Yee-ha! I'm very pleased to confirm that Monday will be the release date for Taking On The Texan.
Taking On The Texan will be out on kindle from E-Scape Press (previously published as Secret Billionaire by DC Thomson Bridges and Knight)! It's got a gorgeous cover that I am so happy to flash around (my fave cover yet!) Isn't he lovely?
And in honour of the occasion the lovely people at E-Scape Press are offering a fabulous giveaway of super-exciting smellies to commemorate the release! (This book has a rather potent and delicious soap and body goods shop in the story!)
More about the wonderful Scottish-inspired prize on Monday.
But to whet your appetite for the book here's an excerpt...you may also need to read this for the question answer for the giveaway on Monday (heavy hint intended!)
Here's the bit where Jess meets Gabe in Taking On The Texan ...hope you like him as much as I did!
Re-arranging
stock in Pure Pleasures had lately
become a task best achieved by an acrobat. Or someone with proficiency on
stilts.
Sadly Jess Gilmour only realised
this as she teetered on her seen-better-days
step ladder and over-stretched to stow a basket on its shelf.
The ladder swayed, her foot jerked and
she grabbed out. When her flailing fingers found the wall, Jess balanced
gingerly afraid to move. Or breathe.
Her friend Ruth had warned earlier—Don’t overstretch yourself, Jess. You’re
running yourself into the ground. She’d been talking about work obligations
– from The Crofter’s Flask Inn to her pride and joy soap shop
business, Pure Pleasures. Invergarry
may be a rural highland backwater in Scotland but for Jess it was a busy
place to be.
Disaster struck as the basket
slipped, decanting lavender heads in a fast speed shower and falling with a
thud on the floor. The ladder shook and Jess felt panic rise as she wedged a
toe against the counter.
“Help!” she muttered; a fruitless
plea because she was all alone in the shop, about to fall from a ladder. As if
by magic, the door bells jangled to herald a visitor’s arrival as Jess let out
a strangled yelp, “I’m in trouble.”
Loud footsteps approached and firm,
unseen hands gripped her from behind. The ladder fell as she was lifted clear.
A sharp male sigh accompanied the movement and Jess was swiftly steadied then
lifted with easy strength, then lowered as woodsy male cologne spiced the air.
“You like climbing walls?” The voice
was deep and caramel rich; its owner’s identity, still a complete mystery.
But right now Jess was trying to get her
breath back after near disaster, while the nearness of the stranger made the tiny
hairs on her arms stand to attention.
“Sorry … I got too adventurous
there,” Jess muttered as confusion mixed a Molotov cocktail for her nerves. “I
mean, sorry to commandeer you into helping me.”
“You’re going to have to mend your
ways in future,” the voice added darkly. “Dangerous tricks like that one aren’t
a sensible move.”
Jess didn’t recognise his deep American
tones; he must be a tourist. And fortunately, he’d just saved her from calamity
with hands that still gripped her shoulders firmly.
She regained her balance then tucked her
hair behind her ears. Then Jess turned when he let her go. She already felt
like a foolhardy kid caught climbing an apple tree in roller skates. But when
she glanced at her rescuer, she needed a fresh breath of air.
Like the near-miss fall he was
breath-taking. As in gorgeous.
And equally hazardous.
Today is the official release date of TAKING ON THE TEXAN published by E-Scape Press.
