HOME SWEET TEXAS HOME by Caroline Clemmons + Giveaway

Hi readers! Caroline Clemmons is back today with an excerpt from her latest romance, Home Sweet Texas Home, which is a sweet contemporary romance about a modern day Cinderella. The July release from The Wild Rose Press is available in print and e-download and includes humor, pathos, and larceny. Would inheriting a fortune solve all your problems? It wouldn’t hurt, would it? But perhaps we’d be surprised if two million came out way....


Two million dollars? What a fortune to inherit! Coutney Madison has battled poverty her entire twenty-five years but is determined to make a safe and happy home for her teenaged brother after the recent death of their mom. She thinks her inheritance in West Texas far from her brother’s awful new friends is the answer to her prayers--but Courtney's problems are definitely not over yet. Strings, there are strings to her inheritance. And being in charge is not as easy as she thought it would be. Sure she can pretty much do as she pleases, but there are people depending on her now.

Known around the area as the man with King Midas’s touch where money is concerned, Derek Corrigan suspects the worst of his new neighbor and vows to fight his attraction for her. He sure isn’t about to let her influence his son and daughter; Warren and Meg mean the world to him. Besides, Derek knows what women do to him--they always leave and take chunks of his heart with them. He's been there, done that, had the vaccination and is cured. Isn't he?


Excerpt from Home Sweet Texas Home:

When Jimmy saw his sister in bed, he rushed over. “Sis, what happened? What’s with the towel and the ice packs?” He frowned at Derek. “What’s going on?”

She opened her mouth to explain, but nothing came out.

Derek figured the bizarre situation defied description. He patted Jimmy on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’s okay now. We were at the cemetery putting flowers on Sam’s and Maggie’s graves and your sister got trapped in the bathroom.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t understand. How could that hurt her?”

Courtney sighed. “The knob came off in my hand and I couldn’t open the door. So, I climbed out the window.”

Derek held out his hands to indicate the small rectangle. “A small, high window.”

Jimmy looked from his sister to Derek. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

Courtney snapped, “I got stuck, okay?”

Now that he knew her to be okay, the week’s tension suddenly snapped Derek and he lost his perspective on the whole situation. He grimaced at Jimmy. “She, um…” He coughed to keep a straight face. “When she tried to go out the window, she got stuck with her head and one arm sticking outside and the rest of her inside.” He stood like a bird with a broken wing to imitate Courtney’s position. A grin spread across his face in spite of all his efforts not to smile.

Jimmy gaped at his sister. “Courtney? But she’s always so sensible. She’s never does anything stupid.” He began to smile also.

Both males burst into laughter.

“Listen, if you two are so amused, go into the other room to discuss my apparently hilarious antics and leave me to suffer in peace.” In spite of her strained muscles and injuries, she threw a box of tissues in their direction. “Go on, get out of here. Now.”

Derek glanced over his shoulder before he left.

She’d stuffed a pillow over her ears, to block out their laughter.

Home Sweet Texas Home is available from The Wild Rose Press in print or e-book and at other online stores. Check my website at www.carolineclemmons.com and my blog. I love to hear from readers at caroline@carolineclemmons.com. Thanks for reading!


Caroline's giveaway ends tonight at midnight EST. Comment to her post yesterday or today to be entered to win a PDF copy of Home Sweet Texas Home. (See yesterday's post for more contest info....)

GETTING THE CALL w/ Sayde Grace

Today I welcome a good friend from the Gulf Coast Chapter of RWA, Sayde Grace, whose debut novel Riding Double launched this month with The Wild Rose Press...

First let me give a huge thank you to my host today, Amber Leigh Williams, lady you rock! Thank you for letting me have a chance to stop by your wonderful blog and share a few thoughts with your readers and to shamelessly tell everyone about my cowboy’s!

Today I was supposed to give you all an article on writing. I looked and looked and couldn’t find anything that “spoke” to me so I’m going to talk about an article I’m writing. You see there are many, many things that authors and industry professionals don’t tell you when you begin writing. One thing I learned that startled me: how happy yet jealous I could feel. I adore my writing friends and have been cheering them all on from the time I met them. So why is it that as one, then two of my friends get contracts or terrific agent news that I have this nagging in my head that screams “WHY NOT ME??”

