#romance – Page 29 – Avonna Loves Genres

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery

Hi, everyone!

Today I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blog Tour for THE SUMMER GEAWAY by Susan Mallery.

Below you will find an author Q&A, an about the book section, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A

Q: Tell us about your latest book, who is the main character(s) and what can we expect when we pick it up?

A: The Summer Getaway, which will be out on March 15, is the story of Robyn Caldwell, a mom who has one too many things on her plate—her daughter’s wedding demands, her son’s refusal to grow up, her best friend’s self-destructive behavior, and her ex-husband’s wildly inappropriate new girlfriend: their daughter’s soon-to-be sister-in-law. She’s been focusing on everyone else’s problems so much that she forgot to make a plan for her own future.

She needs a minute. So Robyn hops on a plane to visit her beloved great-aunt Lillian in sunny Santa Barbara, to give herself time and space to figure out what she wants the rest of her life to look like. But she’s the heart of her family, and those family ties draw everyone she loves to follow her across the country, one by one.

I adore Robyn, a smart, nurturing mom who has given so much that she forgot about herself. I think a lot of us women are like that, and I think readers will be thrilled to go along on Robyn’s journey of self-discovery.

Q: Where do you get your ideas for your books, characters, series?

A: Ideas come from everywhere – conversations, articles. Songs are a great source of inspiration for me. I’m convinced that there’s a book in every country music song, but you might be surprised at the idea that comes from a song. For me, it’s not about the lyrics or the story of the song, as much as it is about the emotions.

So yes, ideas are everywhere, but the idea is merely a spark. The tough part is fanning that spark into flames, into a full-length women’s fiction novel. I’ve had a lot of ideas that weren’t good enough to sustain a book. I either have to reassign it as a subplot, or let it go. (That is so hard sometimes!)

The spark that led to The Summer Getaway is something no one would ever, ever guess. I had an idea to write a story about a woman who has fallen in love with an oil painting and goes in search of the artist, sure that they will share a deep connection. Instead, she discovers that the painting means nothing to him. He paints the same scene over and over again because it sells.

But there’s no artist in The Summer Getaway. No contemporary oil painting. While brainstorming the book, the idea morphed beyond recognition from that initial spark. Inspiration is a funny, ineffable thing. You don’t know where it will lead. All you can do is loosen the reins on your mind and let it run.

I couldn’t be happier with the end result. The Summer Getaway is a heartfelt, emotion-filled story of one woman’s triumph over self-doubt. Robyn is nurturing and fiercely loyal, and I love her.

I might still write about that artist. . .

Q: Do you interconnect series and locations or is it one and done with series?

A: Sometimes series are connected to other series, sometimes not. The Summer Getaway is a standalone novel, not part of a series. But when it comes to series, the Fool’s Gold series segued into the Happily Inc series. The Blackberry Island series segued into the Mischief Bay series—and then I returned to Blackberry Island with Sisters by Choice. A teenager in the Bakery Sisters series ended up as the hero of one of the Fool’s Gold books, Finding Perfect. (That was a reader’s suggestion, by the way.)

Q: How do you keep track of your characters when a series is longer…do you keep what I have heard referred to as a “Bible”?

A: I do have a series bible that my assistant creates. The Fool’s Gold bible is about 300 pages long. Every character is in it, with whatever specific details have appeared on the page—age, height, hair and eye color, where they went to college, what kind of car they drive. . . And because animals are so important in my books, even the animals are included in the bible.

Q: Did you love books as a child, what age did you begin to read and devour books, and what is the first book that you remember that made a difference in your writing (as a child or later)?

A: Oh yes, I was a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. Every Saturday, my dad took me to the library, and the rule was that I was allowed to check out as many books as I could carry. We would go home, and I’d read them all that day, and then spend the week re-reading the ones I loved. When a librarian told me how many more books I could carry if I used a tote bag, she changed my life!

I didn’t start writing until I was in college (studying accounting). In addition to my full courseload, I took an evening class titled How to Write a Romance Novel. By week six of the eight-week course, I knew I wanted to write books.

My goal, still, is to make each book better than the last, so I continue to study the craft of writing. I don’t remember the first book that made a difference in my writing, so I’ll tell you about a book that did so more recently—Save the Cat! It’s a book on screenwriting. Although I don’t have aspirations of writing screenplays, I like to study screenwriting because I find the story structure helpful. Save the Cat! talked about the importance of high stakes in a way that made me think differently when plotting my books. In my books, the stakes aren’t actual life and death, but they’re deeply emotional stories, and the stakes need to feel like emotional life and death to the characters and to the reader.

Q: Can you remember one or more early books that influenced you? What were they? Did you remain interested in the same type of stories over the decades or did your interests change?

A: When I was a teenager, I discovered my best friend’s mom’s stash of romance novels. She let me borrow them whenever I wanted. I still remember the feeling that came over me when reading that first one—that moment of catching my breath when the hero’s and heroine’s eyes met in the mirror—and that early reading experience continues to influence me today.

Q: Do you read the same genre you write or branch out to relax?

A: I still love reading women’s fiction and romance. I like stories that bring me deep inside characters’ heads and hearts, and I love happy endings.

Q: Is writing easy or difficult…or should I ask what parts are easy and what parts are difficult?

A: The beginning of a book usually goes relatively slowly for me as I get to know the characters. But once I’m in the groove, the actual writing goes pretty fast and smoothly for me. I do a lot of plot work before I ever sit down to write, and that works for me.

The more challenging part for me, after all these books, is to come up with ideas that I haven’t already written about, but that still give readers the experience they want from one of my stories. Variety makes it more interesting and fun for me, too.

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About the Book

Already a worldwide success in mass market and trade paperback formats, Susan Mallery’s newest hardcover is an emotional, witty, and heartfelt story about a woman who takes a trip to California to figure out her life and get a break from her family…only to be reminded that life–and your children–follow you wherever you go. With a powerful mother/daughter relationship at its core, fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Susan Wiggs, Mary Alice Monroe, and Nancy Thayer will love this book.

