Brian’s book is finally here! I hope you all rush out and get it! I loved writing it. The story has all the elements you expect from a Montana Bounty Hunters story—strong heroine, to-die-for-hero, danger, hot-as-hell sex—but Brian is more. He’s a physically challenged man who learns he is still a hero. You’ll see. I know you’ll love him!

Here’s what the story is about (GO GET YOUR COPY! I can’t wait to hear what you think!)…

Brian

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

The haunted gaze of one wounded warrior sparks a challenge in a woman determined to help him regain what he’s lost whether he wants her help or not…

Physical Therapist, Raydeen Pickering, has seen her fill of stubborn veterans, some too angry to get on with their lives, some still living in hell in their minds, and then some unwilling to let their broken bodies hold them back. She hasn’t figured out which Brian Cobb is yet. The first time she met the handsome, wounded warrior, he was wary and defensive, his gaze always sliding toward the door, looking for as a quick escape from the Soldiers’ Sanctuary meetings.

Even now, there’s something about the ex-Army MP, now bounty hunter wrangler, that sets him apart from the other men she’s helped mend. There’s something more–not just the haunted look in his eyes or the stubborn set of his chin. The way he looks at her when he thinks her attention is elsewhere gives her hope that she’ll reach him, and that he’ll let her help him regain more of what he’s lost.

First though, he has to figure out he’s in love with the wrong woman. The one he needs is right here, and if she has to do the chasing, so be it, because those looks he gives her have rekindled a fire she thought was lost forever…

Available in ebook!
FREE in KU for a limited time!
Also available in print!

More Montana Bounty Hunters

Just in case you missed any…

Reaper: https://amzn.to/2NztLpv
Dagger: https://amzn.to/2zo6Dav
Reaper’s Ride: https://amzn.to/2KKkisI
Cochise: https://amzn.to/2zq4avV
Hook: https://amzn.to/2UrpyYh
Wolf: https://amzn.to/2yUTjr5
Animal: https://amzn.to/2H4Roob
Big Sky Wedding: https://amzn.to/2uu0JTu
Quincy: https://amzn.to/2QlleM8
Brian: https://amzn.to/2Uzn8JB

UPDATE: The winner is…Ani!
*~*~*

Tomorrow’s the day! Brian releases into the world sometime after midnight, and I hope you’re ready. I love the story, and I think you will, too. But that’s not why I’m here right now.

I’m nine stories into my Montana Bounty Hunters series, and I think I’m done with the boys and girls in Bear Lodge, Montana. Psst! I’ll tell you a secret. Bear Lodge, MT is not a real place. In my mind, it’s tucked in the northwest corner of Montana, but with easy access to the Canadian border, Glacier National Park, the Kootenai Forest, Flathead Lake, etc.  When I started the series, the guy who ran MBH, silver fox Fetch Winter, was looking to expand his business in Kalispell and put partners Jamie and Reaper in charge of the new satellite agency.

So, now I have a couple of ways I can go to continue the series because I love my bounty hunters and I’m not ready to give up writing about their crazy, extreme lives. I’m thinking you’re not ready either. So, this is what I need help with…because I’m busy starting a new book in a new series, and I don’t want to think too hard! 🙂

For a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card, help me decide my course.

#1 Does Fetch want to open a new satellite office, with some so far unknown new manager, somewhere else in Montana or does he want to move his office from Kalispell? I don’t want to write in Kalispell because I’d just as soon build my own little town in my mind rather than have to write about places in Kalispell that I’ve never visited.

#2 This town, that’s not Kalispell, what should I name it? Have fun with this one! Just put some ideas forth and let’s see where they go!

If I get enough cool ideas, I might run a poll to see which name readers love the most.

In the meantime, below are all the yummy covers from the stories that are in my Montana Bounty Hunters series. If you’ve missed a story, the links are below! And here’s me hoping you already have Brian on pre-order, waiting for it to download something after midnight…

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS
Authentic Men… Real Adventures…
Reaper: https://amzn.to/2NztLpv
Dagger: https://amzn.to/2zo6Dav
Reaper’s Ride: https://amzn.to/2KKkisI
Cochise: https://amzn.to/2zq4avV
Hook: https://amzn.to/2UrpyYh
Wolf: https://amzn.to/2yUTjr5
Animal: https://amzn.to/2H4Roob
Quincy: https://amzn.to/2QlleM8
Brian: https://amzn.to/2Uzn8JB

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Book #9 in my Montana Bounty Hunters saga isn’t actually Book #9 in Brian’s story.

