About Once Upon a Word: We're a large group of multi-talented authors working together, to bring you the best romances.

Monday, January 27, 2014

HEARTS AND SPURS! JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY! by Cheryl Pierson



Hi everyone! I wanted to shout the news about Prairie Rose Publications' latest anthology, Hearts and Spurs, now available! We've had incredible luck with these anthologies and have put a call out for short stories for some summer anthologies we've got in the works right now. If any one is interested in submitting a story for "Lassoing a Mail Order Bride" (Sweet/sensual) or "Lassoing a Groom" (Sweet/Sensual) we still have some openings, but they're filling fast. Email me at prairierosepublications@yahoo.com

Now, here's a peek into HEARTS AND SPURS!



How do you capture a cowboy's heart? Hearts and Spurs is a collection of nine stories by some of western romance’s best—just in time for Valentine's Day! Following up their Christmas collection Wishing for a Cowboy, these ladies have done it again with new stories of handsome cowboys and the women who captivate them in Hearts and Spurs.

The Widow's Heart by Linda Broday

Skye O’Rourke thinks her imagination is playing tricks on her when she sees a man emerge from the shimmering desert heat. No one would willingly take a stroll under the scorching sun with a saddle slung on his back. She’s shocked to discover it’s Cade Coltrain, a man she once gave her heart to only to have him give it back.

Can she trust him not to abandon her this time? Yet, trusting each other is the only way they can survive. And love might just save them if they believe…

Guarding Her Heart by Livia J. Washburn

Julia Courtland was on her way west to marry a man she had never met. Henry Everett, the marshal of Flat Rock, Texas, was the grandson of her uncle's best friend. It seemed like a good match for both of them, and the wedding was scheduled to take place on Valentine's Day.

Grant Stafford thought the young woman who got on the stagecoach at Buffalo Springs was the prettiest thing he had seen in a long time. She wasn't too friendly, mind you, but she was sure easy on the eyes. Not that Grant had time to worry much about such things. He was the shotgun guard on this run, but more than that, he was an undercover Texas Ranger on the trail of the vicious outlaw gang responsible for a string of stagecoach robberies.

Fate threw Julia Courtland and Grant Stafford together on a cold February day in West Texas, but it also threw deadly obstacles in their path. A runaway team, a terrible crash, and bullets flying through the air threaten to steal not only their lives but also any chance they have for happiness. If they're going to survive, they will have to learn to trust each other...and maybe steal their hearts back from fate.

HERE ARE THE NINE OF US IN A COLLAGE THAT LIVIA MADE!

Found Hearts by Cheryl Pierson

Southern belle Evie Fremont has lost everything — except hope. When she answers an advertisement for marriage to Alex Cameron who lives in the wilds of Indian Territory, she has few illusions that he could be a man she might fall in love with — especially as his secrets begin to unfold.

Ex-Confederate soldier Alex Cameron needs a mother for his two young half-Cherokee sons more than he needs a wife — or so he tells himself. But when his past threatens his future on his wedding day, he and Evie are both forced to acknowledge their new love has come to stay — along with their Found Hearts.

Open Hearts by Tanya Hanson

To honor her brother’s last request, Barbara Audiss takes on his identity. Letting loose her secret will land get her arrested. But keeping it prevents her from giving her heart to handsome sheriff Keith Rakestraw.

Furious at “Judge Audiss’s” latest verdict, Keith discovers she’s a fake and consequences seem easy: toss her in jail. Instead, he finds himself eager to give her his heart.


Hollow Heart by Sarah J. McNeal

Madeline Andrews is a grown up orphan. Sam Wilding made her feel part of his life, his family and swore he’d come home to her when the war ended, but he didn’t return. With the Valentine’s Ball just days away, the Wildings encourage Madeline to move forward with her life and open her heart to the possibilities. But Madeline is lost in old love letters and can’t seem to let go.

A Flare of the Heart by Jacquie Rogers

Celia Valentine Yancey has no illusions she’ll ever enjoy wedded bliss, so chooses marriage over spinsterhood even if she has to marry a man her father picked. On the way to meet her groom, she endures armed robbery, a stagecoach wreck, a dozen hungry baby pigs — and an incorrigible farmer.

Ross Flaherty retired from bounty hunting to become a farmer but now Celia has brought his worst fear to his door — in more ways than one. A ferocious wolf-dog and a dozen piglets are no match for this determined lady.

