UPDATE: The winners are…Jennifer Beyer, Ann Ivey, and Arlene Miklovic!
*~*~*

The Montana Bounty Hunters series located in Bear Lodge is complete. I am three books into the spinoff series, Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT. I loved writing the original series, and I can’t wait to immerse myself in writing many more of these heavy-duty, gritty guys in the near future. Have you seen the cover for Chase, which will release in June? Yeah. Some of the guys you love from the original series will continue to pop up here and there in Dead Horse—after all, they all work for Fetch Winter. Someday, he’ll get his happy-ever-after, too!

Cochise

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

Former Army sniper, Cochise Mercier, left Denver SWAT under a cloud of controversy, which was why he ended up back home in Montana, and where he heard about the Montana Bounty Hunters. The “cloud” didn’t seem to bother his new boss, so he’s “all in” and finding he enjoys hunting down fugitives for bounties, encumbered by fewer rules.

Sammy McCallister is a by-the-book sheriff’s deputy, who has a beef with bounty hunters. Forced to stand by with her gun in her holster, while hunters take down scumbags, she’s particularly irked by the new guy in town. Cochise, with his long black hair and thousand-yard-stare makes her uncomfortable, itchy in ways she’s never felt before. When she finds herself needing his help late one night, the reason for her irritation becomes all too clear. She wants him. But first, they have to make it out of the mountains alive…

Contest

Are you all caught up reading the Montana Bounty Hunters?

For a chance to win a download of one of the stories you may have missed
(I’ll pick three winners!), tell me this:
Are you ready for more sexy bounty hunters?

Here are all the Bear Lodge Montana Bounty Hunters!

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
Big Sky Wedding: https://amzn.to/33GprwK
Quincy: https://amzn.to/2QlleM8
Brian: https://amzn.to/2ZV8m2G

Excerpt from Cochise

Cochise Mercier, the new hire at Montana Bounty Hunters, took a deep breath to force his heart to slow its pace. A trick he’d learned as an Army sniper to make sure a jerking breath didn’t mess up a shot. The trick worked in most situations when he needed his mind to slow and for his focus to home in on a target or a situation. Clearing his mind meant he was able to take in more of what was happening around him and enabled him to discard the things that weren’t important—like the way the wind beat a tree branch against the side of the house, a steady thump that sounded almost like clomping footsteps. Instead, he concentrated on the way the light, beaming through the tall arched windows at the front of the house, flickered whenever his target paced left or right, telling him where their mark was. An important fact, because in minutes, he’d have to breach the oak front door and be ready to take him down—with his weapon or his body, depending on whether Randy Pinter was armed. A fact Cochise would have to ascertain in a split second.

“Can’t see any movement in the back rooms,” came Jamie Burke’s voice through his earpiece. “I think he’s alone.”

He still wasn’t used to hearing a woman’s voice on the comms. He’d never had a female as part of any of his missions on the ground with the Army, and Denver’s SWAT had, at the time, been all male. That voice interrupted his calm. His instinct was to protect women and children, but she was a part of this team—and his boss—so again, he drew a deep breath, pushed aside his concern, and concentrated on his target. Pinter was pacing in front of the window to the right of the front door.

“Girlfriend’s car isn’t in the garage,” came Sky Reynold’s deep voice. “Must have gone for takeout. I’m moving around to the front.”

“Deputies just arrived,” Lacey Jones’s too perky voice sounded. “I’ll go brief them about what’s about to go down. Make sure they know we have the owner’s permission to be here.”

Cochise could hear the excitement in her higher pitch. Thank God, she was back at the road with the vehicles. The thought of her cotton-candy sweetness being anywhere near Pinter made him shudder. The girl might have qualified with her weapon and might be doing well with her self-defense classes, but she had no real experience going head-on with bad dudes. He didn’t want to be around the first time she was truly tested.

“You call it, Cochise,” Jamie said.

With his heart as slow as when he slept, he felt the familiar ice-water chill flow over him. “Ready,” he whispered and then stepped away from the bushes beside the porch. “Moving toward the door… On three. One…two…three.” Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The winner is…Mechelle!
*~*~*

March

March was… It’s hard to describe. Crazy busy, super annoying. Big happy wins and crotchety pain-in-ass (literally) setbacks.

On the health front… I started the month still recovering from a busted tailbone, but by the third week, I sat comfortably (with a donut, still). My hand (last September’s fall) is still wonky and I met with the ortho guy who said the continued tightness and swelling are all normal, and if I keep doing my hand exercises, I should, someday, be able to curl my fist again and open a damn jar. Good news on the medical front? I had my second COVID shot and my dd had her first! Now, we have the 16 and 17-year-olds scheduled, too. We’re slowly getting there, but still masking and distancing, and will continue to do so until they have vaccines for the little ones.

On the work front… I finished writing Hardman and published it! Woot! Thanks to everyone who read it and left a review. Reviews are so appreciated! I also completed 5 editing projects, two of which were loooonnng. They kicked my ass, but they are out the door! I got the rights back to some old books I published through some traditional houses a while ago, so I added them to my work schedule because they need a refurb, and one set of stories needs a readthrough because I want to write more in the series. To say the least, I’m super stoked.

On the art front… I am still slogging through the #100daychallenge, although I’m about ten days behind. Here are some of my favorites so far…

April

I completed my April calendar yesterday, and it already needs some fixes. I think April is going to be that kind of month—one where I have to be fluid and roll to evade the bombs and sinkholes. The big thing in April is that I have to write a book and publish it. Yeah, I haven’t written page one, but I generally do best when I’m running on adrenaline, and a hard deadline gooses me into creativity.

