UPDATE: The winner of the gift card is Melissa Kendall!
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How many of you have had the joy of planning your parenthood and coming up short? And what I mean by that is when you try and try and try and still don’t get pregnant? It’s a very depressing time and oh so joyous when you finally succeed.
For those of you out there who have tried and were unable to conceive, my heart goes out to you. For those of us who have tried, and tried, and tried and finally succeeded, you know the hoops you had to go through to get there.
On my third child, we tried for over a year before we were successful. The fourth child never happened, no matter how hard we tried. Sigh.
In BOOTS AND WISHES, the latest in my UGLY STICK SALOON series, I revisit the relationship of Audrey Anderson and Jackson Gray Wolf from the book that started it: BOOTS AND CHAPS. They are happily married now and want a child, but are having difficulties conceiving. As a busy bar owner, she doesn’t always have the luxury of running home when she’s ovulating, so fun times are running rampant at the Ugly Stick.
*****For a chance to win a $5 Gift Card*****
Leave a comment about your time trying to get pregnant or someone you know. What did they do? (Please not too graphic ;-))
Ugly Stick Saloon: Boots & Wishes Samhain Publishing Coming Dec 2, 2014
Samhain Publishing Nook Amazon Kindle Kobo
Blurb:
The best gift has nothing to do with the size of the package.
Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 8
Married to the love of her life, Audrey Anderson is ready to get this baby show on the road. Except six months of timing sex around her ovaries’ cycle has not only dampened their spontaneity, it hasn’t worked. She’s still not pregnant.
Jackson would love to give Audrey half a dozen children, but he can’t stand the heartache in her eyes as each month goes by with no “plus” sign on the test strip. Hell, he’s ready to call it and concentrate on just being a happy couple.
When a runaway mother arrives at the Ugly Stick with a newborn in tow and needing a job, Audrey, ever the tender heart, takes them in—at the saloon and her home—despite the baby’s presence being a constant reminder of her own empty arms.
Baby Mia turns out to be a blessing in disguise, but just as life settles into a rhythm as pleasant as a cow pony’s lope, the runaway mama’s painful past comes roaring after her with the force of a prairie tornado, threatening to destroy anything in its path, including Audrey and the Ugly Stick Saloon.
Warning: It’s the holiday season at the Ugly Stick and time to wrap the saloon in mistletoe. No need for hot cocoa, there’s enough pull-out-all-the-stops heat between this sexy bar owner and her handsome cowboy to keep every reader warm.
Excerpt:
“Hey, cowboy, what say you strap on the chaps and we go for a ride?” Audrey stood in the doorway of the storeroom, wearing chaps over her blue jean cutoffs and carrying a leather whip coiled in one hand. In her other hand was a pair of man-sized leather chaps. They were the ones out of his closet from home. She liked him best in the real deal.
Jackson’s eyes widened and he teetered, almost losing his balance on the ladder he had climbed up to change the bulb in the fluorescent light fixture hugging the ceiling. He held the long white tube he’d been about to install in the slot he’d just pulled the burned-out bulb from. “Now? Are you ovulating?”
“Do I have to be ovulating for you to want to make love to me?” Audrey’s gut instantly knotted and her eyes stung. “Six months ago, you’d have dropped the bulb and leaped off the ladder at an offer like this.” Her shoulders sagged and she sighed. “I was afraid of this.”
Jackson set the new bulb in the slots and climbed down from the ladder. “Afraid of what?” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.
“Afraid making love would become a chore.”
Jackson snorted. “Never.”
“Admit it.” She poked a finger at his chest. “Ever since we decided to try to get pregnant, we’ve lost some of the magic and spontaneity we used to enjoy.”
When Jackson started to shake his head, Audrey raised her eyebrows and gave him a pointed look. “Be honest.”
Jackson’s head stopped in midshake and he grimaced. “Okay, so it’s not quite as spontaneous as it used to be. But I love you and never get tired of making love with you.”
“And I never tire of making love with you. But all the effort of timing our lovemaking is taking the joy out of our sex life.” She stepped back and turned away from him, her heart sore. “Maybe we should give up trying. If it happens, it happens.” She bit her bottom lip before continuing softly, “And if it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be. We weren’t meant to be parents. I mean, my life has been anything but role-model material.”
Warm, work-roughened hands curled around her arms and she was pulled back against Jackson’s solid chest. “Sweetheart, it will happen. Most likely when we least expect it. And even if it doesn’t—which I’m not giving up—you would be enough to keep me happy for the rest of my life. And you’re the best role model a kid could have. You’re real, tender-hearted, and you care about everyone you come in contact with.”
Audrey’s heart filled to overflowing. Jackson was the man who made her life complete. Her one true love. He loved her even with her background as a stripper. She couldn’t imagine loving anyone else or living without him. She covered his hands on her arms and leaned back against him. “I love you, Jackson Gray Wolf. That will never change.” Turning in his embrace, she cupped his cheek. His face was so dear to her and made her grateful every day of her life she’d found him. “I want to have your children. I want to see little Gray Wolf boys running around the ranch, learning to ride horses, swimming in the creek and raising hell like I’m certain you and your brothers did when you were growing up.”
