I am in the final stages of finishing and formatting my next book, HER DAKOTA MAN. I'm thrilled to bring this new series to my readers. I love writing cowboys and have been writing my TEXAS HEARTS series for over 12 years. Never fear, I still intend to continue writing my TEXAS HEARTS series and will be releasing book 5, LEAVING LIBERTY, in the near future. But I still really wanted to explore a new family of brothers and a new setting.
The Badlands of South Dakota have always fascinated me. It's harsh weather and very different country than what I'm used to in New England. I've never been, but now feel I have an excuse for a road trip! Here is a sneak peek of HER DAKOTA MAN, book 1 of the Dakota Hearts series which will launch this month!
Poppy Erickson had spent the year wondering how all their lives might have been different after hearing the death bed confession of her childhood friend. She’d left South Dakota years ago because she couldn’t bear to watch the man she loved loving another woman. But now she knows the truth. She’ll keep the promise she made to a friend, but will Logan understand when he learns the truth? More important, can they again recapture the passion that had been between them all those years ago?
Everyone knows that the Dakotas didn’t get the name Badlands for nothing. Harsh weather and rough living are a way of life. But single dad, Logan McKinnon, had seen more than his share of bad times after the death of his wife a year ago. The last thing he needs is Poppy Erickson, an old flame and his late wife’s best friend, showing up unannounced to help after devastating floods nearly washed away their hometown. With no place to stay in town, he has no choice but to offer her a bed at his house. But can he live under the same roof with a woman he’d once loved passionately without feeling he’s betraying his late wife?
Excerpt:
One look on Logan McKinnon’s face
told Poppy that his foul mood had very little to do with the devastating
destruction all around the Badlands of South Dakota…and everything to do with
her showing up in town after nearly ten years.
She didn’t have to be standing
next to him to feel his anger simmering just below the surface of his
composure. Sitting in her rental sedan
was close enough. What the hell was she
thinking coming back home? Why had she made that ridiculous promise to
Kelly?
She parked the car next to his
truck and took a deep breath, mumbling under her breath as she pulled the door
handle, “This may just turn out to be the stupidest thing you have ever done,
girl.”
Truth was, even as pissed off as
Logan looked, he was still an amazing sight to see. Part of her had hoped that she was wrong. That she’d gotten over him a long time
ago. That she’d take one look at him,
make sure he and Keith were okay, and be able to get back in her car and drive right
to the airport in Rapids City.
He turned to her, standing tall
and proud. His thick dark hair blew in
the March wind, fluttering around his face and making him all the more
strikingly handsome.
Yep. Stupid.
He was taller than she’d remembered, and he’d
long since lost that too-lean teenage body that had driven her crazy in her
youth. He worked hard on his ranch and
it showed in how much his arms and chest had filled with muscles.
Despite the cold, he’d taken off
his jacket while he worked in the yard and Poppy had a clear view of just how much
his male body had filled out in places she’d dreamed of touching.
Lord, help her. She was in trouble. And she hadn’t even stepped out of the car
yet. She pushed the door open and
stepped outside to get it over with. It
was either going to be the shortest visit on record…or a life changing
experience she’d been dreaming of ever since she was a teenager.
“Hi, Logan.”
Logan starred at he for a long,
agonizing moment. She read the emotional
tug of war playing on his face as the sudden chill from the South Dakota winds
bit into her exposed skin like a whip.
Then his expression turned
hard. “What are you doing here?”
He must have heard the car drive
up. But Logan’s four-year-old son,
Keith, remained focused on the mud puddle he was poking a stick into to even
notice anyone was around. That was good.
The next few minutes would go easier for both of them if Keith weren’t
aware of the tension.
Logan stared at her as if he’d
been startled. Or maybe too focused on
making sure his four-year old son, Keith, was safely playing nearby to notice
her car had driven up.
Or perhaps he’d been too
pre-occupied with assessing the damage the recent angry South Dakota weather had
done to his property. Poppy had seen just
how Mother Nature had shown no mercy to her childhood town as she drove from
the airport to the ranch. She couldn’t
exactly blame Logan for being in a foul mood because of that.
Seeing her was just the icing on
the cake.
“What the hell are you doing here,
Poppy?” he repeated.
She took in a deep breath, smelled
the muddy earth and decay all around her, and said, “I came to help.”
He took one long look at her, from
her high-heeled boots, up the length of her legs, pausing at her hips. She
could almost feel his eyes as if he were staring at the flesh beneath her fresh
pair of blue jeans. When his gaze finally reached her face again, she slid her
sunglasses to the tip of her nose and stared right back at him in challenge. A slow smile played on her lips. She could never last as long at this as Logan
before caving into laughter. But she
knew Logan was in no laughing mood.
“Poppy Ericksen. Rudolph was
practically washed off the map from all that rain we had? After all this time, what makes you think I
need anything from you?”
Even though his voice was even,
she could tell he was still pissed. But he’d never show it. Keith was still poking at the mud and puddles
on the driveway just a little ways away, completely unaware of present
company.
“What’s the matter, Logan? You don’t look happy to see me,” Poppy said,
pulling her sunglasses off her face with a wary smile.
~ ~ ~
Please keep checking back in the next week when I will have links to order HER DAKOTA MAN!
Dakota Hearts includes:
Her Dakota Man
Badland Bride
Dakota Heat
Wild Dakota Heart
His Dakota Bride
ORDER HER DAKOTA MAN:
AMAZON: http://amzn.to/GUTB3P
BARNES AND NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-dakota-man-lisa-mondello/1117079441?ean=2940046328400