Thursday, September 1, 2022

Guest Author Lariette Lee

 Hello Cowboy Kisses: I'm back as a guest author to introduce you to my other works in my Spinsters of Adeline Series.


My Cowboy’s Cemetery 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9CGRKBN 

 

He didn’t want to be her enemy—he wanted to be her lover.

Xavier’s dream of settling on his family’s old homeplace ended in a nightmare, leaving him with a property he could never live on and never sell. When he catches Adeline’s sexy historian trespassing, he knows she’ll uncover more than the town’s pioneer past. He has no choice but to seduce Stacia away from the town she loves—and where all his secrets are buried.

She wanted all of him—not just the part he thought she should have.

Stacia Dix is tired of being known as that ‘gal from the big city.’ When she discovers a cemetery that proves she’s as good as native, she also falls for its owner. Part-time cowboy and full-time gorgeous, Dr. Xavier Butcher is the man Adeline would love to hate. If he won’t trust her with his secrets, he will never have a place in her adopted home town or in her heart. 

Can they put aside the place they want so they can give each other the love they need?

 

Excerpt:

Here was a guy who shared Stacia’s love for the area. The name of Xavier’s company, Alibates, suddenly seemed charming instead of cynical. The ancient flint and its history must have spoken to him as it did to her. And best of all, he seemed to enjoy being here, in her little house, right across the street from his property.

Right. The cemetery. What about that?

Xavier had finished his coffee. It was an opportune moment for him to say goodbye. In fact, he did say he ought to get going as he put his cup in the sink. And here she was begging him to stay.

He hesitated, assessing her with that penetrating silver gaze of his. He leaned against the old surface of her kitchen countertop, his boots creasing as he shifted his weight. They proclaimed him a traditional cowboy, with heavy vamps to protect his feet while riding in brush. They slid against the wood-planked floor, making a masculine sound that filled her ears. His powerful shoulders and biceps in his fitted thermal shirt filled her vision.

An almighty rush was coming.

“I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”

“I’ll let you know if you do.”

The frown Xavier usually wore softened as a slow smile spread across his mouth, warm, almost lazy, arousing a strange pressure in Stacia’s lower abdomen. He really ought to leave, before impossible ideas carried her away. They already had, tumbling in her mind, along with thoughts of the empty hours left in the day—nothing planned, no visitors expected.

The companionable atmosphere had long since evaporated. All was silent except for the rain against the windows. Another storm had come, hovering overhead, darkening the kitchen. Stacia gripped the edge of her stool, hands behind her back.

In the gloom, something was rising up between her and Xavier.

He straightened, gently pushing away from the countertop. Had he read her mind? Did he understand just how very much she wanted him? She was too honest with herself to pretend she didn’t. She was too candid to discourage him as he came toward her, cautiously, until he was so close to her she smelled the clean scent of cedar from the trees he must have brushed up against earlier.

“You’ll tell me to leave when you want me to, won’t you, Stacia?” he asked softly.

“Uh-huh.” Maybe she nodded, maybe she shook her head. Oh, he’d gotten her message all right. He’d heard and understood her silent plea. He was so good-looking he must have had a lot of practice reading women. Hell, they probably blasted him all the time with the same signal she was sending him now. 



My Cowboy’s Commitment 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9CJGBPT


The past she never knew…

When Sloane Trentham goes out of her way to confront a thieving cowboy, she discovers the darkly handsome Luc Valencia is more than what he seems. In fact, he’s the only man who can protect everything she loves from burning to the ground. Her heart is on fire for him, but his old commitment to her family might keep them apart forever.

…is the past he thought he’d forgotten.

Adeline is the perfect place for Luc Valencia to lay low while lawyers try to save his business. So why does he let perfectly lovely, completely icy Sloane Trentham provoke him into taking on the duties of the town fire chief? He knows how to put out fires, but the blaze of desire he has for the sister of a man who betrayed him is something else. And the longer he stays in Adeline, the harder it will be to put out.

The past is dormant until a spark of love sets it ablaze. 

 

Excerpt:

Luc shifted his weight, his expression changing from contrition to something far different, filling with the possessive hunger Sloane recognized in the volunteer fire department parking lot. He’d threatened to seduce her. If he succeeded, he would nail that skin on his wall and move on.
Keep telling yourself that.

Luc’s big-boned body gracefully leaned over her as she stared up at him. She really ought to say goodnight and shut the door. She didn’t. He’d paralyzed her with his empathy.
Now he was about to go in for the kill.

A winged grasshopper, attracted by the security light, its habitat likely destroyed by the fire, flew through the opening between the door and its frame. It went straight for Sloane’s head, tangling in the waves of hair tucked into the loose bun she’d thrown her hair into earlier. She jerked backwards, stumbling away from the open door, trying to extract the insect without success.

Instantly Luc stepped inside the doorway, reaching out to grab her. “Hold still,” he commanded.

Shivering with agonized disgust, trying not to flinch, Sloane obeyed. The bug buzzed right in her ear, the sound nauseating as well as frightening. It fought to free itself from her hair, only tangling itself even more, scratching her scalp, its wings flapping against her ear. She gasped and gripped Luc’s shoulder as he quickly released her bun. She couldn’t help shaking her head, her hair falling below her shoulders. 

“Hold still,” he repeated, his voice softening.

Luc grasped her chin with powerful fingers, restraining her so she couldn’t move. She was forced to meet his eyes. His never left hers as he quickly plucked the insect and threw it outside in one smooth movement, closing the door behind it.

Relieved, she forgot she was still clinging to his shoulder. Her chin rested in the palm of his hand, still cupping her face. His fingers caressed her cheek. She leaned into his touch, like a cat who wants to be stroked.

Blushing, she straightened and pulled away. “Thanks. Generally I’m not afraid of grasshoppers but when one gets in my hair—blech.”

“It’s been a rough night, hasn’t it?” Luc murmured, his wide shoulders blotting out everything else, his voice caressing.

Just being this close to him aroused all kinds of heady feelings—and outright honesty. “It’s what I’ve come to expect whenever you’re around, Luc Valencia.”

He answered her with a darkly speculative grin.

She gathered up the ends of her quarrel with him to put some distance between them but her effort was weak. “After tonight, I hope you plan to improve the department’s communications.”

“From now on I will call you personally.”

“That’s not necessary,” she protested, breathless.

“It is for me,” he argued softly, implacable.

Luc gazed at her with hot intent. Sloane’s heartbeat raced back up with a surge of adrenaline, just like when she believed her stable was about to go up in flames. This time she rode the heady rush rather than being dragged along by it. When Luc reached out to touch her, a cautious caress, his fingers barely touching her cheek, she dared to turn her head and kiss his fingertips.  

enjoy meeting up with other fans of the western romance genre. Please connect with me here:

No comments: