#SaturdaySpotlight is on Tempered Joy

Hi There!

I'm a bit late posting today, but my scheduled guest could not make it so I'm improvising.

Author friends, have you ever read your own book? If so, what were your thoughts?

Last night I pulled out a copy of Tempered Joy (book 4 in my Tempered series) and said, what the heck, laid down and started reading.

As an editor I saw a few things that could be fixed...mostly punctuation or removing an extraneous word or two from a sentence, but nothing that threw me out of the story.

You'd think I wouldn't be moved by my own words, but, surprisingly enough, I was!

If I had to review it, I'd give Tempered Joy 4 stars .... and this is what I'd say...

This story lived up to its name as I found myself in tears nearly as much as I laughed out loud at the antics of the characters.

For those of you who are new to visiting my blog here is the blurb and an excerpt for you....

Blurb: All around rodeo cowboy and heir to the Rockin’ H Ranch, Ace Harris is determined not to fall in love.  He’s only loved one woman in his life, his mother, and no one can even come close to filling her boots. Lexie Morgan thinks rodeo cowboys have rocks for brains and a death wish for a soul.  A broken childhood and the death of her father and best friend leave her doubting and questioning God (despite her years of religious upbringing) and afraid of love. Can two young people who clash from the onset learn to trust in the healing power of God and find love and happiness amidst tragedy and grief?  

Excerpt: Her eyes narrowed when he took a step closer. “Ace,” she warned and wielded the brush like a lethal weapon.

Raising his hands where she could see them, he watched her try to brush some semblance of order to the thick mass of unruly auburn hair. The simple chore made him want to sink both fists in the silken locks and gave him a whole new insight to the word erotic.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkled vivid green and spewed wrath. She glared at him as though the tangled tresses were his fault alone. Her chest quivered with each breath she took. He took another step closer and could feel her tremble. Locking his gaze with hers in the mirror, he reached around her and picked up a bandanna off the dresser. He ran it through his fingers in what could have been a caress then slid the cloth beneath her hair and left it trailing over her shoulders.

With hands that shook, Lexie pulled the ends together and tied her hair back into a ponytail. Those bright gray eyes had gone soft and warm, like liquid metal. Mouth dry as dust, she swallowed hard.

Purchase Links:

Kindle http://amzn.to/1uto0eH

Amazon Print: http://amzn.to/1xwIx12

Nook http://bit.ly/1mF4Lhp

B&N Print: http://bit.ly/1R62HtU

Smashwords http://bit.ly/14KH0bX

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight and that you'll drop by each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time take care and God bless.

PamT

#TuesdayTreasures #EggCerptExchange with Melanie Robertson-King!

Good Morning Friends,

It's time for another eggcerpt exchange and this one is with another brand new-to-me-our-blog author!

A native of eastern Ontario, during her pre-school years, Melanie lived in a winterized cottage on the shore of the St Lawrence River.

Growing up as an only child, Melanie was an avid reader, and remains so to this day. It was through this love of the written word that she knew that one day she would become a writer. When she wasn’t talking about her dream of becoming an author, she wrote stories and began honing her skills at an early age.

The Secret of Hillcrest House is her fourth book.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website | Celtic Connexions Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook

So nice to meet you, Melanie! Now tell us a little more about your book The Secret of Hillcrest

House.....

Sometimes there’s more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.

Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.

Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel The Secret of Hillcrest House?

What people are saying about The Secret of Hillcrest House

Melanie Robertson-King's latest novel serves up a delightful blend of the supernatural and spicy romance, Lynn L. Clark, author of The Home Child, and Fire Whisperer & Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural, & The Accusers

Intrigue, dark buried secrets, hot romance and a neat twist in the tale make this riveting reading, Sheryl Browne, MA Creative Writing, Choc Lit Author

A fun read that keeps you guessing right up to the surprise ending, Dayna Leigh Cheser, Author of Janelle's Time, Moria's Time, Adelle's Time, & Logan's Time

Eggcerpt: 

“Keys. I’ll need them unless you want me to break in.”

Transfixed by the image, Jessica couldn’t look away. She extended her arm and dropped her ring holding her house and car keys into his hand.

“You stay here,” he ordered before sprinting to the front of the house.

The face appeared to be that of a young child. After a few minutes, the image faded. She blinked thinking it vanished because she’d stared at it for so long, but even that didn’t help.

Frightened by the disappearance, she dashed after the officer.

When she stepped through the door, the pungent smells of damp and stale assailed her nostrils. Out of habit, Jessica reached for the light switch. She discovered an old-fashioned push button one indicative of knob and tube wiring. That was another expense she wasn’t prepared for.

At one time, the dark wainscoting in the foyer shone. Now it was dull, dingy and covered with dust. The paint above it and on the ceiling had peeled and curled. Flakes littered the floor and stairs. She grabbed a loose piece of paint from the wall and gave it a tug. It pulled away with little resistance.

