Good-Bye 2020!

Hello everyone! I'm welcoming in 2021 with a new release on New Year's Eve, so if you staying in maybe this book will be just perfect for a cold winter's night while we wait for the ball to drop!  The Marshal and Kate is book 2 in the Come Sundown series.

A hot romance is kicking up some dust in the old west! A sexy Marshal, looking to rope his woman, is about to find himself smack dab in the middle of a mystery. The woman he craves is up to her pretty neck in murder and mayhem!

Kate McKutchin has her share of problems. Strong, proud, and fiercely independent, having a man in her life is a complication, but she’s unable to resist the attentions of Martin MacPherson.  His midnight raids leave her breathless and sated.  Oh, Kate knows the townsfolk gossip about her, however, that is the least of her worries. She has far darker secrets in her past, ones she hopes will never make it this far west.

Marshal Martin MacPherson is stuck on Kate and has been from the moment she first appeared in town.  She’s troublesome to be sure, but her embrace is one he longs for and it’s his intention to make their relationship permanent. The beautiful redhead has refused him more times than he can count, making him a bit of a territorial joke. Determined to win her he’s not above using a little over-the-knee encouragement, but Kate remains firm.  She cannot marry him. It’s not until a wanted poster crosses the marshal’s desk that he begins to wonder just who Kate McKutchin really is.

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  Here's a little preview:

Martin woke early, the dawn barely streaking the sky. Stumbling from the bed he pulled on his jeans and walked to the main room of the cabin.  He needed the outhouse.  Barefoot he padded across the plank floor, surprised to see Kate sitting at the table.  She appeared to be naked but for a green shawl that was wrapped around her shoulders and hung down, covering her breasts.  The lamp on the table was lit. The flame small, but the light it cast was more than enough for him to see the wrath in her green eyes.

Stopping just before the doorway he paused and scratched his head.

“Kate, about last night,” he began before watching her hand rise from beneath the table holding her Colt 45.

“Get dressed and get out,” she said.  Her words were spoken quietly.  They were almost whispered, but he clearly heard the fury she held in check. Gently, lovingly she placed the gun on the table and picked up her cup of coffee, taking a sip.

“Kate, I know you are angry, but…”

“Get out,” she repeated, this time her words were much more forceful.  Her eyes narrowed slightly as her hand moved closer to her gun.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little unreasonable?” he asked, planting his hands on his hips and glaring at her.

“I won’t ask you again,” she warned.

For a moment, her eyes traveled over his naked torso.  They almost seemed to be caressing him.  Then they turned cold.  He could see the tightness around her mouth, the tense line of her jaw.

“It was only a little spanking,” Martin growled.  “One that you deserved for your ridiculous threat to begin seeing other men when you know you belong to me.”

“I belong to no one,” she snapped back.  “I chose to let you into my life.  I chose to share my body with you.  You do not own me, and you never will,” she hissed, her eyes flashing.  “Now get out before I do something I’ll regret, and don’t come back unless and until you have an invitation.”

“I love you woman,” he bellowed, striding to the table, and planting his hands down on it as he leaned forward.   “I want you to be my wife, and you’re the only woman I’ve ever said those word to!”

“Then I’m sorry,” she replied.  “It was not my intention to fall in love with you, or for you to love me.  I thought we were friends. Friends who enjoyed each other’s company, no strings attached.”

“So you feel nothing for me?” he asked harshly.  “I mean nothing to you?”

“I did not say that,” Kate answered with a frustrated sigh.  “I said no man will ever ‘own’ me again.  No man will tell me what to do.  I’m free, for the first time in my life, and I like it. You made plans,” she accused.  “You took things for granted.  That was your mistake.  I’ve always been honest with you.”

“You’ve never been honest,” he contradicted angrily.  “You appeared out of nowhere, with no rational explanation why a woman with your background would choose to come way out west and live alone, working until your hands are callused and…what do you mean by ‘again?”

Kate ignored his question, instinctively knowing she’d let something important slip.

“You know nothing about my so-called background,” she said coolly.

“I know you’re educated.  I know you have social graces that seem to come naturally to you. Despite your insistence that you have no family someone raised you, Kate.  Someone with the wherewithal to see that you could fit in with a society a few steps higher up the ladder than what you’ll find here.  You’ve refused to tell me anything, anything that mattered.”

“Because nothing matters,” she replied.  “I have no past, and my only future is living on this land and eking out a living as best I can.”

“Then let me help you,” he pleaded.  “Let me make a future with you, one that is bright and full of life and love.”

Kate snorted and shook her head.

“I believe I asked you to get out of my house, Marshal MacPherson,” Kate repeated.  “Don’t make me force you to leave.”

Martin stormed into the bedroom and threw on the rest of his clothes.  Back in the main room he pulled on his boots and stomped his feet into them.  All the time Kate watched him, emotionless.  Shrugging into his jacket he looked at her and rolled his eyes.

“You are a damn obstinate woman,” he growled, snatching his hat from the rack on the wall.  “We both know you’d never use that gun against me,” he scoffed.  “Just be glad I have things to take care of or I’d teach you a thing or two about what you’ll be able to get away with as my wife, and what you won’t.” 

Slapping his Stetson onto his head Martin yanked the door open wide.  He turned his back, heard the shot, and watched in shock as his hat flew from the top of his head into the yard.  Striding after it he picked it up staring at the clean hole right through the high crown.  Spinning around he glared at Kate.  His hand rested on his belt buckle as he tried to decide if he wanted to whip it off and blister her ass.

She stood in the doorway watching him for a moment before calmly closing the door.  He heard the heavy bar fall into place.  Her intentions were clear.  It was to keep him out. His shoulders stiffened as he strode to his horse and mounted in one bound. Some things were better left to another time, he thought as he rode away, but he swore a blue streak all the way into town.  ‘No one will ever own me again’.  Those words were burned into his consciousness.  Who had owned her, and what had they done to his Kate?  That was what he wanted to know.  That was what he was now determined to find out!

I hope you enjoyed this little snippet.  You can purchase this book on Amazon, as well as other retailers. Just click the links below.

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 Universal link for Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Nobel, Angus and Robertson, Vivlio, and Indigo

You can find me just about anywhere, lol. The easiest place to start is linktree. I'd love to hear from you.