My special guest today is Natalie Acres who has a new release out today called Bridled and Branded. An intriguing title, isn’t it? Bridled and Branded is a a western MFM contemporary romantic suspense. I asked Natalie a little about her writing.
What attracts you to writing cowboy/western stories?
Give me a big green tractor, a cooler full of ice cold beer, and a couple of strong cowboys to toss a few hay bales around and I’m a happy girl. I love reading and writing about the sexiest of all men–cowboys.
Wow, sounds good to me. Where did you get the idea for your story Bridled and Branded?
My love for horses inspired Bridled and Branded. I’d love to read a western with a strong heroine steadfast in her commitment and love for training/showing horses but just as dedicated to her cowboy hero. Bridled and Branded materialized because this novella is the kind of short western romance I’d like to read.
What writing tip would you give to an aspiring writer just starting on their writing journey?
Believe in yourself.
Great advice! Tell us about Bridled and Branded.
Lynlee Lewis is an old-fashioned girl who might as well take the lead in a modern day romance. She met a boy, when he was just a boy. She fell in love, but he barely noticed. Now, Lynlee wants to place a woman’s brand on Blaine McCain, but will his past prevent her from staking a claim?
Lynlee’s storybook romance isn’t without its villains and obstacles. Add in the fact that Blaine rarely travels behind a bedroom door without company and Lynlee wonders why she’s so taken by the cowboy in the first place.
Throw in a deadly situation and Lynlee finds herself in the midst of danger when a knife is shoved against her throat. Worse still, the man behind the blade is traveling with a wife who is no stranger to Blaine McCain. And they want to turn Blaine’s life upside down with a package full of problems.
The following excerpt is unedited pending final approval:
“You wanted our attention,” Rhett began. “You got it. What do you want?”
Blaine released him. “Yeah, what’s so damn important that you’d go to this extreme?”
His eyes watered. “My Sarah Beth passed away last week.”
“She what?” Rhett asked, compassion settling in his eyes, which Blaine had rarely seen.
“She passed away.”
“What happened?” Blaine asked, feeling a little odd since he had been one of the participants in the ménage experience with Rhett and Sarah Beth.
“She jumped off a bridge,” Sarah Beth’s husband explained.
“She did what?”
“Told you she was touched in the head,” Rhett reminded Blaine.
“You’re the one who brought her home,” Blaine said, jumping to his feet and backing away before her husband took an opportunity to deck him. “She wasn’t even that pretty, best I remember.”
“Blaine McCain, I ought to kick your ass right here,” Lynlee said, studying her captor. “Sir, I’m sorry for your loss. I really am. It’s a shame these two didn’t have a gentleman’s sense of values to keep their cocks in their pants, if not their hands, but you see here, you can’t blame your wife’s actions on two men who barely knew her.”
“Lynlee, so help me God, I don’t need your eloquent way of taking up for me,” Blaine said.
“No, you don’t. What you need are some manners and maybe even a conscience, but I doubt you’ll find either tonight.”
Rhett snickered. “You got that right.”
Lynlee extended her hand. “I’m Lynlee Lewis, by the way. We met at the party, and you said your name is Scott Sanders, but I take it that’s not your real name?”
“Yes,” he said, taking her hand. “The name is Scott Sanders. Sarah Beth was my lovely wife.”
“Well, I’m sure she knew how much you loved her,” Lynlee said, backing away from the situation and making it evident in the finality of her tone. “Gentleman, I’ve had a long night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Blaine looked at Rhett and then Scott. Rhett nodded and Blaine said, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll say your peace and leave.”
Scott shifted his weight. “I wanted to look directly at the two men responsible for Sarah Beth’s downfall and see if I found even a smidgen of remorse. I blame you for what happened, and I can’t understand what she ever saw in either one of you.”
“Good thing,” Rhett said. “I don’t buck that way.”
Blaine ignored his friend and addressed his enemy. “I’m walking Lynlee back to her camper. If you go near her again,” he paused, set his jaw, and then grated out, “I will harm you in a way you’ll never forget.”
“I don’t want an escort, Blaine,” Lynlee snipped. “And I sure don’t need you to hold my hand.”
“Well, ain’t that a blessed shame? Besides, I need you to hold mine.”
Natalie Acres is the best selling author of the Cowboy Sex Series which includes Sex Party, Sex Games, and Sex Camp. She’s also the author of the #1 Amazon Best Selling Western/Erotica title Cowboy Boots and Untamed Hearts which now has a sequel, Cowboy Boots and Unfinished Business. To find out more about Natalie Acres, visit her on MySpace at www.myspace.com/natalieacres. To view more information on Bridled and Branded go to: http://www.bookstrand.com/bridled-and-branded
Copyright © 2010 Natalie Acres
On a stagecoach traveling through New Mexico Territory, Jessica Thornton is a long way from the cool mists and lush gardens of her native England. An authoress and milliner, she carries the weight of a scandalous secret-a horrible shame that has brought her to the West on a desperate search for the only family she can trust: her brother. 
My special guest today is Samhain author, Lorelei James. She’s talking about family trees and books. Over to Lorelei and her Western men!