Robyn Caldwell’s family is driving her crazy. There’s Harlow, her daughter, who’s engaged to a man she’s only known a short time and is rapidly turning into bridezilla. And her son, Austin, who would rather work with his dad’s family charter boating business than go to college. Her friend, Mindy, who’s playing with fire by contemplating an affair with her tennis instructor. And let’s not forget her ex-husband whose bad behavior has just crossed the line yet again.

Robin needs some time to catch her breath and figure out what her next step should be. So when her beloved aunt Lillian asks her to come to Santa Barbara for an overdue visit, Robyn jumps at the chance. Her aunt Lillian is working on settling her affairs and a distant relative is staying with her that stands to inherit the house. Trouble is the last thing Robyn needs, but she refuses to let her aunt be taken advantage of.

While staying in her aunt’s beautiful, quirky mansion and spending time in the Santa Barbara sunshine with the woman who’s like a mother to her, Robyn will see herself—and the people she loves most—with a bit more clarity. And it will push her to take chances she hadn’t dreamed of before.

But life has a funny way of following you wherever you go. What began as an escape soon becomes an unforgettable adventure…and Robyn is ready to dive in, feet first.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57938955-the-summer-getaway?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VonNZvA1wr&rank=1

The Summer Getaway : A Novel

Susan Mallery

On Sale Date: March 15, 2022

9781335479990

Hardcover

$27.99 USD, $34.99 CAD

416 pages

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My Book Review

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

THE SUMMER GETAWAY by Susan Mallery is a women’s fiction story full of family drama, but also humor, familial love, and romance. The story is centered around the life changing decisions a divorced mother contemplates with her entire family in flux. This is a standalone read.

Robyn Caldwell has always put her family first Now with her daughter making untenable demands for her wedding, a son who refuses to consider college, a friend on the brink of blowing up her marriage and a relationship she discovers is not what she assumed, she runs away across country to her great aunt’s home on the opposite coast.

One by one, everyone she was escaping appear in her great aunt’s home. With her great aunt Lillian’s counsel and the steadfastness of a new male friend, Robyn can have everything she wants if she is willing to believe in herself.

I loved getting to know all the characters in this story. Lillian is the kind, loving and wise elder we all wish for in our lives. Robyn is like so many other women who put their families first until an event or situation makes them look at what they want for themselves. The contrast between the three men, past and present in Robyn’s life could not be more different and at times entertaining. Robyn’s son and daughter added to the drama with their growing pains but were also the cause of some of the most tender and realistic exchanges. There are many complicated problems happening all at once which felt believable, but it also made for a lot of character hopping, and I felt sometimes this fragmented the flow of the story.

This is a very enjoyable women’s fiction family drama with a good balance of angst vs. happiness.

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Excerpt

ONE

“I’m going to sleep with Dimitri.”

Robyn Caldwell picked up her glass of white wine and briefly thought about swallowing the entire contents in one gulp. Mindy’s statement was certainly gulp-worthy. But she knew pacing herself through lunch was the responsible thing to do. A lesson her friend had yet to learn.

“You are not,” Robyn murmured, because shrieking wasn’t attractive. Especially at “the club,” where their friends and frenemies were also enjoying Thursday’s lobster salad. The dining room was filled with forty or so women, all dressed in Florida chic—diamonds sparkling, gold or platinum charm bracelets clinking, necklaces resting on tanned and toned skin.

“I might,” Mindy Krause said, picking up her champagne. “He’s gorgeous.”

“Of course. He’s a thirty-year-old tennis pro. What else would he be?”

Mindy, a petite brunette who was six months from turning forty, sighed. “I need a Dimitri in my life.”

“You have a great husband. Payne loves you and the kids, and never has eyes for another woman. Why would you screw that up?”

“Payne would never know.”

“There aren’t any secrets in this town. Not in our social circle.”

Something Robyn had learned the hard way herself. She’d been blissfully unaware of her ex-husband’s affairs until a “friend” had oh-so-sweetly informed her.

“Maybe just some kissing,” Mindy mused. “I want a little Dimitri action. The fantasies make me happy, so imagine what the real thing would do.”

“The fantasies are safe. The real thing could destroy everything you have. Knowing you’ve cheated would devastate Payne.”

Mindy’s mouth formed a pout. “I never see him anymore. All he does is work.”

Robyn stared at her friend-slash-boss. “You two talked about how that promotion would be more work for him but that it would be worth it. You wanted this for him.”

“I didn’t know how much he’d be gone.”

The unreasonable statement grated nearly as much as Mindy’s whine. “This isn’t a good look for you,” Robyn murmured. “You’re changing the rules without telling your husband. That never ends well.”

Mindy dismissed the warning with a quick shake of her head. “I’m not worried. Besides, if he does find out, I can just move in with you.” She laughed. “You’ll soon have that big house all to yourself.”

“You have four kids,” Robyn pointed out. “If things go south in your marriage, I’d rather have Payne move in.”

“Well, that would get people talking.” Mindy held up her empty glass to the server. “More, please.”

The server obliged.

Mindy took another sip. “My sister called, swears she found a Thomas Pister chest in a tiny shop in Wales. It’s dirt cheap, so I’m afraid it’s a fake. She’s looking for someone to prove authenticity. Wouldn’t that be a find?”

“It would. I’d love to see it.”

Thomas Pister had built beautiful chests and cabinets in the late 1600s and early 1700s. His intricate designs with stunning inlays sold quickly and for huge amounts. Depending on the condition and the materials, a good-sized chest of drawers could go for sixty or eighty thousand dollars.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two Ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.