Brian first appeared in Big Sky SEAL, which was Book #10 in my Uncharted SEALs series. I made the heroine of that book a bounty hunter and liked writing about her bounty hunter partner, Reaper, and her wounded vet best friend, Brian, so much, I decided to write another series, so Montana Bounty Hunters was born! Brian also appeared in Big Sky Wedding, which lives in the MBH world, but isn’t actually a “numbered” book in the series, so readers have seen quite a lot of Brian over the past couple of years.

I dragged my feet writing his story. His required more research than the other stories. Plus, I had to think of ways to make my wounded guy “heroic”. Yes, he was a veteran who lost his legs in the desert—he’s already a hero—but I wanted to give him a chance to grow and to learn that losing your legs doesn’t make you less. Brian had to get his chance to grow and shine. And I think I accomplished that. As well, I wanted to depict his daily struggles, dealing with his disability, without making the story maudlin, if you know what I mean.

Deeply angsty stories aren’t something I write because that’s not who I am. The thought of going into depression while I read or write a deeply angsty book gives me hives. When I’m “forced” to watch a deeply angsty movie, I tend to yell at the screen—“Get over yourself!” I do know lots of people enjoy that kind of read, but I really do have to wonder why they need to “live” in that misery for however long the story takes to reach THE END. 🙂

So, back to Brian. I think it’s a moving book. But it’s also action-filled, sexy as hell, and funny. Getting all these things to happen inside a book about a wounded vet who hasn’t resolved all his issues wasn’t easy, but once I had the story in my head, I swear I wrote it in like eight days. It was just all there.

Finding the art to make the right cover, however, took forever. I needed the right guy to portray this description I wrote in the blurb of the book: There’s something more—not just the haunted look in his eyes or the stubborn set of his chin. The way he looks at her when he thinks her attention is elsewhere gives her hope that she’ll reach him, and that he’ll let her help him regain more of what he’s lost. 

Brian yearns for more, although he denies it. I needed a guy who could portray that yearning without looking like a wimpy wuss. And I needed a picture that could be adapted so that I didn’t display his legs because, from below the knee, he has none. Not yet, anyway.

Solve the puzzle. Enjoy it!

And if you haven’t already pre-ordered the book, do so now! It drops on Monday!

Solve the puzzle, then tell me whether you’re one of those who loves a deeply depressing, angsty kind of book or are you more like me, impatient with them, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

I love Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II musicals. I grew up watching them as movies on television. While not all their storylines have held up over time, I’m still moved by songs like “Something Wonderful”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught”. I am grateful to this prolific team for their heartfelt lyrics and beautiful music, but my deepest thanks goes to R&H for introducing me to Juanita Hall.

Growing up in the sixties, I hungered for images of Black women on the silver screen whom I could name and admire. R&H let me see a Black actress strut her stuff in some of the earliest examples of casting without regard to race.

Hall had been performing on Broadway since 1930. She even took a turn at directing in 1936. By the time R&H cast her in 1949’s South Pacific, she’d performed in no less than eight Broadway plays including Green Pastures and St. Louis Woman. R&H decided they needed someone with the voice and acting chops to bring the character of the Pacific Islander Bloody Mary to life. Juanita Hall filled the bill. She reprised the role in the 1958 film, although I have to listen to the original Broadway cast album to hear her sing “Bali H’ai”. In 1958, R&H used her in a second instance of casting despite race. She created the role of Madame Liang in Flower Drum Song. Hall recreated her role for the movie in 1961.

For a Black kid growing up in the East New York section of Brooklyn, knowing this Black woman wouldn’t be pigeonholed because of her race was inspirational. I like to think there’s a bit of Hall in One Breath Away‘s Mary Hamilton, a woman hemmed in by society’s expectations, but with the potential to break through them if given the chance. Besides her stage and film career, Hall cut albums, performed in nightclubs and directed choruses and choirs. You can learn more about her here: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/hall-juanita-1901-1968/.

