Rough Rider
By Victoria Vane
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Contemporary Western Romance
February 3, 2015
ISBN: 9781492601159
In Victoria Vane’s second Hot Cowboy Nights book, ROUGH
RIDER, readers’ hearts may in fact soften to the rough and bitter Dirk Knowlton
they met in Hot Cowboy Nights #1, Slow Hand.
A big thanks to Jen’s Reading Obsession for sharing an
excerpt with their readers so y’all can get to know a little bit more about the
rough and tough hero of ROUGH RIDER. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter for a
chance to win one of three copies of Slow Hand by Victoria Vane!
Enjoy!
DIRK KNOWLTON ON TOUR
From ROUGH RIDER by Victoria Vane
He
pressed a hand to the small of her back. “C’mon, Red. We’ve got some serious
catching up to do. Let’s you and me go have a beer.”
“OK,”
she replied. “But I can’t stay long.”
With
a hand on her back, he steered her toward the bunkhouse behind the barn. Janice
looked up at him in question.
“I’m
not in the mood to deal with what’s going on at the house right now,” he
explained. “There’s time enough for that bullshit later. ’Sides, you and me
need some private conversation.” He opened the door and beckoned her inside.
“It’s not much, but it’s home.”
“Home?
Wasn’t this the bunkhouse?” Janice asked as she stepped inside. It was a
typical log cabin with a clean-swept floor, scarred oak table, and
leather-upholstered sofa and armchair angled next to the stone fireplace. There
were several of the requisite mounted hunting trophies marking it as a male
domain, but not much else. The room seemed strangely devoid of personality.
“Why are you here instead of in the main house?”
“It
was empty and I needed space,” he said. “I have a bed, shower, kitchen, and
office.” He nodded toward a corner desk and laptop. “Everything I need.”
“So
you’ve let all the hands go? Things are that tough?”
He
shrugged. “It’s no secret. It’s tough for everyone right now. We only have a
couple of part-timers left who come out as needed.”
A
number of ranching outfits had downsized in the past few years, and just as
many had sold out, but she’d never expected the Knowltons to join those ranks.
“Are you selling out too?” she asked. “I saw the broker’s car.”
Dirk’s
face darkened. “Wade’s been pushing for it, but it’ll be over my dead body.
Seems it just may come to that too, ’fore all is said and done. How ’bout that
beer?” He grabbed a couple of Coors from the fridge and popped the tops.
“Your
hand’s bleeding,” she observed. She closed hers over it as he offered her the
bottle. Their eyes met, the first contact of skin on skin seemed to startle
them both. “Let me wrap it up for you.”
“It’s
nothing.” He jerked it out of her grasp. “I don’t need a mother, Janice.”
He
handed her the bottle and then made a careless bandage from a paper towel he
snatched from beside the sink. He waited until she sank into the sofa, before
settling into an overstuffed chair to her right. She wondered if he’d done it
to hide his scars from her.
“Wanna
tell me now what really brought you out here?” he asked. “We both know it
wasn’t to talk about bulls.”
Heat
inflamed her face to be called out for her subterfuge. “I saw Wade the other
night and asked about you,” she confessed. “He said you could use an old
friend—and frankly so could I. I’ve been away a long time now and I’ve lost
touch with a lot of folks. Most of my connections were with the rodeos and I
don’t do that anymore, so I guess I’m just feeling kinda lonesome.”
“And
you wanna be friends?”
He snorted.
“Yeah.
Why’s that so funny?”
“Because
we’ve had this conversation before, Red. I told you a long time ago that men
and women can’t
be friends. Sooner or later…” He let his words die off with a shrug.
Two wary hearts …
Janice Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk
Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice
ever compete while mired ankle-deep in manure? Exchanging playful banter with
Dirk is all Janice can expect—until the stormy night he knocks on her door
dripping wet and needing a place to crash.
Different Dreams…
Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be
good—roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there's a void he
can't seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is
really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts…but there’s a
certain cowgirl he can’t forget.
When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his
Montana ranch he's determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home
to lick her own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take
another chance on love?
Praise for Slow Hand by Victoria Vane:
“A “red-hot cowboy
tale...their sexual chemistry crackles. Well-paced, scorching scenes and witty
banter move the story along while setting the stage for Wade’s war-hero brother
to find his own true love in the next installment.” – Publishers Weekly
“SLOW HAND by
Victoria Vane is delightful, funny, page turning steamy sexy… I'm beginning to
think Victoria could write a phone book and make it sexy.” – Unwrapping Romance
“PULL THE FIRE
ALARM & STOCK UP ON FIRE EXTINGUISHERS FOR THIS STEAMY ROMANCE!” – Avon Romance
Victoria Vane
is a multiple award-winning romance novelist and history junkie whose
collective works of fiction range from wildly comedic romps to emotionally
compelling erotic romance. Victoria also writes historical fiction as Emery Lee
and is the founder of Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers and the
Romantic Historical Lovers book review blog.
Thanks for this chance!
ReplyDeleteI have several giveaways on my blog right now too