Social Media Links

Twitter: @susanmallery

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanmallery

Author website: https://www.susanmallery.com/

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-summer-getaway/9781335479990

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1335479996?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwsusanmalle-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1335479996

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-summer-getaway-susan-mallery/1139380149?ean=9781335479990

Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Summer-Getaway/Susan-Mallery/9781335479990?id=8185827134866

Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335479990

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093T6319S?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwsusanmalle-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B093T6319S

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-summer-getaway-susan-mallery/1139380149?ean=9780369703668

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Susan_Mallery_The_Summer_Getaway?id=ZgcsEAAAQBAJ

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-summer-getaway/id1565341890

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-summer-getaway-1

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Summer-Getaway-Hardcover-9781335479990/209254131 Target: https://www.target.com/p/the-summer-getaway-by-susan-mallery-hardcover/-/A-83982879

Book Review: High Meadow by Freya Barker

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HIGH MEADOW (High Mountain Trackers Book #1) by Freya Barker is the exciting start to a new romantic suspense series. This series is set in Montana and features a group of ex-military men who served together and now are using their skills as a team called the High Mountain Trackers.

Alexandra “Alex” Hart has recently moved to Montana and started Hart’s Horse Rescue with a friend. Even though she has a less than favorable start with the man who runs a large ranch down the road, she is hired to help with his prize stud’s recovery from an injury.

Jonas Harvey is surprised when Alex shows up to help with his horse. He was expecting a man, not the woman from down the road. As he keeps a close eye on her work, he comes to admire her skill.

When two prisoners escape from U.S. Marshals during transport, the High Mountain trackers are hired to help find them. The prisoners are a part of a domestic terrorist group and no one in the area is safe. As the sparks fly between Jonas and Alex, the danger intensifies, and Jonas learns that Alex has his back and is a worthy ally.

When I see Ms. Barker’s name on a book, I know I am going to fall in love with a new mature couple who are meant for each other, even if they don’t know it at first. I just fall into her stories and do not get back up until “The End”. The suspense keeps you turning the pages and her H/h are realistic, believable and a couple you grow to love. I am always sad when these books end, but since most are tied to a series, I know more great stories will be coming. Freya Barker is an automatic “buy” for me.

I highly recommend this romantic suspense and this author!

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Author Bio

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Social Media Links

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebookTwitter: http://bit.ly/FreyaTwitter
Instagram: http://bit.ly/FreyaInstagram
Web: http://bit.ly/FreyaWeb
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/FreyaGoodreads
Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/Freya_Newsletter Bookbub: http://bit.ly/FreyaBookBub

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Dangerous Amish Showdown and Snowbound Amish Survival by Mary Alford

Elise’s Thoughts

Dangerous Amish Showdown and Snowbound Amish Survival by Mary Alford are suspenseful action-packed mysteries involving Amish characters. Love, dedication to family, trust, and faith are prevalent themes in both books. Danger, thrill rides, and romance will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Snowbound Amish Survival begins with an intense scene after armed men burst into a house. They are looking for Amish midwife Hope Christner who is tending to her best friend, Naomi, because of her numerous miscarriages. After realizing that Naomi’s husband has been shot, Hope and her friend barely escape the bad men and must contend with the weather, barely making it to Hunter Shetler’s home. He is her ex-fiancé who Hope broke up with after their fathers’ family feud. But after the bad men arrive at Hunter’s house all three escape into the woods. Now they must stay two steps ahead of the men determined to find and kill them, while facing barriers at every turn.

Dangerous Amish Showdown also begins with a shooting scene. US Marshal Mason Shelter, his partner Erik Timmons, and a precocious six-year-old named Samantha under their care are running for their lives. The little girl is a member of the witness protection program after seeing the murder of her parents. The bad guys are after her since she can identify Lucian Bartelli, a drug kingpin as the killer. His people are doing everything possible to find Mason’s young witness and silence her permanently. Running from them leads Mason, his partner, and Samantha to West Kootenai, the Amish community of his youth and the place that he fled thirteen years earlier. Specifically, he flees to the home of his childhood friend, Willa Lambright. Both Willa and her mother Beth agree to keep all safe, while risking their lives as all face overwhelming odds.

Both books have vivid scenes where readers feel they are on the journey with the hero and heroine. There is a non-stop roller coaster ride of danger.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Can you tell us a little about the series?

Mary Alford: There are five books in the series. These are the third and fourth books. I like that it is set in a very remote community in Montana. The West Kootena community does exist, but the town of Eagle’s Nest is fictional. There are five brothers that have had issues come up in their lives including some that lost their wives. There is a lot of conflict and tension. I want to build and build the suspense where it looks like the bad guy might win until the last stand-off. They end up falling in love after meeting the right heroine.

EC: How did you blend danger with the Amish?

MA: The Amish are very simple and very “pure.” As we learned there can be bad things that happen in an Amish community. There are bad influences that can cause danger. I want to put the Amish characters into circumstances where they do have to deal with danger and situations that they are not used to. In this innocent and simple setting, after peril comes, it disrupts everything. Although the Amish are pacifists, if the community is put in danger, they would do anything to support their loved ones. Family and loved ones would go beyond faith, doing what they must do to help those they love.

EC: In both books you found weapons other than guns?

MA: Yes. I wanted to use other instruments as weapons beyond guns. I used fires as a weapon, seeing it as a living thing. They happen and spread quickly. I also used cars that attempt to ram someone off the road.

EC: Weather also played a role in the plot?

MA: Yes. In Dangerous Amish Survival the fog helped to hide the hero and heroine. In Snowbound Amish Survival it was the snow, the cold, and the visibility. I think it increased the suspense. It helps to add to the atmosphere.

EC: In Snowbound Amish Survival how would you describe the heroine Hope?

MA: She is a mid-wife that gives her a purpose in life. Hope is very strong, yet heart-broken because of the father family feud. She can stand on her own two feet. Hope is loyal, stubborn, headstrong, determined, caring, and optimistic. She is not meek and mild like most Amish women.

EC: How would you describe Hunter?

MA: Supportive, loyal, and caring. He is strong emotionally, a hard worker, protective, and generous.

EC: How would you describe the relationship?

MA: Both are young, in their mid-twenties. They both have a perception of being betrayed by the other. As the story progresses, they come to realize they are still in love. In the beginning Hunter was resentful and angry that she sided with her dad over him.

