Teaser Tuesday - Tougher Than The Rest

Today's Teaser Tuesday excerpt is from Tougher Than the Rest,  the first book in the McLarens of Fire Mountain series by Shirleen Davies. I had such a good time escaping with this sweet Western romance! The author's skillful writing made me care about Kate and Niall - I hoped they'd end up together. She did a great job of introducing all the main characters and giving their history, too, making me look forward to the stories of each of the four MacLaren brothers. Future books in the series are due out later this year. I'll be watching for them!


TEASER:
     She'd told him more than once that he was the toughest man she'd ever met. And that, in a nutshell, was what she wanted--a tough, rugged westerner to hang on her arm and warm her bed.
(at 33% on my Kindle)

Amazon Link: Tougher Than the Rest
Number of Pages:  163

Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

A passionate, fast-paced story set in the untamed western frontier by an exciting new voice in historical romance.

Niall MacLaren is the oldest of four brothers, and the undisputed leader of the family. A widower, and single father, he is focused on building the MacLaren ranch into the largest and most successful in northern Arizona. He is serious about two things—his responsibility to the family and his future marriage to a goal of a wealthy, well-connected widow who will secure his place in the territory’s destiny
.
Katherine is determined to live the life she’s dreamed about. With a job waiting for her in the growing town of Los Angeles, California, the young teacher from Philadelphia begins a journey across the United States with only a couple of trunks and her spinster companion. Life is perfect for this adventurous, beautiful young woman, until an accident throws her into the arms of the one man who can destroy it all.

Fighting his growing attraction and strong desire for the beautiful stranger, Niall is more determined than ever to push emotions aside to focus on his goals of wealth and political gain. But looking into the clear, blue eyes of the woman who could ruin everything, Niall discovers he will have to harden his heart and be tougher than he’s ever been in his life…Tougher than the Rest.

Here's my review on Goodreads:
Goodreads Review

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers
• Leave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.

Teaser Tuesday - Stealing Mercy

For those of you who are new to this meme: every Tuesday a group of readers posts a two-sentence teaser from a book they're reading. Here's mine from STEALING MERCY.

TEASER: She did not have a romantic interest in Miles, although she wondered why not. Tall, handsome and kind, yes, but he had the sense of humor of a toad. 
(at 11% on my Kindle)

GENRE: Historical Romance
NUMBER OF PAGES:  195
AMAZON LINK: Stealing Mercy

MY THOUGHTS:
I've just barely started reading this book so it's too soon to say much about it! I like the idea for the story, especially since I live in the Pacific Northwest where it takes place. 

AMAZON SYNOPSIS:
A girl disguised as a boy.
A villain with a brothel to fill.

A hero wondering why he’s in love with a lad in breeches.
Serving murder, mayhem and pies, Stealing Mercy is a romantic adventure set in 1889—on the eve of the Great Seattle Fire, when more than a city is set on fire.

After a night of terror, Mercy Faye flees New York. Disguised as a boy, she sets sail for a new life in Seattle, but her nightmare, Mr. Steele, follows close behind. Armed with only her chocolates, laced tarts and wits, Mercy sets out to destroy Mr. Steele and his Lucky Island brothel.

Trent Michaels is searching for his missing cousin. He can't afford complications - or romance - yet, at every turn he finds Mercy Faye. The night before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, flames spark between Mercy and Trent leaving the life they know and the city they love in ashes.

Their story reaches forward through time to Bette Michaels, a genealogist, struggling with grief after the sudden death of her husband. Although generations apart, as Bette unravels Mercy's story, she learns that a life can be rebuilt - even after everything is lost.

Through Mercy, Bette discovers that sometimes the only way to find happiness is to steal it.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences on your blog from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.
• Leave a comment on the Should Be Reading blog post (here), including a link to your post.

Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56 - A RELIABLE WIFE

BOOK BEGINNINGS: 
Wisconsin, Fall, 1907. It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that had not happened yet. The world stood stock still, four o'clock dead on. Nothing moved anywhere, not a body, not a bird; for a split second there was only silence, there was only stillness. Figures stood frozen in the frozen land, men, women, and children.

FRIDAY 56: 
"Sister, sit. I'm sorry. I'm bad and I'm sick and I say things. But just sit by me. I'm never alone, but I always feel so lonely. So far away from everybody. Nobody holds me. Nobody touches me or calls my name...."
[At 56% on my Kindle]

GENRE: Historical Fiction
LENGTH: 320 Pages
AMAZON LINK: A Reliable Wife

AMAZON SYNOPSIS:
He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love. 

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.

MY THOUGHTS: The author does a great job of setting the scene in his opening, doesn't he? He also establishes the tone of the book: dark and brooding. Although the beginning was slow and seemed repetitious to me, I kept reading and I'm glad I did. Once I got into it, the story kept me riveted, wondering what would happen in the end. 

*****

Anybody can participate in 
Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56. 
Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts.
Find other Friday 56 bloggers here.
                

Teaser Tuesday - Vengeance is Sacred

This week's Teaser is from VENGEANCE IS SACRED, historical fiction from Peter Healy. 

Teaser:
Paolo reached the stairs, but took one last look back before he ascended. He watched in shock as the girls on the ledge began to jump...sometimes alone, sometimes with companions, sometimes with their clothes or hair on fire, and sometimes with prayers on their lips. He bowed in respect then bound up the smoky stairs with the screams following after him and the horrors he witnessed etched in his memory forever.
[69% on my Kindle]

Synopsis from Amazon:
    From the mountain farms of Italy to the distant shores of L'America young Paolo forges an unforgettable journey of fortitude, intrigue, and love as he eludes the retribution of the Camorra crime syndicate. But much more is at stake than just Paolo's humble life . . . for he has been bestowed with a mysterious family legacy that is now in danger to end. 
   Fleeing to the New World in 1909, Paolo struggles on his own until he meets the beautiful Maria, a bold, fiery, labor activist. The dauntless couple become involved in the dangerous garment workers' strike in New York City, but it is the ensuing fire at the Triangle Waist Company that proves to be the ultimate challenge of Paolo's psychic abilities . . . and a true test of his courage as a man! 
   However, through it all, a perilous debt still remains from Paolo's troubled past and those who lie in wait seek to honor their sacred code of vengeance. Can Paolo overcome the blind forces of reprisal and is the future as predetermined as one may think?

See my review here: Sandy's Review of VENGEANCE IS SACRED

FYI: The fire at the Triangle Waist Company really happened. On that day in March 1911, 146 people died, 123 of them women. For photos and more information: 
http://www.osha.gov/oas/trianglefactoryfire.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9GVbzf7Q4  (video essay)

To read more Teaser Tuesday posts, click here.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.