Pink Pistol Sisterhood

Little Camels? Nope. Alpacas! By Pam Crooks

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I’ve been anticipating this day ever since we launched our Pink Pistol Sisterhood series in February. As the 8th book, I’ve had to wait my turn to announce my “official” Preorder date for ARMED & MARVELOUS.

So let me say it, okay?

ARMED & MARVELOUS is available for Preorder! Yay!

Set in 1955, my book takes place 15 years after Linda Broday’s book, ONE SHOT AT LOVE, so you can see time passing swiftly by as that matchmaking pistol of ours soars to modern day by the end of the series. But its legend lives on and nothing changes in the whimsical promise of finding love and marriage for our hero and heroines, no matter what our time period.

Here’s a little bit about my book.

After a terrible tragedy, wild game hunter Rexanna Brennan returns home to her family’s ranch to heal. She never expects to learn her crazy aunt has left her a pink pistol with an even crazier legend.  But more unsettling, a Hollywood cowboy has moved onto the ranch, stealing her family’s hearts and maybe her legacy, too.

False accusations throw Roan Bertoletti into scandal and yank him out of his movie star life. His reputation shredded, he grasps at the second chance the Brennan family gives him. With his roots firmly planted, he’s living his dream to be a cowboy again, and he has no plans to leave the ranch anytime soon.

But Rexanna’s grief pulls at him. So does her insistence she can’t stay. Can he convince the beautiful heiress to claim what has always been hers?  Time is running out, and so are his options.

Except for the pink pistol . . .

AMAZON

#kindleunlimited.  #sweetromance

Along with my Preorder for ARMED & MARVELOUS, I’m thrilled to announce our 4th and final Pink Pistol Magazine.  This issue features the last four books in the series, and is just as gorgeous as the first three.  Plus, it’s FREE!

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/q1kkx4m29m

When Rexanna returns home for her crazy-as-a-loon aunt’s funeral, she learns there’s a reason for her aunt’s eccentricity, and that in their caring for her, Rexanna’s grandparents give her a small herd of alpacas as therapy.

Rexanna never expects the animals. After all, the T Bar M Ranch has always been known for cattle.  But it isn’t long before she finds them endearing, cute, and a pleasure to care for. (Unfortunately, due to the book’s length, I couldn’t give Rexanna much time to interact with them even though I had lots of ideas.  Maybe for another book, eh?)

It’s easy to confuse alpacas and llamas since they come from the same camelid family, which includes – you guessed it! – camels. But let me show you their differences:

Alpacas have short, pointed ears, not unlike an elf. Llamas have longer, more rounded ears, like a banana.

Alpacas’ snouts look more smooshed in. Llamas have long snouts.

Alpacas are smaller – about 3 feet tall and 150 lbs. Llamas can be four feet tall and weigh up to 400 lbs.

Alpaca fleece is fine, soft, and thick. Llama fleece is more like hair.

Alpaca fleece is prized for its use in luxury sweaters, socks, blankets, etc. It’s hypoallergic and itchiness-free.  Llama fleece is used for weaving and similar crafts. The wool is coarser but warmer than the alpacas’.

Alpacas generally are shy, polite, and have a sweet nature. Llamas are more independent, assertive, and even rude.

Due to their smaller stature and bone density, alpacas are not useful as pack animals. Llamas, however, are more durable and can even be used to guard herds of sheep or alpacas due to their aggressive nature.

Now that you’ve had a little lesson in the differences between alpacas and llamas, can you guess which is which in the images below?

Please number your guesses in the comments like this:  #1 – 1A (example)

The random winner with all correct guesses will win a pair of alpaca socks!

 

Winnie’s Winners!!

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Hello! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by Monday to share their thoughts about art education in the schools. I really enjoyed reading the responses. I threw all the names in a hat and pulled out the following:

dholcomb1
AbbyH
Kathleen O
Judy Sexton
Ann Stewart

Congratulations all! Just select which book you’d like to have from my backlist – you can find a list here https://www.winniegriggs.com/booklist.html (Disarming His Heart is not backlist since it hasn’t released yet)  then contact me via my website with the title and your mailing info and I’ll get your book on out to you.

