Gone Country by Lorelei James
Series: Rough Riders, Book 14
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Western/Cowboys
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Length: 420 pages
She’s a little bit country, and he’s…not.
Arizona businessman and long-lost McKay love child Gavin Daniels has been awarded sole custody of his teenage daughter Sierra for one year. In order to steer Sierra back on track after a brush with the law, he pulls up stakes and heads to Wyoming, looking for support from his ranching family…even if he isn’t sure where they fit in the McKay dynamic. He’s prepared for every contingency with the move: the less-than-enthusiastic response from his daughter, learning to run his corporation remotely, but he’s thrown for a loop when his new housemate, Rielle, is a whole lot sexier, funnier and sassier than he remembered.
Rielle Wetzler has finally overcome the stigma of having hippie parents and being a young single mother. In the two years since she sold her ailing B&B to Gavin Daniels, she’s become financially stable running the homespun businesses she loves. But now Gavin is in Sundance to claim the house that’s rightfully his. Although Rielle knew this day would come, she isn’t prepared to leave the home she built for herself and her now-grown daughter. And to further complicate matters, her long-dormant libido is definitely not ready to live with this newly buff Gavin—who isn’t a cowboy, but has the take-charge attitude to prove he’s all McKay.
Sharing a roof, their troubles and their triumphs is too much temptation, and before long, Gavin and Rielle are sharing a bed. But sharing their hearts and lives forever? That’s a whole ’nother ball of wax.
Warning: Contains a feisty, independent heroine who doesn’t need a man to take care of her needs outside the bedroom and a sweet, sexy and bossy hero who’s up to the challenge of proving her wrong
Sierra could not believe her dad was making her ride the bus home from school.
The school bus.
Who gets stuck riding the bus? Especially in high school?
Losers, probably.
Great way to start her school year.
Hoisting her backpack higher, she walked to the semi-circle where the buses were belching diesel. She started with the last one, searching for number one eleven. Some kid hung out the window of one thirteen and yelled out, “I love you, Sierra!”
She ignored the jerk, who was no doubt being sarcastic since she was the new girl, and kept her head down.
At least she hadn’t been a total pariah, but being fresh meat in the small high school had made her a novelty. She’d met so many people she couldn’t keep them all straight. But she knew the novelty would wear off, probably within a week.
A shadow fell in step with her and she glanced over at the freckled redheaded cowgirl.
Marin Godfrey had taken it upon herself to befriend Sierra first thing in homeroom yesterday. They had two classes together and lunch, so Sierra hadn’t had to sit by herself.
“Hey, Arizona. You took off fast after the last bell rang.”
“I didn’t want to miss my bus since I didn’t ride it yesterday.”
“Your bus is always in the middle. I’m jealous. All the good people ride on your bus. That’s the one everyone wants to be on.”
Sierra wondered what good people meant.
Marin smiled. “You’ll see. Perverts ride on my bus. Always trying to cop a feel. And the grade school boys are the worst.”
“So the school secretary wasn’t bullshitting my dad? Everyone in high school really rides the bus home every day?”
“Not everyone, not every day. Like the jocks have practice after school. But everyone else? Pretty much.”
Bizarre. Didn’t any of these people have cars? In Arizona everyone she knew had a car and no one rode the bus. She didn’t think her school district even had buses. “What if there’s a drama club meeting or something?”
“If there’s an activity or a club meeting, it’s held after supper, not after school, if it can be helped.”
“Why?”
“The school is big on parental involvement and that means scheduling stuff when adults are done with work. Most the kids who ride the bus have chores to do after school anyway.”
Chores. Such a foreign concept to her. After school let out in Arizona, she’d flopped on her bed and napped or watched TV until her dad got home from work.
“That’s why there’s no morning bus service,” Marin continued. “Gotta get them early chores done. So what’re you doing when you get home?”
“I’m sure my dad will grill me on how my second day of school went. If I made new friends. What I had for lunch. If I have homework.”
“That’s better than cleaning the chicken coop.” Marin pointed to the open door. “This one is yours. You’ve got my number. Call me later if you want.” She raced off.
Sierra reached the top step on the bus and the driver stopped her. “You’re Sierra?”
“How did you know?”
The older lady laughed. “Darlin’, I know every kid on this bus and have for years, most their parents too. So it’s nice to see a new face.”
“Oh. Which stop am I supposed to get off at?”
“Third to last stop.” Then the driver’s eyes were on the mirror, watching someone behind her. “Jimmy Dale, don’t you be messing with Liesl on the ride home, you hear me? Or I’ll make you sit up front.”
“Yes, Mrs. Craftsman.”
Sierra walked down the aisle. Little kids sat up front. A guy wearing a gray hoodie had claimed the last seat on the right. His athletic shoes hung off the end of the seat and he radiated a “back off” vibe. She chose a spot four seats up on the left.
Two girls from her history and math classes nodded at her they passed by, sliding into the seat opposite the hoodie wearer. A junior high couple sat two seats ahead and immediately started making out. Four guys she recognized from the lunchroom pushed and shoved each other, tossing out, “Hey, baby, we love you,” all the way to the back of the bus.
At least the spot next to her had stayed empty.
When the bus pulled out, she slipped in her earbuds and cranked her iPod, the universal leave-me-alone sign, focusing her attention out the window.
Maybe that wasn’t an obvious signal in Wyoming; she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She ignored it.
Less than thirty seconds later, a more insistent tap was followed by a loud, “Hey! I’m talkin’ to you.”
Sierra met the blue eyes of the dark-haired boy, about twelve, draped over the edge of the seat in front of her. He motioned for her to take out her earbuds. “What? Am I in your seat or something?”
