Second Chance Ranch Excerpt from Author Audra Harders

Today as promised, I bring you an excerpt from Audra Harders' Second Chance Ranch.

And if you leave a comment she's giving away a book to a randomly chosen name, 

so leave contact info.
And the WINNER is Lisa Potocar.  Congrats Lisa.

Blurb:

Pediatric oncology nurse, Jennifer O’Reilly returns home to Hawk Ridge, Colorado to establish a mountain recreation camp as a safe adventure for children battling cancer. Her path to ownership depends on developing a profitable business plan to convince the bank she can manage not only the camping facility, but the entire Trails’ End Ranch operation.

Generations earlier, one misplayed hand of poker lost part of the family ranch, and Zac Davidson, youngest son and financial genius of the Circle D, wants it back. Intrigued since childhood by the legend of his great grandfather, Zac is the only family member who holds out hope that one day the ranch would become Davidson property again. When the ranch goes on the market, money is no object, only Jennifer O’Reilly stands between him and his dream. 

High school sweethearts, Jennifer and Zac have wounded each other, and the scars run deep. Jennifer is forced to reveal a secret she’s protected for twelve years. Will past mistakes jeopardize the future of both of their dreams or give them a second chance?

Excerpt:

Jen hesitated as Zac tugged her toward the door, his warm fingers tangled with hers. Patrick and a couple of the house parents were gathering the chairs and sweeping the floor. Tina stood beside the stereo speakers, grinning at her. When she opened her mouth, Tina frowned and waved her away before catching Patrick and handing him a stack of electronics cords.

She bumped into Zac’s shoulder. He pressed close, his arm settling around her waist. “Are you okay?”

She’d been dismissed by Tina which was better than asking permission to leave. “Of course. I just had a great night of dancing and the kids are all happy about it. Life couldn’t be better.”

“Doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?” He held the door open as they stepped out into the cool night air.

Jen waved to the campers as they ran around under the glow of the yard lights. She spotted a couple of counselors standing along the corral fence watching the kids and Jen relaxed. “It never has.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I remember a gal all bent on getting into the right school years ago. Had to have a good pre-med program. Had to be DU. You can’t tell me your little world wouldn’t have caved if the University of Denver hadn’t accepted you.”

She rubbed her face against the hoodie jacket he wore, releasing the woodsy scent of his aftershave and taking her back years. “Getting that scholarship was sweet. Made my dad happy, too.”

“I was proud of you.” He hugged her closely as they followed the trail to her house. “Academic, full-ride. Everything you’d always wanted.”

He grew quiet. Jen basked in his praise. “I was proud of you, too. Rodeo, full-ride.I’ll never understand how you coupled team roping and math.”

“The same way I did it all through high school, a little luck and a whole lot of praying.” Their steps crunched along the dirt path in time. “It wasn’t just me, remember? If you hadn’t tutored me when I had pneumonia, I probably never would have understood the way numbers worked together.”

She leaned into him as she kept time with his stride. “What else was I supposed to do? Your family took us in when my mom died, and then you had to go and get sick. I was just trying to keep you from driving your mom nuts.”

“You and Kade could’ve ignored me and watched TV.”

“Yeah, I guess we could have, but then Kade wouldn’t have figured out you knew your way around the end of the steer he couldn’t quite figure out.”

“See? Hooking up with Kade for team roping got me the rodeo scholarship, and hooking up with you to help me with my math homework flicked the I got it switch in my brain.” He hugged her closer. “I came up with the hooking-up-with-you-as-my-girlfriend all by myself.”

Her throat burned at his tone of longing. High school had been a great time. Too bad all good things came to an end. She laughed with half a heart. “I made you sit down and study, and you made me close the books and have some fun.”

“Guess we were quite a pair.” They slowed as the yard light behind her house shone through the trees in the distance. There were times she thought the distance from her house to the barn was too far…tonight, it wasn’t far enough. “Probably a good thing we didn’t go to the same college after high school. We wouldn’t have gotten any studying done. Or at least, I know I wouldn’t have gotten any studying done.”

A fleeting image of his dorm came to mind, but she pushed it away. Not tonight. All she wanted was one good night with Zac. “God knew what He was doing, no matter how much I pouted.”

They got to her porch, the light of the crescent moon behind the towering pine almost picturesque. Zac loosened his hold of her, but didn’t let go. Jen turned in his arm so she could see his face, relish the moment. His brown eyes blended with the shadows making it impossible to read his thoughts, but shifted in all the right places making him look like a cowboy legend. Zac had always been larger than life to her. Even now, her heart thumped in her chest just like it used to whenever she saw him.

“I’m sorry you pouted.” He drew her closer until his breath warmed her cheek. “I would’ve fixed that.”

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon Author Page

Bio:

Award-winning author, Audra Harders, writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring cowboys who haven't a clue about relationships rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Steeple Hill Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in-between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor.

You can visit her at www.AudraHarders.com. Readers and writers alike are invited to visit Seekerville, a group blog where Audra, along with twelve other inspirational authors, share wisdom and ideas about writing, life, and of course, food!

