The year was 2009. I was supposed to be learning all about the craft of writing in San Francisco at the Romance Writers of America National convention. Instead, I sat in my hotel room with my two best buds talking story ideas and eating junk food.  I wanted to write something different. I’m a romance addict, and I write erotic romance in a variety of genres. But I wanted to write something even more off the map than I normally do.

Two words came to be my next big idea—AMAZON WESTERN. Fast forward three years and Tip of the Spear arrived.

Perfect. I love strong women. Vulnerable yet kick-ass heroines are more my style. And I absolutely adore the western period. It’s raw, powerful,  and pure. There’s beauty in a world dominated by nature, not electrical and mechanical conveniences. But then, being me, I couldn’t just write a historical western with strong protagonists.

And so, I ended the world, restarted it, added mutations to the world courtesy of the sky rocks that nearly destroyed life, threw in the Nature Laws out West, and made sure sexy cowboys would meet up with sexier Amazons.  A quest to retrieve a stolen Amazon crown pits four women up against four rough men in a time when unnatural things roam the west and women are scarce. Sexy, dangerous, fast-paced. The first book pits Thais (Tay-iss) up against Hinto Dakota, a bounty hunter with secrets of his own.

Learn more about Marie here:

website link :  http://www.marieharte.com
blog link:  http://marieharte.blogspot.com
facebook link:  https://www.facebook.com/marieharteauthor

Here’s an excerpt from Tip of the Spear. Enjoy!

Order from AMAZON

TIP OF THE SPEAR ~ AN AMAZON WESTERN

Publisher: MHP
ASIN: B009N835VQ
Release Date: October 10, 2012

BLURB:  Welcome to the New West, where the Nature Laws dictate who lives and dies by the way they treat the land, carnivorous horses and blood trees are accepted mutations courtesy of the sky rocks, and the Impact Zone separates the earth-friendly territories of the West from a more sophisticated, steam-powered East. Women are rare commodities, living in extended families with more than one husband, and children are a necessity in a world where sterility is often the norm, not the exception. Life is full of challenge, romance and adventure. Something one courageous, wounded Amazon will find out first-hand.

Thais (Tay-iss) lost her mother, her queen, and most of her tribe at the hands of brutal foreigners, all while she enjoyed a respite from duty. But the young Amazon with vengeance in her heart refuses to lose anything else. She’ll bring back the queen’s crown or die trying. Life in the Territories has its perils: the Nature Laws, carnivorous beasts, and treacherous men who survived the Time of Dying. One man in particular, a warrior in his own right, has an odd effect on her senses. She comes to desire him, to trust him, and she doesn’t like it. Men are good for war and breeding, neither of which Thais has time for, not when she’s so close to finding those responsible for the crown’s theft. In the course of her quest, Thais finds much more than atonement for her troubled past, but a pure and lasting love, if only she has the courage to accept it.

Excerpt: 

“I don’t want no trouble. I just need to get back to my family.” The young man tried to go around them, but the foursome boxed him in. “I got a younger sister to feed,” the boy said quickly. “Honest. If I don’t help her, she’ll have to go whoring for food.”

“What?” One of the men stepped forward and punched the boy in the gut. His friends grabbed hold of the youngster’s arms and held him upright. “You saying your sister’s too good to whore for us?”

“No, no,” the boy rasped. “But Momma never wanted her to—”

“Dammit, Hank. Let the boy go. I wanna see his pretty little sister,” the farmer said with a sneer.

And again, Hinto thought of that word “abuse.” There was no doubt in his mind every one of these good men would rape the boy’s sister until they’d had their fill. Sex had never been more necessary than it was lately. As if humanity sought a hold on its own existence, men wanted nothing more than to shove a pecker in a warm hole and strive to create in their own image. Even he had thoughts of making a child someday. A fantasy, but one that haunted him despite his troubles.

With a sigh, he moved forward to help the kid when a familiar form stepped in instead, gripping a troublesome, ivory-hilted knife.

“Let him go. If it’s not a fair fight, you shouldn’t trouble yourselves.”

The stranger’s voice was husky, low, and…feminine? Hinto stopped a few feet away just as the kid ripped his arms free and dashed to freedom.

“Well, now, friend, you just ruined a fine day’s entertainment,” Hank said.

