Featured July Release - Bridget's Secret by Barri Bryan

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Recipe for trouble: Take one frightened young woman with a dangerous secret and a desperate need to hide. Add one devil-may-care cowboy bent on revenge. Stir in a dangerous outlaw, a marauding band of Ku Klux Klansmen, and three inept matchmakers. Add to this mixture a bank’s missing loot and one dishonest deputy sheriff. Stir well, settle back and wait for the kettle to boil.

EXCERPT:
Bridget closed her menu and looked around the room. "Folks are staring at us already. Maybe we shouldn't push our luck by asking questions."

Lucky scoffed. "I always push my luck." He was beginning to wonder if luck hadn't decided to push back. His feelings for this woman could get out-of-hand with a few more shoves.

Bridget looked down at her khaki uniform. "I'm not properly dressed. Maybe we should go."

Lucky grinned, "Not on your life." He sobered. "You look beautiful." The words were automatic. The emotions they evoked were new and disturbing. "We came here to have dinner and that's what we're gonna do." He winked broadly. "As soon as I figure out what we're having."

Bridget giggled. "You're right. Let's order something."

"Okay. What will it be?

Bridget shrugged. "I don't know. You decide."

The waiter reappeared and stationed himself beside the booth. With pad open and pencil poised, he asked, "Would you care to order now, sir?"

Lucky peered down at his menu. "We're making up our minds. What is this here Tripes a la Mode de Caen?"

The waiter answered, very much on his dignity, "It's a most delicious entree."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Barri Bryan is the pen name for Billie Houston. I acquired a pseudonym at the behest of my adult children when they discovered a steamy excerpt from one of my romances at the web site of a publisher.

I am a former teacher and educator. I like poetry, George Strait's music, old movies and Earl Grey tea. My hobbies are reading, quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, taking long walks, and growing house plants and herbs.

I'm four-time EPPIE winner and a published author with over twenty novels, four books of poetry, numerous essays, several short stories, and one non-fiction how-to-write-book to my credit. I have been writing since 1990. My first romance was published in 1998. I write the kind of books I enjoy reading --- romantic tales about relationships; stories that explore feelings and probe emotions. The plots revolve around ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances and faced with difficult decisions.

Congratulations to Barri on her latest release!

Featured Jan 2010 Release - First Impressions (Book 1, Tombstone Treasures series)

THE BLURB:
Sammie Carpenter understands how a uniform influences behavior. Wearing her Army fatigues puts her in the mindset of a soldier and donning her Class-A Uniform always helps her shift into Captain Mode. So what harm could come from her dressing like a saloon girl and strutting through the streets of Tombstone? She didn't know how to flirt to save her life, and she wasn't getting any younger.

When she met the lonesome stud cowboy, Jimmy, she knew he was the one. So why was their communication always so awkward? Couldn't he see that she was interested in him? No matter how hard she tried to win him over, she couldn't seem to get him to see past his first impression of her. But Sammie didn't give up easily. Somehow she would make him see that they were meant to be together, but how can she do that when all of her plans keep falling apart?


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EXCERPT:

She headed in the direction of the Birdcage Theater, her pace now a bit slower as she glanced around. Maybe she was looking for someone. Or maybe she'd gotten turned around and was heading in the wrong direction.

She tapped her lower lip, and after a few seconds started walking at a brisk pace, which caused her barely restrained chest to bounce. His thoughts strayed to places they shouldn't, so he forced himself to get better control of his mind. And just in case some drool had seeped out, he wiped his mouth.

Even after some firm self-talk, did he stop? No. To his shame, he kept staring. The habit went beyond mere attraction. He could not get enough of her.

Something about her fascinated him. Something beyond her beautiful hair and delicate face. Something beyond the alluring figure she attempted to hide as she tugged on her corset.

He never understood how some men found ultra-skinny women appealing. As he continued to study her he realized that she looked a bit shy when she smiled at people who passed by. She also appeared more than a little bit nervous. Maybe that was what had intrigued him. Maybe his first impression of her had been wrong.

Her demeanor made him think of a librarian, not a saloon girl. Her extreme attempt at modesty made her that much more attractive to him. So why did she dress like that?

A chuckle escaped him as she adjusted her top again. She didn't have the part of a brazen woman figured out and even wore her boa wrong, as if trying to cover herself.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Sutton, otherwise known as the Edgy Inspirational Author, is the former Editor-in-chief of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, a member of ACFW, a social worker by trade, and a prolific reader/book reviewer/blogger the rest of the time. She has eleven contracted novels, three of which are currently available.



She lives in Arizona with her husband of nineteen years and her two teenaged sons. Michelle is also the author of It's Not about Me (2008) and It's Not About Him (Sheaf House 2009).



Books by Michelle Sutton at Desert Breeze Publishing:
Danger At The Door - August 2009
In Plain Sight - April 2010

Tombstone Treasure Series:
First Impressions - January 2010
First Love - October 2010
First Response - June 2011

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Here's a link to Michelle's Book Trailer on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5qq1n0LfKI