Protective Mate, the third book in my Holland Brothers series has been re released through Mischief Corner Books. BLURB: Life isn't meant to be easy, but for Zachary Bennet the last two years have been downright hell. The one shining light in his life, his precious daughter, Hayley. Deciding he needs a clean break, Zack gets a new job in a small town called Leyburn in the hopes they can settle down and live a peaceful life. Between worry over one brother's increasingly erratic behaviour and constantly walking in on the other two making out with their mates, Simon Holland is ready to pull his hair out. All he'd ever wanted in life was a mate and a family. When his wish is finally answered with Zack's arrival, Simon finds out firsthand how far hate and bigotry can drive some people. But life wasn't meant to be easy and Simon would protect what was his to the end. BUY LINKS: Mischief Corner Books, Amazon, ARe, B&N, Smashwords
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Thanks to my official picker-outer Sheila Kelly the winners for the Protective Mate and Once a Cowboy contests have been chosen.
Protective Mate: Traci Kurtz & Cinders Once a Cowboy: Laurie P If you could please contact me on [email protected] and let me know what file format you would like I will gladly send out your prizes. Format choices: PDF, ePub or Mobi So, I'm not sure if any of you guys are interested, but I have this book coming out. Protective Mate is book 3 in my Holland Brothers series and is set for Re Release on Saturday 25th January. Like the first two this book has been revised and expanded and has gone from 25k to 50k. This makes it my longest book yet. Simply leave a comment and let me know which of the brothers is your favourite. You don't need to tell me why. :) I'll draw two lucky winners on Friday and once again you get the choice of PDF, ePub or Mobi formats. BLURB:
Life isn't meant to be easy, but for Zachary Bennet the last two years have been downright hell. The one shining light in his life, his precious daughter, Hayley. Deciding he needs a clean break, Zack gets a new job in a small town called Leyburn in the hopes they can settle down and live a peaceful life. Between worry over one brother's increasingly erratic behaviour and constantly walking in on the other two making out with their mates, Simon Holland is ready to pull his hair out. All he'd ever wanted in life was a mate and a family. When his wish is finally answered with Zack's arrival, Simon finds out firsthand how far hate and bigotry can drive some people. But life wasn't meant to be easy and Simon would protect what was his to the end. EXCERPT: Prologue First day of high school and Zack was still feeling overwhelmed by everything. He'd been at the top of the food chain in primary school, a big kid. Now he was starting at the bottom again. High School had not only a completely different feel to it, but also a different program and Zack knew it was going to take some time to get used to it. Zack shouldered his school bag and headed in the direction of an empty table across the quad so he could sit in peace and eat his lunch. Luck wasn't with him though as just as he was about to sit down he was nudged in the side by someone else trying to sit in the exact same seat. Zack looked up expecting to find a bigger kid about to tell him to buzz off. Instead he found himself staring at a pair of the brightest green eyes he'd ever seen, a cute nose and a smiling mouth. "Sorry. I didn't see you there," the girl said waving her book at him. Zack understood. He'd been looking in his backpack for his lunch and wasn't paying attention to what he was doing either. "Me too," Zack said as he turned to start walking away. "Hey, you don't need to go. The table is plenty big for the both of us." She waved at the remaining empty chairs. "I wouldn't want to disturb you." Zack said. "Nonsense. Name's Sarah Stewart. Who are you?" she asked as she took a seat and stared at Zack, waiting for him to sit down and start talking. "Well, I'm me, obviously," Zack replied with a straight face. Sarah giggled and the ice was broken. By the time the bell rang to signify the end of lunch they had become fast friends and by the end of the week they were inseparable. Their high school years flew past with the two of them sharing everything. Including Zack's biggest secret. The evening of the first full moon after Zack turned sixteen he and Sarah were lying on the floor in the lounge at his place, doing their homework. Zack's entire body heated, like his blood was boiling, then his arms started sprouting fur. He'd looked over at Sarah, saw her wide eyes staring back at him and said the only thing he could think of. "Please don't scream." He hadn't expected this to happen quite yet and he hadn't planned on his human best friend being there when he changed forms for the first time in his life. He really hoped Sarah could deal with what was going on because he couldn't lose her as a friend. Sarah's eyes widened even further as his words registered, then his bones started to reshape, Zack's face elongated and before he knew it, he stood on all fours tangled in his jeans and shirt and staring at his best friend as she looked back at him in complete wide-eyed shock. "Holy shit!" Sarah said breathlessly. Zack's mother came through from the kitchen. "Honey, would you two like—" her question cut off when she noticed Zack. His mom stopped in her tracks, mouth hanging open. Gathering her wits quickly she looked at Sarah to gauge her response to what she'd just witnessed. "Sarah, honey, are you okay?" "That is so fricken' cool!" Sarah turned and quickly picked up her homework before waving it in front of Zack's face. "Come on Zack! Be a good boy and eat this for me. That way I don't have to do it and I'll have such a good excuse." Sarah broke into a fit of giggles as Zack took a playful bite