From Kaye Spencer - #mailorderbride Western Romance anthology

This collection has four wonderful novellas about women who find themselves in the odd circumstance of needing themselves a husband, and grooms who must have a bride--or else!

A woman would have to be loco to become a mail-order bride...wouldn't she? Leaving everything behind and starting fresh in the untamed west is the answer to a prayer for these ladies! A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast —but her husband wants a bride for life. A pregnant young lady becomes desperate —almost as desperate as her soon-to-be husband, who just inherited his sister's kids. A man is in love with a woman he can’t have —or can he? A woman’s reputation is tarnished and professional career compromised —she runs, but she can't hide. Will they all find love with strangers they've never met who are set on LASSOING A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE?

THESE ROUGH DREAMS—Cheryl Pierson
A pregnant mail order bride. A groom with three orphaned children. Some dreams get a rough start
HER HURRY-UP HUSBAND—Tanya Hanson
A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast —for just one month —but the rancher wants a wife for life!
A PERMANENT WOMAN—Kaye Spencer
He needs a wife to get custody of his grandchildren. She needs a fresh start and a new reputation. Desperate men — and women — sometimes take desperate measures...but can she be A PERMANENT WOMAN?
THE BIG UNEASY—Kathleen Rice Adams
A man in love with a woman he can’t have. A woman engaged to a man she doesn’t love. A secret in common could destroy them all.

EXCERPT from A Permanent Woman

“Excuse me. Mr. Perlman directed me here. I’m responding to an advertisement in the Matrimony Courier. Are you Simon Driscoll?”

Simon closed his eyes, fortifying himself to face another woman with a façade of interest. “Yes, I’m Simon Driscoll. Your name?”

“Tessa Morris.”

He opened his eyes, frowning as he mentally ticked off the names on the list. Still gazing out the window, he asked, “Did you send a letter under a different name? I don’t recall a Mrs. Morris.”

“Miss. Miss Morris. I’ve never been married and, no, I didn’t send a letter. In fact, I came across your advertisement but five days ago.”

Simon turned. “I’m sorry, but the deadline—” The words died on his lips. Ben was in the doorway, pointing to the woman and nodding.

“Mr. Driscoll, is something wrong?” She followed Simon’s stare and looked over her shoulder right as Ben stepped out of the doorway.

His insides went topsy-turvy. Ben had a way with people. He couldn’t leave him to talk to this woman alone.

No letter of introduction. He didn’t know anything about her, and he sure as hell didn’t know what to say.

“You’re quite pale, Mr. Driscoll. I think you should sit.”

He cut her a sidelong glance. She was close enough that he could feel her body heat, and the scent of her perfume made him a little lightheaded. When she took hold of his hand, the soft warmth of her touch made his heart leap into his throat. She led him to a chair and, situating herself beside him, positioned hers so their knees touched. His breath hitched, and he scooted his chair, which prompted her to move her chair even closer. He was too old for parlor games, and she seemed determined to make him uncomfortable with her casual familiarity. The other women had kept a safe, proper distance across the table barricade.

She filled a glass with water from the pitcher at hand and gave it to him. “Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.”

Dumbly, he accepted the water, but she didn’t let go when he wrapped his big hand around the glass, trapping her fingers under his. It gave him a start, and he released his grasp like he’d been burned. That’s when he looked at her. Really looked.

Damn.

Available from Amazon in print, for Kindle, or with KindleUnlimited

Until next time,

Kaye Spencer

Writing the West one romance upon a time

Website/Blog - http://www.kayespencer.com
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Kaye Spencer's The Gunfighter's Woman and Ghostriders in the Sky

The Gunfighter's Woman is a paranormal western romance inspired by the old cowboy song, Ghostriders in the Sky (Stan Jones 1948).

There are many, many recordings of this song, including those by Vaughn Monroe, Bing Crosby, Frankie Laine, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Christopher Lee (the actor), Eddie Arnold, Peggy Lee, Gene Autry, Burl Ives, Sons of the Pioneers, Judy Collins, Roy Clark, Lawrence Welk, Baja Marimba Band, Tom Jones, Boston Pops Orchestra, Elvis Presley, Chris LeDoux. Blues Brothers, Dean Martin, and my favorite, Marty Robbins.

