Saturday Snippet- Worth Wait & Ada's Texas Cavalryman

 The following snippet is taken from Worth the Wait by Patricia PacJac Carroll, one of nine novellas in the Under a Mulberry Moon anthology:

          Disgusted with the rundown ranch, Charlie dismounted and walked his horse to the remnants of the corral on the side of the hut.

          “I thought maybe you weren’t coming.” Startled, he looked up. How had he missed her? Lucky for him the war was over and she wasn’t a Johnny Reb, or he’d be needing a grave. The woman must have come out of the soddy, but mostly, he noticed the rifle angling down her arm to her legs. She raised the gun level with his chest. “Charlie Ransom?”

          He nodded, tearing his gaze from the gun to her face. “Ruby?” She wasn’t bad looking. He certainly could have done worse.

          She smiled. “I told you I was coming. I stopped in Duston, and they told me how to get to here.” She waved a hand at the hut and corral. “Hope you didn’t pay much. Soddy can be fixed, but it’s going to take some doing.”

          “I’d hoped to have it ready before you came. Wrote to tell you to wait—”

          “I’ve been waiting all my life to be married. Grant’s army couldn’t have stopped me.” She stared at him. “You haven’t changed your mind?”

Connect with Patricia PacJac Carroll on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaPacJacCarrollAuthor/

To see all her books on Amazon, please CLICK HERE.

 

Also featured from Under a Mulberry Moon is a snippet from Ada and the Texas Cavalryman by Carra Copelin:

          “Don't you want to know if I'm all right?”

          She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

          “I seem to have whacked me head on the solid wood planks when you knocked me over. I thought you might want to make sure I don't have a concussion.”

          “But I..." she stammered, wishing with her entire being that he would leave her alone, the scoundrel. 

          “I do believe I have a knock on me noggin'.” He removed his hat and rubbed the back of his head with his fingers. Leaning forward he said, "If ye'll just touch this, right here?"

          She pulled her hand out of his reach. He was either daft or fishing for attention. He suddenly oozed charm and his conversation dripped with an Irish brogue. While she had tried to ignore him, she admitted he possessed a certain appeal. Against her better judgement, she asked, “Would a cup of coffee and one of Maude’s cinnamon rolls make you feel better?”

Connect with Carra Copelin on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CarraCopelin/

To see all of Carra’s books on Amazon, please CLICK HERE.

Both these delightful stories may be found in
Under a Mulberry Moon 
which is now available and still at the pre-order price of 99 cents. Be sure to purchase it before it resumes its regular price of $2.99. 
To purchase, please CLICK HERE.

 

Saturday Snippet: COMES A SPECTER from UNDER A MULBERRY MOON

 The following snippet is taken from Comes A Specter by Keta Diablo, one of nine novellas in the Under a Mulberry Moon anthology:

Setup for Snippet:

Anya's son, Willie-boy, is deathly ill. To make matters worse, a sinister ghost haunts their ranch. She must get help and feels it will take someone very knowledgeable and mystical to cure her son's strange illness. She turns to her past love, Sutter Sky, a great shaman known to his People as Yellow Smoke.

* * *

          Anya settled onto the bed next to Willie-boy. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she reached down and touched his forehead. His raging fever confirmed her imagination had not been working overtime earlier. Shallow and slow breaths rose from his chest, and not a muscle moved in his small body. 

          Leaning into his ear, she whispered. "Don't leave me, Willie-boy, please hang on. Do you hear me? You must fight."

          She stumbled to her feet while trying to dispel the helplessness consuming her. "I'm going for help."

          "To Doctor Metz in Butte? That's a good day's ride."

          She shook her head. "No, Doctor Metz will be well into his cups by nightfall. The man is a notorious sucker."

          Cobb rubbed his chin. "He does like to pull a cork. Where then?"

          "Is Sutter still camped along the Wise River?"