Nowadays those movies are critiqued for not hiring someone of Pacific Islander or Chinese background to play these roles, and rightly so. It hurts to see someone not of your race or ethnicity representing you. Boys and girls of all races need role models in whom they can see themselves and be proud of the way I was able to see myself in and be proud of Juanita Hall. I can’t ignore or minimize the wounding caused by casting a Black woman to portray someone of another race. The pros and cons of this “colorblind” approach are passionately debated. What I can do is celebrate that in 1949, by casting Hall in a musical whose plot revolves around race prejudice, R&H helped make Black History. Juanita Hall not only won the 1950 Tony for her role but, by doing so, became the first African American ever to win a Tony award.

One Breath Away

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. She’s never been courted, cuddled or spooned, and now no man could want her, not when sexual satisfaction comes only with the thought of asphyxiation. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Wealthy, freeborn-Black, Eban Thurman followed Mary to Safe Haven, believing the mysteriously exotic woman was foretold by the stars. He must marry her to reclaim his family farm. But first he must help her heal, and to do that means revealing his own predilection for edgier sex.

Buy links:
Amazon – https://amzn.to/2u5XQYY
Nook: https://bit.ly/31FUMig
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/one-breath-away-8

Excerpt from One Breath Away…

“Why not you, Mary?”

“Because someone like you only looks at someone like me out of pity.”

Of course. His aunt put him up to this. Anger warmed Mary’s ears.

“Let me go.” She made to pull away. “I want to sit.”

“Please. Not before the music stops.” He timed his plea to the rhythm of the waltz. “I’ve waited all week for this moment.”

Mary gritted her teeth. Heart hurt joined her injured pride. She needed no one’s charity.

“That was cruel of you, sir. No one counts the days until they can ask me for a dance.” Tears pooled behind her closed eyelids. “Anyone in town could tell you that.”

The grip on her hand tightened, forcing her eyes open. The light in his gaze darkened. “Anyone who’d lie to me like that would be taking their life in their hands.” He leaned in so his mouth nuzzled her ear again. “And if you use that I’m-not-worthy tone of voice again, I’ll be forced to prove you wrong with a kiss.”

Alarm shuddered up Mary’s back. “Is—is that a threat?”

“A certainty.”

A chilly thrill replaced the alarm. She blew out a breath to steady herself. Threat or certainty, both treated her to a delicious revelation—she wanted that kiss. She eyed his lips, imagined their soft yet demanding press against hers. Once more the voice of caution repeated its warning.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Oh, to be forced to flee from such a devil as he. She sighed. What a wonderful problem to have.

Website: www.michalscott.webs.com
Twitter: @mscottauthor1

UPDATE: The winner is…Keri Richards!
*~*~*

Hello all and many thanks for Delilah for having me on her blog.

February is the month of love…and Valentine’s Day, and chocolate!

Did you know there’s a stimulant in chocolate called Theobromine (spell and/or say that twice) a bitter alkaloid found in cocoa and chocolate that affects the central nervous system to release endorphins for pleasure? Incidentally, it’s also the ‘cousin’ to my other favorite stimulant: caffeine. A match made in stimulant heaven.

Sign me up!

In the quaint town of Havenport Rhode Island, the fictional backdrop of my stories, there’s a shop and bakery called Led Zeppoli. In almost all of my stories, I mention the bakery’s famous chocolate croissants and exotic blends of coffee. Caffeine fuels my creative genius…well maybe not genius, but it certainly helps me come up with ideas and stay awake.

Led Zeppoli is a play on words between a certain famous four-member English rock group from the sixties and another decadent treat: the Italian zeppole. Ah yes, the zeppole, a fried dough cookie covered in massive amounts of powdered sugar.

Have you ever tried one? No? Well then get to getting because they are heaven in a greasy bag.

Where I grew up in Staten Island, NY was a popular pizza place called Pizza Town, which was located in walking distance from my high school. Besides the best pizza on the planet, Pizza Town sold zeppole and man, oh, man were they delicious. When you opened the white paper bag the powdered sugar puffed a white cloud of sweet goodness into your face.

Many days after school, I would “hang out” with friends at Pizza Town. It’s where I groused about homework and boys, prom dates, and how much Aquanet we put in our hair. Yes, it was the eighties after all. And it’s where I had many conversations with my high school crush who was tragically unaware of my deep-rooted feelings for him. Incidentally, we are still friends but sadly, the old building that was Pizza Town was torn down years ago.