The legend of the ghost rider has its roots in Europe, particularly Britanny, Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, Spain, France, and Germany. Jacob Grimm of the fairy tales Brothers Grimm, developed the idea of the 'wild hunt' through comparative mythology that he published as Deutsche Mythologie (1835) "...as a folkloristic survival of Germanic pagan tradition, but comparable folk myths are found throughout Northern, Western and Central Europe...The Wild Hunt is an ancient myth of a spectral or otherworldly hunting party that sometimes appears at night."*

The warrior-leaders most associated with some form and version of the Wild Hunt are Wodin, Wodan, Odin, Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, and Old Nick. A few modern works of literature that use the Wild Hunt myth as part of the story are Sir Artur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, William Butler Yeats' 1893 poem The Hosting of the Sidhe, and Susan Cooper's 1973 book series The Dark is Rising. There are also comic books, movies, and operas with the wild hunt/ghost rider theme woven throughout or as the predominate story line. I've read that Ghostriders in the Sky was the inspiration for the song Riders on the Storm by the Doors.



The warrior-leaders most associated with some form and version of the Wild Hunt are Wodin, Wodan, Odin, Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, and Old Nick. A few modern works of literature that use the Wild Hunt myth as part of the story are Sir Artur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, William Butler Yeats' 1893 poem The Hosting of the Sidhe, and Susan Cooper's 1973 book series The Dark is Rising. There are also comic books, movies, and operas with the wild hunt/ghost rider theme woven throughout or as the predominate story line. I've read that Ghostriders in the Sky was the inspiration for the song Riders on the Storm by the Doors.

  IMAGE: The Wild Hunt: Asgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo**

I incorporate the wild hunt in the form of the cowboy ghost riders in The Gunfighter's Woman as a motivating force in the hero's life to change his ways before it’s too late. This story was originally published in 2006 as a novella. Now, nine years later and with a significant amount of plot added to the story, it is novel length with a deeper romance and nastier villains. The ghost riders still want to claim the hero's soul, but he's not going down without a fight now that he's found the love of a good woman.

Blurb:

When beautiful widow Brenna Gérard comes upon semi-conscious gunfighter Matt Caddock, all hell is about to break loose. An unholy storm’s a-brewin’, and Brenna makes a split-second decision to save Matt from the spectral fire-eyed cowboys who forever chase the devil’s herd—and pick up lost souls along the way.

Once they reach the safety of the ranch, Brenna cares for Matt’s wounds and makes him welcome—no questions asked. But Matt must learn to accept the fact that Brenna is being guarded for a while longer by her deceased husband’s spirit—and he’s not leaving her just yet.

Though Matt and Brenna are fast falling in love, there’s the matter of a fortune in gold that stands between them—gold that Matt never wanted, but now must find and use to keep Brenna’s ranch from failing. Archer, an outlaw who Matt once partnered with, wants that gold just as badly—and he’s prepared to kill for it.


Excerpt:

“Brenna!” Matt left the bed in one frantic heart-pounding leap, sending the bedside table crashing. “Brenna!” With a Colt clamped in his fist, he stood with his back to the far wall. Raking his gaze over every inch of the moonlit room, he searched the shadows and corners.

The door flew open. “Matt! What—” Whirling out of modesty, she put her back to him.

Matt made a catapulting leap onto the bed, snatched up his trousers, and grabbed Brenna’s arm on his way out of the room. Hustling her along through the kitchen, he hit the porch door with such force it wedged open and ripped the cheesecloth from the upper half.

Words came fast as he pulled on his trousers while clutching his revolver. “Someone… A man. There was a man standing at the foot of my bed. One second he was there and the next he was gone. Just gone. What in hell fire was that? Who was that?”

Brenna’s smile turned to giggles. “Gregory.”

Comprehension arrived on frowning silence. “But…he’s… Hell, you said he was dead. How could he be in that bedroom?” He shook his gun toward the door.

“That was our bedroom, and he died there. I changed bedrooms after he started visiting me in the night. I didn’t think he would return to that bedroom once he began rocking in his chair by the fireplace. Obviously, I was wrong.”

Matt stepped back, his gun arm lowering. “He rocks in a chair?” He blew out a slow, hard breath. “That’s plumb crazy.” Wagging a finger at her, he accused, “I think you’ve been alone out here too long. You’ve got a case of prairie madness.”

Brenna crossed her arms. “Then we’re both crazy. You saw him, too.”

Matt opened his mouth then clamped it shut. “Damn.” Shoving his Colt into the waistband of his trousers, he went to the edge of the porch and stood in the doorway...