Two large rooms stood on either side of the main hall. Jessica entered the one to her left. Pocket doors, off their tracks, cut off part of the large doorway. Yellowed wall and ceiling paper hung from crazy angles. The plaster it once covered now exposed. Sheets covered the furniture. At one time, they had been white but now, layered with dust. Jessica thumped her hand down on the back of a sofa forcing a cloud of the grubby powder into the air. Choking, she scurried out and into the room across the corridor.

It, too, was in the same state but in here, boards didn’t cover the windows. Sun shone through grimy panes of glass, and dust particles floated in the air trapped by the beams of light.

The sound of footfalls on the stairs echoed through the house. Jessica turned. She gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. On the back of a sheet-covered sofa, lay a pristine, long-stemmed red rose.

The officer stepped into the room, securing his truncheon to his belt. “I thought I told you to stay outside.”

She didn’t reply. Stood shaking and pointing at the flower. Tried to speak but no sound came out. The room started swimming in front of her eyes. Her mouth went dry. She felt cold and clammy.

Wow...sounds like a great novel! Thanks for sharing Melanie. Where can we get The Secret of Hillcrest House?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBookstore

Wonderful. Again, thanks for doing the Eggcerpt Exchange with me. If you didn't get a chance to see, I was on Melanie's blog on March 2nd. Remember the exchange ends Easter so for more great books and authors, simply search FB, Twitter and/or Google using the hashtag #eggcerptexchange !!

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time take care and God Bless.

PamT

Love is in the Air!

Good Morning Friends and what a lovely day it is....if you discount the cold, nasty, wet gunk we call winter weather LOL!

Today I want to talk to you about love....and romance....Feb is the month for it, right? And what a month it is!

If you've a mind to read a new romance, check out the month-long spotlight of romance novels on The Book Connection.

Tempered Hearts will be featured on 2/12 and The Inheritance on 2/13 - so drop on by for some fun!




If that's not enough romance for you then check out the Valentine's Kickoff at The Long & Short of it Reviews (LASR) and Goddess Fish Promotions where authors (myself included) will come out to play all day long 2/12 and 2/13 with blurbs, excerpts, romantic interludes and best of all....kisses!

They will be giving away prizes which include a GRAND prize: The winner’s choice of a WiFi Nook, a WiFi Kindle or a $150 GC to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Other prizes: At least four $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GCs randomly awarded to a commenter. They may also award other $5 / $10 Amazon or BN GCs based on participation numbers, so hop on over there and leave comments!

Well friends, that's about all for now. Hope to see you at these events!

Until later....take care, be blessed and remember....Let LOVE be the driving force by which you live, breath, move & act.

Happy Valentine's Day to you ALL!
PamT




Saturday Spotlight - Rita Hestand!

Good Morning Friends,

Well my time at Silver Spur Ranch draws to a close - only a few more days then I'm headed home...but I'll be back LOL!

Please join me in welcoming to our spotlight, Author Rita Hestand with two novels....Jodi's Journey & Beyond the Dream Catcher.

The war was over. The town of Esser Crossing ebbed closer to a slow death while Jodi Parker and Hunter Johnson fought desperately with one last chance to save it, and themselves. Two unlikely people came together against their own will and struggled to carve a newempire. Swollen rivers and Jayhawkers were the least of their troubles on a cattle drive to Kansas, when both carried secrets that could easily destroy them. He had to prove himself, she had to live with her own decisions. A cruel destiny threw them together. Only a true and lasting love could save them.

Katherine Hightower just lost her folks to the fever. All that was left was running the Butterfield stage station with her brother Josh. But she didn't realize her fate had already been sealed by a Shaman of the Shawnee tribe, many miles away. Chase Rivers had been elected to bring Katherine to the village. He'd have to fight Comanches, the U.S. Army and a loco thief to do it. But his real challenge lie in convincing Katherine she was part Shawnee. Even with the help of the Great Spirit and a Shaman, could Chase Rivers convince her to help her own dying people? And could the love that was gifted them hoid strong enough to see them through their trials?

Rita Hestand a long time category romance writer now stretches her wings and brings you two historical western romances that are of Epic proportions. A born Texan herself, Rita has longed to write the western sagas. With ten category romances behind her, and a children's series coming out soon with Guardian Angel Publishing, Rita now brings her home state to life with the rich flavor of the old west and a true Texas. Mother of two, grandmother of seven,and even a great grandmother of one, Rita strives for a balance of kids, writing, and love of nature. Don't miss her new short stories coming this June, "The Far Side of Lonesome" one of her very best releases coming out in A Summer Collection an Anthology.

Find more about Rita at the following places!

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Redameter

http://ritahestand.com/

http://www.twitter.com/ritahestand

Well Folks, sounds like some good reading here. Hope you enjoyed this spotlight and hope to see you again soon!