DISARMING HIS HEART

A sharpshooter hiding her identity.
A preacher with a guilty past.
Will secrets ruin their shot at love?

Violet Taylor leads a double life. She performs in a traveling show as the mysterious Masked Marvel, a daring and commanding sharpshooter . But in real life she holds back and allows others to lead the way. When an accident puts her arm in a sling she has to scramble to protect the secret of her identity as the Masked Marvel. So she enlists the help of her identical twin sister, a “townie” dressmaker, to secretly swap places until her arm heals. But that means she must also take on her sister’s role as director of a children’s church program. Before leaving, her sister informs Violet that she’s sweet on Pastor Carson, the program’s co-director, so she’d appreciate it if Violet doesn’t mess anything up with him.

Pastor Carson Davis became guardian to an orphaned nine-year-old six months ago and has been struggling to build a relationship with the boy ever since. It’s to the point where he’s begun to wonder if he’s even fit to be a pastor. Could finding himself a wife who’d be a proper mother figure for his foster son be the solution?

As Violet and Carson work together on the children’s program the attraction between them grows. But mindful of her sister’s feelings and guilt over her deception hold Violet back.
Little does she know that Carson is harboring secrets of his own…

Available May 20th

Preorder HERE

 

A New Book, A New Lesson

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I’m excited for Aiming for His Heart to be released on June 30th. Writing this book, the tenth story in our Pink Pistol Sisterhood series, challenged me in many ways. First, at 40,000 words, it’s the shortest story I’ve written. I hear those who know me well laughing because you know I can’t say hello in less than fifty words. 🙂  In my first writing classes, the instructor asked if I was taking her class on writing tighter. To my I hadn’t decided answer, she responded that I needed to. Despite hard work on that, I struggled 60,000 word Harlequin novels within the overage allowance.

I also had less time to write this story. When I start a book, I count on two things happening. I’ll start in the wrong place, either too far into the story or too far . I’ll take wrong turns. Sure enough. Both happened with Aiming for His Heart. In fact, the wrong turns were so disastrous I pretty much started over once. Maybe twice. While I was proud of writing in the shorter time frame, as a tortoise writing (unlike many of my amazing rabbit speed writing filly sisters), doing so took its toll.

However, the main challenge came from my heroine, Jade. Boy did she and I get into a battle of wills. Okay. I hear you laughing again. Yes, I know I can be stubborn, too. ? Our trouble started during brainstorming. My story ideas almost always start with the hero. In fact, only one hasn’t. But in the Pink Pistol Sisterhood series the heroine receives the pink-handled pistol which plays a key part in the story. This meant the story needed to begin with Jade. Until I learned her backstory, her personality, and what she wanted, I couldn’t move forward. And blast the woman, she wouldn’t let me into her head.

I knew Jade’s mother died when Jade was ten. From then until she went attended college, Jade spent summers and school vacations with her maternal aunt in Oklahoma. There Jade found the love and acceptance she often didn’t receive from her workaholic, distant father and his new family. Jade revealed her past to me, but after that, she shut down. All she revealed was she was returning to Oklahoma to settle her aunt’s estate.

Anyone who’s taken on that task knows how emotionally and physically exhausting it is. Despite putting Jade in stressful situations, she remained distant, almost emotionless. Thankfully, while talking to my dear friend and critique partner, Nancy Haddock, I realized Jade acted that way because she didn’t want to feel anything. She didn’t want to let anyone in. I finally had my key to her character. Jade feared if she felt anything, especially grief, she’d fall apart and never recover. She viewed her emotions as the enemy because when she lost control of them, chaos and disaster followed.

Being a sinister author, I had to break her. But as often happens in my stories, in busting through my character’s defenses and forcing them to face their issues, I make a discovery of my own. I learned I had been at war with my emotions lately. Because I had been feeling too much for lack of better words, I didn’t want to feel anything and had shut down in some ways, too. Forcing Jade to deal with her emotions forced me to grow and deal with mine, too. I guess, not only do I write what I know, sometimes I write about what I need to learn.