 Available for purchase or read via KindleUnlimited: The Gunfighter's Woman


Until next time,

Kaye
 
www.kayespencer.com
Writing the West one romance upon a time

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt
**http://www.athenasweb.com/MegalithicMyths.html

Christmas in July comes to a close & a book trailer by Kaye Spencer

Even though August is a few hours away, it's not too late to enjoy 24 books from

Prairie Rose Publications' Christmas in July event.

My story is A Gift of Christmas Hope.

Until next time,

Kaye

Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride #anthology - Kaye Spencer #westernromance

 This collection has four wonderful novellas from Prairie Rose Publications is about women who find themselves in the odd circumstance of needing themselves a husband, and grooms who must have a bride—or else! A woman would have to be loco to become a mail-order bride…wouldn’t she? Leaving everything behind and starting fresh in the untamed west is the answer to a prayer for these ladies! A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast—but her husband wants a bride for life. A pregnant young lady becomes desperate—almost as desperate as her soon-to-be husband, who just inherited his sister’s kids. A man is in love with a woman he can’t have—or can he? A woman’s reputation is tarnished and professional career compromised—she runs, but she can’t hide. Will they all find love with strangers they’ve never met who are set on LASSOING A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE?
 

The four stories are:

THESE ROUGH DREAMS—Cheryl Pierson
A pregnant mail order bride. A groom with three orphaned children. Some dreams get a rough start

HER HURRY-UP HUSBAND—Tanya Hanson
A beautiful socialite needs a husband fast—for just one month—but the rancher wants a wife for life!

THE BIG UNEASY—Kathleen Rice Adams
A man in love with a woman he can’t have. A woman engaged to a man she doesn’t love. A secret in common could destroy them all.

A PERMANENT WOMAN—Kaye Spencer
He needs a wife to get custody of his grandchildren. She needs a fresh start and a new reputation. Desperate men—and women— sometimes take desperate measures…but can she be A PERMANENT WOMAN?

Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride is available in print and digital format at these online booksellers:

Amazon     B&N     Smashwords

Until next month,

Kaye

www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer

Three-paragraph teasers of Kaye Spencer's books

This summer has been unusually scorching hot in my southeastern corner of Colorado, so I thought I'd add to the heat level and share the first three paragraphs of my books. While my books are erotic or smoking hot sensual, the following brief excerpts are edited for 'PG 13' readers.

Writing as Kaye Spencer:

The Dance (contemporary erotic rodeo cowboy)

Out of patience and out of time, Janae Palmer slammed her hands on her keyboard, sending the delete key skittering across the floor. She rarely heard her upstairs neighbor, but fifteen minutes ago, he’d cranked his music past noise ordinance regulations and it wasn’t letting up. With Mr. Cowboy Way literally dancing on her ceiling, it was impossible to finish her book review.

Owen Quinlan was a good‐looking guy in an earthy, tight‐fitting jeans, redneck sort of way—six‐foot something with jet‐black, wavy hair and sky blue, let’s‐get‐naked eyes. Since she’d moved into this small apartment complex a month ago, fantasizing about him had increasingly interfered with her productivity and every time they’d met on the stairs or in the gym, she’d hurried on with only a mumbled hello for fear he’d read the lust in her eyes if she actually talked to him.

Their only real conversation had occurred last week when they’d picked up their mail at the same time. He was clad only in wet swim trunks with a towel draped over his shoulders, and she’d not meant to stare, but he was raw, male sex personified.

Get Branded (contemporary erotic cowboy-turned-model)

"And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. One lucky woman is seconds away from the dream date of her life—dinner and dancing with romance cover model, Declan Brand!" The emcee waited until the cheering and screaming subsided before continuing. "Drum roll, please."

The spotlight honed in on the karaoke stage and the twirling ticket tumbler. Five hundred Hawaiian Islands of Romance conference attendees held their collective breath. Declan Brand, the hottest, most drop-dead exquisite hunk of a male cover model to come along since that blond-tressed eighties icon of bodice-ripper fame, stood poised and ready to draw the highly coveted grand prize. Sisterhood was nonexistent in the crowd. It was every woman, plus her erotic fantasies, for herself. There wasn’t a set of dry panties in the audience.

Not so for Christy Walken.

Gambling with Love (western erotic)

“I’m sorry, sir, there are no vacancies.”

Nick Foster ignored the desk clerk. He was staring at the poker game in the adjoining room. Seeing Lainie again was like taking a right hook to the gut. It took the wind right out of him. He’d been on her trail for three months, and given how elusive she’d been, catching up with her tonight surprised him. She didn’t often play penny ante places. The snowstorm must have stranded her.