Which is more dangerous — the Sully Gang or Miss Celia Yancey?


Coming Home by Tracy Garrett

Sometimes it takes two to make dreams come true.

When a man who believes he’ll never have a home and family…

Former U.S. Marshal Jericho Hawken should have been shepherding a wagon train to new territory, but he unwillingly left them vulnerable to a vicious raider. The murder of the settlers he was supposed to be guarding is the hardest thing he’s ever had to face…until he meets the sister of one of the settlers.

…finds a woman who has lost everything…

Instead of a joyous reunion with her brother, Maryland Henry has come to River’s Bend to take responsibility for her three orphaned nieces. Fired from her teaching position and with no other family on whom to rely, Mary believes Jericho Hawken is responsible for all her woes. Or is he what she’s been searching for all along?

It takes a lot of forgiveness and a few fireworks to realize that together their dreams can come true.

Tumbleweeds and Valentines by Phyliss Miranda

When Amanda Love finds a tumbleweed lodged against her fence with an invitation to a Valentine Day dance stuck to it she thinks someone must be playing a joke. No one would invite her. No one ever had. Besides, she has no time for such things. She has a candy store to run. Curiosity gets the best of her though. Finding her name scrawled on it as bold as can be sends ripples of surprise through her. As she embarks on a quest to find the sender’s identity, she examines herself and the secret dream she harbors of having a husband and children.

Maybe, just maybe, someone had seen the yearning in her heart. But who?

The Second-Best Ranger in Texas by Kathleen Rice Adams

His partner’s grisly death destroyed Texas Ranger Quinn Barclay. Cashiered for drunkenness and refusal to follow orders, he sets out to fulfill his partner’s dying request, armed only with a saloon girl’s name.

Sister María Tomás thought she wanted to become a nun, but five years as a postulant have convinced her childhood dreams aren’t always meant to be. At last ready to relinquish the temporary vows she never should have made, she begs the only man she trusts to collect her from a mission in the middle of nowhere.

When the ex-Ranger’s quest collides with the ex-nun’s plea in a burned-out border town, unexpected love blooms among shared memories of the dead man who was a brother to them both.

Too bad he was also the only man who could have warned them about the carnage to come.

I hope you've enjoyed this peek into HEARTS AND SPURS today! I'm giving away a digital copy of the book to one lucky commenter. If you can't wait to see if you won, hustle on over to Amazon and pick up a print or Kindle copy there. (Or any retailer of your choice.)

KINDLE LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Spurs-Linda-Broday-ebook/dp/B00HU5SCYE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1390862254&sr=1-1&keywords=hearts+and+spurs
PRINT LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Spurs-Linda-Broday/dp/1494990407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390862360&sr=1-1&keywords=hearts+and+spurs++by+linda+broday

4 comments:

  1. Cheryl, is there any place you aren't blogging today? LOL I'm glad you're talking about our new anthology Hearts and Spurs today. You make my head spin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah, I ended up with one I hadn't planned on today when nobody else volunteered to post over at WF. LOL I AM everywhere today! LOL Thanks so much for coming and commenting--I always know you'll be there, and I can't tell you how I appreciate it.
      Hugs,
      Cheryl

      Delete
  2. I feel the same way about names, Cheryl. They have to be just right. I look up time periods and country. In some of my nonwestern stories I had to look up Romanian names for my gypsies. I even made up a few names along the way.
    I think your Villain, Fallon had a killer name--literally. Where did you find that name?
    When it comes to your stories, I'm a literary stalker girl. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey lady! I almost didn't see this--it's on last month's post for some reason...what the????LOL Anyhow, you know, if I can't come up with a good name, I will leave a _________ where the name goes until I come up with it but go ahead and write. LOL That's how important the perfect name is to me. Fallon just came to me. I could see him, even in my mind's eye. I knew "Fallon" but had to come up with a first name for him...Andrew. Oh, I've got a new story coming out next week if all goes well, Sarah. The Half-Breed's Woman. One of my earlier efforts that I really had to go in and clean up but I love that story--it was worth it. Hope you enjoy it.
      Hugs,
      Cheryl

      Delete

Comments relevant to the blog post are welcome as long as they are noninflammatory and appropriate for everyone of all ages to read.
Thank you for your interest and input.