GIVEAWAY:  To be entered in my random drawing for cactus tote leave a comment about a challenge that made you grow and what you learned or what new skill you acquired.

 

Instant Attraction? It happens!

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A new story. A new series. Book #7 of the Pink Pistol Sisterhood! I’m so excited.

As you know from Karen’s and Shanna’s stories this pink pistol with a legend attached gets passed from book to book. The woman in possession of the pistol can either accept or reject the call. But if she chooses to open her heart to the possibility of love, she will marry the man of her dreams.

I loved the premise of this series when Pam, Karen, Shanna, and Jessie first presented it. And how special that the Fillies could do it as a group. It was a wonderful idea.

My story is about Mariah Bartee, a young woman trying to raise her brother and sister after the deaths of their parents. She’s lived all her life in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado. But she dreams of going to the city that’s only thirty miles away. Without a vehicle, it might as well be the moon.

The arrival of a handsome stranger, Dax Nolan, shakes up her small world. He’s a cowboy searching for his little sister who was abducted.

When Mariah glanced up into Dax Talon’s serious brown eyes, she found him staring at her. Something in the manner of his look reminded her of summer lightning—quick with a flash of heat. Flustered, she missed a step and landed on his foot.

An attraction sparks even though she doesn’t trust strangers. Mariah finds herself agreeing to help Dax search for his sister. She warns him of the immense danger then armed with her shotgun, she leads him up the mountain to this family of moonshiners. A tip Dax had gotten told him to find the Tylers and he’d find his sister.

But…Mariah’s siblings found some bones up on the mountain, picked clean by the wild animals. Could they be Dax’s sister’s bones?

Mystery, suspense, and a blossoming romance lead to the satisfying conclusion of the 7th Pink Pistol story.

It’s available for preorder HERE. Karen Witemeyer’s and Shanna Hatfield’s books are already out. Pick them up and start following the Pink Pistol as it travels the country.

The Pink Pistol Sisterhood Series Page

And as you know, we have the FREE Pink Pistol magazines on Book Funnel. We’ve published three with a fourth soon to be available.

   

Link to Magazine 1 – Click Here     Link to Magazine 2 – Click Here     Link to Magazine 3 – Click Here 

Do you believe in instant attraction? I was instantly attracted to my second husband. I was waiting tables in a steakhouse when he came in and sat in my station. Oh man, I thought he was the most handsome, most interesting guy I’d ever met! His deep voice sent tingles through me.

I’m giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one of my commenters so weigh in.

Fun Farmer Facts ~ by Pam Crooks

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It was National Agriculture Week a few weeks ago, and the small town where we have our lake cabin is surrounded by farms.  In celebration, the local newspaper featured interviews of local farmers, which made for interesting reading.

Here are a few observations about how farming has changed for these seasoned farmers, all well into their 70s and 80s, and who have farmed all their lives.

  • One of the biggest changes is GPS guided farm equipment.
  • Another – farmers now use computers to run their farms.
  • Automatic steering.  (I remember when my brother-in-law got air conditioning in the enclosed cab of his combine.  He thought he’d died and gone to heaven. I imagine he felt the same way about automatic steering.)
  • Irrigation and technology use has changed dramatically.

Back in the day, tractors were built to last. One farmer has a tractor that has been in operation for 71 years. (Can you imagine a car lasting that long?  Or your dishwasher? LOL.)

Another recalls his father giving him his own tractor before he was even 9 years old, and he’d operated one when he was younger than that.  Wow.

Advice:

Every farmer must have a strong work ethic and work at that work ethic. It’s a daily commitment, 24/7/365.  You really should grow up on a farm to develop a love for it.

It’s very difficult to get started in farming these days, and you almost have to acquire a farm through inheritance.