EC: What about Huntington’s Disease that was in the book, Dangerous Amish Showdownl?

MA: In researching I knew I wanted to have it in the story. It can be hereditary, and it does not skip generations. I hope this makes a little bit of an awareness. It affects the brain, motor skills, and thinking process. It is a serious degenerative disease that I gave Willa’s mother, Beth.

EC: How would you describe Willa?

MA: She is very strong and a caregiver for her mother. Willa is considerate, kind, and loves animals. She has gentle strength and a tender heart.

EC: How would you describe Mason?

MA: He left the faith when he was younger. He had issues he had to resolve including his friend Chandler’s death and the fact the girl he thought he was in love with chose his brother, Eli. Mason became a US Marshal but was haunted by his past. He is strong, protective, a fixer, and courageous.

EC: How about the relationship?

MA: Willa and Mason were friends and grew up together. He never saw how close he and Willa were when they were younger. After seeing her again all his feelings about Willa come to the surface. There were barriers in the relationship including Mason leaving the Amish faith, Willa thought he loved her sister, not her, and Willa was afraid she would get Huntington Disease.

EC: Role of the little girl Samantha?

MA: She is a six-year-old girl who saw her parents murdered. She lives in fear, terrified, and brave, but a sweet girl. She becomes attached to Mason, Willa, and Beth who try to protect her and show Samantha love. She brought Mason and Willa together. There are little moments when readers see her personality come out, especially when she interacts with Golden Boy, Willa, and Beth’s Golden Retriever.

EC: What about your next book?

MA: I just signed a four-book contract. I will be writing Fletcher and Ethan Connors’s stories. Probably they will come out mid-summer next year. I will explain the military angle in Ethan’s story because that is so important to who he is. I will be writing a new book, Among The Innocence coming out this June. It is an Amish story, but the main characters are not Amish. A murder happened ten years earlier and now haunts the heroine.

THANK YOU!!

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Last Duke Standing by Julia London

Hi, everyone!

I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on this HQN Books blog tour for the first book in a new historical romance series – LAST DUKE STANDING (A Royal Match Book #1) by Julia London.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A

1. Tell us about your latest book. Who are the main character(s) and what can readers expect when they pick up Last Duke Standing?

Princess Justine Ivanosen is going to be queen of Wesloria sooner than she hoped—her father, the king, is dying from tuberculosis. Because he is declining, a marriage becomes very important. The Prime Minister is dead set against having a young woman ascend the throne without a man to guide her, and her mother is still smarting over Justine’s disastrous affair with a charlatan, the reveal of which has left her without great prospects at home. The Prime Minister convinces the queen that they ought to employ a matchmaker to make quick work of it. They can ship her off to England to apprentice with Queen Victoria, bring some suitors around to court her there instead of here, where all of Wesloria will be watching, and give strict instructions that she is to return with a fiance. The prime minister won’t leave the selection of the lucky fellow to chance, and persuades one of his old cronies to send his handsome son to London to keep an eye on the selection process.

William Douglas, the future Duke of Hamilton, has been flitting around Europe for ages. He’s met the princess before, but she was hardly more than a snippy girl who didn’t like losing parlor games. The last thing he wants to do is babysit that child. But he discovers the girl in his memory is now a very attractive grown woman. She’s still a challenge, however—she likes to be called Your Royal Highness a lot more than he likes saying it, and expressly forbids him from offering his advice. He’s one of those people—if someone says don’t do it, he’s going to do it. And he has some advice about every man that comes to meet her.

Lady Aleksander, the matchmaker, sees that these two might be perfect for each other. The only way to find out is to bring some gentlemen around that she knows will unite Justine and William. But they are too busy pretending they aren’t falling in love to even notice.

2. Who was your favorite character to write in THE LAST DUKE STANDING and why?

I like all the main characters. Justine and William were so meant for each other. Little sister Amelia has some growing up to do. Beckett Hawke and Donovan are back from A Royal Wedding series. But I really enjoyed creating Lady Aleksander, the matchmaker. She is the third point of view in this book, and her observations of what is happening is like the Greek chorus—she can see clearly what the leads can’t see. It liked that she’s in her forties, very much in love with her husband, and she just wants everyone to have what she has. She makes no apologies for who she is or what she does and she has the patience of Job. She also likes to eat. We have that in common.

3. What do you like about writing in the historical subgenre? What are the challenges?

I fell in love with historical fiction when I was a girl. Castles and princesses were a long way from a ranch in West Texas, but I loved the stories of balls and gowns and the idea of a rich gentleman. I was surrounded by farmers and ranch hands, so the idea of a pretty dress and fancy dinner had a fairy-tale appeal. I loved history in school, and I minored in British history. The fairy-tale appeal still persists—through the last election and the pandemic, it was a great relief for me to slip off to another world where people were genteel and the biggest problem they had was the strict rules of etiquette putting a damper on their moves. The challenge of writing historical romance today is to make it interesting for the new generation of readers. There is a lot more competing for their attention than there was for mine at a similar age. But a good love story is a good story, no matter the era.

4. Who are some authors you look to for inspiration?

One of the best romances I ever read was Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman. It is a history of Wales, and of King Llewellyn and his very young wife Joanna. The history is dark and bloody, but they truly loved each other.

I have also found a renewed admiration for Julia Quinn. I can look back at her Bridgerton series now and see how clever she was at giving us a large family with a lot of issues to enjoy for years. She must have taken excellent notes from her own books to keep up with all the twists and turns in that family.

5. What is your writing routine like? Do you have a specific place you write? Time of day?

My routine is to do it every day. I usually do some physical exercise in the morning, but once I’ve done that, and picked up the house, and done my Wordle, I get to work. I write every day. I have an office, but the pandemic has made me sick of it. So I move around the house now. I am done with the day’s work by the time school is out—I used to be able to keep my head in two places (the book and family) but I can’t do that anymore. I don’t know what happened to my ability to multi-task, but it has been obliterated. So I work as much as I can during school hours and then hit the wine fridge like any red-blooded working mom.

