The Book
Kellan Anderson is in
hillbilly hell – or at least that’s what it feels like. After enduring
endless accounts of abuse from her now ex-boyfriend, Kellan makes a run
for her life and finds herself in cowboy country. Leaving her fancy
clothes and expensive lifestyle behind her, she trades in her high heels
for cowboy boots and changes her name to Andi Ford. With her painful
past threatening to catch up with her, hiding out in this small town
seems easy enough – until one blonde hair, blue eyed cowboy steps in the
picture.
Zane McKade has sworn off women, determining that they are all liars
and cheats – including the new waitress at the local bar. After a rather
unpleasant first encounter with the beautiful brunette, Zane’s radar is
set to high as he believes this woman is not who she claims to be. When
his intimidation methods fail to break through Andi’s barrier he
decides to turn on the charm to get her to tell the truth. But Zane’s
plan begins to backfire as the more time he spends charming Andi, the
more he finds himself breaking his own rules and falling for her.
An Excerpt
Kellan saw the man coming her way and a nervous
feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t noticed it
when he rode up, but he was incredibly good looking. The man had to be a
least six two, with long muscular legs leading up to narrow hips that
angled into a very masculine upper body. He looked like an athlete. He
looked…solid. And although his pale blue shirt was soaked with sweat, it
somehow added to his overall appeal. He stopped at her table and glared
at her. Only then did she realize that this man was not coming over for
friendly chit-chat and her mood shifted.
“Is that your red sports car out there?” Zane asked, tilting his head and jerking his thumb towards the parking lot.
“Yes,” Kellan told him. What’s it to you? She stared up at him, waiting
for him to continue. But when he just stared back, his deep blue eyes
shooting daggers at her, she decided enough was enough. “Is there
something I can help you with?”
Zane’s jaw flexed. “You could have four miles ago.”
“What?” She was utterly confused as to what mileage had to do with his apparent anger towards her.
“I don’t look familiar to you?” He stared at her, his eyebrows coming together in frustration.
She looked the man over from head to toe. “No, I’m sorry you don’t.”
Zane let out an exasperated sigh. “How about now?” He raised his arms
above his head and waved them just like he had done when he was trying
to flag her down.
He looked completely ridiculous and she fought back the urge to laugh
at him. But the more she looked at him she realized that he did look
strangely familiar. Oh my… He was the man on the side of the road next
to the pickup truck just outside of town.
“Oh,” Kellan said. “Yes, I do remember you now. I’m sorry I didn’t
recognize you with your shirt on.” She loaded her voice with sarcasm and
crossed her arms over her chest. If he was going to have an attitude
with her, then she was going to give it right back.
Zane’s eyes narrowed. “Well, would you care to explain why you just blew past me like that?”
Kellan laughed, quietly as to not draw attention. “Why did I blow past
you? Hmm, let me think. Um, maybe it has to do with the fact that you
were partially naked and in the middle of nowhere.”
Well damn. He hadn’t thought about that. He’d been all riled up
thinking that some guy just ignored him. Now, thinking about it from her
perspective, he could see why she didn’t pull over to help him. As it
was though, his built up anger from everything that had transpired today
got the best of him and he continued with his rant.
“I was not half naked,” he said, his voice low as he briefly glancing
around the room to see if anyone could hear them speaking.
“Look, cowboy.” She said the word as though it were an insult and not
an affirmation of what he obviously was. “I’m sorry you’re having a bad
day, but don’t come over here and take it out on me. I had a good reason
for not stopping earlier and I’m not going to apologize for looking
after my own safety. You could’ve been a murderer for all I knew.”
Zane knew that he should just man up and walk away, but he just
couldn’t do that now after her snarky “cowboy” remark. Why’d she have to
go and say it like that anyway?
“Look, princess,” he said with the same tone she had used. “This ain’t
Hollywood. Take your sunglasses off. You’re inside and you look like a
damn fool.”
Kellan’s jaw fell in disbelief.
Zane smiled, feeling triumphant that he got in the last word. He turned and started to walk away from her.
“Screw you, cowboy!” she yelled after him, saying the word exactly as she had before. “And that horse you rode in on.”
And—Whoops!—now everyone in the diner had turned to look at them.
Zane turned around to face her with amusement on his face. “Very original, princess.”
The Giveaway
Comment for a chance to win a copy of "Zane: The McKades of Texas"!
The Tour
Aug 22 - Black Lion Tour Blog/introduction
Aug 23 - Cait Lavender, Cowgirl Writer/review
Aug 24 - Caroline Clemmons Blog/interview
Aug 26 - A Novel Idea/live interview (airs 1:00 PM MST)
Aug 28 - Coffee Addicted Writer/guest post
Aug 30 - Books, Books, the Magical Fruit/guest post
Sept 7 - MK McClintock Blog/review and spotlight
Sept 10 - Nothing Better than a Book/review
Sept 11 - The Book Nook/review
Sept 13 - Reviews by Molly/review
Sept 14 - Black Lion Tour Blog/wrap-up