          "He's called Yellow Smoke now. He doesn't speak his white name, not after Baker's Massacre."

          "Oh, I can't think about that now, his parents killed and just about everyone he knew." She rubbed her forehead as if a sharp pain had settled in. "I can only think of Willie-boy, and Sutter Sky, or Yellow Smoke if you prefer. He's the best shaman in the territory."

          "He won't help white folks, and besides, you know he's soured on you, ever since you done married—"

          "No one holds a grudge for ten years."

          "He does after you up and married Lewis Fleming."

           Her voice took on a pleading tone. "But Willie-boy is only a child. He must help, he will help me."

          "Let me go. I've known him since we were children."

          "Oh, and I haven't?"

          "Yes, but he's not sour on me."

Follow Keta on Twitter: @ketadiablo

This heart-warming romance with its sinister specter may be found in
Under a Mulberry Moon 
which is now available and still at the 

pre-order price of 99 cents. 

Be sure to purchase it before it resumes its regular price of $2.99.

The anthology is also available on Kindle Unlimited. To purchase, please CLICK HERE.

Saturday Snippets: Matthew's Freedom & Polly's Family

Last week I shared two snippets from two guest authors who, along with me, wrote a novella for the nine-author anthology, 

Under a Mulberry Moon.

This week I am sharing two more snippets 

from two other books.

The following snippet is from Matthew's Freedom: Journey to Freedom, Book 2 by Cissie Patterson:

          His eyes sparkled as she shook his hand, trying to ignore the tingling feeling traveling up her arm. A smile stretched broadly across his lips as he winked at her.

          “A pleasure to meet you. My sister and I have traveled for several days and that stew was the best I’ve ever eaten. Please give my regards to the cook. I could use a woman who could cook like that.”

          Brenna laughed. “I’ll let old Bert know you’re interested. I think he’s been lonely since his wife passed years ago.”

          She saw the man’s face turn red and she chided herself for teasing him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Burchard. We like to poke a little fun around here from time to time. Life’s difficult enough as it is just getting up each day.”
          “No worries, Miss…” he let his voice trail off, as he waited for her last name.

          “It’s actually Mrs. Wayne.” She watched his face fall as she revealed her marital status. She hurriedly continued, “My husband, Amos, may God rest his soul, passed away in a mining accident two months ago.”

          She couldn’t tell if he was interested in her, but she wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t. Some men didn’t want a widow. Not to mention she had a son that was in a difficult period of his life.

          “Well, no worries, Mrs. Wayne. I believe a man needs to take a little teasing at his own expense to keep life from becoming boring.” 

To follow Cissie Patterson on Facebook, please CLICK HERE, and remember to sign up for her newsletter HERE.

 

  
Now to share a snippet from A Family for Polly by Jacquie Rogers:

           But good morning? Hardly. The morning had been a trial. First she couldn't interpret Noah's hand gestures in his silent plea for whatever it was he wanted, and while she concentrated on that, little Evie had barfed pancakes all over the kitchen table, two of the chairs, and the floor. Once Polly had cleaned the kitchen and manage to find something that Noah would eat and Evie might keep down, Merry had announced that she had a visitor in the lobby.

          Polly remove the peppermint stick from her tea cup and licked it off before she put it on the saucer, all the while wishing that instead of receiving the visitor, she gone straight upstairs and back to bed. Mr. Ecclestone of the Children's Society had come to take Noah and Evie, and Mary's children, too, for the rules stated that all adoptive parents must be legally wed. If Polly and her sister didn't come up with a solution by the end of the week, he'd have no recourse but to remove all five children from their home.


To visit Jacquie Rogers' website and sign up for her newsletter, "Pickle Barrell Gazette", CLICK HERE.

Both these delightful stories may be found in
Under a Mulberry Moon 
which is now available and still at the pre-order price of 99 cents. Be sure to purchase it before it resumes its regular price of $2.99. 
To purchase, please CLICK HERE.