6. What’s next for the Royal Match series?

I am just finishing The Duke Not Taken. It’s about Princess Amelia, who is also sent to England under Lady Aleksander’s care to find a husband. Amelia really wants a husband and a family. Her problem, however, is she’s too much of a straightshooter for most people. And she’s not willing to settle. Enter the Duke of Marley, who has to be the only man in one hundred square miles who is not the least interested in a beautiful, rich, young princess. He has his reasons…

***

Book Summary

When Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England to learn the ropes of royalty, she falls under the tutelage of none other than Queen Victoria herself. She’s also in the market for a proper husband—one fit to marry the future Queen of Wesloria.

Because he knows simply everyone, William, Lord Douglas (the notoriously rakish heir to the Duke of Hamilton seat in Scotland, and decidedly not husband material), is on hand as an escort of sorts. William has been recruited to keep an eye on the royal matchmaker for the Weslorian Prime Minister, tasked to ensure the princess is matched with a man of quality…and one who will be sympathetic to the prime minister’s views. As William and Justine are forced to scrutinize an endless parade of England’s best bachelors, they become friends. But when the crowd of potential grooms is steadily culled, what if William is the last bachelor standing?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57893626-last-duke-standing?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LezVsRslxO&rank=2

THE LAST DUKE STANDING

Author: Julia London

ISBN: 9781335639868

Publication Date: February 22, 2022

Publisher: HQN Books

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

LAST DUKE STANDING (A Royal Match Book #1) by Julia London is a charming enemies-to-lovers historical romance story start to a new series. I look forward to historical romances by Julia London for the witty dialogue and endearing characters and this one did not disappoint.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England with her younger sister to find a suitable husband before her sick father, the king, dies. Justine not only has to put up with a matchmaker, she believes is incompetent, and servants always reporting back to her mother the Queen, but a gentleman from her past she is not happy to see again shows up to be an escort of sorts.

William, Lord Douglas has been recruited to spy on the Crown Princess and her prospects by the Prime Minister of Wesloria to make sure her new Prince Consort will be sympathetic to his views. William met Justine eight years previously, but the Justine he is sent to escort is a woman now and the more he discovers about her, the more intrigued he becomes. As their friendship grows, so do the faults of Justine’s suitors.

When it appears William may be the perfect match and the last bachelor standing, a scandal from his past may ruin any chance for a Happily Ever After match.

This is a fun and entertaining read with delightful banter between William and Justine and an entertaining plot that has a great twist at the end. William is an endearing hero throughout. Justine was a little more difficult to warm up to until you realize how her whole life has been manipulated and one small mistake in judgement as a young girl has led to constant supervision. All the secondary characters were fully fleshed, and I will be looking forward to meeting some in future books in the series.

I enjoyed this historical romance and I will be looking forward to reading more in this new series.

***

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

1844

When Justine was fourteen, her father took her to the mountainous north country of Wesloria. He said he was to meet with coal barons because they were restless and in need of appeasing. Why? Justine had wondered.

“Because coal barons are always restless and in need of appeasing, darling,” he’d said, as if everyone knew that.

She’d imagined large, heavily cloaked men, faces covered in soot, pacing their hearths and muttering their grievances. But the coal barons were, in fact, like all well-dressed Weslorian gentlemen with clean faces.

They peered at her with expressions that ranged from disgust to indifference to curiosity.

“Don’t mind them,” her father had said. “They are not modern men.”

Justine and her father were housed at Astasia Castle. It was a fortress that jutted out forebodingly from a rocky outcropping so high on the mountain that the horses labored to pull the royal coach up the steep drive. It was purported to be the best of all the accommodations in the area, afforded to Justine and her father by virtue of the fact Justine’s father was the king of Wesloria, and she was the crown princess, the invested heir to the throne.

Justine said the castle looked scary. Her father explained that castles were built in this manner so that armies and marauders could be seen advancing from miles away, and runaway brides could be seen fleeing for miles.

“Runaway brides?” Justine had been enthralled by the idea of something so romantic gone so horribly awry.

“Petr the Mad watched his bride run away with his best knight, and then watched his men chase them for miles before they got away. He was so angry he burned down half the village.” Her father did not elaborate further, as the gates had opened, and the castellan had come rushing forward, eager to show the king and his heir the old royal castle he proudly kept.

Sir Corin wore a dusty blue waistcoat that hung to his thighs, the last four buttons undone to allow for his paunch. His hair, scraggly and gray, had been pulled into an old-fashioned queue at his nape. He kept a ring of keys attached to his waist that clanked with each step he took.

He was a student of history, he’d said, and could answer any question they might have about Astasia Castle, and proceeded to exhibit his detailed knowledge of the dank, drafty place with narrow halls and low ceilings. A young Russian prince had died in this room. An ancient queen had lost her life giving birth to her tenth child in that room.

Sir Corin showed them to the throne room. “More than one monarch’s held court here.”

Justine was accustomed to the opulence of the palace in Wesloria’s capital of St. Edys. This looked more like a common room of a public house—it was small and dark, the king and queen’s thrones wooden, and the tapestries faded by time and smoke.

Another room, Sir Corin pointed out, was where King Maksim had accepted the surrender of the feudal King Igor, thereby uniting all Weslorians under one rule after generations of strife.

“My namesake,” her father said proudly, forgetting, perhaps, that King Maksim had slaughtered King Igor’s forces to unite them all.

They came upon a small inner courtyard. Stone walls rose up on three sides of it, but the outer wall was a battlement. Sir Corin pointed to a door at one end of the battlement that led into a keep with narrow windows. “We use it for storage now, but they kept the prisoners there in the old days. Worse than any dungeon your young eyes have ever seen, Your Royal Highness.”

Justine had never seen a dungeon.

“Is this not where Lord Rabat was beheaded?” her father asked casually. To Justine, he said, “That would have been your great-great-uncle Rabat.”