Some fun facts:

  • The average time a farm operator spends on the farm is 58.3 years.  (I couldn’t help but compare that to my husband who worked for Union Pacific RR almost right out of high school, and he retired after 39 years.)
  • 11% of today’s farmers once served in the military.
  • One bushel of corn produces enough syrup to sweeten 324 can of soda pop.
  • An acre of corn will evaporate 4,000 gallons of water per day.
  • Some golf tees are made from corn products.
  • Americans consume 17.3 BILLION quarts of popcorn each year.
  • Each soybean plant grows 60-80 pods, and each pod has three beans inside.
  • Each year, the average American consumes 112 pounds of beef.
  • The average person will eat twenty 240-lb pigs in their lifetime.
  • Horses drink 10 – 20 gallons of fresh water every day.
  • A cow’s udder can hold 25 – 50 pounds of milk.
  • It takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.
  • A person will eat about 250 eggs a year.
  • The longest recorded flight of a chicken is only 13 seconds long. (Not known for their flying, right?)
  • According to an online survey, 7% of US adults believed chocolate milk came from brown cows.  (Um, really?)
  • From 2007 to 2012, America had a net loss of 90,000 farms. (How’s that for depressing?)
  • Between 1840 and 2000, the percentage of the American labor force engaged in agriculture-related work plummeted from a robust 70 percent to a measly 2 percent. (More depressing.)
  • Women make up 36% of the total number of U.S. farm operators.
  • Due to their careful management, more than half of America’s farmers intentionally provide habitat for deer, moose, birds and other species, rewarding in significant population increases. (Cool, huh?)
  • Pigs can run a mile in 7 minutes. An average runner can do a mile in 7 – 10 minutes, a novice runner in 12 – 15 minutes.  (I wouldn’t try to race a pig.  You’ll probably lose.)
  •  It takes one hive of bees 55,000 miles of flight to produce one pound of honey.  It takes approximately two million flowers for bees to produce that one pound of honey. Fortunately, bees are fast flyers – up to 15 miles per hour, buzzing from flower to flower.  (Makes me appreciate the little bear bottle of honey in my cupboard even more.)

Have you ever lived on a farm?

Could you be a farmer or his wife? 

If you’re a woman alone, do you think you could manage a farm on your own?

 

The 2nd book in our Pink Pistol sweet western romance series is newly released!

Will romance hit its mark when true love is the target?

Desperate for a fresh start, Rena Burke journeys from Texas to Oregon with only her father’s pistol and a plodding old mule for company. She takes a job working with explosives at a mine, spends her free time emulating her hero Annie Oakley, and secretly longs to be loved.

Saddlemaker Josh Gatlin has one purpose in life and that is his daughter. Gabi is his joy and the sunshine in his days. Then he meets a trouser-wearing woman living life on her own terms. Rena is nothing like his perception of what he wants in a wife and mother for his child, but she might just prove to be everything he needs.

When tragedy strikes, will the two of them be able to release past wounds and embrace the possibilities tomorrow may bring? Find out in this sweet historical romance full of hope, humor, and love.

BUY ON AMAZON

 

Making Series Connections

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One of my favorite things about working on collections or multi-author series is having the chance to tap into the creative mind of other writers. Until the Pink Pistol Sisterhood series, the most experience I had with connecting to stories written by other authors was through the novella collections I had written.

Some of my most connected collections include the following:

A Match Made in Texas – Each of the four stories were set at least partially in the fictional town of Dry Gulch, Texas. Not only that, but all four stories were connected through the actions of a secretive matchmaker who wasn’t revealed until the final story. We had to coordinate town details, character names and descriptions, and time period details to make sure our stories lined up properly.

The Christmas Heirloom – In this collection, a family heirloom was passed down through the generations. While we didn’t have to coordinate setting details, we did have to keep track of family trees and generation gaps. We actually purchased a piece of costume jewelry to serve as our model Luckenbooth brooch, so we would all be able to describe it in detail. We also had an embroidered bag where each heroine sewed her initials and year of marriage. One of the authors’ mothers actually reproduced the bag for us, and we ended up giving away the brooch and the bag at our launch party.