at the hand holding her homework. "Zack!" His mother scolded. Gentling her tone a little she said, "Go on up to your room Zack until you can shift back. Sarah and I need to have a nice long chat." Zack looked between his mother and best friend a couple of times, but not seeing any anger or worry from either of them he did as his mother directed and padded out of the room. Sarah tried to get him to eat her homework several more times after that day, always laughing at her own joke, Zack just smiled at his friend indulgently. After that everything else seemed like a piece of cake. Zack confided in Sarah when he realised the boys at their school held more appeal to him than the girls. Sarah simply hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, said being gay didn’t matter, and she would always love him. "You have to tell your parents," Sarah said as she pulled back from the hug. "But what if they stop loving me?" Zack asked, biting his lip. Zack also didn't want his folks to be disappointed in him and he was afraid if he told them he was gay, they would be. "Zachary Thomas Bennet!" Sarah scolded him. Zack cringed slightly at the tone in her voice. "Your parents love you to death. There isn't a single thing you could tell them that would change that fact. You remember how wonderful they were to me when I found out your big secret?" Zack sighed. Sarah was right. He knew his parents loved him. It didn't stop him from being scared though. That night he sat down in the lounge room with him parents. Zack took a deep breath and wiped his hands on his jeans, he was sweating so much. He picked up the remote and muted the television. "Zack?" his dad looked at him with a furrowed brow. Zack took another deep breath and then just blurted it out, "I'm gay." His mum surprised him. "Oh honey, I already knew that… Well I didn't know, but I'd suspected for a while." Zack stared at her like she'd grown another head. His mother just smiled brightly at him. Zack's dad stood from the chair he had been relaxing in. "Come here, Zack." His tone firm. Zack stood and slowly made his way to his father, he didn't think his dad would hit him, that wasn't the kind of man he was, but people had been known to do things they wouldn't normally when emotions ran high. When Zack stood in front of him, George Bennet pulled Zack roughly into his arms and hugged him. Zack stood stiff for a moment in his father's arms before he relaxed and hugged his father back. After a time his dad pulled back, but kept hold of his shoulders. "Your mother and I love you, no matter what. As long as you're happy then so are we." Zack nodded, a lump caught in his throat as his eyes started to fill. "Now, enough of this, can we get back to watching the news?" Zack chuckled and nodded. "Sorry," he said lightly as he stepped away and turned the sound back on. "Nothing to be sorry about." Zack knew his dad really meant that. He really did have the greatest parents in the world. Sarah, however, kept the knowledge of Zack's homosexuality from her parents until after they'd graduated from high school and moved into an apartment together. Her parents, being the religious, God-fearing people they were, were adamant Sarah have nothing further to do with Zack once they were told. Sarah refused and they informed her God would punish her for associating with him. The sneer directed in Zack's direction as he stood there and looked on was something he'd never experienced before. The utter hatred these two people had for him was mind-boggling. All because of the sex of the person Zack wanted to spend his life with. "You can take your God and go and get stuffed." Sarah told her parents before she turned, took Zack's hand, and pulled him out of the house. Zack didn't even want to contemplate what their reaction would have been had they known he was a werewolf as well as being gay. They'd probably have keeled over in apoplectic fits. Zack chuckled at that idea and continued to follow his friend. When they got home to their apartment, Zack walked inside and noticed a collar and lead hung beside the door. He stared at them for a moment, they hadn't been there when he'd left that morning. Zack turned as Sarah exploded in laughed in laugher. He stood there and watched as his best friend doubled over in glee before he raced down the hall and slammed the bathroom door closed. Zack shook his head, he knew after this afternoon Sarah had needed the laugh and he didn't mind being the instrument behind that. He loved Sarah and he had to admit the collar and lead were kinda funny. Once a Cowboy, by story from the Hot Off the Range Anthology released as a single title last week. I know, I know, I'm running a little late in holding this contest, but I figured better late that never. So, If you would like to go in the draw to win a copy of Once a Cowboy simply leave a comment. The winner will be announced on Friday. You have a choice of Mobi, Epub or PRF formats. :) BLURB:
Riding and herding. Those spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle. What is it about cowboys that so doggedly fires the imagination? Join the Mischief Corner authors as they give you their own unique takes on the cowboy mystique and mythos, from the American West, to Australia, to outer space. The cowboy story will never be the same… Once A Cowboy - Toni Griffin It's been six years since Jesse Howard has stepped foot on the Western Hills Cattle Station. Now that he's able, Jesse's returned. The problem is, he's not returning alone. Will Logan Kennedy, the love of his life, listen to Jesse's explanations or will Logan close the door on the future Jesse's dreamed about for so long. BUY LINKS: Mischief Corner Books, Amazon, ARe, B&N |
Toni GriffinToni Griffin lives in Darwin, the smallest of Australia's capital cities. Born Archives
November 2022
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