Popping in for an Update

It's been mighty quiet around here for almost a month. I had foot surgery May 7th and have been immobile since then. Well, I do have a little knee scooter I can get around on but for some reason it makes my back hurt. So, I've only been out to see the doctor and I did get my hair colored and cut and we took a short road trip. But, I'll not do that again. Hopefully I'll get out of the cast and into a boot or shoe next Friday.







So, for a month I've been parked in my recliner with my foot elevated on a small bean bag chair (I assume it's a child's chair). I have been working. Last month I released Birdie's Nest and this month I revamped, revised, and lengthened a novella previously published by the Wild Rose Press. It is also a time travel but this one takes place in the UK in 1947.

Here is a blurb:

Loren Fairchild longs for children, but is barren. At a cottage in Carlisle, UK, she puts her divorce behind her and begins a new life. In 1947 the former owner’s wife disappeared. That same week, according to local gossip, her husband took up with a dark-headed harlot. One morning in 2007, a simple-minded woman appears at Loren’s cottage and triggers events that change Loren’s life forever.

Miles Chapeau misses the wife, the mother of his two children, he’d known before the war. When he returned from WWII in 1945, he learned she’d been hurt in an air raid and has the mind of a child. He loves her and would never forsake his duty, but misses the intimate side of marriage and a woman to share his life. One day she disappears and his existence is turned upside down.

Buy links for Birdie's Nest

Amazon          Barnes & Noble  
           

Buy Links for Desires of the Heart

 Amazon         Barnes & Noble

I hope your summer is off to a good start. The temperature is starting to rise here in  Central Texas. But, we're grateful to have not had tornadoes like some areas in the northern part of the state and our neighboring states of Oklahoma and Kansas. Let's pray that Mother Nature is finished for the year.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Birdie's Nest is now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Birdie's Nest, my latest historical time travel, is now available in E-book format at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Blurb:

Texas Ranger, Birdie Braxton boards the Brazos Belle to attend a costume party, gets tossed into the Brazos and when she's pulled from the river she's told the year is 1890. She can't accept that fact… until she looks across the river to see Birdie’s Nest, her ancestral home, no longer exists.

Tad Lockhart is a content man—a prosperous rancher with a ladylove in Waco. He's not interested in marriage and family, yet… until he pulls an unconscious woman from the Brazos who insists she's a Texas Ranger from the year 2012.

As romance blooms between Tad and Birdie, she struggles to earn enough money to build Birdie’s Nest, and Tad strives to mold Birdie into a Victorian lady suitable to be his wife. Can Birdie give up dabbling in police work and other unladylike pursuits yet stay true to herself? When faced with an indiscretion from Tad's past, is Birdie's love strong enough to support her man and be the woman he needs?

Excerpt:

June 1, 2012, Waco, Texas

            “Why Birdie, where’ve you been hiding all that… bounty?” Sergeant Ted Weaver, Birdie’s co-worker, whipped off his Stetson and laid the hat over his heart. His gaze raked her from head to toe, finally settling on her breasts. Birdie wanted to smack his grinning face. She snorted and covered the bare skin above the red strapless dress with her oversized handbag. It’d taken all the nerve she could garner to exit the ladies restroom in the sleazy garb. Tonight’s Victorian costume party dress paled in comparison to her current get-up. Everyone in the unit was counting on her to succeed this afternoon. But tonight her family home was at stake. She couldn’t afford to fail at either assignment.

            “Watch yourself, Weaver.” She slapped her thigh, where her thigh holster held her Ruger, with her free hand. “I can still pierce your ear for you.”

            His howls of laughter bounced off the walls. At least the other men in the office were courteous enough to bend their heads and try to hide their snickers.

            Being a woman in the Texas Rangers wasn’t easy. While some tolerated her, others ignored her. If she pulled off this afternoon’s assignment, where several male rangers had failed, maybe the stigma of being a woman in their ranks would lose some of its stink.

            Captain Smith barreled out of his office, face reddening. “Watch your step, Weaver. I’d be happy to write you up for sexual harassment of a fellow officer.”

