Books-n-Kisses is please to welcome Linda Broday to the blog for the first time.
We are also helping her celebrate her newest release FOREVER HIS TEXAS BRIDE.
Let’s get to know Linda a little better:
Though I now reside in the Texas Panhandle, I grew up in a small town in New Mexico. From an early age, I was lucky enough to discover wealth didn’t exactly pertain to money. Though my parents could barely afford the necessities, they managed to instill deep rooted values and a thirst for books. My favorite memories are the yearly road trips we made to California on Route 66 to visit grandparents. We’d stop at museums, trading posts, ghost towns and anything else that held our interest. I’m sure that’s where my love of history and the Old West was born.
I’ve been a “writer in training” my whole life. As young girls, my sister and I became obsessed with books. Many nights long after the house grew dark and everyone else was asleep, we’d lie beneath our covers and read by flashlight until we either reached the end of the book or our eyes got too heavy to see the words. Books opened up entirely new, exciting worlds that seemed limited only by our imaginations. I never imagined in a hundred years that I could create my own worlds. That undertaking seemed as far-fetched as scaling Mt. Everest. But write I did. It took me five years to finish that first novel and it will never be anything more than fire-starter material. With a small measure of confidence though, I wrote others that found their way onto an editor’s desk and then into bookstores.
Cowboys have always fascinated me so it’s no wonder that I love to write about them and their ladies and the struggles they endure in trying to carve out a small place to call home. It took some awfully tough men and women to settle this great country of ours.
I grew up watching TV westerns and hated that the cowboy always rode into the sunset all by his lonesome. I vowed to write stories that gave the cowboy someone to share his life with besides his trusty horse. I wanted him to marry that pretty woman he fell in love with, not leave her behind. That’s what I’ve endeavored to do and I think in that aspect I’ve succeeded. If I can capture one small portion of his grit and determination, that’s an added bonus. I want to show in my stories people who might’ve lived at one time. They’re ordinary, but they have more guts and more backbone than anyone.
Western romance is my passion. I feel truly blessed. Humble roots and the love of family have become focal points in my stories. I sincerely hope readers enjoy the characters and tales I strive to bring to life on the printed page.
You can learn more about Linda and her books here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Linda Broday’s latest released on December 1st! The final title in the Bachelor of Battle Creek trilogy, Forever His Texas Bride is sure to sweep readers off of their feet. To celebrate her new release, we’ve asked Linda to answer a “Quick Draw” either/or question and to share an excerpt with us!
Wine or beer? A good wine would be my drink of choice, although I rarely imbibe. I prefer a glass of white—something light and a little sweet. And if it’s moscato, better leave the bottle.
*****
Forever His Texas Bride
Bachelors of Battle Creek, #3
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“There’s this thing between us that refuses to die. I’d like nothing better than to be able to…” His words faded. He’d give anything to change people’s views about his race…to be able to make her his wife.
But the world wasn’t that simple. Not for people like them.
All his life, Brett Liberty has straddled two worlds: white and Iroquois. The only place he’s truly at peace is with his wild mustangs. But after he’s arrested for the color of his skin, he discovers Rayna Harper in the cell next to him. Rough and tumble Rayna has known little kindness, but Brett sees the depth of her heart hidden beneath layers of hurt and fear, and he refuses to leave without her.
Fierce and loyal, kind and strong, Rayna is everything Brett has ever wanted. But the world doesn’t look kindly on a love like theirs, and he would rather let her go than bring her pain. Yet when the demons of his past threaten her future, Brett realizes he will do anything to keep Rayna safe…and make her his.
An Excerpt:
Rayna sat up, pushed back her cloud of russet hair, and got up from the bunk in Brett’s jail cell. It was then he saw that she wore a heavy pair of men’s brogans. What on earth! The shoes looked as though they might’ve come off a very poor dead man.
Her dirty dress had been mended so many times it looked like a patchwork quilt with none of the squares matching. But she seemed so spirited, so brave.
If society had ever allowed him to take a wife, he’d want someone like her. He hated to think he’d have spent all his life never knowing what it could be like to be happy like his brothers now were. While he waited to die, maybe they could pretend.
Maybe he could know what it was like to be loved.
Until they led him through those doors to a hangman, maybe he could have the bride prejudice had denied him. The bold notion made ripples dance under his skin.
Brett raised to a sitting position, ignoring the pain shooting through his back. “This may sound crazy, but I’m going to ask anyway. Rayna, do you think you could pretend to be my wife? Just until they take me away? No one will ever know but us, so they can’t hurt you.”
Turning, she dropped down beside him. Surprised tears bubbled in her eyes. “No one ever asked me to marry them before.”
“Is that a no?”
“I’d be honored to be your pretend wife,” she whispered, brushing his face with her fingers. “What do we do now?”
“Do you mind if I kiss you?”
“I’d like that…husband.”
Under her bright gaze, he lowered his head. But before their lips touched, the sound of a key grating in the lock made him jerk back. “Quick, go to your cell before they catch you with me.”
Rayna scurried into hers and quietly eased the door shut.
Just then a deputy sauntered in, taking care to keep his distance from Brett’s cell. “You alive, breed?”
Brett glared. “Disappointed?”
The deputy—a squat man who reminded Brett of a possum with little weasel eyes, grunted, shifting his gaze to Rayna. “Give any thought to my offer, woman?”
No one had to spell out what the deputy meant. Brett sought to tamp down his rising anger. He watched Rayna tilt her head at a defiant angle.
“The answer is the same as all the other times.”
The weasel shrugged and went back out. The minute the door locked shut, Rayna slowly walked into Brett’s cell and sat down beside him again. “I wish I could see the sky and smell the fresh air.”
“How long have you been in here?”
“Over a month, I think. With each sunrise I’ve been making a mark on the wall. The one today makes thirty-one. But no matter how much I want out, I’m not doing what that deputy wants,” she whispered. “I’ll never be a fine lady, but even I have my dignity. No one will ever take that.”
Though still hesitant, Brett took her small, dainty hand. Her skin shone white against his. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d touched someone who wasn’t family, but his pretend wife was different somehow. “Always stand on your principles. In the end, we still have to live with ourselves, look at our face in the mirror.”
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TITLE: Give It Up