Two months ago, she’d been running a faro table in Tombstone, then moved on to San Francisco. He’d missed her in both towns by mere days. Following a lead to Dodge City, the deputy had told him he’d noticed her talking to an older woman with a small child who had already been in town for a couple of days when Lainie had passed through. The woman and child had boarded an eastbound train alone. The general thought had been that from Dodge, Lainie was headed for Denver by way of Cheyenne.
The Comanchero's Bride (western hot sensual – a previously published novella expanded to full novel for indie-publishing in 2013 – offered as free read on my website in chapter-by-chapter format – Chapters 1–11 are available to read now)

"Comancheros."

The whispered word raced like wildfire through the uneasy crowd. Music and dancing dwindled to nothing as everyone stared at the group of men newly arrived at the Mexican Día de la Independencia celebration. From the far side of the plaza, Elizabeth Bradford White watched the swarthy, flamboyant man standing in the midst of the strangers. Of his compañeros, he alone appeared comfortable as the focus of attention, yet his bearing dared anyone to challenge his presence.

Elizabeth noticed every tilt of his head, every movement of his lean, sinewy body. He turned his gaze upon her, capturing her in unguarded scrutiny. Her breath caught at sensing the aura of raw, elemental masculinity radiating from him, and she found it impossible to look away. A warm flush coursed through her veins, urging her with a primeval force to be near him. The man nodded slightly as if reassuring her to follow her instincts.

Writing as A.L. Debran

Lonely Places (western hot sensual)

Wrapped in a worn and soiled wool blanket, she rode steadily into the night. She trusted the sorrel gelding to take her away from Greeley and into the obscurity of the vast eastern Colorado plains. The roan packhorse followed doggedly in their wake.

Fading in and out of twilight consciousness with pain and boneweary exhaustion, thoughts of the Man troubled her foggy mind. Is he dead? Is he still coming? Why didn’t I make sure he was dead when I had the chance? I shot him with his own pistol. Surely, he’s dead.

The cool night breeze ceased with the welcome daylight warmth that touched her face. Realizing the gentle sway of her ride had ceased, she opened her eyes to discover the horses standing at the edge of a river, drinking deeply. With a twinge of guilt, she knew she’d pushed the horses too hard. But getting as far away from the Man as fast as possible had been her first priority.

Gunslingers & Ghostriders (western hot sensual)

Brenna Gérard rode her buckskin gelding east, toward Trinchera Creek where it flowed off the north slope of Johnson Mesa. A series of late June cloud bursts up on the mesa had sent a torrent of flash flood waters rushing down from Trinchera Pass and the water spilled out across the thirsty Colorado plains toward the Purgatoire River.

She shifted her weight in the saddle, trying to find a more comfortable position. Her shoulders ached and her head hurt. It had been a long, hard week of laying rock foot paths between the buildings in the ranch yard, but it was progressing and she was proud of her work so far.

When she’d tamped down the last rock for the day and sifted sand between the cracks, the only things on her mind had been supper, bath, and bed. She glanced at the sky. Weird swirling clouds and the threat of another thunderstorm loomed close. She breathed in the sweet dusky aroma of imminent rain while, out of habit, constantly surveying the soap weeds, cholla, and scrub cedars for rattlesnakes lying in wait for victims.

The Vampire Oracle, Life (contemporary erotic cowboy)

Jaxon Granger crammed his cowboy hat on his head as he bolted out the front door with his shirt tail flapping. He alternately hopped on each foot as he stomped into his boots then raced across the yard. His heart pounded from coming out of a dead sleep to the sound of the emergency buzzer.

Bursting through the side door of the indoor exercise arena, he vaulted the metal corral panels then walked calmly across the dirt floor to the injured horse. His younger brother, Steve, held the thoroughbred stallion by a halter and lead rope as their foreman, Mac Hartley, kept pressure above the horse’s wound to stem the bleeding.

Jax talked in a low tone and patted the stallion’s rump as he rubbed his hand along the big bay’s back, slowly working his way forward. Blood oozed from a horizontal gash across the stud’s meaty chest, and another slash went up his shoulder. The horse danced around and tossed his head, unwilling to stand still.

*****
Kaye Spencer's Amazon Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004C6QR64    
A.L. Debran's Amazon Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004C6SKB4
Kaye's Book Trailers - YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kayespencer

Until next time,

Kaye

fall in love…harder, faster, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
http://www.kayespencer.com