Christmas in the Wylder County Jail: The Wylder West series

So what do you do when you write a story and your readers fall in love with one of your secondary characters?  Well usually you write a story for that character.

But wait... What if that character is already involved in a romance with another character--and that character belongs to someone else?

Well... if you are lucky enough that the other character belongs to a good friend, you both write the story!

This is exactly what happened to Kim Turner and me when we both were chosen to write stories for the Wylder West series. We thought it would be fun if her hero's uncle (Wylder Hearts) was having a secret-not-so-secret romance with my heroine's mother, who just happens to be the town madam. (The Wylder County Social Club)

 We never expected for Uncle Russ and Miss Addie's romance to be so fun.  Or for readers to connect with them the way they did.

So coming this December--no date available yet--readers will finally get to find out how it all began with Russ and Miss Addie and does she ever agree to finally marry him???

Even more fun, their story is part of a three story "series within a series".  It's a week before Christmas and a train derails just outside of Wylder as the town is besieged by a whopper of a blizzard.  Sarita Leone and Laura Strickland have written the other two stories in the series.,  You will be hearing a lot about this Christmas mini series over the next few weeks, but for now... here is the blurb and excerpt from Christmas in The Wylder County Jail!

~*~

Adelaide Willowby is having a bad day. It’s a week before Christmas and she has just kicked out the love of her life. Her sister and her daughter are barely speaking to her, one of her best girls is getting married, and ownership of the Wylder County Social Club is in jeopardy. Now she has landed in jail—for murder.

 

Russ Holt has relied on alcohol to quiet the ghosts from his past for far too long. His latest bender has caused him to let down both Addie and his son, and he knows something has to change. When a stranger in town is found dead and Miss Adelaide is arrested for murder, Russ smells a rat. 

 

Can he battle his demons, hunt down the real killer, and win back the woman he loves?

~*~

Excerpt:

He glanced at the drink again. One small glass at a time or the whole bottle....it mattered little...Addie was right. He was no longer the man he even thought himself. Hell, he wasn't the same man as clear back to Sarah. And he'd loved her with all his heart, the same heart that broke when she'd chosen his brother Rick.

He'd left Wylder out of necessity, letting his brother raise the son that by rights belonged to him. But the shredding of his heart had come much later when he'd lost his second wife and daughter to a fire while out hunting. He hadn’t been drinking then, not even a little—and look what had happened.

He wrapped his fingers around the small glass and with the other ground out the butt of the cigar. He'd buried his wife and later his brother, though nothing had come close to the pain of placing his small daughter in the ground. He pushed the glass aside once more, the bronze drink the one thing between him and the hurt that never ceased.

But Addie. Her touch brought a calm to the storms inside his heart and eased his mind. This time, he'd seen it in her precious blue eyes. He'd gone too far. Something lost, hidden behind disappointment if he were guessing. She was done and he damn well knew it. The decision was now his to make...the bottle or Addie.

Home in Wylder by Jane Lewis

 Coming Wednesday, February 18!   

The town of Wylder, WO gets a new resident this week, courtesy of historical author Jane Lewis.  You will love this strong, feisty heroine and her hunky cowboy hero--and that hero has a hot Scottish side kick.  I can't wait to find out if Callum gets a story, too!  This is the first foray into western writing for this talented author and I certainly hope she intends to stick around Wylder for a good, long while!

Pre order your copy today!

Blurb:

To escape gossip about her disastrous engagement, Sarah Miller flees to Wylder, Wyoming where her aunt owns a dress shop.   But the danger she discovers in the wild west has her ready to board the next stagecoach out of town. 

Daniel Taylor rescues a damsel in distress only to fall in love with her at first sight. The past has taught him that gentle women don't make Wylder their home. He intends to court Sarah, but  braces himself for a broken heart, knowing she will eventually leave  town.

When Sarah is forced to face down the men who have tormented her since her arrival in Wylder, she will have to make the most difficult decision of her life.

 Excerpt:

She wanted to say something, tell him how lovely everything looked. How he'd done a wonderful job with his house and furnishings. She turned to tell him, but his gaze stopped her. His look seared her soul with desire and beckoned her toward him. As if she traveled through time and space, she found his embrace. 

Daniel held her close and kissed the top of her head. "I don't know how we found each other, but I'm glad we did." He turned her face up and claimed her lips.

The fiery kiss stirred a passion that bloomed in her belly and raced through her blood. He stopped kissing her and she inhaled a deep breath. The smell of leather and everything Daniel fanned the flames. She wanted this man and he wanted her. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Would he think she an immoral woman if she let him love her? 

He put his fingers under her chin and tugged her face up. "Are you alright?"

