Last week we watched as Ed Harrington arrived on Maggie’s
front porch. That wasn’t the first time they’d met – as the book opens, she’s
chased him down in Des Moines on a trusted friend’s recommendation and offered
him a job. Here’s the reader’s first glance at his reaction:
EXCERPT
Harrington glanced away from Maggie Anderson’s penetrating blue eyes. They reminded him of robin’s eggs. He grimaced. He hadn’t seen a robin’s egg since he was a kid. But that wasn’t the reason he’d looked away. The woman was carrying too much pain; he already had more than enough pain for any one human being. He sure didn’t need to borrow any of hers.
Hang onto the land – but at what cost? Feisty widow hires ace racehorse trainer to salvage her family’s heritage. Can they survive escalating threats to life and limb?
…and welcome to December! Our autographed print giveaway this month is Book Two in our Riders Up series. Heat Wave offers a second chance to the hot-shot Arlington Park horse trainer who came under suspicion in Cassie’s Hope. Since then, Ed Harrington has seen some hard times, tucked his tail between his legs, and headed home to rural Iowa.
“Mom.
Mom!” shouted the smallish tow-headed boy dashing up the porch steps.
“What
is it, Johnny—you’d think the devil was chasing you.” She’d never understand
why boys always rushed around so.
Skidding
to a halt before her while the screen door banged loudly behind him, Johnny
said, “Somebody’s coming, Mom.”
“Who?”
“Don’t
know. The truck ain’t familiar,” he drawled.
“Isn’t,”
both mother and sister corrected.
Johnny
rolled his eyes. “There he comes now.”
Everyone
on the porch looked toward the driveway as an old faded green pick-up lumbered
toward the gravel patch where Maggie’s car and truck were parked.
She
didn’t recognize the man getting out of the truck, who stood tall in western
boots, clean Levis, and a white dress shirt with an ancient feed mill cap
dipped low over his eyes. Unable to make out his features clearly, Maggie rose
to welcome the stranger.
As he
rapped on the screen door, he said dryly, “Afternoon, Mrs. Anderson. It took a
while for me and Mabel to figure out your directions.”
With
those few words, Ed Harrington doffed his cap. A hint of a smile tugged at his
mouth. His gray eyes remained cool and guarded.
BLURB
Hang onto the land – but at what cost? Feisty widow hires ace racehorse trainer to salvage her family’s heritage. Can they survive escalating threats to life and limb?
During
an oppressive Iowa summer of drought and farm foreclosures, widowed Maggie
Anderson makes a bold decision: She’ll merge her love of horses and her
family’s three hundred and twenty acres into a horse farm and try her hand at
nearby Prairie Meadows Race Track, where racing purses have just been augmented
by the recently added casino gambling.
Down on his luck after being falsely accused in a racing scandal and banned from training, former Arlington Park trainer Ed Harrington has skulked home to Des Moines to drown his sorrows and wait for the dust to clear. He’s unprepared for the piercing robin’s-egg-blue eyes of pint-sized Maggie Anderson, who finds him at a flophouse and offers him a job. Can he pull himself together and meet the challenge?
As
the two forge a tumultuous working partnership, they soon discover someone is
out to get Maggie’s farm and will stop at almost nothing to force her off the
land. Can they find and stop the culprit before someone is killed? Can they
survive the far greater danger unleashed by the raw passion simmering just
beneath the surface of their relationship?
After taking a break, we have a new release scheduled from Extasy Books early next year, so to celebrate we’re giving away autographed print books, one every month. This month it’s Cassie’s Hope, Book One in our horse racing series, Riders Up. Contest link after the excerpt:
Here’s a Sunday morsel for you:
EXCERPT
“You’ll do it then?” Her dad’s voice squeaked.
Guilt, excitement and fear washed over Cassie in such
quick succession that she couldn’t sort them out. Was she yielding? Hell, it’d
been a done deal before she’d left Hope in her paddock. “Yes, I’ll try. Six
months. No more. She is a very promising filly. I still don’t know how we can
afford to do this.”
“We can afford it.” Tug’s eyes twinkled. “I got
somethin’ else to tell you. Didn’t wanna till after you made up your mind.
Didn’t wanna influence you too much…I’ve agreed to sell eighty acres to Mr.
Dillingham, who’s been after that land for the last five years. After taxes and
everybody’s fees, we should net a little over a million dollars.” Nodding
softly, he said, “For once, I think we can afford to chase this dream.”
“Holy shit!” Cassie shrieked. “You did what? Why now?”
“There’s plenty of farm left for horses. Thought maybe
I’ve been too stubborn for my own good. This may be my last chance, Cass.
Holdin’ on to land is an important principle. But bein’ land poor probably
don’t make much sense either. It’s yours, you know. I’m just gonna share some
of it with you for awhile.”
“Oh, Daddy.” She bent down and kissed him on the
cheek. “I don’t know what to say! We could go out and buy contenders. Horses
that could be competitive stakes runners right away.”
“I know that.”
She saw a quick flash of that familiar stubborn streak
set deep in his cat-gray eyes.
“Nope. The key is to raise a big horse—not just buy
it. Any rich fool can buy into a good racehorse. That’s what baseball owners do
when they ignore their farm teams. It takes skill to raise a contender.”
What happens when a
fiercely loyal widowed half-Ute cowboy meets a fiery redhead with an Irish
temper to match? Cassidy O’Hanlon – Cassie, to her friends – has set aside her
Chicago career for six months to train racehorses for her dad after his stroke.
Furious the
interloper has shipped in a ringer from the Chicago circuit to his Wyoming
turf, Rancher/trainer Clint Travers sets out to put her in her place. Sparks
fly immediately, but after their rocky start, the two quickly forge a
passionate relationship, and he follows her to Chicago.
When it becomes
clear someone is drugging Cassie’s horse, Clint sets out to solve the mystery,
but storms off in a cloud of wounded pride when suspicions turn to him.
Can love trump
pride?
Five Stars at Goodreads: “…I took their journey with them. I felt their pain, their sadness, their struggles, and most of all their love. And that is the mark of a truly good book.” Faith, Goodreads
BUY LINK
Cassie’s Hope is available at Amazon in ebook and print. It’s always free to read at Kindle Unlimited.