The Kissing Tree – One of my favorite connections was in this collection. All four stories took place in the same fictional town of Oak Springs, TX and all of them centered around a giant oak tree where couples would carve their initials. Each story took place in a different time period, but the tree was at the heart. My story was second in the series, and the author of the first story finished hers really early, giving me the opportunity to read it ahead of time. My heroine wrote romantic stories for a magazine, so I had fun adding a elements of Regina’s story into mine. I was even able to give her characters cameo appearances in my story. As time progressed, little details were woven in by the other authors. For example, my hero and heroine were building the Kissing Tree Inn together, and my heroine initially painted it a horrible shade of bright pink. When a later character worked on renovating the inn, they found traces of that hideous pink color. Little details carrying through like that make my reader heart happy.

The Oak Tree that Inspired our Kissing Tree

Working on the Pink Pistol Sisterhood series has been so much fun. While each story stands on its own, they are connected by a shared history through the customized pistol that is handed down from heroine to heroine.

When it came time to write my story, I knew that I wanted to create a fun connection with the author who followed me in the series – Shanna Hatfield. Shanna is such a joy to work with and always so positive and encouraging, and when I suggested we create a character to connect our stories, she jumped in with both feet! We worked together to create Laura Marshall. Laura is Tessa’s best friend in my story and cousin to Rena, who is Shanna’s heroine. Laura is a milliner to works alongside Tessa in a dressmaking shop in Caldwell, TX. She also has strong family connections to Oregon (Shanna’s setting) and a special level of compassion for her cousin Rena.

Here is a snippet of one of Laura’s scenes where we incorporated a hint of Rena’s coming storyline:

“So, you don’t think I’m crazy?”

Laura shook her head, and a weight lifted from Tessa’s chest. “Not crazy. Hopeful.” She placed a hand on Tessa’s arm. “I’m rooting for you. You know that.”

Tessa nodded.

“Besides,” Laura said with a mischievous grin, “if you and Jackson end up together, I know just the lady you can send the pistol to next.”

“Oh? Who’s that?”

“My cousin Rena.” Laura’s expression sobered. “She’s had a rough go of it the last couple years. She suffered an injury that left her believing no man will ever want her. It’s so sad. She’s talked about visiting my brother out in Oregon and making a fresh start. The pistol could offer her some measure of protection, and if she gives it a chance, maybe it will lead her to someone who can see past her scars to the wonderful woman inside.”

“You don’t want a turn with the pistol yourself?” Tessa asked.

Laura grinned as she shook her head. “No, thanks. I plan to find my true love the old-fashioned way.”

Tessa squeezed her friend’s hand. “Well, I can’t blame you for sticking with the tried-and-true.”

“I’m not in a hurry. Too many girls think marrying is their only option for having a meaningful life. I have a career I enjoy, good friends, and the love of family. If the time is ever right for something more, God will let me know.”

“You’re a wise woman, Laura Marshall, and far more patient than I am.”

“Yes, well, it’s easier to be patient before one finds her true love than after.” She grinned and started dragging Tessa toward the workroom door. “Now, enough talk. Daylight’s a-wasting, as my granny used to say. Get out there and get your man. I’ll take care of closing up the shop.”

Shanna’s novel – Love on Target just released this week! We had so much fun partnering together on this project. I’m excited to see what adventures Rena encounters and the role Laura plays.

Buy In Her Sights here.

Buy Love on Target here.

Do you enjoy series with woven connections and carry-over details?
Or do you prefer series stories that stand more on their own?

Bullet Proof Bride — Pink Pistol Sisterhood, Book #4 by Kit Morgan

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Can you believe it? Petticoats & Pistol authors coming together to make one of the most fantastic series I’ve seen in a long time. And I must say, I’m not only honored to be a part of this incredible endeavor, I’m floored by the talent of my sister fillies! And, at long last, my book is now on pre-order!

In the writing world, there have been many of what we call, multi-author projects. I’ve done quite a few of them myself. Some small, some large, but this group is chock full of so much talent it blows my socks off. So yeah, you’re in for a real treat! 

