Paradise Ranch—to his daughters, they learned the ranch’s finances were in dire condition. Since all the women had jobs outside of Wyoming, it was difficult to decide who, if anyone, could take over running Paradise.

Joely, newly separated from her husband and looking for a change, volunteered. Unfortunately, she was involved in a serious car accident that left her unable to take on something as big as managing the biggest cattle ranch in Wyoming.  She turned over the reins to her older sister and fell into depression while she tried to heal from devastating injuries.

 I’ve been waiting through two books to tell what happens to her!

In addition to the fact that there are THREE weddings in The Bride Wore Starlight!!! the more serious thing that excited me about the story was the chance to explore our society’s obsession with beauty and perfection.  Joely has always been the “beautiful” sister. She was rodeo princess, rodeo queen, homecoming queen, and Miss Wyoming. Whenever she suggested she might set her sights on something else she was met with soothing admonitions not to “worry her pretty little head” over difficult decisions. She even married a man who promised to help her pursue her goals, only to find she was not much more than a trophy wife.

So, all Joely’s ever known is how to get ahead using her beauty, and she’s learned to believe that people only love her for her one and only “talent”:  being pretty.

That world crashed around her after the accident.

What happens when you lose your biggest asset? Joely had to find out, since she was left with permanent lameness, and a visible scar on her face. As a woman who once made her livelihood on stage in front of thousands, she now can’t bear to be seen in public at all.

I thought Joely’s struggle with beauty held a mirror up to the daily struggle women—and men, too—face every day. We’re obsessed with needing to be beautiful, forever young, healthy, strong, active—perfect. And we’re bombarded constantly with commercials, TV shows and movies, billboards, and magazines showing us just what we should strive to be. I know I bought into that culture long ago.

In The Bride Wore Starlight Joely fights getting on with her life pretty strongly at first—even when Alec Morrissey enters her world and turns out to be someone with all the moral authority in the world to help her learn to live with her injuries. Alec is a former rodeo super star who gave up his dreams due to injury. He, however, has made peace with his life (at least on the surface) and it was a joy for me to watch him convince Joely little by little to take some chances on things she thought she could never do. It takes time, but she grows in confidence and in strength and, as she and Alec fall in love, trust. Every day she has to believe a little more that it was never her beauty that made her strong, but her brains, her toughness, and her love.

I think most of us struggle every day to love who we are the way we are. Some of us have already figured it out, but I think we can all use reminders that we don’t need to look like beauty queens to be gorgeous.  I hope that’s what Joely’s story will be:  a reminder!

Join me here tomorrow when I'll tell you more about our hero, Alec. I was so excited when Joely met him--but he has some secret issues of his own -- oh, and very very BIG dog!  Plus I'll have an exclusive excerpt for you.

I’m giving away a $10.00 Amazon gift card and several books including one of our own Angi Morgan's latest romantic suspenses. Enter the rafflecopter to be eligible, but then tell me your best “beauty” tip—and I don’t mean cosmetics, but what you do to make yourself feel fantastic inside as well as out. 

Here's where you can find The Bride Wore Starlight and pre-order it for delivery on

RELEASE DAY - FEBRUARY 9th!!

  Amazon 

B&N

iTunes

Kobo

And be sure to check out the first two books of the Seven Brides For Seven Cowboys series:

 a Rafflecopter giveaway