by Desiree Holt
This is a book I have wanted to write forever. It’s based on an old Irish
ballad called The Whistling Gypsy Rover.
I finally created the story that I thin k best brings it into the present
century. What do you think?
Give away:
Everyone whoa purchases Hard Lovin’
and sends me proof of purchase to desireeholt@desireeholt.com will also get a free copy of my modern fairy tale, Knockin’ Boots.
Blurb:
Erin Braddock, daughter of wealthy and powerful rancher Rance Braddock,
has been to hell and back. So has wandering cowboy minstrel Grady Sinclair. But
the moment they meet chemistry ignites between them, erasing everything else.
The sex is scorching, explosive, addictive. They can’t get enough each other.
The same talented fingers that coax seductive music from his guitar coax
powerful orgasms from her body. Seduced by his music as well as the sinfully
sexy man himself, Erin runs away with him. Nights she sits in the bar listening
to his come-to-me voice promising her the erotic delights he delivers on when
they’re back in their room. But will the past follow them or can they build a
future together, in and out of bed?
Excerpt:
Gypsy rover come over the hill, down through the valley so shady
He whistled and he sang til the greenwoods rang and he won the
heart of a lady
Erin
Braddock slipped into the dark bar through the back door, squinty against the
darkness and found her way to a tiny booth in the corner. The area was so small
a second person would be hard pressed to find room in the space but that suited
her just fine. She hadn’t come here looking for company. Unless it was the
cowboy up on the postage stamp sized stage, alone in the spotlight with his
guitar and his smoky voice. Ebony black hair curled down to the nape of his
neck and a work shirt and worn jeans clung to his lean body like a second skin.
The muscles in his arm flexed as he picked at the strings of the guitar,
coaxing a tune from it.
The
lights were dim in the smoky club, a sea of black with only himself in the
searing white glow of the spotlight. The air was heavy with expectation as he
strummed the melody of a love song that whipped its sound over the crowd only
to slow like the stroke of a lover’s caress.
You are so out of your mind for doing this.
So
what else was new?
She’d
just had to get out of the house. Away from the ranch. Away from …everyone. Her
father, Rance, who was suffocating her with his protective kindness. T.J.
Elliott, the fiancé she couldn’t seem to break away from. The houseful of
people all gathered to celebrate a wedding tomorrow.
Hers.
A
wedding she didn’t want.
The
memories of the nightmare with Cal hadn’t yet faded and her father was
suffocating her with his protective kindness. The far too wealthy Rance
Braddock was, if nothing else, like a tidal wave that swallowed people up. And
then there was T.J. Elliott, her father’s choice for a ‘safe’ and
well-connected husband. A way to guarantee her future. No danger there.
Not
like Cal, the worst mistake she’d ever made. And she’d wanted safe. Needed it.
Her father and T.J. treated her like some child too fragile to be let out on
her own. Well, maybe she was. Look what
she’d gotten herself into. And didn’t want to get out of, until she’d had no
other choice. Now, at thirty, she suddenly didn’t seem to be able to put one
foot in front of the other any more.
Until
now.
The
bad part about being rescued from a situation like the one she’d been in was
people were afraid to take their eyes off of you. She didn’t even seem to have
the strength to tell them they could look away. She went along to get among,
letting herself be swept up in a courtship she didn’t want and a wedding
suddenly bearing down on her like a tornado.
She’d
come to the bar a few nights ago with her girl friends who had practically
dragged her out of the house.
“Have
fun,” her father said.
“You’ll
be fine with the girls,” T.J. told her. He’d kissed her on the cheek and
teased, “Last night out before becoming Mrs. Elliott.”
She was
safe with her friends. Girl’s night out was okay. Both her father and T.J. had
relaxed.
But
her friend Lili had whispered in her ear, ”Wait until you see Grady Sinclair.
He’s hot, hot, hot. And his music!” Lili rolled her eyes. “Just listening to
him makes your pussy get wet and your nipples poke like diamonds.”
Erin
had shivered, skeptical but hopeful. She didn’t think she’d ever have that
reaction again. Or want it. The best thing about T.J. was he was
nonthreatening. She could always fake orgasms. She’d become a very good actress
living with Cal.
So
she’d let them coax her out and come to Smoky’s with them and damn but Lili was
right. Wrapped in the almost mystical cloak of the music that drifted to her
from the stage she’d felt stirrings that she thought long dead. Responses she
didn’t think she was capable of anymore. And then she’d come back with them.
Again and again, to hear the troubadour with eyes as black as his hair and a
rugged face, drawn by the clear, mesmerizing notes of his songs and the sadness
in his voice.
***
Known the world over
as The Oldest Living Erotic Romance
Author, Desiree Holt
Has won an EPIC
E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many other awards. She has been featured
on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily
Mail and numerous other national and international publications
“Get out the ice
water and fan…Desiree Holt delivers smoking hot alpha heroes and red hot
romances.” Lea Franczak, USA Today Happy
Ever After blog
Learn more about her
and read her novels here:
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