I’m still celebrating my first anniversary over at my blog, Romance Hot and Wild, but now that Wolf Games has released, I’m starting to look forward to other things.
Some of them, yes, are book releases. Just finished edits on the Naughty Aesop’s story that will be out in May from Total-E Bound Books. The next cowboys are coming in April, and there’s a new shifter series starting in May from Samhain.
But life is more than books. Maybe. 
May is my anniversary, and hubby and I will be going kayaking for a couple nights. A nice wilderness retreat. Then there’s a conference he’s got to go to that I’m going to piggy pack along and take some time to be out of the house, away from the chores and just do whatever I want. Which will probably involve doing some writing, but since it’s fun, why not?
Right now the rest of the summer is a bit of a blur. There are potential changes on the horizon, so I’m not sure if I can make it to any of the reader/writer conferences, although I’d sure love to.
So I thought I’d leave you with something to look forward to. From Rocky Mountain Haven.
——
Beth Danube has escaped to a small Alberta town to make a new start for herself and her three little boys. Her emotionally abusive husband may be dead and buried, but so is her heart. What she doesn’t want is another man in her life—not now, maybe not ever. Yet when her libido reawakens after ten years of unsatisfactory sex in the missionary position, is any woman strong enough to turn down sex-in-boots, Daniel Coleman?
The middle child of the rowdy Coleman boys, Daniel’s the quiet one who has always subdued his desires and acted as peacemaker. His powerful attraction to the young widow takes him by storm, and he’s willing to pursue her until they both find satisfaction—in and out of the bedroom.
Only Beth isn’t sure she’s ready to cross the line. Becoming friends with blazing hot benefits means she’s still the one in control. Letting her heart trust again? She isn’t that brave—or foolish. Daniel is going to have to be mighty convincing to help her overcome the past.
——
July
Calgary, Alberta
She nursed her drink, waving back at her little sister who was jammed together with a hundred other people on the dance floor. Beth tried not to peek at her watch again, instead checking out the myriad of faces under the cowboy hats around her. She’d never seen so many boots and buckles in her life. Another round of ‘Yahoo’s’ rose into the air from a few little-too-well lubricated throats.
While she appreciated Darleen’s attempt at cheering her up and–how had she put it?–”pulling her back to the land of the living”, the bar scene had never been her thing.
It certainly wasn’t tonight.
One song ended, melding into another ear shattering rendition of someone done somebody wrong and Beth held the cool glass of her drink against her temple in the hopes it would slow the throbbing.
“There she is. Hey, Beth, look what I found on the dance floor!” Dar approached the table like a runaway train, dragging not one, but two cowboys by the hand. “They’re identical twins!” she shouted with glee.
Beth raised a brow. They certainly were, from the tops of their Stetsons, past the mischievous grins and the tight faded jeans to the worn shitkickers. “Well done. Now you just need a wandering gypsy and the arctic explorer and you’ll win the scavenger hunt.” She held out a hand to the first of the gorgeous specimens. “Beth.”
A warm hand clasped her fingers and gave a firm shake while a pair of piercing blue eyes gazed into hers. “Jesse Coleman, that’s my brother Joel. I can’t help you with an arctic explorer but I might know where there’s a gypsy or two.”
Beth laughed. “Sorry, but Darleen is a little enthusiastic at times. I’m attempting to keep her centered in reality.”
He pulled out a chair and sat in it backward, his mouth-watering smile never leaving his face. She sipped her drink. He was hot and kind of cute, but too young for her. Way too young.
“You dancing tonight Beth, or just exercising your imagination?” Jesse asked. She saw admiration in his eyes as he looked her over and it felt good. Maybe it was time to try to spread her wings again. She forced herself to take a long slow perusal of his body before smiling at him. His eyes darkened with interest. That was the kind of response she needed to see.
“Beth doesn’t dance since the accident,” Darleen piped up before she could answer for herself. “Oops. Shit, sorry sis. Shut mouth, throw away key.”
Beth found both the boys staring at her. Crap. It’s not like she planned on keeping it a secret.
She leaned back in her chair and pulled out her leg with its thick supporting brace. “I dance fine, Darleen, I just take up more room than is available on the floor. You go ahead, I’ll watch.”
The other twin spoke, adjusting the chairs until there was enough space for them all. “I’m happy to sit for a while. It’s been a long day and the dancing’s pretty much worn me out.”
Darleen rested on the arm of Joel’s chair, her body leaning into him. Beth coughed softly. Her sister was grown up and could make her own decisions, but she didn’t want to be in the know about any specific sexual escapades. From the looks Joel was bestowing on Dar, the potential for something to happen was high.
Besides, she had her own agenda tonight, and perhaps the young hotshot seated next to her would be a willing volunteer in her little research project. She sipped her drink and checked inwardly to see if she’d had enough to alcohol yet to loosen up her final inhibitions.
“So, why’s it called Six Pack Ranch?” Darleen now sat firmly in Joel’s lap and Beth blinked at having missed the movement that put her there. “You said the ranch has been around for generations, but six-packs are fairly new.”
Jesse laughed. “The ranch is officially the SP Ranch, after the first initials of the original Coleman brothers who established her, but the smartasses in town decided it stood for Six Pack a few years ago and the new handle stuck.”
Beth raised a brow. “The smartasses? Why would they do that? Usually nicknames have some basis in reality.”
“You’re pretty fixated on reality, aren’t you, sweetheart?” Jesse leaned over and took her hand in his, stroking her fingers smoothly. If she weren’t so sure she might have taught him only a few years earlier in one of her high school math classes, it would have felt even better. Now she wondered if he was of legal age to be in the bar. “You’re right, there’s more. Picture six boys growing up on the ranch. That started the idea. Plus, there’s this…” He rotated smoothly to end up by her side, tugging her close. Yanking up the bottom of his shirt he slapped her hand onto his abdomen.
Rigid muscles flexed under her palm and she froze for a second, his hand trapping hers against his skin. Oh God, she’d never felt anything like it before. Beth involuntarily drew a finger along the well-defined ridges, mesmerized by the sensation of individual muscle strands under the skin. A soft laugh brought her back to realize she sat fondling a stranger’s stomach in public and she snatched her hand away to safety.
She wiggled her finger in his face. “Bad boy.”
He laughed and leaned in closer. “I think you like bad boys.”