“Je, Your Majesty, the block is still here.” Sir Corin pointed to a large wooden block that stood alone, about two feet high and two feet wide. It looked to have been weathered by years of sitting in hard sun and wretched winters.

“Oh, how terrible,” Justine said, crinkling her nose.

“Quite,” her father agreed, and explained, with far too much enthusiasm, how a person was made to kneel before the block and lay their neck upon it. “A good executioner could make clean work of it with a single stroke. Whap, and the head would tumble into a basket.”

“If I may, Your Majesty, a good executioner was hard to come by. More miners in these parts than men good with broadswords. Fact is, it took three strikes of the sword to sever Rabat’s head completely.” Sir Corin felt it necessary to demonstrate the three strikes with his arm.

“Ah…” Justine swallowed down a swell of nausea.

“Three whacks?” her father repeated, rapt. “Couldn’t get it done in one?”

Sir Corin shook his head. “Just goes to prove how important it is to keep the broadsword sharp.”

“And to keep someone close who knows how to wield it,” her father added. The two men laughed roundly.

Justine looked around for someplace to sit so that she could put her head between her legs and gulp some air. Alas, the only place to sit was the block.

“Steady there, my girl. I’ve not told you who ordered the beheading,” her father said.

Sir Corin clasped his hands together in anticipation, clearly trying to contain his glee.

“Your great-great-aunt Queen Elena!”

Queen Elena had beheaded Lord Rabat? “Her husband?”

“Worse. Her brother.”

Justine gasped. “But why?”

“Because Rabat meant to behead her first. Whoever survived the battle here would be crowned the sovereign.”

“Ooh, a bloody battle it was, too,” Sir Corin said eagerly. “Four thousand souls lost, many of them falling right off the battlement.”

Justine backed up a step. A quake was beginning somewhere deep inside her, making her a little short of breath. Her knees felt as if they might buckle, and her skin crawled with anxiety, imagining the loss of so many. “Could she not have banished him?”

“And have him slither back like a snake?” Her father draped his arm around her shoulders before she could back up all the way to St. Edys. “She did the right thing. Why, minutes before, she was on the block herself.”

“Dear God,” Justine whispered.

“But at the last minute the people here saved her,” her father said. “She sentenced her brother to die immediately for his insurrection and stood right where we are now to watch his traitorous head roll.”

“Well,” Sir Corin said. “I wouldn’t say it rolled, precisely.”

The two men laughed again.

“Don’t close your eyes, darling,” her father said, squeezing her into his side. “Look at that block. Elena was only seventeen years old, but she was very clever. She knew what she had to do to hold power and rule the kingdom. And she ruled a very long time.”

“Forty-three years, all told,” Sir Corin said proudly.

“Queen Elena learned what every sovereign must—be decisive and act quickly. Do you understand?”

“I don’t…think so?” Justine was starting to feel a bit like she was spinning.

“You will.” Her father dropped his arm. He wandered over to the block to inspect it. “We almost named you Elena after her. But they called her Elena the Bi—Witch,” he said. “And your mother feared they might call you the same.”

“You said she was a good queen.”

“She was an excellent queen. But sometimes it is difficult to do the things that must be done and keep the admiration of your people at the same time.”

The spinning was getting worse. She gripped her father’s arm. “Why?”

“Because people expect a woman to behave like a woman. But a good queen must sometimes behave more like a king for the good of the kingdom. People don’t care for it.” He shrugged. “No king or queen can make all their subjects happy all the time.” He suddenly smiled. “You look a bit like Queen Elena.”

“The very image,” Sir Corin piped up.

Later that day Justine saw a portrait of Queen Elena. She wasn’t smiling, but she didn’t appear completely unpleasant. She simply looked…determined. And her dress was elegantly pretty, with lots of pearls sewn into it.

Later still, when her father and his men had retired to smoke cigars and talk about coal or some such, Justine returned to the courtyard alone. No one was there, no sentry looking out for marauders or runaway brides. She looked up at the tops of pines bending in a relentless wind, appearing to scrape a dull gray sky. She walked up the steps to the battlement and gazed out over the mountain valley below the castle. She spread her arms wide, closed her eyes and turned her face to the heavens.

That was the first time she truly felt it—the pull from somewhere deep, the energy of all the kings and queens who had come before her, rising up to the crown of her head, anchoring her to this earth. She felt the centuries of warfare and struggle, of the people her family had ruled. She felt the enormous responsibilities they’d all carried, the work they’d done to carve a road to the future.

Her father had often said that he could feel the weight of his crown on his shoulders. But Justine felt something entirely different. She didn’t feel as if it was weighing her down, but more like it was lifting her off her feet and holding her here. She didn’t believe this was a conceit on her part, but a tether to her past. She would be a queen. She knew that she would, and standing there, she felt like she should be. She felt born to it.

A gust of wind very nearly sent her flying, so she came down from the battlement. She paused just before the block and tried to imagine herself on her knees, knowing her death was imminent. She imagined how she would look.

She hoped she would appear strong and noble with no hint of her fear of the pain or the unknown.

Being queen was her destiny. She knew it would come.

But she hadn’t known then it would come so soon.

***

Author Bio

Julia London is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over fifty novels of historical and contemporary romance. She is the author of the popular Highland Grooms series as well as A Royal Wedding, her most recent series. Julia is the recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. She lives in Austin, Texas. Visit her at www.julialondon.com.

Social Media Links

Author Website

Facebook: Julia London

Twitter: @JuliaFLondon

Purchase Links

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Good Things Come Series by Linda Shantz

Elise’s Thoughts

Meet Linda Shantz, extraordinary artist and author of the Good Things Come series. All the books’ details are authentic with characters and events realistic and engaging. The author uses her own experiences to write captivating stories. She currently manages a small herd of retired racehorses, with enough time off to paint and write. She lives on a small farm in Southern Ontario with horses and her Border Collie. To view her artwork and all six books plus a novella, Merry Little Thing go to her website, www.lindashantz.com

The main characters Liv, Nate, Faye, Will, Emilie, Dean, and the horses Chique, Claire, and John Jay will tug at the readers’ hearts. They will fall in love with the characters, both horse and human. Schantz takes people on a journey throughout each story. It is not only a horse racing drama but also a story about family, friendship, and relationships. All the books will conjure up feelings from sadness to anger to laughter. People do not have to enjoy horses or horse racing to read this page-turner.