Until later...take care & be BLESSED.
PamT

Saturday Spotlight - Rebecca Vickery!

Good Morning Friends,

Please welcome to our spotlight, Rebecca Vickery with her book, Surviving with Love.

Bio: Rebecca J. Vickery has been married to the same very patient man for 34 years and has one son and three wonderful grandchildren. She began reading and writing at an early age and thought she had died and gone to Heaven when she started school and found the library with all those wonderful books to read. Since then it has been her dream to entertain and inform others with the written word.

Blurb: Surviving With Love


Sparks fly when Stacey Parker meets ex-military hostage rescuer, Cord McConnell. She soon wonders if they will survive their assignment in the wilderness without killing each other.

Cord McConnell felt someone step from the woods. He wasn’t prepared for the sight of a young female with a wild mane of strawberry blond curls who claimed to be his tracker.

“I won’t wait on you if you fall behind and I don’t like whiners. I’m in charge and you do exactly as I say, regardless. Understand?”

“I won’t wait on you if you fall behind either, and whining is for dogs. You’re welcome to be in charge and I’ll follow orders when I agree with them,” She walked from the clearing without waiting to see what this macho jerk in charge would do next.

Surviving with Love is available in Ebook & Print - find it at Smashwords, Amazon/Kindle, Amazon/Print, Barnes & Noble
 
Find out more about Rebecca by visiting her website, Romance with a Twist, or her blogs: http://www.rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com/ OR http://booksbyrebecca.wordpress.com/
 
Well friends, hope you enjoyed this spotlight. Stay tuned for another great author and his or her book next week!
 
Until  later...Be Blessed!
PamT

Saturday Spotlight - Linda Swift & Single Status

Good Morning Friends!

Well, I must say after attending The Wild Rose Press's "Saddle up & Write" retreat held at the Silver Spur Guest Ranch in Bandera, TX, being home this past week is a HUGE let down. Bandera has always owned a small piece of my heart - but now the beautiful hill country has a chunk of it. One thing is certain, I will go back!

IMW, please welcome this week's Saturday Spotlight guest, Linda Swift with her book, Single Status.

Linda Swift divides her time between her native state of Kentucky and Florida. She has been writing since she was ten and is an award winning author of published poetry, articles, short stories, and a TV play. Her first two books were published by Kensington.

Linda's Awe-Struck Publishing books include Single Status, available as an e-book and in print and The Twelve Days of Christmas, an ebook. Her first published historical will be available in 2010. Her contemporary books also include Circle of Love, available as an e-book and in print and Let Nothing You Dismay, an ebook, from The Wild Rose Press.

B.J. is a woman with a mission--to show that she can handle a start-up engineer's job as well as any man. Then maybe she can prove to her ex that she is not the helpless wife he left for another woman. Dana is a man grieving the deaths of his wife and young son in a terrorist plane crash. Through a mix-up at stateside headquarters, they are forced to share a villa in the single status job in St. Croix. B.J. is the scapegoat when things go wrong at work and Dana becomes her reluctant defender when he is not defending himself against her unjust conclusions about him. Despite their attempts to prove otherwise, the powerful attraction between them grows. B.J. is blamed for a bad accident at the plant and her job is on the line. When Dana is almost killed trying to find the real culprit, will B.J. finally admit that the love they have found together is the most important thing of all?

Excerpt: SINGLE STATUS

The tone of her mother's voice alerted B.J. that this was no ordinary chat and she prepared herself for the inevitable.

"Today when I was looking in your closet for a longer coverup for the pool, I saw…a man's things. Your dad said I should just keep out of it, but I'm your mother. And I know how vulnerable a woman in…your position can be." Matilda finished the celery and picked up a carrot. "Betty Jo, are you having an affair with that married man you play golf with?"

B.J. laughed, relieved at not being found out after all. "No, Mother. Absolutely not. I just--well, a guy I work with left some things here when he went home on emergency leave."

It was all true, just not all of the truth, but her mother looked skeptical. "I'll be giving them back as soon as he returns."

Matilda closed her eyes dramatically. "Only two daughters and both divorced. And your sister has already made the same mistake twice. I just hope you don't follow her example, Betty Jo."

"Not to worry, Mother, since I have no plans to marry again…ever." This time she spoke with the conviction of telling the whole truth.

"I can't see why both of you couldn't find a man like your father. All of them have been nice Atlanta boys from good families. I just don't understand it."

"Maybe that's our problem," B.J. said with mock seriousness. "Maybe Dad was the last good man in Atlanta."

Single Status is available now from Awe-Struck Publishing in Ebook & Print!

*Note* Linda is travelling today but will do her best to drop by and visit with anyone who comments.

Well Friends, that wraps up this week's edition of Saturday Spotlight. Stay tuned weekly for more great authors and their books!

Until next time....take care, Be Blessed and remember....when the going gets tough the tough go to God.