Good memories, indeed.

What makes you get up and go? Coffee? Tea? Soda? All three have caffeine and I find the older I get the more I need something to help me start my day.

One lucky commenter will be chosen at random
and win a $10 Dunkin gift card.

Rescuing the Ranger

Now onto my latest release: The hero and heroine in my latest story, Rescuing the Ranger are Gabe Preston and Francesca Montefiore. Francesca grew up in Little Italy, NYC and now lives in Havenport and owns the florist shop. She loves the small town, which reminds her of the old neighborhood she left behind. When she volunteers her time to help write letters to the troops, she finds an unexpected connection to Havenport and one sexy, former Army Ranger, Gabe who’s in for a visit. And, when her past comes back to haunt her, Gabe comes to the rescue.

Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite…

God, she hated making him feel any kind of stress. As much as this connection of theirs felt like a million bucks from the first correspondence, in her heart she knew it would cost him. Getting close to anyone again was dangerous. For him and for her.

How Pete had found her was anyone’s guess.

“Look, Gabe. You said it yourself, you’re decompressing after those tours of duty and I…” She stopped, shaking her head, wanting to warn him away. “I’ll destroy you.”

Her voice broke from exhaustion and worry and…damn it, caring and concern for him stuck in her throat. “My past will eventually annihilate this friendship we’ve built with our letters. It’s best if you don’t get mixed up in it, believe me. That’s one of the reasons I never sent you the email. You don’t deserve it.”

She felt compelled to warn him. Hell, he’d survived war as a Ranger, and she wasn’t about to be the person to bring him harm, not when Adele needed him.

His eyes widened before he let out a cynical laugh.

“You? Destroy me?” He crowded her, pushing her back and against the bedpost. His hands wound around her waist, but she couldn’t look up at him, so she fixated on the perfect vee between his pecks. “That’s not possible. My bike helmet weighs more than you.”

“Not physically,” she whispered. “Here, and here.” Frankie finally glanced up and traced his creased temple with her index finger before flattening her palm on his shirt above his heart. God, he was so solid. It would be easy to lean in and borrow his strength. “I know you went through something traumatic back in Afghanistan. I can tell. Those puckers on your hands feel like burns.” At her words, his face paled. “And, you don’t need more strife.”

He closed his eyes for a second and his jaw locked. “You’re so fucking sweet-natured.” He caressed the side of her cheek. She wanted to melt into his touch.

“Don’t you worry about me, and this isn’t just a friendship. You feel it. Don’t deny it. We’re good together, baby. And believe me, you can’t destroy me. Truth is—you kinda saved me.”

Get your copy of Rescuing the Ranger on Amazon. Available in Kindle Unlimited, too: https://amzn.to/2RstmrF

Have a fantastic February filled with love and lots of chocolate and coffee!

Visit me on social media at:
Nicole S. Patrick website: www.nicolespatrick.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicoleSPatrickauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicoleSPatrick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoles.patrick/

I’m not a big fan of winter. Never have been, which is odd considering I live in a place that gets more than its fair share of cold and snow. Winter starts early and stays late. The first snowfall was in November, and the past few weeks we’ve been buried in snow. Fans of outdoor winter sports are thrilled. Me, not so much.

So how does a glamorous writer stay warm while working? Layers, lots and lots of layers. I wear leggings (sometimes two pairs) and a long-sleeved shirt. (I favor turtlenecks.) Over that, I’ll put on a man’s oversized flannel shirt that falls past my thighs. Next comes the blanket, which I wrap around my waist like a sarong when I’m sitting in my chair writing but just throw over my legs when I’m on the couch reading. And let’s not forget the fingerless gloves. An absolute must this time of year. I cut quite a sexy figure.

But there are good things about being snowbound. It’s a great opportunity to watch movies or stream a new series on Netflix—Witcher was amazing! And, of course, it’s the perfect time to pour up a hot tea or hot chocolate (I’m not a coffee drinker, but to each their own) and pull out a good book.

It’s also a great time to launch a new series. And I have a paranormal one coming in March—Forgotten Brotherhood. Fury Unleashed is book one. This is one group of badass, paranormal assassins.

