Leaving Bandit Creek was the best thing Stacy Jones ever did. Returning is the last thing she ever wanted to do.

Unfortunately it’s her only option. If she wants some questions answered, she needs to go back and confront her mother. If she doesn’t get the answers she needs, her whole future is at stake.

Eight years ago she ran away when the guy she loved betrayed her in the worst possible way. She’s healed from those wounds but can she ever forgive?

Warning – This story contains light BDSM elements

‘Tis the Season                         

 When you hear ‘tis the season, you usually conjure up images of packages wrapped in festive paper hidden beneath an evergreen tree covered with sparking baubles and lit with twinkling lights. Not today.

‘Tis the Season of GRADUATION. A graduate is any student who has completed a set course of studies and received a diploma or degree. Whether the student has completed kindergarten, or middle school, high school or received a bachelor degree from university, his or her parents couldn’t be prouder.

My youngest son recently graduated from The Art Institute of Vancouver, Culinary Arts Restaurant Ownership. My husband and I attended the ceremony, and we couldn’t have been prouder of his accomplishment. Within the pages of the graduation ceremony program were these words by William Arthur Ward, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” These students had done that.

There will be thousands of parents proudly watching, probably a little teary eyed, while their sons and daughters graduate from high school and university in the next few weeks. Many of those parents will be wondering where the time went. Weren’t those kids just babies in diapers a few years ago? Congratulations to all the students graduating this spring. Hard work does pay off. And now your whole life is ahead of you!  Enjoy the journey.

For those parents and grandparents of babies still crawling or gingerly walking around the furniture not quite brave enough to take that first step, some day you’ll be watching them walk across the stage in cap and gown receiving a diploma, too. In the meantime, READ TO THEM. Encourage every child or grandchild to become an avid reader while he or she works their way through elementary, middle and high school. And those children, too, will imagine a dream, and through hard work and encouragement, they will achieve it!

Congratulations to all Students in every Graduating Class of 2012!

***

Buy on Amazon   http://amzn.to/KgZu6U

Buy on Smashwords  

A Bandit Creek Miracle (Contemporary Romance)

City girl Amanda Bailey arrives in Bandit Creek to replace the bank manager who is on maternity leave. After surviving her first day at work, Amanda spends a toe-curling night in the arms of a Hollywood-handsome local cowboy.

Several doctors had predicted Amanda would never conceive a baby, a devastating side effect of her successful cancer chemo treatments. But she is both shocked and elated to discover a few weeks later that she is pregnant!

Joyful thoughts of motherhood swirl in her head, but the baby’s grandfather threatens Amanda with his unwelcome demands. Protecting her professional reputation by keeping her condition a secret in this small town is the least of her worries when she discovers something is seriously wrong at the bank.

The local gossip-mongers hit an all-time low when rumors abound that Amanda herself is the thief and is covering her tracks by accusing one of the locals.

Amanda must fight to save her career and her reputation, but will this temporary work assignment prove to be her ruin?

Witch in the Wind 

(Bandit Creek  Paranormal Romance)

May 1, 2012

Bandit Creek has a new magical dimension, The Otherland.

When murder strikes in Bandit Creek, and the victims aren’t who they seemed, powerful guardian warlock, Marcus Egan, is sent from The Otherland to investigate. What he doesn’t expect to find is Avalon Gwynn, the grieving daughter of the victims, who has no idea she’s an extraordinary, hereditary witch. And Avy’s pent up magical abilities have just been set free in the mortal world.

Can Marcus catch a killer while making sure Avy doesn’t bring Crow Mountain crashing down on the town—destroying Bandit Creek for the second time?

Check out this and other Bandit Creek Books at http://www.banditcreekbooks.com and pick up your copy of Witch in the Wind on May 1st!

Heart of Mine (Historical Western)    April 15, 2012

To avoid a forced marriage, Laura Gibbs has little choice but to go along with her controlling father’s plan to deceive the man she’s secretly loved for years. Scared and alone, she lies next to a drugged and sleeping Jake knowing fully well the position she’s putting him in.

Jake Evans has been burned in the past and has learned the hard way that nobody is interested in him, only his money. So when he wakes to find Laura in his bed, he’s convinced that she’s yet another in a long line of women who only wants his share of his recently inherited gold mine. A fact soon confirmed when her father storms in the room and demands Jake make an honest woman out of Laura, lest he be charged with rape and hanged. A bitter Jake agrees, but vows that money-grubbing Hugh will never see a cent of his money.

