Blurb:
A small Western town receives an early Christmas present; a
new pastor for the church. He’s young, handsome, and single. But to
church organist Kristina Heitschmidt, Reverend Cody Williams is nothing
but trouble.
Especially as his first move is to attempt to take control of the music
away from her. But Kristina is not about to give up her life’s work.
With Christmas fast approaching, it appears the two are at
a stalemate. That is, until a sudden blizzard traps them together in
the church overnight. Forced at last to deal with each other, they
realize that
the explosive feelings between them are really symptoms of an
overwhelming passion that just might, if they can finally be honest,
lead to the love of a lifetime.
As for why the book was written, like many of my novels,
this Western series is something I've been daydreaming about since I was
a teen. I was an awkward, bookish child, and lots of kids picked on me.
I developed
these storylines and characters so I could escape from everyday life.
Though to be honest, Cody and Kristina's story was not really part of
that set, some of the other characters; Allison, Wesley, Lydia, and
Sherriff Brody are old friends. This particular story
sprang from a random conversation, and once I started thinking about it,
I couldn't stop. I hooked it into my western trilogy and it fit just
right.
I chose Garden City, KS because I used to live there. It's a unique place that is not well known, even now. But having lived there, I was able to describe the town, the surroundings, and some of the unique qualities. It really is Old West, by the way, being only about 45 miles from Dodge City (yes, THAT Dodge City). To this day, you can still see the ruts from where the wagon trains crossed the prairie.
What I hope my readers get from this book is a fresh look
at the Old West, a bit of the warm Christmas fuzzies, and a gentle love
story with just a bit of excitement and quite a lot of heat.
Excerpt:
The
choir doesn’t want me anyway. They only want you. And, well, we can
work together planning out the services. That will be easy now.”
“Cody, do we really have to...”
“Yes.
I won’t have us gossiped about. Besides, you’re sitting in my lap in
your underwear. That’s pretty thoroughly compromised, no matter how much
of a gentleman I am.”
She tried to escape but he held her tight. “Don’t go, Kristina. It’s too late, so we might as well enjoy it.”
Her eyes widened.
A
prickling sensation of heat spread slowly up his neck onto his cheeks.
“Not like that. I meant enjoy the warmth. I won’t take advantage of you.
Relax, and let me hold you. Just think, darlin’, how convenient it will
be, the two of us together. We can work on services whenever we want,
and you’d have my backing and support for your music, your purpose,
again. I promise I won’t meddle anymore. I’ll ask
what you want instead of assuming. Is that okay, Kristina?”
“So you’re proposing a marriage of convenience then?” Why did she sound so sad about
that?
“No. I’m proposing a marriage. The fact that it’s convenient is nice, but if we’re going to be together, it’ll be for real.”
“Oh. Um, I don’t know how to do that.” He could almost feel her blush.
“Neither do I,” he admitted, “but we’ll work it out. Now then, I would like something from you.”
“What’s that?”
In lieu of an answer, he took her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him.
“Cody,
what?” was all she managed to say before his lips captured hers. He had
noticed her lips before, when they first met. He’d thought them pretty
then. Now, mashed under his, they were wonderful; soft, full and utterly
delicious. He kissed her once, a hard, brief peck, and then raised his
head. Even in the dim light of the flickering lamps, he could see her
turquoise eyes, the pupils dilated with the
dark and her own awakening desire.
Simone's links:
Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/Simone-Beaudelaire/e/B00CIUPNWK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1385697613&sr=8-1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simone.beaudelaire.5
twitter: https://twitter.com/SimoneBeaudelai
Website: (with my badly neglected blog is simonebeaudelaireauthor.weebly.com