“And I want half a dozen little girls with strawberry-blond hair and eyes so blue they make the Texas skies pale in comparison.”
“Nice.” She slid her hands up his chest to lock behind his neck. “When did you become a romantic?”
Myla’s Bio:
MYLA JACKSON also writing as NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author ELLE JAMES is an award-winning author of stories including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. With over seventy stories in a variety of sub-genres and lengths she is published with Harlequin, Samhain, Ellora’s’ Cave, Kensington, Cleis Press, and Avon. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, out snow-skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories.
Myla Jackson’s links: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter
Elle’s Links: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Newsletter | Amazon Author Page
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I had a friend that would run the track and the local high school before she would meet up to meet her husband. She said she heard of this from over ing hearing to women talking on te subway. She said it took about six months and she noticed it got her in better shape as well. Whatever works.
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When my husband and I decided to get pregnant with child #2, I went to the doctor and had my IUD removed. He told me that it could take up to a year for me to be able to conceive so I wasn’t supposed to get my hopes up. One month later I was back in his office, testing positive. He was stunned and I just told him that I had a really fertile guy. lol!
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I have no problems getting pregnant – just with staying that way.
One of my sisters married a guy who is sterile, so the did artificial insemination – donor. She lived 2 hours from her clinic, and was teaching full-time. When she was doing the ovulation tests, she would end up giving the in-progress test to a friend who would call her with the results. By the end, the entire small town she lived in was involved!
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I am a birth doula and I got this couple who was trying for TEN YEARS to have a baby and with a little intervention from medications, my client became pregnant! She is the sweetest most gracious mama and her hubby is great! At the birth her son came out and hubby caught him, but before that new baby boy gave his daddy a high five! I caught it on film! Its awesome! 😆
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I adore the hat and boots in that picture! Sweet! As for my story, in between miscarriages, I did have my daughter – after I took a trip to my sister’s wedding. The miscarriage a few years later was rather devastating for a number of reasons, but we did have one child and like it or not, we decided an only would be okay. A couple years after that, my husband took a business trip overseas. My son was my souvenir. For us a brief separation trip seemed to be the key. Go figure.
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Our first child was super easy and conceived within 6 weeks of marriage even though we had planned to wait! Oops. But then when he was 2 and I had just graduated Army Basic Training and AIT we started trying for baby number 2. Yeah that didn’t work so well. Two losses and 7 1/2 years later we had given up on ever having more children and were coming to terms with that. Then low and behold we got pregnant and did we ever get pregnant. In 2013 a month after our oldest turned 10 I gave birth to identical twin boys. They were worth the wait and the heartbreak of years of trying, they just wanted to make a grand appearance! 🙂
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Wow! I’m loving these stories. When you want a baby so badly that it hurts, it seem to stay just out of your reach. My heart goes out to those who could not conceive. Love you all!
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Both my children seemed to take a long time to arrive we tried for 18 months to conceive our first and had just started down the fertility path when I fell pregnant naturally with our son. our second we thought would never happen I never went back on contraception after the first and five years later I suddenly went from not being able to conceive at all to getting pregnant every month but miscarrying at about 7 weeks. finally with the help of a wonderful doc we managed to get one to stick and we welcomed our darling daughter to our family.
I cannot wait to read this book though I suspect some of the stuff in it is going to hit home with me in a big way
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I LOVE this series!!! 😉
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I love the Ugly Stick Saloon books and this new one is really good. I’m sad for those who want children and can’t conceive. I have none by choice.
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I have what I consider to be a unique story. I was 30 years old and not married, not even dating for that matter. However, I knew I wanted to be a mom. I searched for 5 years to find the right guy. Met him at work, became best friends. I asked him to donate naturally no strings attached. We had a great sexual relationship and two years, two doctors and six months of fertility treatments I finally succeeded in getting pregnant. I have a beautiful little boy who will be 12 in two weeks. His father and I remain friends although he went on to marry someone else. In my opinion he gave me the best and most gracious gift a man can give a woman and I am eternally grateful.
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I am lucky, I guess, in coming from a family where if the man so much as sneezes the woman falls pregnant. We breed like bunnies.
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It too me too years with my first. I was 21 when I started so it didn’t concern me much my 2nd I was pregnant almost immediately. Had no problems with anything other than when I deliver I was fast. Last one was delivered by a nurse that was my friend. Dr. didn’t make it. He was only across the hospital in his office
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When my late husband and I were first married we decided to let nature take it’s course. His reply when people asked when the babies were going to start arriving after we’d been married three/four years was “I am enjoying the practice”. Nature luckily did her magic later and we ended up with five healthy babies over the course of eight years.
Unfortunately too many people are not so lucky and I think sperm/egg donation or adoption is a wonderful way to give them the chance at the happiness of parenthood.
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And the winner is: Melissa Kendall!