            Ted sobered. “Sorry, Birdie. It’s just you so look the part.”

            “That’s the idea,” said the captain. He walked around Birdie taking in her teased hairdo with numerous colorful feathers woven into little braids. Red and gold rhinestone earrings bounced off her shoulders with each sigh and huff of indignation. The form-fitting scarlet dress barely covered her butt, and her breasts threatened to flop out of the neckline. She’d been so worried, she’d used spray-on body glue to insure what little dignity she had remained unexposed.

            “Great job, Sergeant.” He glanced down at her red rhinestone stiletto heels. “Can you walk in those things?”

            “Yes, though it won’t be pretty.”

I hope you'll pick up a copy of Birdie's Nest and enjoy her journey through time.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com

Welcome to the Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop

My first perception of lawmen in the old west was from the television show Gunsmoke. Marshal Dillion always got his man and Miss Kitty was always there to help and pour him a drink. As a girl I often wondered what I would be if I lived in the old west--a farmer's wife or a dance hall girl like Miss Kitty. Of course I didn't have a clue what girls in saloons did.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a Marshal and a Sheriff? I have and while writing My Heart Will Find Yours, I decided it was time to find out. A sheriff is an elected official of the county, and a marshal is an appointed officer, either federal or state. A marshal covered a large territory and deputy marshals were placed under his command. A town could also appoint a Marshall and often deputized men to form a posse.

Typically, a sheriff would want o keep his constituents happy. And on occasion wealthy ranchers helped someone get elected and expected favors in return. How many movies have we seen where the town sheriff was in the pockets of the guys trying to take small landowner's land, tear down fences or run off homesteaders? Who did the town call on if the sheriff was crooked. A state or federal marshal.

Here is a blurb of the short time travel in PDF Format, A Marshal of Her Own. I'll be giving away a copy to one person who comments and leaves their email address.

Despite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer, Charity Dawson, disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, she is caught in the mystery that surrounds the cabin and finds herself in 1890 in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw, but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

Excerpt:

Dessa stood still and watched as they conversed. Something stank to high heaven about this entire situation.Why were the cops chasing robbers on horseback? It’s not like Fredericksburg was that isolated. She glanced at the captured men. The boy moaned, and she made a step to go over and help him. The Marshal spun, and the expression in his eye froze her in place.

 “He needs first aid.”

 “He’s fine. The Doc will tend to him when we get to the jail.”

“You could at least call 911 and let them patch him up for you.” She nodded to the man lying so still with his eyes closed. “Your other prisoner doesn’t look so good. He’s going to die on you if you don’t start CPR or get him some help.”

“Lady, no one is going to hear a yell from out here. Never heard of any 911 or CPR.” He propped the hand not holding the shotgun on his hip and threw her a disgusted look. “Are you blind? That man is dead, shot through the heart.”

Her head swam for a moment, and she struggled not to give in to the sensation and faint. She drew in deep gulps of air. “Well...well..., what about the coroner and the meat wagon, not to mention the CSI folks? If you don’t get them to record the scene, how are you going to cover your butt? The authorities might say you shot him in cold blood.”

He looked at her like she’d sprouted an extra head. “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about woman. No one will question my authority. I’m the law in this county. Now, be quiet, or I’m going to gag you.”

A Marshal of Her Own is available now at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and other online book stores. It is the sequel to A Law of Her Own available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.com and other online book stores. A Love of His Own, the third story in the Prairie, Texas series, and is also available at the above stores.

Visit me on May 4th on Sweethearts of the West where I'll be posting about "Tumbleweed Wagons" and the "Three Guardians".

My newest time travel is Birdie's Nest. It's available at 

http://www.amazon.com/Birdies-Nest- ebook/dp/B00CKM8GZ2

Don't forget to leave me a comment to be entered in my drawing as well as the grand prize drawing. YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

Use this link to return to Cowboy Charm so you can continue your journey.

Good luck and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

www.lindalaroque.com