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.

SUMMER LOVIN’…DID YOU GET VERY FAR?
                               ♥ ♥ ♥

Do the words summer lovin' bring back memories of your teenage years? We sure remember the good ol' days of summer … and so do the three main characters in our book, I.O.U. SEX. After all, their goal was to find their former high school steadies and give them the sex they’d missed out on so many years before.

So let your mind travel back in time and think ... going steady, necking at the drive-in, and summer lovin’ as we revisit Dallas with our character June. She’s at the drive-in theater with her one-and-only, but they’re not watching the show.

Photo Source: Coltera's Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianspenceranderson/

    “Mmmm, Junie. You drive me wild.” Denny reached across the vinyl-covered seat and pulled June closer.

    She snuggled against him and stretched up to whisper in his ear. “Wild, huh?” She inhaled his unique scent—Brut aftershave mixed with the faint aroma of Lava soap and motor oil from his dad’s garage.

    Denny’s laugh sounded nervous. When he shivered, June giggled and stroked his wavy hair, then tickled his earlobe with her tongue, making him gasp.

    “Whoa, baby. You better slow down or you’ll get more than you bargained for.” He turned and grasped her shoulders, staring into her blue eyes. “Or have you changed your mind?”
    June scooted away, her warm feelings cooled by Denny’s question. She pushed her long blonde hair off her face and anchored it behind her ears. “You know how I feel about going all the way. Why can’t we just have some fun?”

    Denny groaned. “Junie, baby, you really don’t understand, do you? Have you ever heard of blue balls?”

    June stammered. “B-blue what?”

    Denny ran his fingers through his hair, making the short strands stand on end. He sighed. “Never mind. Come back here, June Bug. Let’s figure out what we can do without actually doing it.” He pulled her closer and slid the spaghetti straps off her shoulders, gently kissing the spots where the fabric had been only moments before.

    They’d done some heavy petting in the past, so June didn’t object. She loved it when Denny caressed her breasts and his kisses warmed her inside and out. Once she’d let him touch her down there. It felt go good—until she got scared and made him stop. She could only imagine the thrill of real sex.

    Of course, good girls didn’t go all the way. She’d had long discussions with Kiki and Peggy on the subject of how far to go without getting a bad reputation. Peggy said once you did something, boys seemed to expect it every time. And Kiki sure had a lot of information for someone who claimed virginity.
    June smiled and unbuttoned Denny’s shirt.

♥ ♥ ♥

Perhaps you once met a boy who was cute as could be, and you remember your summer days drifting away. We hope this blast from the past reminds you of hot summer nights at the drive-in movies with your first love.

Boomer Lit Friday

A weekly blog hop event for Boomer Lit writers

Thank you for stopping by for another Boomer Lit Friday post. To read excerpts from more Boomer Lit authors, click HERE.

Wordless Wednesday

This is my first post as part of the Wordless Wednesday meme. Yes, I've been lurking on everyone's sites in previous weeks, but today I finally decided to just jump on in.

Today's photo features Rainier cherries -- a treat in Washington State only once a year. I'm eating some right now. 

Yummy!

Here's the link to other beautiful Wordless Wednesday posts: Awesome Photos

Teaser Tuesday - Orphan Train

Maybe it's because my grandfather was an orphan, but ever since I heard about the real-life Orphan Trains, I've wanted to learn more. Christina Baker Kline's novel provides a realistic glimpse at that time in history.  It's a book about a teenager who is in foster care (present day) and a woman who was an Orphan Train child back in the early 1900s. Their stories are fascinating, and I came to care about the characters and the challenges they faced. Anyone who enjoys good fiction, taking place during real historical events, will be glad they read ORPHAN TRAIN. It's a book I won't soon forget.

FYI: According to the author's notes, between 1854 and 1929 approximately 200,000 orphaned children were transported via rail from the East Coast to the Midwestern U.S. for the purpose of adoption. 

In my Teaser (from Page 28) the children are waiting on a train platform, getting ready to be considered for adoption:
I am with a group of twenty children, all ages. We are scrubbed and in our donated clothes, the girls in dresses with white pinafores and thick white stockings, the boys in knickers that button below the knee, white dress shirts, neckties, thick wool suit coats. It is an unseasonably warm October day, Indian summer, Mrs. Scatcherd calls it, and we are sweltering on the platform.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Length: 273 Pages
Amazon Link: ORPHAN TRAIN
Goodreads: Synopsis

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.