As Laura gains freedom from her oppressing father, she also gains courage. Determined to make a real marriage with Jake, she refuses her father’s demand that she steal from her husband and instead concentrates her efforts on showing Jake the woman she truly is.

Despite Laura’s deceptions, Jake can’t deny his attraction to her. With the physical attraction sizzling between them, Jake begins to believe he’s finally found the woman for him.

But there’s trouble brewing. Hugh, neck-deep in gambling debts with no money in sight, seeks drastic measures that won’t only risk Laura and Jake’s marriage; it’ll risk her very life.

Buy Heart of Mine here http://amzn.to/L4oKAu

 Check out www.banditcreekbooks.com for more information on Heart of Mine and other books available in the Bandit Creek Series.  Pick up your copy of Heart of Mine on Amazon and Smashwords on April 15th.   Happy Reading!

TAG!  I’m it!

On March 23rd, I was tagged by Louise Behiel in a writer’s game of LUCKY SEVEN.  Louise was tagged by Alyssa Palmer.  A writer tagged in this game goes to page 77 of their current WIP, finds line 7, and then copies the next 7 lines.  Sounds like fun, right?

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on A BANDIT CREEK MIRACLE, to be released through Amazon and Smashwords on May 15th as part of the Bandit Creek Books series.  Check it out at http://www.banditcreekbooks.com

Here are my seven lines from A BANDIT CREEK MIRACLE…

After one whiff of the toast, slathered in butter, Amanda leapt to her feet and dashed to the Ladies’ room. When she emerged, she almost crashed into Missy Gibson, the pregnant widow of the Iraq war hero. As they passed in the hallway, Missy whispered, “How far along are you?”

 Amanda’s heart almost stopped.

 “That door is not sound proof, and I suffered morning sickness in the beginning, too.” Missy smiled.

Now I get to tag 7 writers: Amy Jo Fleming, Trip Williams, Julie Rowe, Kreseda Kaine, Brenda Collins, Jill Christie and A. M. Westerling.  You’re it!

# # #

The aroma was enticing. The spicy layers dripped with mozzarella – his favorite cheese. The kids were still talking around him. But everything felt out of kilter, except for the burning in his gut. He was getting used to that.

* * *

Night. Dark. Humming to himself as he walked along the sidewalk alone. In the spotlight. Happy. Skipping.

From black to bright daylight in the blink of an eye.

From skipping to stillness – he couldn’t move. –   from Family Ties by Louise Behiel

# # #

As he walked, he began to hear sirens. At first it was faint, but as he drew closer to the Pont du Carousel bridge, he could see the cluster of vehicles and their flashing lights surrounding the Musée d’Orsay. He paused near a group of tourists, drawing his cigarette case from his jacket as he watched the scene and listened to their conversation.
A woman in the group waved to another approaching. “Oh my god! There you are! I thought you’d been inside!”  –  from The Paris Game by Alyssa Linn Palmer

# # #

 Fool’s Gold (Anthology) – April 1, 2012

FOOL FOR LOVE by Louise Behiel
A woman is dragged from a contented, happy marriage to a life on the run.

NEVER COUNT YOUR CHICKENS by Victoria Chatham
Two boys play an April Fool’s joke on their employer.

WISHFUL THINKING by Alyssa Linn Palmer
CeeCee tells Ruth about her past, but how truthful is she?

AIRPORT SECURITY by Julie Rowe
On her way home from her tour of duty in Afghanistan, Dr. Abigail Westward discovers it’s not easy to leave her fellow soldiers or the memories of combat behind.

BABY FEVER by Sheila Seabrook
Baby cribs and baby swings and a winking, blinking doll. Oh my!

LUCY’S APRIL FOOLS by Brenda Sinclair
Will this be George Jack’s year to catch Lucy in an April Fool’s joke, or will his wife outsmart him again?

WHERE RABBITS RUN WILD by Trip Williams
Not all the rabbits in the mountains of Bandit Creek are cute and cuddly. Some come with a warning label.

For more information and to read Carla Roma’s interview with these seven writers, check out www.banditcreekbooks.com.  Please pick up your copy of the book April 1st on Amazon or Smashwords.