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the series?

Linda Shantz: For me, it is somewhat embarrassing. When I was a child, my mother read to me The Black Stallion. At the age of eight I started to write my own book. I did not get the idea from the “Heartland” series about horses since I developed this series before Heartland ever happened.

EC: Were you ever involved with horses?

LS: Yes, most of my adult life. I started working with them at the age of thirteen. At eighteen I galloped them. I also spent some time on a farm. The last fifteen years I have my own farm where I have a breeding operation with clients and help raise the babies. I have delivered horses. It is a combination of excitement and stress.

EC: What if the breeding goes wrong?

LS: There is a lot of money involved with racing horses. In Book 3 of Good Things Come one of the young horses, Feste, died of heart problems during a race. I think it is less than 1%, but every now and then it does happen. A lot of times during post-mortem they cannot determine the cause of death. There is no pattern to figure out what causes it. There is no correlation between the way the horse is bred and the young ones dying. A dog has a litter with many puppies where a horse has one foal, once a year. It is harder to get feedback on the breeding than dogs.

EC: In your later books you discuss ovarian cancer and abuse. Why?

LS: Ovarian cancer is directly related to a friend of mine. She was diagnosed and has survived. Those scenes in the book are a tribute to her. With the abuse I wanted to explain why the female lead, Liv, is an introvert.

EC: How much of you are in your characters?

LS: I am an introvert like Liv. Part of me is Liv and part of me is Nate who has my humor. They are both horse people like me. I put in these characters some of my personality and some of my experiences. I am not so lucky to have found a new Nate yet.

EC: How would you describe Liv?

LS: Very serious and responsible. Horses is something she understands. She is reserved, aloof, prefers animals to people, sarcastic, guarded, compartmentalizes, sometimes lacks confidence, and has a sly sense of humor.

EC: How would you describe Nate?

LS: He feels too much. He tries to hold himself back. He has a case of imposter syndrome because he has lost his confidence and direction. He is a gentleman because he is willing to wait for Liv. Nate is also steady, reliable, friendly, and loyal.

EC: Interesting quote by Liv about women jockeys?

LS: You are referring to this one, “The constant security by the trainers, the owners, the horseplayers in the grandstand…all of them sure they could ride a horse better than her.” I wanted to be a jockey but at twelve years old I was 5’6 and 120 pounds. This option was not one for me. Everyone tends to be a Monday Morning quarterback. Women jockeys have it better in Canada than in the US. I just finished a biography about one of the very first women jockeys, Diane Crump, and the hell she went through in the sixties. It is better than it was but there is still attitude and push back.

EC: It is great how you put tidbits about horses in the books, blending the facts into the story.

Horse care versus the sport?

LS: It is sad because I have been involved with racehorses for forty years. There are still people out there who care more about the money. It is part of why I am not so involved anymore. Those directly involved with the horses are the ones who care versus the big trainers who want to win at all costs. Liv would put the horses before the sport.

EC: The horses Claire versus Chique?

LS: Claire is the horse that was not to be special, not well bred. Her personality is like my favorite horse. She is laid-back. She is Liv’s extra special horse. She is big and gentle. Physically Claire is like the horse a friend of mine trained and has the personality of a horse I raised. While Chique is a little bit C-C-Crazy, temperamental, unpredictable, a wild card, gutsy, brave, and erratic.

ES: Relationship between Liv and Nate?

LS: Liv is not aware of her physical attraction and spent a lot of time in denial. There is a long burn. They both spend a lot of time fighting the attraction. He comes to the realization a lot sooner than she does about their feelings. He is willing to give her space. She has a hard time expressing her feelings and trusting. They have this bond around horses, the common ground. They have the same passion for the horses. The starter point for their meeting in the first place was horses.

EC: How would you describe Faye, Liv’s best friend?

LS: She likes to protect her heart and comes across as a girl who just wants to have fun. She had a rough past when she lost her parents and brother. She appreciates a horse but is also afraid of them. She is little lost because everyone she knows are horse people including her older brother. She is bitter, resentful, outspoken, protective, direct, and has fears about tying down. She is pretty much the direct opposite of Liv. Faye might have found her soulmate in Will. They work together with a restaurant.

EC: How would you describe Will?

LS: A nice guy, reliable, funny, caring, and a music person.

EC: How would you describe Liv’s sister, Emilie?

LS: Liv is the one who runs the farm while Emilie is the entrepreneur. Her major is physiotherapy, and she applies it to the horses. She is more stable and had a clearer picture of life than Faye and Liv. She is direct, self-sufficient.

EC: Why the Labrador retriever in the novella?

LS: Emilie latched on to a rescued lab. There were characters in the first books who had labs. I think they are amazing dogs. I did train dogs. They are the best dogs. I have had border collies, but I do want to have a lab, a black lab. I guess I live vicariously through Emilie.

EC: You have a lot of songs in the book?

LS: Will and Nate have a band. I put in the songs I like and make song lists as I write. Here is the first one (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5fVFw7Rf9ayf8vbjMxHPkL?si=60925a884e2240cd)

My music taste can be blamed on my brother. When I was about fifteen, I heard the songs he listened to. The music I like is now called Alternative. I have never been a country fan. Some of the groups I enjoy are Panic at the Disco, Counting Grows, and Killers.

EC: Painting versus writing?

