EPPIE
Finalist, Anthology
EPPIE Winner, Anthology
Love Romances Reviewer's Choice Golden Rose Award Winner
Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award Winner
EXCERPT:
Lucius
Bayer, better known as Luke, stepped off the west bound train
and herded his brother Dan away from the Brimstone depot.
He uneasily eyed the two roughly dressed men, keeping pace
with them. They hadn’t expected a welcome committee—not
that this looked to be one. The State of Utah had just been
admitted into the Union and was reputed to be largely Mormon.
“These
men look like Mormons to you?” Luke asked Dan in a low
tone.
Dan
shook his head and said, “Not unless the Mormons have
changed their rules about drinking.”
“We
ain’t Mormons, no siree,” the black-bearded man
said. He snapped his red suspenders and edged closer. “Ain’t
dudes, nei-ther, all dressed up like them Philadelphia lawyers
we hear tell about. Can’t say the same for you two.”
They’d
passed the depot and were heading for the street. Luke looked
at Blackbeard, thinking the Bayer brothers’ gray tweed
suits did seem out of place among all the Levi’s, leather
vests and farmer boots. His black homberg and his brothers’
gray bowlers bore no resemblance to Utah broad-brimmed hats.
“I take it you don’t like our attire, Mister Whoever-you-are.”
“We
don’t wear no ay-tire. What’re dudes like you
doing here anyway?” The slight slur in Blackbeard’s
voice proved he was a few sheets to the wind.
Though
he didn’t feel that way, Luke said calmly, “Gentle-men,
we’re in search of opals, not trouble.”
“Are
them stones of some kind?” Blackbeard asked, his dark
eyes belligerent as he stroked his full beard. Thrusting his
thumbs in his belt, he leaned closer.
Trying
to keep himself from condescension, Luke answered, “They
are indeed stones we’d like to find for our jewelry
store in Illinois. Do you know where there are any in this
area?”
“You
gonna steal stones off’n our property?” The youth
who spoke was tall, barely into manhood, and not much more
than a beanpole. He smelled of stale beer.
“Not
steal. Buy,” Dan Bayer said. “We’ll give
you a fair price.”
“I reckon we never did hear of no opal gems in these
parts,” Blackbeard said with a sneer. “We’uns
ain’t eddicated like you’ns.”
Since
the two men now circled them, looking them up and down, Luke
stopped and confronted the drunken scoundrels. “If you
boys have no objections, we’ll inquire at one of your
institu-tions.” He hadn’t expected the locals
way out here to act like the Chicago hoods he and his brothers
had encountered not long ago. Nevertheless, they were prepared
for anything.
Beanpole
snorted. “Insty-tushuns? I reckon we do object. We don’t
like strangers sashayin’ in here and upsettin’
our women.” He stuck out a long jaw, scarcely sprouting
a beard.
“I
do believe they’ve both wet their whistles with too
much drink. I think it’s called redeye here. Or is it
rotgut?” Dan’s voice was so deliberately pompous
that Luke all but gave up hoping for any peaceful settlement
to this situation. He nudged Dan’s arm, hoping to keep
him moving in the direction of a hotel while Brother Al was
claiming their luggage.
“Whatever
you wanna call it, it’d be too damn strong for lily-livered
dudes,” Beanpole said.
“Drink
or fight,” Blackbeard announced, his dark eyes snap-ping.
“You don’t need to be lookin’ at our women.”
He stood back and stretched his arms out between him and his
friend in invitation for them to do their worst. “Take
yer choice. It don’t matter none which. We got all day.”
He reached over and flipped his hand to-ward Dan’s gray
bowler.
“Hey,
get your dirty paws off my hat.” Dan dropped his valise
and punched Blackbeard in the arm. “No man touches my
hat—not without bringing a heap of trouble down on himself,
that is.”
Beanpole
reached around Blackbeard and flipped off Dan’s hat,
laughing as it cart-wheeled in the cinders of the depot yard.
By now a crowd had gathered and someone yelled “Fight!”
as Dan’s fist connected solidly with the youth’s
jaw. Down he went, the seat of his pants hitting the ground.
Beanpole
quickly rose from the ground and rushed at Dan, slamming instead
into long, tall Al Bayer, who had appeared at a run from the
depot building and stepped in between.
The
two locals stared up and up at the new addition to their altercation,
but they didn’t give up.
“Back-to-back!”
Luke shouted to his brothers. Positioning themselves, they
met the flailing fists of the strangers blow for blow.
The
tangle of arms and legs, fists and boots active, continued
for over ten minutes. The crowd of men and a few women cheered
them on. Bowler hats got dented. The homburg was squashed.
A dirty gray Stetson sailed off into the crowd while shirts
shredded and gray suit coats ripped at the shoulder seams.
Celluloid shirt collars lay in the dust.
Finally
all five sprawled in the dust and cinders, out of strength.
“Where
at you fellas from?” Blackbeard said between gasps for
air.
“We’re
from Illinois,” Luke told them, equally out of breath.
“Aw,
gee, dawgie,” Blackbeard groaned aloud as he sat up-right,
suddenly quite sober. “You really come from Illi-noise?”
“That’s
right.”
“Hell,
man, we was supposed to guide you to the sights and people
hereabouts, not fight you. Nola will kill us when she hears
about this fight.”