“Nope. Man, you’re hot. Like really hot.”
Awesome that the elementary set thought she was dateable. But if this kid tried to cop a feel like Marin had warned, she’d deck him.
“Bet you can’t guess who I am?”
Her mind supplied a pain in the butt, but she said, “I have no idea.”
“Guess.”
She shook her head.
“Come on,” he cajoled. “Just one time.”
“Look, kid, I—”
“One guess,” he repeated stubbornly.
“Leave her alone, Ky,” came from the back of the bus.
Who had warned this kid off? She slowly turned.
The hoodie guy had removed his hood and was staring straight at her.
Oh hello, gorgeous. The guy was hot…beyond words actually, with long brown hair that nearly brushed his wide shoulders and dark scruff on his cheeks. He certainly didn’t look like he belonged in high school.
“Shut it, Boone. I wasn’t talkin’ to you,” the kid in front of her retorted.
Silent Mercy by Lori Armstrong
Series: Mercy Gunderson
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Imprint: Touchstone
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Silent Mercy is a FREE e-short story, available 12/4
Get your free copy of SILENT MERCY by CLICKING HERE
Recently returned from training at Quantico, FBI agent Mercy Gunderson stirs up trouble and uses her rarely seen feminine side to seduce her unsuspecting boyfriend, sexy-as-sin Sheriff Mason Dawson.
When she revs up her Viper to get his attention while he’s on patrol, tempers and sparks fly—but their rendezvous is interrupted by a disturbing cry for help.
The pair rush to the scene, where Mercy discovers that even though she can’t always save the day, she doesn’t have to be silent about it…
or I’m giving away, winner’s choice, a Nook or Kindle, up to $250 value, to one winner from all the different tour stops. Winner will be selected via Rafflecopter on 12/12.
This is a big tour with multiple stops per day. So on Rafflecopter we’ve set up following the hosting site to where readers can follow each site and enter the contest more than once to thank the wonderful sites who agreed to host my blog tour and to give you more opportunities to win the GRAND PRIZE. As an extra incentive, each site you follow will get you an extra 10 entries toward the grand prize, so don’t be shy and Good Luck!
December 4
12/4 – Under The Covers Book Reviews
12/4 – Sunset Reader Reviews
12/4 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews
12/4 – Be Nice or Leave Thanks
12/4- Mrs Condit and Friends Read Books
12/4 – Lorelei James
December 5
12/5 – Herding Cats & Burning Soup
12/5 – Bookswagger
12/5 – Blackraven’s Erotic Cafe
12/5 – For The Love of Reading
December 6
12/6 – Queen of the Night Reviews
12/6 – Seductive Musings
12/6 – Melinda Doizer Contemporary Romance Author
12/6 – Reading, Eating & Dreaming
December 7
12/7 – Harlie’s Books
12/7 – Book Sniffers Anonymous
12/7 – My Secret Romance
12/7 – Lori’s Book Blog
December 8
12/8 – Talk Supe
12/8 – Readers Confession
12/8 – Melissa Kendall Author
December 9
12/9 – Harlie Williams
12/9 – Tory Richards
12/9 – Simply Ali
December 10
12/10 – Fictional Candy
12/10 – Sultry Storyteller
12/10 – My Keeper Shelf
12/10 – Romancing the Book
December 11
12/11 – Guilty Pleasures
12/11 – Passionate Encounters
12/11 – The Muse Unleashed
12/11 – Lori Armstrong
Michelle T-W said:
I honestly love each Roughrider book for a different reason, but if I had to choose, I think my favorite is Kissin Tell.
Amy S. said:
I can’t pick one of them. I love them all. I can’t wait to read the new one. Love this series.
Moran said:
It’s so hard for me to pick just one fav book in the series so i’ll go with my top 3 books (I have to say I LOVE all the boosk in the series):
Cowboy Casanova, Cowgirl Up and Ride and Tied Up, Tied Down.
Alexandrea Ward said:
I actually haven’t read any of the Rough Riders books :(.
JeanMP said:
Love them all but one of my favorites is Rough, Raw and Ready.
Desiree said:
Next Tuesday feels so far away! Love all the Rough Riders, but my faves are. Cowgirls don’t cry, All tied up and Kissin Tell.
Esther Tiss Treib said:
Cowgirl Up and Ride has always been my favorite. Some have come close, but NO one has passed Cord.
angelmarie said:
Long Hard Ride is my fav but followed up with Rough Raw and Ready
Judy-Ree said:
My favorite book is usually the one I last read. But I will admit that Shouldva Been a Cowboy and Strong Silent Type are 2 of my special favorites. I am so glad a new book is coming out.
Thanks for a great giveaway!!
Samantha said:
My favorites are Raisin’ Kane and Cowgirl Up and Ride, but I am really, really looking forward to Gone Country. Thanks for the great contest!
CrystalGB said:
Cowgirl Up and Ride is my favorite. I love them all though. 🙂
Sandra said:
Love all your books, but the Blacktop Cowboy Series is my favorite
Amy E. said:
I can’t pick just one. I like them all.
Alyson LaBarge said:
I like Shut Up and Ride, ONR, All Jacked Up!, Cowgirl Up and Ride…this list just keeps going!
Angie Adair said:
Slow Ride…and looking forward to reading more of them!
Tammy Phifer said:
I already finished Gone Country and I loved it. I love all the booked in the series but I have to say that Tiedup, Tied Down #4 is my favorite.
Shelly said:
My favorite is Cowgirl up and Ride. I love that one! Come to think of it I love all of your books! I can’t wait to read about Sierra and Boone and Dalton and Rory! I am so excited for your next book!
laney lanham said:
my favs are all of em. i want a family like this one.