The green side of publishing can be very ugly if you let it. I had never put much thought into what I would do if one of my friends “made” it before me because I’d assumed I’d be beyond thrilled. While it’s not the easiest subject to talk about because lets face its not very nice NOT to be jumping up and down the entire time a friend is telling you they’ve gotten an agent, made a huge contract, or renewed a contract but sometimes it needs to be talked about.

After a good friend of mine hooked herself a terrific deal and topped that glorious news off with a sparkling agent I screamed for joy for her. Then about two minutes later I slumped down at my desk and pouted. Yes, she knows I did this because I was honest with her about it. I felt so guilty too. This subject was NEVER brought up at any of my local RWA meetings and after a little while I began asking around to see how other authors felt about this subject. Turns out it’s not just me who has done this. In fact nearly everyone I have spoken with about this topic has felt this at one time or another. Now I think it is extremely important to let newer authors know that it’s perfectly fine to have those feelings of “Why not me?” while still being thrilled for others. It’s human nature.

My advice to all authors is to give your feelings time to work themselves out. The knee jerk reaction can be brutal and can cause you to say things you might regret. So take a few minutes to recognize the feelings and remember that we are all one large group of writers and the “call” is waiting for us all.

My call or rather email came from Diana Carlile at The Wilder Rose Press for my new release Riding Double which hit the digital world May 7, 2010. As a native of South Alabama I was raised among the cotton fields and dirt roads of the south. I have a deep love and appreciation for the rural communities and use my experiences of small town life in my books. I’ve been writing full time for two years and have written five full length manuscripts which range from romantic suspense to young adult and even erotica. Growing up in the equine and cattle industry has given me a behind the scenes knowledge of the industry which I use throughout Riding Double my erotic romance short story.

Stressed to the max by her rodeo production company, Billie turns to young bareback rider Chet Haskins for a night of fun. She expects to get her mind off her business and her bull rider ex-fiancé, Bo Bennett. What she gets is several nights of sinful pleasure with both Chet and Bo. Finding herself quite literally between two hot cowboys, will Billie decide to move forward with Chet or start over with Bo?

Excerpt:

My heart raced as I realized Bo was here. Here, and very nearby, watching Chet and me. I looked to my left. Next to the bucking chutes, Bo stood staring at us. I inclined my head in a hello, and he sauntered over. He stopped in front of me and grabbed my hand, pulling me to his side.

“I’ve missed you more, no matter what kind of smooth talk this dipshit has told you.” He gave a dizzying smile, which I returned. “But this weekend we’ve got to get something straight. If we’re to be together,” he waved his hand back and forth between us, “then you need to understand I expect some control over this.”

My eyes almost bugged out of my head. He did not just say he needed control. I’d kill him. I opened my mouth to argue, but before I had a chance, his lips closed over mine. I had a moment to panic. Everyone who’d just seen me kiss Chet would know I was also involved with Bo. I jerked away, and he let me go.

Bo’s jaw firmed, and his eyes bored into mine. “Make no mistake about it. If I’m going to share you, you’re gonna let me keep some control. Otherwise, I don’t know if I can go on with this.”

For an instant I thought about telling him to fuck off, but I couldn’t. His kiss had demolished my emotional barriers. I wanted him. I needed him and couldn’t deny it any longer.

“Chet may have missed you some, but I’m the one who thought about you every day.” Bo’s voice turned low and deep, filled with desire. His eyes blazed with lust. “Remembered your touch, the feel of your skin sliding against mine, and how sweet you taste.”

Chet snorted. “He’s been talking nonstop about you for two weeks.” He laughed. “I told him there was no way in hell I was bowing out. The two of you would have too much fun without me.” He turned and ambled away.

Bo stood, looking at the ground. I gazed at him for a second to let the giddiness of knowing how much that kiss had affected him rush through me. I might regret it later, but this weekend I was determined to have a good time, and if that meant spending time with him, pretending things were like they had been, fine.

“I gotta get to that meeting.” I turned to go but stopped. With a glance over my shoulder, I melted a little. He was staring at my ass. “I wanna be with you tonight, but nothing has changed. When this weekend is over, things will go back to the way they were before.”

My heart sank, but he had to know. I still wasn’t ready to forgive and forget. Maybe I never would be.

He smiled and shook his head. “You’re wrong. After this weekend, things will never be the same.”

Thanks again for letting me stop by and share. Hope you all enjoyed Riding Double available at The Wild Rose Press!

Thanks for sharing with us Cozies today, Sayde! As a fan of western romance, I can't wait to read this book!