Find Audra:

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Last Friday of the Month Recipe~Olive & Cheese Penguins from Elysa Hendricks plus an Excerpt from Must Love Cats

When I saw the picture of these, I just knew I had to make them.  

Now can I eat something so adorable?

OLIVE & CHEESE PENGUINS

Ingredients:
1 can of jumbo or large black olives

1 can of small black olives

(I dislike black olives, so next time I'm going to use green ones. Strange looking Penguins, but tastier - at least to me. Maybe I'll color the cheese red and they'll be Christmas Penguins.)
1/4 to 1/3 pound of soft cheese, such as fromage blanc, or cream cheese (softened.)

1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds
Frilled Toothpicks

For the feet:
Cut a triangle out of the carrot rounds. The big piece will be the feet.

Take the small piece and cut into small slivers for the beak of the penguin.

Next take a large olive and cut a quarter inch wedge from it.

Now stuff olive with soft cheese and smooth out.

Take your carrot feet and place the cheese filled olive on top, then place a small olive on top of the large olive.

Use a toothpick to secure. Poke a small hole in the middle of the small olive and then place a carrot beak in the hole.

You can use strips of pimento as scarves around the Penguin's neck and tiny cloves for their eyes.

Blurb:

Killed in a car wreck Thomas Cash (TC) Riley is given a chance to redeem himself.

With the help of a little girl and a young boy, can TC bring together two damaged people, remember his past, and save his soul?

And can he do it all as a cat? 

Excerpt:

Daniel pulled his car into the gravel lot alongside the quaint, white clapboard farmhouse. His gaze focused on the classic lines of the lovingly maintained building, at first he didn't notice the slim woman standing arms akimbo at the base of a ladder propped against the house.

As a successful, commercial architect, he admired and envied those who designed houses, creating warm, welcoming, comfortable homes for people. At one point that had been his dream, but pressure from his father convinced him otherwise.

"The money and prestige is in public buildings. No one remembers who designs houses." His father's words came back to him. At the time, Daniel hadn't had the nerve or the courage to argue, to bring up famous architects who'd designed homes. He was well aware that of those, the public, which included his playboy father and socialite mother, only Frank Lloyd Wright's name was recognizable. As always to avoid conflict, to gain his parent's approval, he'd fallen into line.

Marrying Hannah had been the only time he ever went against his father's wishes. Maybe his parents’ objection had been what drew Daniel to her. Even if his father had forgiven him, that relationship had been doomed. But his parents had died before he could reconcile with them. And now Hannah was gone as well. All that remained was Alana.

"Daddy, look! A bird boy!"

Alana's delighted shout and a child's scream drew his attention to the boy clinging precariously to the steeply slanted roof. A makeshift parachute wrapped around his arms, and tangled around his thrashing legs prevented him from gaining a good grip on the roof's shingles. Another look at the woman confirmed his fears. Her ashen face reflected her terror at what was about to happen. A fall from that height, more than twenty feet, would certainly injure, if not kill, the boy.

"Stay here," he told Alana and bolted out of the car. His gaze went from the boy to the ladder. No help there. The old wood wouldn't hold his weight. What other option did he have?

"TC." He heard Alana call out.

His attention focused on the boy, he ignored the streak of black and white racing past him. With only one chance, he calculated the boy's height, weight and the angle of his fall and positioned himself below.

"Hey, son," he called softly.

The boy turned panicked eyes toward Daniel.

"Everything's going to be fine," he reassured the boy. "Let yourself slide down. I'm going to catch you."

The boy nodded in acceptance. Panic drained from his eyes. Daniel felt a punch of fear mingled with gratitude for the boy's instinctive trust.

He held out his arms. "Let go now."

Without hesitation the boy released his grip on the shingles. He slid down then the cloth wrapped around him snagged. His body twisted sideways. He was coming down head first in a different direction. Too fast. Daniel dove to the side, hoping to at least break the boy's fall. He braced for the impact.

He heard the woman's gasp. At the last moment, as the boy plunged off the edge of the roof, his body jerked to a halt to dangle about fifteen feet above Daniel.

Quickly Daniel righted himself below the boy and looked up. At the edge of the roof the cat stretched spread eagle, its claws clinging to the fabric of the makeshift parachute and the shingles. Though its slight weight was no match for the boy's, it had stopped his headlong plummet for a critical few seconds.

Daniel's eyes met those of the cat. For an instant he could have sworn the cat winked at him. Then with a yowl the cat retracted its claws and the boy dropped neatly into Daniel's outstretched arms. They tumbled together to the ground.

Buy Links:

Amazon 

Smashwords 

Barnes & Noble 

Kobo 

Bio:

Elysa Hendricks is 5'6" tall. She has brown eyes and curly hair. She's an author, a wife, a mother, and a daughter. Everything else is subject to change without notice. Here "real" life motto is: Boring is good. Excitement is vastly overrated. So she saves all the adventures for the characters in her books.

 

Find Elysa:

Facebook 

Website

Meet Multi-Published Author Audra Harders and A Working Woman's Hybrid Plan On Writing

It is my extreme pleasure to bring you talented and muli-published author 

Audra Harders.  And don't forget to come back Saturday for an excerpt from her latest book, Second Chance Ranch. 

