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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

LOVE'S SWEET WAGER by Jannine Corti Peska + Giveaway

Today we close our 30 Days of Promo Goodness celebration with a closer look into Love's Sweet Wager by Jannine Corti Peska! Love's Sweet Wager is now available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Watch the book video here....

[See giveaway details at the bottom of this post.]


Her gambler father murdered, Rachel Garrett joins a wagon train west to be with her aunt and the fiancé she's never met. Her dream is to forget the life she led performing on stage to earn the money her father gambled away and settle down in one place. But along the trail, she is helplessly drawn to a priest--forbidden fruit--and her hopes are shattered.

Professional gambler Reno Hunter is wanted for the murder of James Garrett. His disguise as a priest on a wagon train is foolproof, until he discovers the woman the old gambler wagered in that fatal card game and Rachel Garrett are one and the same. Can he protect his identity and his heart, or will he surrender to his desire for Rachel and risk being apprehended by the law?


Excerpt from Love's Sweet Wager:

In this scene near the river, Rachel discovers that Father Caldwell is really Reno Hunter, the man accused of killing her father.

Rachel’s open palm cracked across his face, snapping his head to the side. His ear rang but his reflexes were quick and he caught both her wrists, experience warning him that a woman didn’t stop at one slap. She struggled, fighting with all her strength. When he began to lose his grip, he clamped his fingers tighter around her small bones, forcing her arms behind her back.

“You know who I am, don’t you?” Reno demanded an answer.

Tears glistened in her eyes, but rage contorted her mouth. “Reno Hunter is supposed to be locked up in St. Jo.”

“The sheriff’s deputy was persuaded to release me.”

“I don’t believe you. You broke out with the help of your brothers.”

“They helped me escape because they know my freedom is the only way I can prove I didn’t kill James Garrett.” He released her and she stumbled back against the tree. He noticed the sudden change in her eyes, and he turned his anger on himself for making her suffer. “You’re afraid of me now, aren’t you? Just a few minutes ago you offered to confess your terrible sins to me. Now you’re looking at me as if I’m a heathen.”

Reno’s cynical smile caused her to shudder.

Compassion fled when he thought about how she deceived him with her chore girl pretense. His own disguise flirted with his mind. He wasn’t happy that he deceived her as well, but she wasn’t in possession of a marker claiming to own another human being.

“I never thought I’d find Garrett’s daughter on a wagon train.”

“If you hadn’t killed my father, I would have traveled more comfortably by stage.” Bitterness seeped into her accusation.

“I didn’t kill him.”

“It was your gun, wasn’t it?” Her gaze dropped to the gleaming weapon visible beneath his parted frock coat.

“It wasn’t me who shot him,” he insisted, wishing she’d believe him. “You can rest assured I will find the man who killed Garrett and left me to take the blame.” He purposely softened the severity in his stance and his voice. “Can I trust you not to interfere?”

“I should turn you in to Mr. Kane.” Her strident threat plucked a raw nerve.

“You won’t because you know damn well I didn’t kill your father. If I had, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to disguise myself.” He pointed out his uncomfortable clothing. “I would have run off and hid until the murder of your two-bit gambler father is dust in the wind.”

“How dare you speak of my father—”

“It’s the truth,” Reno barked, startling her into silence. Her bottom lip quivered. “Oh, for Christ’s sake. Don’t start bawling.”


By commenting to today or yesterday posts by Jannine Corti Peska, you will be entered to win a copy of her upcoming release, The Lily and the Falcon, Book I of her Italian medieval series. The winner will be chosen randomly via the True Random Number Generator at Random.org. Check back to see if you have won. The winner will be announced tomorrow here at The Cozy Page. [Chances of winning depend on the number of entries; you must be 18 years or older to enter.]

11 comments:

Calisa Rhose said...

Great excerpt! It reminds me of the movie The Gambler for some reason. lol

Pamela Moran said...

Jannine, what a treat! I'm hooked, wanting to know what Rachel is going to do and how Reno will convince her NOT to turn him in!

Pam S.

teresa said...

oohhh, the excerpt sounds great and I love, love the cover! Now I have to watch the trailer...: )
Teresa Blue

Jannine said...

Thanks, Calisa.

Jannine said...

Pamela, you'll have to read the book to find out what Rachel decides to do. LOL

Thanks for coming by.

Jannine said...

Teresa, glad you liked the excerpt. Hope you like the trailer as well.

Thanks.

Barb H said...

Jannine, I do love historical Westerns, and I'm happy to see more coming around. Yours sounds very neat.

Good luck with it!

Lisa Kessler said...

Sounds like a fun book Jannine!!!

I hope it's a big success for you... :)

Lisa

Jannine said...

Thanks, Barb. And yes, westerns seem to be making a comeback.

Jannine said...

Thanks, Lisa!

Anonymous said...

Exciting! How do you like doing wild west and medieval Italian? They don't seem like an obvious pair at first glance. How does writing two such different genres work for you?