LS: I do both. They are different and I use a different part of my brain. When I write I do not paint. I started painting when I was four. When I was eight, I started writing stories. Professionally painting is easier, and I have more confidence in doing it. I feel more vulnerable when I write. I operate a small thoroughbred lay-up time, and when I’m not busy with the kids in the barn, I’m in my studio painting them or writing about them. I like to use my artwork, when I can, to support the retirement group in my area: LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement. In my books and paintings, I hope to capture the part of the horses and dogs that touches our souls. My paintings are in oil, oil pastel and pencil, where I strive to capture not only accurate anatomy, but the spirit of the horse as well. When I write and paint, I want to show how horses are not the workhorses and war horses of the past, but are confidantes, teachers, comedians and much more. It is my goal to share these traits with the viewer.

EC: Next book?

LS: It will be more of Emilie’s story where she will get a romance of her own. Her passion is re-training horses, which will be in the plot. I am also thinking of writing a prequel to bring readers into the story, maybe late spring.

THANK YOU!!

Feature Post and Book Review: Undercover K-9 Cowboy by Addison Fox

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for Harlequin Romantic Suspense UNDERCOVER K-9 COWBOY by Addison Fox. (My apologies to Harlequin for not quite making the timeline for the Investigators Winter 2022 Blog Tour.)

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

A by-the-book Fed…gone rogue for justice

To stop the drug epidemic ravaging Midnight Pass, FBI agent Ryder Durant reluctantly takes matters into his own hands. Poised to set a trap at Reynolds Station, he has to contend with Arden Reynolds—who prefers Ryder’s K-9 to the Fed protecting her family. As Ryder and Arden spar, embers spring into flame. And those flames are as dangerous as the crime ring lurking too close to home…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58602448-undercover-k-9-cowboy?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=MU10D3NeH1&rank=1

Feel the excitement in these uplifting romances, part of the Midnight Pass, Texas series:

Book 1: The Cowboy’s Deadly Mission
Book 2: Special Ops Cowboy
Book 3: Under the Rancher’s Protection

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

UNDERCOVER K-9 COWBOY (Midnight Pass, Texas Book #4) by Addison Fox is the final romantic suspense in the Midnight Pass, Texas books and it was a good conclusion to the series. The youngest Reynolds family member meets the FBI agent and his K-9 companion who may finally be able to break down her wall of emotional self-protection while also ridding the Reynolds ranch of the cartel drug runners using their land.

FBI agent Ryder Durant and his canine companion have been working with the police force in Midnight Pass to stop the cartel’s from using the large tracts of land on the major ranches for drug running. To stop the drug epidemic, he wants to set a trap on Reynolds Station. He learns he must first get the cooperation of Arden Reynolds, who is not impressed with the agent, but he is very impressed with her.

Arden Reynolds has watched her three brothers find true love and now a handsome FBI agent wants to put them in danger with an operation on their land. She trusts the agent’s canine companion more than the agent or any other handsome, cocky man having been hurt in the past, but she wants the ranch to be safe for future Reynold generations.

As the sparks fly the danger is closer than they know.

I enjoyed this conclusion to the series. The romance is a little heavier than the suspense in this story, but I still felt the suspense portion of the plot was tied up nicely. Arden is a very strong female character, and the author does a good job of making her past grief believable and a reasonable excuse for her not moving on. Ryder is her perfect foil as he continually tries to get Arden to open up and let him in. He does not give up. I loved Murphy, Ryder’s K-9 companion and always enjoy a dog addition to a story. Even though this is the fourth and final book in the series, it can be read as a standalone.

An enjoyable romantic suspense read and final book in the Midnight Pass series.

***

Excerpt

“You want answers?”

“I do.” Arden said.

“Then I want a few of my own first.”

Although she didn’t say anything, anticipation lit her blue eyes. It surprised him how that struck somewhere low in his gut. Like he was enjoying getting a reaction—any reaction—from her.

“You don’t like me very much, and I’d like to know why.”

That small light winked out, fading away as if it had never been. “I have nothing against you.”

“I’d say you do. You have since the first time we met.” Ryder tilted his head toward the wide-open window beside them. “Right out there on Main Street.”

He remembered the moment well. It had been a pretty fall day and he’d tied Murphy up outside the coffee shop to bask in the sun for a few minutes while he ran in to snag a quick cup. The night before, he’d run his first op since coming to Midnight Pass and was pretty much subsisting on fumes. He’d come back out to find Arden, expectantly waiting for him, full of barely veiled insult and clear irritation that he’d left his dog outside.

“I wasn’t aware that Murphy was a working dog that day. I may have been a bit terse.”

“And the other night? At your place?”

“I—” She stopped, clearly considering her words. He was surprised to find that he had the patience to wait for whatever it was she had to say. “I don’t appreciate cocky arrogance.”

“You live on a ranch full of testosterone-fueled cowboys. And in a town full of the same. Surely you come up against a bit of cocky banter now and again?”

“That’s an excuse for it?”

“It’s a fact. I’d have thought you’d be used to it by now.”

“It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Her tone was prim and her already strong, fit posture stiffened a few more degrees north.

Ryder was good at his job because he knew how to read people. It was also what made him a good K-9 handler. He paid attention and he read situations before reacting. And every instinct he possessed read this one as arising from something that had specifically happened to her.

With someone who had hurt her.

Someone, Ryder suspected, who had been cocky and arrogant and likely unkind to her.

***

About the Author

Addison Fox is a lifelong romance reader, addicted to happy-ever-afters. She loves writing about romance as much as reading it. Addison lives in New York with an apartment full of books, a laptop that’s rarely out of sight and a wily beagle who keeps her running.

Social Media Links

Author’s Website: https://www.addisonfox.com

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

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com@addisonfox

Purchase Links

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335759597

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Cowboy-Midnight-Pass-Texas-ebook/dp/B099ZYXL8K/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=UNDERCOVER+K-9+COWBOY+by+Addison+Fox&qid=1637001968&qsid=133-7575147-1798556&sr=8-1&sres=B099ZYXL8K%2C1335456260&srpt=ABIS_EBOOKS

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undercover-k-9-cowboy-addison-fox/1139886440?ean=9781335759597

Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335759597_undercover-k-9-cowboy.html