NEWS FLASH, AUDRA IS GIVING AWAY A COPY OF HER BOOK, SO LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR EMAIL!

 Susan Anne Mason, you're the winner today!!

Don't forget Saturday's excerpt and another chance to win a copy of Audra's book.

Ha, ha. Leslie, you always make me laugh. Thanks for the awesome introduction.

Over the last year, I’ve been cleaning up rejected manuscripts and preparing them for what I call the Working Woman’s Hybrid Plan. It’s very easy; anyone can do it. Take all those manuscripts that have been rejected by the Big 5 (formerly the Big 6 consumer book publishers of note. As we know everything is shrinking…except maybe my waistline – but I’ll save that for another post) or by your own publishing house editor; review them with a critical eye; run them past a content editor, copy editor and impartial readers; and then, package them up and offer them through any number of digital and print venues.

Why call it Working Woman’s Hybrid Plan? Because, that’s what I am. I’m a published author with Love Inspired Books, Amazon, and I hold a full time job.  All three are important to me, but putting all of one’s eggs in the same basket, in this day and age, is just…lazy. Opportunities abound for those who dare to grab for it.

Now the concept of working full-time while writing for publication is not new, but it has evolved. There once was a time when authors would clock in their 8 to 5 at the office and then return home and log in another 5 or 6 hours at the computer writing towards a New York deadline or hoping one day to attain a New York deadline. The days and weeks would pass and manuscripts would pile up, and so would the rejection slips adding to the devastation of the hearts of really good writers whose work just didn’t fit into the slot of a commercial publishing house. Does that mean your writing is bad?

Well, maybe.

But chances are, if you’ve worked with a good critique group, joined national organizations for writers such as Romance Writers of America or American Christian Fiction Writers (the two I belong to), have been active in your local chapters, and entered contests for feedback, you have a pretty good estimation of the caliber of your work.

My situation is probably more common among published authors than you realize. You sell a book that is part of a series. If you have a really good agent, they might get a 3 or 4 book deal for you right away. That was not my case. Love Inspired Books bought the first book of my Circle D series, but then didn’t pick up the next one. Now remember, I work full-time on a – at times – erratic and unpredictable schedule. By the time I had the third one on their desk, they thought too much time had passed for readers to relate to the characters and setting.

I can understand that. Doesn’t mean I like it, but I understand it.

So, what do I do with the books that are finished and gathering virtual dust on my hard drive? Need I mention I love the setting and the characters? My heart swoons over the heroes and I’d love to live in a community like Hawk Ridge?

Well, FIRST, I had to obtain permission from Harlequin’s Legal Department to use the characters and setting. Very important you read the fine print in your contracts! I worked with their representative on my options, and concluded I can publish my other two books using the same characters and setting as long as I didn’t sign away exclusive rights to anyone else. Harlequin retains first dibs.

Not a problem. The rights belong to me and I’d be happy to continue the series for Love Inspired anytime they’d like : )

Then I moved on to evaluating content. After determining where tweaks in the plot were needed, I ran the version by several authors, looking for advice specific to each one of them. Then I ran it by my copy editor for line edits. Worked with a cover designer to give my stories a brand, and VOILA!  The culmination of my efforts is now alive and well and living on Amazon.

Remember that pesky day job I mentioned? Well, the time I have available for book marketing made publishing exclusively with Amazon my best bet. I don’t have the time right now to monitor all the outlets for distribution and manage it well. The print version will be out shortly, but in the meantime, I love stopping by my author page on Amazon and just looking at my pretty cover, and thanking Jeff Bezos for the having the foresight and vision to offer authors an opportunity to see all their publishing dreams come true.

Blurb: 

Pediatric oncology nurse, Jennifer O’Reilly returns home to Hawk Ridge, Colorado to establish a mountain recreation camp as a safe adventure for children battling cancer. Her path to ownership depends on developing a profitable business plan to convince the bank she can manage not only the camping facility, but the entire Trails’ End Ranch operation.

Generations earlier, one misplayed hand of poker lost part of the family ranch, and Zac Davidson, youngest son and financial genius of the Circle D, wants it back. Intrigued since childhood by the legend of his great grandfather, Zac is the only family member who holds out hope that one day the ranch would become Davidson property again. When the ranch goes on the market, money is no object, only Jennifer O’Reilly stands between him and his dream. 

High school sweethearts, Jennifer and Zac have wounded each other, and the scars run deep. Jennifer is forced to reveal a secret she’s protected for twelve years. Will past mistakes jeopardize the future of both of their dreams or give them a second chance?

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon Author Page

Bio:

Award-winning author, Audra Harders, writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring cowboys who haven't a clue about relationships rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Steeple Hill Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in-between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor.

You can visit her at www.AudraHarders.com. Readers and writers alike are invited to visit Seekerville, a group blog where Audra, along with twelve other inspirational authors, share wisdom and ideas about writing, life, and of course, food!

Find Audra:
Facebook