My book, Bullet Proof Bride is the fourth book in our series and I’m having fun writing it. Now, as many of you know, I was raised by a homicide detective, so on occasion I like to put a little mystery or suspense in my books. What can I say? I can’t help myself. Dad would be so proud! So by the time the mysterious pink pistol falls into the hands of my bride along with the pickle she finds herself in, she’d like to use it the way a pistol ought to be used. But love? How can a pistol bring love into her life when all she’s trying to do is keep it? The train robbers she’s managed to upset certainly won’t care if she finds love!

Lucky for her she’s stuck in Nowhere, Washington, where folks try to help each other out. She just hopes they help when the shooting starts. If, indeed, it does. At least she’s got a handy dandy pistol to protect herself with. Better yet, she can shoot! Maybe she should mention it to a few folks, as the local banker has it in his head he has to protect her. When trouble does come to call, who will be protecting whom, and how is she to protect her heart? Rhys Miller is handsomer than he ought to be and he’s making it harder and harder for her to concentrate on staying alive. Good grief, what if she winds up protecting him? Can he shoot? Maybe she better find out! Because the last thing she wants is to have to worry about another tragedy. After all, tragedy is what landed her in Nowhere to begin with.

 Karen Witemeyer began our series with In Her Sights, the rest of the books available for pre-order are by Shanna Hatfield-Book 2, Cheryl Pierson-Book 3, and myself. And there’s more to come!

 

Here’s an excerpt from Bullet Proof Bride:

The Weaver Farm Train Stop in Washington, August 1900

 Goldie Colson stared at the apple orchards as the train took on water. They’d been here a while. Her destination was Nowhere, a nothing of a town in Washington that was as far from her old life as she could get. On the one hand, that was a good thing. Her life in Kansas City was horrible. She lost her parents in a bank robbery less than a year ago and now her betrothed to a bunch of train robbers.

“Miss Colson?”

She looked at the elderly conductor with eyes red from crying. “Yes?”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything? Something to eat?” The folks that live here are bringing food for everyone.”

Before she could speak, she noticed a giant of a man coming down the aisle. He was middle-aged with chestnut brown hair mixed with gray and had blue eyes. He stopped when he reached them. “Howdy ma’am. Name’s Arlan Weaver. We heard what happened. Are ya all right?”

A tiny laugh escaped, then another. “I just lost my intended and his father. No, I am not all right.” She looked out the window again. True, the men she lost she’d just met at a train station in Boise. She was a mail-order bride, and her betrothed, one Theodore Ferguson and his father, Ben Ferguson, were off to visit Ben’s sister in Nowhere. The ride out of Boise was uneventful for a long time and she’d spent it trying to get to know her future husband. It was the same after they left Baker City in Oregon. She was beginning to like the man she was about to marry when they entered the state of Washington. Then the train was robbed but hours ago, and not all the outlaws escaped. “What is this place?”

“The Weaver farm, ma’am,” Mr. Weaver said. “Maybe I ought to have my wife take a look at ya.” He excused himself and hurried from the car.

Goldie watched him go then went back to staring out the window. She didn’t know how many passengers were in the other car. They were spread between two, her car carrying her little party of three and a few others. Theodore and his father had been shot while the rest of the passengers fled into the second car seeking refuge. She had no idea if anyone in the second car had been wounded or killed. She only knew what happened in this one. Four lay dead. Two of them outlaws.

Two more men entered the car, took one look at what lay in the rear seats, then headed that way. A woman followed. She was middle aged, pretty, and had brown hair and kind brown eyes.

“Hello,” she greeted. “I’m Samijo Weaver. Why don’t you come with me?”

Goldie nodded, too numb to do anything else. How did she survive? She should have been shot too. But fate intervened when her future father in-law slumped in the seat in front of her, and she grabbed the gun out of his hand. The rest was a blur. She didn’t remember firing the weapon, but obviously did.

“Come along, now,” Mrs. Weaver said gently. “Let’s get you taken care of.”

