Blog-a-Book-Scene is a monthly themed blogging endeavor from a group of authors who love to share excerpts from their stories. Find us on Twitter with the hashtags #blogabookscene and/or #PrairieRosePub.
This Month's Theme
February's theme is All you need is Love. The sweet, heartfelt excerpt below is from:
Don’t Go Snaring My Heart
by Jacquie Rogers
BlurbAlone in the high-mountain desert, self-sufficient Betsy Lynch is determined to eke out a living selling goat cheese while she fulfills her father’s dream to find a rich silver lode. Claim jumpers threaten to take everything she holds dear, so Betsy uses a bullwhip, her wiles, traps, goats, and an attack rooster to defend her land.
Don’t Go Snaring My Heart was originally published in Prairie Rose Publications’ Lassoing a Groom anthology, and is now available as a standalone novella. It takes place in Owyhee County, Idaho, and is part of the Hearts of Owyhee series. Check out the novels at my Hearts of Owyhee page.
Excerpt
“Betsy, I want to kiss you.”
“I was wonderin’ when you’d ever get around to that.” Betsy leaned onto Dex's chest. “Now’s a good time.”
He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers, gently at first, but then he caressed her back and hugged her tight, twining his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss. A thrill swirled through her, stirring her womanly parts and her soul, too. She’d kissed Petey Echols when she was twelve, but that peck was nothing like this.
When Dex pulled back, she clasped the back of his neck and kissed him again. He didn’t object, brushing his hands across her back, over her waist, and to the sides of her breasts. She gasped at that, for the sensation was unlike anything she’d ever felt. Betsy was not naïve about sex—she’d been around animals all her life—but she had no idea of the wonderful ways a man—this man—could make her body sing.
Finally, he set her back, a pained look on his face. “Betsy, I want to marry you.”
“I want to marry you, too.”
“No, you don’t. I’ve been in prison. That rundown ranch and puny herd is all I own. You’re beautiful, Betsy. You could get any man you want, and it shouldn’t be me.” He pressed two fingers to his forehead. “I’ve been hankerin’ for you since the day you strung me upside down, and I’ve thought about it a lot. Maybe you should be around other men and see if you still want me, because I’m no prize.”
“I’m going to say one thing and then you’re going to kiss me again, because I really liked it.” She backed him to the table and leaned into him. “I’ve gone to town nearly every month of the last two years—leastways in the good weather—and there ain’t one feller there that’s man enough for me. I want you, and I’ll have you.”
What she said must’ve penetrated his thick skull because he kissed her as if they’d never get another chance.
“I have to get back to the ranch before dark.” He ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head. “Miss Betsy Lynch, I... uh... want to say... been wantin’ to say it for a while now...”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
A kid bleated. All the goats and dogs crowded into the doorway and stared at her and Dex.
“We love you, too, Dex.”
“Come to the ranch with me, Betsy. Marry me. Your animals have a home there, too.”
“Can’t. I’d like to—would love to—but my papa was convinced he’d find silver here. I have to stay and work the mine or I’ll lose the claim. It was his dream.”
“But was it your dream? What do you dream about at night, Betsy?”
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| Approach to the actual setting of Betsy's claim |
Don’t Go Snaring My Heart is available at Amazon Kindle. Read for free if you're subscribed to Kindle Unlimited.
Next month's theme will be Beware the Ides of March, so watch your back!
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This page posted February 9, 2018. All content, including graphics copyright © Jacquie D Rogers 2018, All rights reserved.