Luke
was amazed. “You knew we were coming?”
“We
wasn’t supposed to tell you...”
Also included in the anthology:
-DIAMOND
MAGEE by Sherry Derr-Wille over-the-hill romance
Diamond Magee, Di to her friends, has returned to Minter after
30 years. Kate is more than willing to set Di up with her
brother-in-law, Mel, on a blind date. When Di takes over Mel's
Christmas shop to be run year-round, the fur flies.
-SEX
WITH THE MAN IN THE MOON by Christine DeSmet romantic
suspense
The night is cold and his "family jewels" are hot.
During a white-out on Christmas Eve in the remote wilderness
of northern Wisconsin, young widow Claire Mickelson finds
bloodied, frozen Jack Eberhardt dumped in a snow bank near
her cabin. Unfortunately she's taken in what appears to be
a notorious, murderous jewel thief. And while he thaws out,
he asks her to thaw a little toward him. And his jewels.
-EMERALD
by Debbie Fritter contemporary romance
Emerald Braun won't settle for the Knight in Shining Armor
and white picket fence. As a young songwriter, she wants to
have a hit song. The only way to get her lyrics out there
is to pick up and move to Nashville. Utah Sheridan has lived
in the shadow of his famous father for most of his life. When
his band, the Night Ramblers, get an invitation to perform
at the Opry little does he know that on the stage of the Ryman
Auditorium is a treasure he never wanted, or expected to find.
-GARNET'S
LIGHT by Liz Hunter romantic suspense
Heir to a manufacturing fortune, Miriam Hubbard loses her
parents in a boating accident and receives a diagnosis of
a debilitating illness. A long-time friend talks her into
attending a masquerade ball and, in the antique store where
she searches for a costume, she finds a stunning garnet. Does
it really have magical powers that can cure her disease? And
is the charming stranger in town the love of her life, or
a con man intent on possessing that magnificent jewel?
-THE
TOPAZ LOCKET by Carrie S. Masek paranormal romance
Will Connor, a cynical antiques dealer, buys a stolen locket
and discovers the picture of a beautiful woman inside. She
haunts his sleep, becoming more vivid with each dream. Driven
to meet her in person, he tracks her down only to discover
she's hospitalized in a deep coma, the victim of an apparent
mugging. Convinced the attack was no random act of violence,
Will must hunt down her assailant before he can strike again.
-JADED
by Barbara Raffin reincarnation romance
With the help of doomed, eerily familiar lovers from days
gone by, Hannah Calder and Jake Griffin learn that scars don’t
need to wall a person off from life and that it takes more
than wealth to create happiness. This time around, they ignore
the nay saying, and the rich man and the waitress take a leap
of faith beyond their fears and prove that love can overcome
all.
-THE
RUBY KISS by Jaye Roycraft contemporary vampire romance
Radio intern Alena Grace would rather spend Halloween with
friends, but she has no choice but to participate in the station's
annual Halloween scavenger hunt. Even more dismaying is being
partnered with "the spook," late night DJ Ray McClay,
who's given her chills since her first day on the job with
his pale skin, blond hair, and yellow-green eyes. Designated
as the "Vampire Team", Alena and Ray battle each
other and the elements to be the first to locate all the items
on their list of treasure, including the mysterious Ruby Kiss.
-PERIDOT
MOON by Julie Skerven futuristic romance
Tabitha King travels to Mine #12 in search of one of her least
reliable bounty hunters. Laurent Fox hasn’t checked
in for three days. Now she’s determined to retrieve
him and bounce him from the corporation. However, when she
arrives she discovers that Laurent is injured and just barely
holding off poachers. When they find a lode of pure peridot
in an old, played-out shaft things get hotter. Can Tabitha
trust him? Will Laurent see her as something other than the
stiff beaurocrat he remembers? Will they find love under the
Peridot Moon?
-THE
TURQUOISE MASK by Jane Toombs paranormal romance
An unexpected inheritance plunges Jamie Lowell into a dark
whirlpool of danger as she follows clues left by her father
to where a treasure is hidden. Can she trust Zach Tregath
to help her survive the dance of death that waits for her,
or is he part of the evil?
-BLOODSTONE
CURE by Cassie Walder paranormal romance
Jason, from an ancient race of shape-shifting dragons on the
planet Sauria, is dying. In order to save his life, he must
find the legendary stones bloodstone and fluorite. On Earth,
he must also locate a female Kindred Soul, a member of his
race who has been assimilated into human society and he must
make her fall in love with him as part of his cure. Orphaned
at an early age and raised in foster homes, Melissa has always
felt different from those around her. Jason immediately recognizes
her as the Kindred, but will she love him when she learns
what he is and what he needs from her?
-THE
AMETHYST ANGEL by Karen Wiesner traditional romance
Elena Lopez’s father has decided to play matchmaker
with his long-time friend and neighbor, Marta Delgado, when
Marta’s nephew comes to town. Elena has a secret, though:
She’s always loved Marta’s own son Pablo. An amethyst
angel belonging to a dying boy reminds Elena that spending
her life waiting for something to happen isn’t living
and that love must be shared. Can she take the risk of telling
Pablo her feelings even if he doesn’t share her love?
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