Goldie’s lower lip trembled, and she bit it. She let the woman guide her from the seat and steer her off the train. With no home and no place to go anymore, Goldie had no idea what to do. But she was alive, and for now, that was enough.

 

We know you’re going to love these stores as much as we’ve loved writing them for you! The uniqueness of the span of time from the first book to the last covers stories set in the past and present and what’s in between. And of course, we have our own magazine! If you haven’t checked out our Pink Pistol Sisterhood Facebook group yet, then head on over and join the fun! 

If you haven’t yet seen our magazine, you can find them here:

Issue #1

Issue #2

To Pre-Order Bullet Proof Bride, go Here

What do you think of our series so far? I’ll be giving away one e-copy of Bullet Proof Bride when it’s released to one lucky commenter!

LOVE UNDER FIRE — PINK PISTOL SISTERHOOD BOOK #3 by Cheryl Pierson

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Hi everyone! Serendipity came my way today, since it is my official PRE-ORDER DAY for my latest book AND my blog day for this month!

 

I’m so excited to have the chance to talk about my contribution to our new PINK PISTOL SISTERHOOD series. My book is LOVE UNDER FIRE and is the third of the series. There are eleven of the Petticoats and Pistols fillies participating in this venture (I should say ADVENTURE!) and we are all looking forward to traveling together to the end of this trail of wonderful stories— along with the pink pistol, of course!

 

You know what I love about these books? They span over a hundred years with historical stories from the 1800’s, 1900’s and even into the present day. That’s a lot of great storytelling to be had!

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Witemeyer kicked off our series with her story, IN HER SIGHTS. Shanna Hatfield’s LOVE ON TARGET comes next. Both of these stories are available to pre-order, and my story, LOVE UNDER FIRE is now up for pre-order as well! Soon, we’ll be looking for Kit Morgan’s story, BULLET PROOF BRIDE, the 4th in the series.

For those of you who love paperbacks, many of these books will be available in that format, too, including my LOVE UNDER FIRE, as of my release date, April 20th!

Here’s a little bit about LOVE UNDER FIRE—the story of a cavalry captain, also part Choctaw, who finds a very unexpected love with an Eastern society debutante sharpshooter! At first glance it would seem they have nothing in common, but as he tries to protect her from a would-be killer, love surprises them both.

BLURB:

Beautiful Krissy Donovan, a student of Annie Oakley, is asked to put on a sharpshooting benefit for an orphanage. The trouble is, it’s half a continent away. Her father has promised her services, and she finds herself virtually alone in perilous Indian Territory. Krissy’s father realizes he has made a terrible mistake, but a cavalry scout, familiar with the savage land, is the only one who can protect Krissy now.

Rough-and-tumble cavalry captain Johnny Houston resents being asked to take on this last assignment of playing nursemaid to an eastern debutante before he musters out of the army. Johnny understands his duty as a soldier, so turning the order down is out of the question. With a killer stalking them, Johnny has to keep his mind on Krissy’s safety, but an attraction to his stubborn charge could end up compromising his heart.

Memories of his own harsh childhood at the same orphanage haunt him. He has no choice but to make a stand for the children, or some of them won’t survive. Krissy dares to hope she can help in some way, even though it means giving up the lavish future that has been planned for her since birth.

How far will Johnny go with his dangerous rescue plan? Where does Krissy fit into his life? The strange arrival of a beautiful pink pistol with the legacy of its creation may help them survive the deadly odds against them in LOVE UNDER FIRE.

 

Before I treat you to an excerpt, I would love to tell you about a wonderful FREE magazine that goes along with our books. There will be four of them, and the first two are available NOW! They cost nothing and are full of recipes and stories, as well as a few short interviews of some of the P&P ladies you might be interested in along with all the latest news and excerpts from the PINK PISTOL SISTERHOOD stories. The links are below for both magazines, so jump on over and snap them up, and be on the lookout for upcoming editions!

Pink Pistol Magazine 1 Link
Pink Pistol Magazine 2 Link

 

NOW FOR THE EXCERPT!

