Today Kelly Dawson has dropped by to share an excerpt from her latest release "The Ways of the West" But before we take a trip back in history, I asked Kelly if she ever had the feeling of being watched. Because, as we all know, paranoia is really just heightened awareness. Right?
Anyway, this is how she answered: "All the
time! Not so much since we’ve been in this house, but I swear a previous house
we lived in was haunted. I felt like there was always something looking over my shoulder. It was horrid!"
Ah, now I wonder if her next story might not involve a ghostly spectre longing to right an ancient wrong, and a sensitive young woman who is determined to deny her gift and ignore the handsome ghost who appeals to more than her good nature. Hey, it could happen.
Excerpt:
Johnny approached Jessica warily, not wanting to startle
her. She was in shock enough as it was, he didn’t want to add to her terror.
And that she was terrified he had no doubt – he could hear it in her screams,
see it in her eyes.
“Jessica.” He spoke softly, crouching down on the
ground near enough to touch her, but not reaching out for her. “Jessica,” he
tried again. She looked at him through her tears, but she didn’t say anything;
she was traumatised. Then she turned back to her family, pressing her face into
their bodies, trying desperately to will them back to life. Johnny watched,
helpless, as she screamed her outrage at the Indians, wailed her grief at
losing her beloved, sweet mama, then turned her wrath on her father, collapsing
on the ground beside him, screaming at his lifeless body the loudest of all.
“You killed them!” she hollered, beating at his
brutalised body with her fists. “It was you who wanted to come west!” she
yelled. “We were quite happy, me and Mama! Now she’s gone and it’s all your
fault! And Petey! He was just a baby, with his whole life ahead of him! Now
he’s gone too and it’s all … your … fault.” She ground the words out
between sobs, gasping for breath. Her flailing fists stilled and she curled up
against the dead man’s chest, sobbing, her body shaking, a broken woman.
Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder Johnny spoke
softly in her ear in what he hoped was a comforting tone. “Jessica, look at
me.” She didn’t. Gently, he took her hands in his own and disengaged her
fingers from the death-grip they had on the lapel of her father’s coat,
wrapping his arms around her securely and pulling her in close against his
chest. “Shhhh,” he crooned softly, trying to calm her as though she were a
baby. It worked. She responded to him, her sobs easing. Her shuddering slowly
stilled, she got her breathing under control and began to relax in his arms.
And she clung to him tightly, so tightly, as though she would never let go.
Then she looked up at him and began to speak.
“They came out of nowhere, they just rose up all
around us, as though they came up out of the ground. The wagons were completely
surrounded. I tried to tell Papa of the risk of Indians before we left Boston
but he didn’t listen. And now look ... look at them now.” She burst into tears
again, sobs wracking her body once more as she stuffed her fist into her mouth
trying to stifle her cries. Johnny wrapped his arms around her tightly again,
wishing he could shield her from the pain, wishing she hadn’t seen her entire
family, the entire wagon train, get massacred.
Blurb:
Orphaned
by an attack on her family’s wagon train, Jessica finds herself stranded a
thousand miles from Boston, the only home she has ever known. Only one man—a
rough, dusty cowboy named Johnny—stands between her and the perils of the west,
and he quickly makes it clear that he is ready to do whatever needs to be done
to keep Jessica safe, whether she likes it or not.
When
the unlikely pair stumble upon a cattle drive and they are both offered
employment, Johnny doesn’t hesitate to accept. But after Jessica loudly
expresses her disdain for his plan and for cowboys in general, Johnny decides
it is time for drastic action. After a hard, embarrassing spanking followed by
a tearful apology to the trail boss, Jessica is left with a sore backside and a
strange yet undeniably powerful need to be held close and comforted by her
handsome protector.
With
Johnny by her side—and claiming an ever bigger place in her heart with each
passing day—Jessica begins to adjust to life on the trail. But a cattle drive
is a dangerous place for anyone, let alone a city girl with a penchant for
disobedience. If he ever wants the chance to make Jessica his wife, Johnny
knows he’s going to have to take her firmly in hand before she gets herself
hurt or killed. Even if it means a painful, humiliating bare-bottom strapping
she’ll never forget, one way or another he’ll teach her the ways of the west.
Publisher’s
Note: The Ways of the West is an erotic romance novel that contains
sexual scenes and spankings, including domestic discipline in a historical
setting. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.
BUY LINKS:
Amazon
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Ways-West-Kelly-Dawson-ebook/dp/B014LXVSIO
Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ways-of-the-west-kelly-dawson/1122591477
All Romance Ebooks Buy Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thewaysofthewest-1876679-147.html
About the Author:
Kelly
Dawson loves anything to do with horses, rodeos and cowboys, and loves to get
lost in a good book - preferably a rural romance where a strong woman falls in
love with a ruggedly-handsome, tough but gentle cowboy, and these are the types
of characters who feature in the stories she writes. Only in Kelly’s books, the
cowboys are even better because they spank!
She lives literally at the bottom of the world in the South Island of New Zealand, with her husband, four kids, a dog and a cat.
She lives literally at the bottom of the world in the South Island of New Zealand, with her husband, four kids, a dog and a cat.
Visit the other participants joining in the
Hi Kathryn and Kelly, I enjoyed reading this, great idea for a new story Kathryn :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Kelly, you know I can't wait to start reading this :)
Hugs
Roz
Thanks Roz :) And thanks for hosting me Kathryn! Yes there is a ghostly story in the works ... one day it might even see the light of day! :)
ReplyDelete