Romance Books '4' Us: When The Universe Hands You A Smile:)

Monday, March 5, 2018

When The Universe Hands You A Smile:)

I write because I can't imagine not writing. I know many of us feel the same way, but it's always a thrill when someone tells you that they've enjoyed your story. Last week, I received the news that HIS TO PROTECT is a nominee in Love Romances Cafe's, Best of 2017 in the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy category. I've been smiling for days and don't plan to stop, any time soon.

This book has a special place in my heart because it marks a couple of firsts. It was the first time I'd ever joined a world (the Black Hills Wolves) that had been developed by someone else. It was my first (but not last) project with Decadent Publishing and the book is also the first new story I'd submitted in a couple of years.

HIS TO PROTECT
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Blurb:

After ten long years, desperation has forced Luna Sinclair back to Los Lobos but nothing in her experience has prepared her for the heat that Pack Protector, Gunnar Redmond unleashes. Her wolf is clawing to break free and run straight for the hulking beast but what wolf in their right mind would want to be tied to her family tree?

Not everyone is happy about welcoming the daughter of one of the old alpha’s henchmen, home. Old wounds and secrets are exposed and to make matters worse, Drew Tao, the new alpha has reason to suspect that she might have revealed the packs most closely guarded secret when she escaped the crazed survivalist that had been keeping her prisoner.

None of that matters to Gunnar. He’s known Luna was his mate since finding her naked and shivering on pack land and he’ll do anything to keep her. With their wolves clawing to mate and danger closing in, anyone who wants to hurt her will have to go through him first.

Excerpt: PG13

The second afternoon of working at Gee’s, she knew the reason the back of her neck itched all of the time was because Gunnar wasn’t the only one watching. Not really a surprise. The community didn’t accept outsiders as a rule, and, apparently, she’d been gone long enough to merit suspicion. Some didn’t bother hiding their anger or mistrust.

Like the pretty young blonde woman dressed in a vintage denim dress and cowboy boots, clenching and unclenching her fists beneath the table. A toddler sat next to her in a booster seat and danced a blue plastic dinosaur over the table in time with the off-key tune he hummed.

“I’ll be back with your iced tea as soon as I give your order to the cook,” she said and attempted another smile the woman ignored.

“What were you thinking?” The woman’s whispered comment nearly exploded out of her mouth.

Luna, apparently, had been the only person who’d heard it. Everyone else seemed more concerned with their next bite of food or conversation.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you have a mate? Children?”

Luna shook her head and glanced at the toddler who seemed unaware of his mother’s escalating anger.

“I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from Ed Sinclair’s daughter. Whatever possessed you to drag your trouble back here?”

Two days of stares and whispers had left her temper frayed. “You’re looking at all I dragged back here. My mother and I were as much his victims as anyone else,” Luna snapped.

“Well, I guess she took care of that.”

Luna did a double take. What?

“Is there a problem, Chloe?” Gunnar asked.

Luna hadn’t heard him slip up behind her. For once, the heat he generated comforted instead of enticed. It didn’t, however, warm the woman’s chilly demeanor.

“Of course not,” the woman said tightly.

“Because if there’s a problem, I’m sure Drew would want to know if you thought he wasn’t doing enough to protect Los Lobos.”

The woman Gunnar called Chloe grew pale and her lips thinned. “Drew Tao is my alpha and I obey his word as law, but you have to know we still haven’t forgotten the damage one rampaging murderer managed to do here. He has to know many of us wouldn’t be happy about welcoming someone who may have invited another to our doorstep and endangered our children.”

“We invite trouble by our very existence, Chloe. Luna isn’t any different in that respect. Her coming home protected this community from outside scrutiny. You need to give her a chance.”

“She needs to prove she deserves one.”

Luna glanced at the child who had finally become aware of the tension between the adults. He clutched his toy while his lower lip trembled. She tugged at Gunnar’s arm and nodded toward the boy. How many times had her mother needed to protect her in the face of a situation out of her control?

“I’ll bring your drink order,” she said, once more, eager to bring the discussion to an end. Threats wouldn’t win her any popularity contests.

“Don’t bother.” The woman scooted out of her seat and reached for her son who grabbed onto her neck like a little monkey and tucked his head into the curtain of his mother’s long blonde hair. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

Luna tried not to let the stares and whispers reach her. She pretended they didn’t matter as she wiped the table clean of nonexistent crumbs. How the hell had anyone found out about what happened to her?

Voting link for LRC's Best of 2017: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L6T9VV5

Buy Links: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/his-to-protect/id1185260262?mt=11
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/his-to-protect-black-hills-wolves-63
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/688325
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5DM8ZE/
http://www.bookstrand.com/his-to-protect-black-hills-wolves-63
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Paris_Brandon_His_to_Protect_Black_Hills_Wolves_63?id=TPWuDQAAQBAJ

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-to-protect-paris-brandon/1125505304?ean=2940157178383