This excerpt is near the beginning of the book, after our hero, Captain Johnny Houston finds the wreckage of the stagecoach Krissy Donovan and some other passengers were on only a couple of miles from the stage station they were headed for. There’s a storm “a-brewin’” as they make it back to the station, but Krissy goes out to the barn to help care for the horses and calm her jangling nerves. The station master’s son gives Krissy a curry brush and she’s just met Josie, one of the horses. Of course, she confides everything to her new friend.

EXCERPT:

Krissy turned back to Josie with brush in hand. “Now, my darling, let’s get you taken care of. You are such a glorious girl, aren’t you?”

She leaned up conspiratorially toward Josie’s ear. “I met a man today, Josie. Captain Johnny Houston.” She plied the brush against Josie’s side, trying to ignore the shiver that rushed through her at just saying his name aloud. “You saw him.” She slowed, then stopped the brush strokes. “I’m engaged, Josie…back home in Raleigh. That’s far away from here—in North Carolina.  Everyone knows I’m to marry Eversby Witherspoon the Third in the spring.”

Krissy brushed slowly across Josie’s withers. “You know what I think is so odd, Josie? I never met him before today—Captain Houston, I mean. Yet, I feel as if I know him, somehow.” She stood back and looked Josie in the eye.

“You know exactly what I mean, don’t you, sweet girl? I feel like I know him…somehow better than—than I should.” She stopped and took a deep breath, then plunged on. “Well, I mean I only just made his acquaintance today, but…” Her shoulders slumped. “And why does it even matter? I have Eversby…”

After a moment, she said, “Who knows? I don’t even understand it. And I refuse…I refuse to put any kind of name to what I felt—” She sighed heavily. “I must have gotten hit on the head harder than I thought.” She gave another gentle brush, then said, “I don’t even know his middle name…”

Squaring her shoulders, Krissy fell silent and finished up grooming Josie. “Not that it even matters…about his middle name, I mean. Because I’ll soon be going back to North Carolina and…and Eversby…Eversby Wayne Witherspoon the Third.” Somehow, the name had lost much of its luster. With a soft pat, she added, “I know you understand, Josie-girl. I wish you could talk.”

Just then, Jason entered the back door of the barn. “Pa and the cap’n are here.”

Heat flooded through Krissy as she gave Jason a nod of acknowledgement. She was suddenly aware of her wind-blown hair and disheveled appearance. She’d never cared so much about her looks as she did at this very moment—and there wasn’t one thing she could do about it except wonder why it should matter so much.

In any case, she’d been scared silly in that runaway stage, then knocked out before she could ever take note of what was truly going on, then been without a comb…so of course she wasn’t looking her best!

But…when she’d come to from her unconscious state and found herself staring up into the darkest eyes she’d ever seen…those eyes had changed the very moment they’d connected with hers. Captain Johnny Houston had melted her heart with one smile… And just maybe her feelings had shown right through her own “windows of her soul” too, at that same moment.

But that didn’t make any kind of sense, and she knew she couldn’t believe what she’d thought she might have seen because…because she would soon be going home to Eversby Wayne Witherspoon the Third…and marriage.

Krissy quickly tried to finger-comb her hair into some kind of order from the riotous brunette disarray she knew it was. The first thing she should have done was gone through what was left of her bag and hope someone had found her comb, brush, and mirror set. Was the mirror still in one piece? Seven years of bad luck if it was broken. She gave a heavy sigh. Perhaps that was why her thoughts were so chaotic. Maybe it wasn’t at all because of the stagecoach crash, or…a certain cavalry captain.

And…speak of the devil.

One more thing you may be interested in is our PINK PISTOL SISTERHOOD READER GROUP ON FACEBOOK! Please join us there for lots of brain teasers (from PAM!) and the latest news about this fun series. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2143576775865837

TO PRE-ORDER:

LOVE UNDER FIRE

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BX7CBQB3?linkCode=sl1&linkId=b7d26866cac9f28efc987846b38a98db&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=pettpist-20