That book is Hot SEAL, In His Memory, and it’s going to be a hard one for me to write because it deals with the loss of a friend and a husband. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy…

Pre-order your copy here!

As for editing gigs, I presently have two scheduled, but I had that many scheduled for March as well, and look what happened! So, I’m hoping I’ll have the first couple of weeks pretty free to dive into my new story.

On the homefront, I’ve begun work to get the green scum out of the pool. That’s always a weeks-long thing. I can’t wait to swim!!!!! And my dd is putting in a garden. We’re hoping it does well and that we have a summer full of lettuce, cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, peppers, and more! I love admiring the “fruits” of her labor, but diggin’ in dirt is not my thing. I’ll maintain the pool, thank you very much.

And I plan to catch up on the art challenge, too. I’m getting better at it, I think. But the purpose is to connect with my creative center. Writing has become a job in my mind. I need to find that spark again.

So, I’d love to hear whether you had big wins in March and plans for April! Chime in for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Alison Hutfelter!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday, and I have some ground to cover this weekend to catch up on my schedule! Why did I fall behind? It’s kind of a mash of post-COVID-shot-malaise (there was a bit of fatigue associated with the shot, nothing big), plus the post-book-release-exhale (which is a real thing for me, folks!), but it’s time to step it up because I have a new book to whiz through this month, plus several editing projects. It never ends, and weekends aren’t weekends when you’re self-employed!

So, today, I will be editing and starting the new story. As well, I’m behind on the #100daychallenge, which is an art challenge I take on every year to get my creative juices going. I’ve been posting my paintings online, which is nerve-wracking because some of them look rushed and slapped together, but some of them…? I really like this one. I think it will earn a frame. 🙂

And I still have to promo Hardman, which is my latest release if you didn’t already know. It’s a fun, action-packed story with two very deserving-of-each-other characters. The story was a joy to write because my heroine is a “prickly pear” of a woman. Only Hardman can see her soft inner self, which is as it should be when he’s her perfect match…

Is your weekend book boyfriend Pierce Hardman?

Remember, the book is out there now!

Click on cover to get your copy now!

Today’s Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what your weekend looks like!

Open Contests

Enter while you still can…

1. Melanie Jayne: The Sad Song Playlist (Contest) — Ends tomorrow! Win a FREE book!
2. Because we all need a dreamboat… (Puzzle Contest) — Ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. 2nd Shot! And Open Contests! (And New Contest) — Win a FREE book!
4. Definitions of Me: Lazy, Indolent, Slothful, Work-shy… (Puzzle Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Michal Scott: The Pleasant Surprise of Florence Price (Contest & Excerpt) — Win an Amazon gift card!

This former SEAL thought BUD/S training was the challenge of a lifetime until he faced his biggest challenge, teaching a woman who’d never learned trust to trust in them…

Former Navy SEAL, Pierce Hardman, the new guy at Montana Bounty Hunters in Dead Horse, MT, finds that riding with his partner and trainer, Marti Mills, has some perks. Marti’s unlike any woman he’s ever met, and she intrigues him from the start. However, her tough demeanor hides secrets she’d rather keep hidden. Marti’s dedication to her trade leads her to take some interesting risks that only fuel his interest and desire.

Marti’s new partner proves to be her undoing. Until Hardman, she’d never been tempted to cross certain lines. All her old tricks to deflect a man’s interest backfire on her, and soon she finds herself thinking about a life outside of “the hunt” with him.

Just when she’s ready to surrender her solitary life, one last job might cost her everything, even her life.

Pre-Order HARDMAN here!

So, I wrapped up Hardman today! It’s why I’m posting this so late. I wanted to share another snippet from the book. I think you’ll really like this story. It’s very sexy. Much more so than Preacher. Sorry, if that’s not something you love, but Marti and Hardman wrote the story themselves. They were very “handsy.” Have a look at where Marti’s mind tends to go…

“Hardman…hard man,” Marti muttered. Then she thought maybe mumbling his name would make his handle less of an issue. “Har’man.” Now, she was reaching.

She considered calling him by his first name instead, but “Pierce” hit her straight between the thighs. She was double-fucked when she put both names together. Pierce Hardman. Had his mommy wanted him to be a porn star?

The double doors to the detention center entrance swung open, and Hardman strode outside, his gaze landing on his SUV. Wearing the dark, long-sleeved Montana Bounty Hunters T-shirt he’d pulled from his duffel earlier, he looked ripped and edgy. With his angular jaw and prominent cheekbones, he was a handsome man. His nose was slightly slanted, like it had been rearranged a little in a fight. It didn’t detract from his looks one bit. She liked that nose. Liked those gray-blue eyes, too, especially when they narrowed on her.

Yes, he’s very, very cute. And there’s tons of action in this story because Marti has to be a badass. And she’s…creative and fierce, and…can you tell I love her?

Anyway, Hardman will release next TUESDAY!

Inside Hardman, you’ll get a fun glimpse at my next hero, Chase. He’s… Well, I’m not going to give you any hints. He’s all about the job. In fact, he tried to scoop a bounty out from under Marti, because he beat her to guy she’d been trying her best to catch. As you can imagine, the interplay between Chase and Marti was…interesting. Not that kind of interesting—she’s a one-man woman. But Chase and she tend to bump heads. It’s fun. You’ll see. And if you want to go ahead and pre-order his story, follow the link! It will release in June!

Pre-Order CHASE here!

Today’s post is just a reminder that I do have a book coming soon! If you want to read an excerpt, head over here! It releases on March 23rd! So, if you haven’t already pre-ordered this book, here’s the link!

Get your copy of Hardman!