The tenderness she found in his eyes answered her question. "I am." She placed her hands around his neck and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him, opening her mouth to his sensual kiss. She followed his lead as he waltzed her around the room. He held her close while his fingers gently caressed her body, and his mouth did wonderful things to her lips.

About the author:

Jane Lewis dreamed of being a romance writer since she read her first romance novel. She wrote articles for her school newspaper, articles for a music magazine and composed and arranged music.

When she isn’t writing, re-writing or editing her next romance novel, she enjoys cooking, playing music, yoga, weight training and hanging out with her real-life hero, her husband.

She writes Historical Romance as Jane Lewis and Erotic Romance as Eve Lyn. Both believe in a happy ever after, always.

She is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America and Georgia Romance Writers. She was a 2016 finalist in the Hearts Through History, Post-Victorian/World War II category for her first romance novel, Love At Five Thousand Feet.

https://www.janelewisauthor.com/western-romance

Blurb and Excerpt of The Wylder County Social Club

Review: Tangled in Tinsel by N. Jade Gray

 

Fun, lighthearted holiday story about reconnecting with "the one who got away."  Ryder and Madison are pure magic together as they try to navigate misunderstandings, family and holiday activities to find time to be alone together.  If the scene with the nosey dog walking neighbor concerned about the fogged-up windows on Ryder’s truck doesn’t make you laugh out loud, I don’t know what will!  But even amid the humor, the author takes the time, through the heroine’s adorable nephew and heavily pregnant cookie-craving sister, to remind us that the holidays are also about the importance of family. 

 

The story will leave you craving hot cocoa, Oreos --and feeling like you just watched a Hallmark movie.  I will definitely read this one again!

Check it out here

 

 

Friday Friends: Kim Turner with Wylder Hearts

Available December 2, 2020!

 Caleb Holt is the man to see for a good horse. Abuse an animal and he'll teach the lesson that goes with it. When he lands on top of a woman in the midst of a brawl and snags a passionate kiss, he sparks a fire he never expected. But it doesn't take the cowboy long to learn a lesson of his own… sometimes love comes with a price. 

Seamstress Laurel Adams is embarrassed by Caleb's stolen kiss. Though she is determined to raise her son alone, she wonders at the ease of falling for the handsome horseman. But when the husband who abandoned her returns, there is only one choice to make—the one that breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

                                                                         ~*~
  

The businessman bolted forward and swung a fist that made contact with his chin, leaving him off balance and staggering backward. Trying to avoid the crowd that had collected, he bobbled and went down, expecting to hit the ground. But the impact never came. Instead he landed softly to a shrill feminine scream, and the greenest eyes he’d ever beheld.

Time simply froze, the world around him a haze as he found himself mesmerized by the beauty of the woman beneath him. It had been a damn long time since he was in such a position as this.

Unable to move with the crowd about them, he apologized, allowing a slight smile to curl his lips, though he knew he should get back to the fight. He reached to tip his hat and realized he’d lost it. The feel of her bosom pressed between them stirred up a thing or two. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am.”

“I’m quite all right.” She pushed to rise, but the crowd surrounding them was thick.

“Actually, I was apologizing for this.” Caleb bent to kiss her, slow and searing, her lips plump and tender, holding him there a moment longer than needed. He held her surprised green-eyed gaze a moment more and then he was back to the fight.

Wylder Hearts will be released on December 2, 2020.  Pre-order here. For more information on Kim's other books visit her website or blog 

Kim Turner writes western historical romance, and discovered her passion of writing at the age of eight by writing poems, short stories and journals. Kim graduated from Clayton State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and holds a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from Central Michigan University. Working as a registered nurse Educator/Quality Analyst for over twenty-seven years, she enjoys studying the medical treatments of the old west as well as keeping up with the latest western movies and television. While she loves reading anything from highlanders to pirates, she claims to have an unquenchable thirst for the American Cowboy when choosing her reads. Kim lives south of Atlanta with her husband and calls her greatest accomplishment the birth of one daughter and the adoption of another from China-neither of which came easy. Kim is a member of Romance Writers of American and Georgia Romance Writers and calls her critique group from Southside Scribes the best thing that ever happened to her writing, that and a pretty wonderful group of beta readers. Kim’s debut novel SAWYER’S ROSE was a 2014 Maggie Finalist and a 2015 Golden Heart Finalist!

Kim’s Motto: It’s All About A Cowboy and the Woman He Loves.

I'm spending the day over at Kim Turner's blog.  Stop by, sit a spell and read an excerpt from The Wylder County Social Club!  Don't forget to say Howdy!

It's here!! The trailer for The Wylder County Social Club....