Hinto heard the slur of alcohol in his words.

“I’m not your friend. But if you want a fight, I’ll happily give it to you.”

She spoke with an odd accent. To his surprise, up close, Hinto couldn’t see her as a male at all. That the others did attested to her height, her leanness, and the clothing that hid all but her eyes from view.

“You’re everywhere you shouldn’t be today, aren’t you?” he drawled.

She didn’t give him an answer, not that he thought she would. Instead, she nailed Hank in the balls and slammed her fist into one wrangler’s neck. He fell to the ground next to Hank, gasping for breath.

His friends roared their displeasure. One of them managed a punch that grazed off her arm as she turned and crouched low with a leg sweep that took his friend off his feet.

Hinto grabbed her other attacker and knocked him out cold. He turned to help her with the one on the ground and saw her calmly tying the man’s hands together with his own belt. Hinto waited until she finished. “Not bad. Your hat’s falling, though, and your bandana’s too low to hide that smooth chin of yours. How do you keep the hat on, anyway?”

She ignored him and stood. When she tried to walk away, he cut her off and intercepted the fist meant for his throat. Her eyes widened.

“I like your moves, but I’ve seen them before.” She met his stare, her green gaze bright beneath the brim of her hat. “Damn, honey, you’re pretty,” he whispered, conscious of the men around them and the fact that she dressed to disguise her sex.

Pretty didn’t come close to describing her, but it was all he could manage. Green eyes dominated a face full of character and strength. High cheekbones, a slim nose and stubborn jaw hinted at control issues. Her full lips remained flat, though a rosy flush told him she wasn’t immune to his study. As he looked at the rest of her, his body responded. How could it not? Despite the vest hiding her chest, this close, he could see the faint swell of her breasts against the denim underneath. She had a slender build, but no one fragile could take down the Appersons or these louts. She stood only a few inches shorter than his own formidable height. Were he to lean down, their lips would meet at the perfect angle…

She pushed away from him so suddenly she freed herself from his hold. She stepped back and continued to stand in silence, watching him without expression. After a few moments, she frowned, and her lips parted. He envisioned her on her knees, her mouth open to receive him, and he had trouble stifling a groan of pure need.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re too scared to talk?” he asked in a thick voice, captivated by the sweet femininity he could almost taste, wrapped in such a tough package. He’d seen a few women who could handle themselves, but none of them had been this fine. Or smelled so damned good. When the breeze blew, he caught a faint flowery smell, one he couldn’t identify, but one that seemed to encapsulate the woman before him. Pleasing, not overpowering, and addictive.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to thank me for helping you by meeting me at Kitty’s?” The cathouse rented rooms as well as provided services for paying clientele.

“Kitty’s?”

Definitely new to town. “Kitty House is a whorehouse, a fine one, with a red awning over the front porch.” Unlike Delware’s, Kitty didn’t advertise by forcing her women to hang out the windows and flaunt themselves half-dressed.

She blushed a bright red and focused on his mouth. “I have need of Kitty House.” She licked her lips, and he wanted to shout out thanks to his maker.

“You do?” He’d expected a refusal from this one. Not much shocked him, but this woman continued to surprise him. “Well, hell, follow me.”

He walked with a spring in his step, contemplating all the ways he planned to slake this sudden lust. The fatigue weighing him down seemed to have all but vanished. Conscious of her behind him, he wondered about her name, where she was from, what brought her here.

And then she walked around him to enter Kitty’s and requested a private audience with the madam.

“What the hell?” He walked in after her and saw DeeDee lounging in the blue room. Shit. He didn’t want to upset her, but he couldn’t possibly ignore the opportunity to slide between the thighs of this intriguing woman. He couldn’t explain his urgent need to possess her, but until he rid himself of it, he’d get no peace. He tried to follow her into the madam’s private quarters.

She stopped right in front of him and turned around with an irritated expression on her face. “Why do you follow me?”

“Honey, you said you needed Kitty’s. And I sure as hell need you.” He glanced down at himself, pleased when she followed his gaze and stared, her eyes growing wider by the moment.

“I—I do not need you. I need Kitty.”

Shocked anew, he watched her enter at Kitty’s invitation. Kitty shook her head and grinned. She winked, throwing brown ringlets in waves around her painted face before she closed and locked the door behind them.

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