Fury Unleashed
Forgotten Brotherhood, Book One

Maccus Fury, a fallen angel, is trying hard to keep his sanity. Seems being an assassin might be catching up with him. Now, Heaven, or Hell, has sent a beautiful assassin to kill him. Lovely. She’s pretending to seduce him, and he’s okay with that. She’s smart and snarky—but she has no idea what she’s walked into. And he’s more than peeved that they only sent one person. They’re going to need an army if they want him dead.

Morrigan Quill is one of Hell’s bounty hunters. She sold her soul to keep her sister safe, and now she’s working off her contract by catching bad guys and dragging them back to hell. When Lucifer makes her a new offer—that’s definitely too good to be true—she can’t say no. All she has to do is kill a powerful and crazy-hot fallen angel, who will totally kick her ass in battle.

Good thing he won’t see what’s coming next.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084M1NQ88
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fury-unleashed-n-j-walters/1136398720
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fury-unleashed-1
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fury-unleashed/id1498471438

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: https://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

I LOVE fated to mate/instalove/love at first sight stories. They are the only romances I tend to write.

Why?

Because that is the only type of romantic love I’ve ever known. I fell in love with the Dear Wonderful Hubby at first sight and over twenty-five years later, we’re still very much in love.

I knew the moment I saw him that he was the man for me and that conviction only strengthened when I learned more about him. He felt the same way about me.

Reading about couples (or more) experiencing that knowing, making that soul-deep connection with an otherwise perfect stranger thrills me. What will they have in common? How will they overcome their differences? How long will they last before they act on their physical attraction?

That is all very exciting and I tend to turn the pages quickly to find out the answers.

I also love reunion romances. The couple (or more) connects and then, for some usually heartbreaking reason, they part. Years later, they reunite and fall in love all over again. They’re older, wiser, more appreciative of what they have and they don’t make the same mistakes this time. They make different ones. (grins)

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I have never had to part for a long time, thankfully, but merely the prospect of that happening to us makes me emotional. I feel for the heroines and heroes in that type of situation.

In Warlord Reunited, the story I’ve released today, I’ve combined both of these tropes. Berke and Ellie, my barbarian alien hero and human bounty-hunting heroine, fell in love, at first sight, solar cycles ago. They had a passionate, life-changing yet much-too-brief affair. Berke then left Ellie on a distant planet and returned to his war-torn home.

Now, Ellie has returned to Berke’s home, determined to end her suffering (literally) and kill the only male she has ever loved. Their reunion is passionate and violent and full of conflict…because they ARE fated to mate and the time apart hasn’t changed that.

Which do you prefer to read—fated to mater/instalove/love at first sight stories OR reunion romances? What are some romances that combine these two tropes?

Warlord Reunited

This barbarian warrior’s cold demeanor hides the warmest of hearts…

Solar cycles ago, Berke, a savage Chamele Warlord, found his gerel, the one being he is destined to be with for all time…except he couldn’t embrace that fate. He was fighting a series of brutal wars.

To protect his little human female, he conveyed her far from the Chamele sector. He then returned to the endless battles, concealing his pain, his anguish, his need, under a thick layer of ice.

His gerel was safe. That was all that mattered to him.

When Elle was a young bounty hunter, she bonded with an arrogant warrior on a distant planet. She was deliriously happy…for a while. Then he dumped her in a strange settlement far from his home and left, never to return.

Their parting caused her excruciating pain—both physical and emotional. She endured it, earned the esteemed role of head bounty hunter of an academy, salvaged a bit of a life from the disaster her primitive warrior had made of it.

Now, two of her bounty hunters have made the same terrible mistake. Elle is determined to rescue her friends and break their connections with their Chamele Warlords.

While she is in the sector, she plans to kill the warrior she’d once considered hers. Elle is ending her relationship with Berke…permanently.

* * *
Warlord Reunited is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance, featuring a warrior hero and a take-charge heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082RM76RF
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082RM76RF
Apple/iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlord-reunited/id1491702046
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlord-reunited-cynthia-sax/1116110455
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-reunited-1
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/995680

About Cynthia Sax

USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.

Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com.
Website: https://cynthiasax.com/
Newsletter: https://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Facebook: facebook.com/cynthia.sax
Twitter: @CynthiaSax
Blog: https://tasteofcyn.com/