Her
Dakota Man
Dakota
Hearts
Book
1
Lisa
Mondello
Genre: Contemporary romance
Cover Artist: Purple Girl Design
Book Description:
She
needed to risk the truth to get a second chance...
Poppy Erickson had spent the year
wondering how all their lives might have been different after hearing the
deathbed 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?
He
needed to face the past to get the love of a woman he thought he'd lost…
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
Her Dakota Man :
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 the life changing experience she’d been dreaming of ever
since she was a teenager.
“Hi, Logan.”
Logan starred at her 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 whipping.
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 so 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 son 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.
My Review: 4 stars
This was a difficult read for me, but not because of the writing
or characters. Both of those were great. The characters were easy to read
about, just slipping in and making themselves comfortable in my head. I loved
Poppy, she was up front and said her mind. That's a rare quality these days,
and it was refreshing to read about a woman who said what she wanted. Logan was
also easy to read about, a good Dad, a hard worker; someone who had been hurt
by life and was just going through the motions. This book was difficult for me
because of the betrayal to both Poppy and Logan from their best friend, Kelly.
I don't think I would have been as kind as Poppy, nor as understanding as
Logan. I also can't help but be a little angry at Kelly for what she did,
what she took away. I am glad
that things worked out the way they did, but it was close. Lisa did a great job
keeping me glued to the pages trying to find out what happened and why. Her
characters were good people who had to find a way to work out some difficult
things. Her writing was fantastic, and I will be looking for more of her work.
Badland
Bride
Dakota
Hearts
Book
2
Lisa
Mondello
Genre: western romance
Cover Artist: Purple Girl Design
Book Description:
She'd
spent a lifetime packing armor around her heart...
Raised an Army brat, Regis Simpson
was used to calling new towns home, learning to quickly make friends but never
letting anyone get too close. When devastating floods tear through the Badlands
of South Dakota, she thinks Rudolph is just another town that needs to be
rebuilt. Nothing more. The sooner she gets her work done, the sooner the people
of Rudolph can heal and she can move on to the next town in need. She never
counted on the sexy town doctor, Keith "Hawk" McKinnon or his
determination to break down walls she'd spent a lifetime building, making it
impossible for her to leave.
He's
determined to break down her walls and give her a reason to stay...
Nothing pained Hawk McKinnon more
than seeing people he'd known his whole life hurting. He traded a high-paying
salary at a city hospital to come back to Rudolph and make a difference where
he'd dug his roots. When the beautiful Regis Simpson comes to town offering
help, he's immediately drawn to her even though she's spent a lifetime
believing that everyone she loves leaves. Now she does the leaving and once her
work is done, she'll be leaving again. He's determined to do everything
possible to make her stay.
Excerpt
Badland Bride:
After easing
herself out of the car, Regis limped up the newly built wooden ramp, unpainted
and still sporting the color of wood that hadn’t been exposed to the elements
for long. She winced through the pain as she took each step toward the front
door. A small sign hung next to the door giving the clinic's hours. She tried
the door and it wouldn’t budge. Her shoulders sagged in defeat.
“What does he
do in the middle of the day? Go fishing?”
“Nope, house
calls.”
Regis swung
around to see a tall man walking up behind her on the ramp. He had the Irish
blue eyes she’d seen on many models in advertising magazines she’d bought when
she was a teenager, and the dark hair that looked a little unruly in the wind,
but seemed to fit him perfectly. The light scuff of a beard wasn’t more than a
day old, but already dark and covering his square jaw.
For a moment,
Regis was so taken with this handsome stranger that she’d forgotten why she was
there.
* * *
“Dr. Hawk, or
whatever his name actually is, does house calls? I thought that sort of thing
went extinct with the dinosaurs. The guy must be a hundred years old.”
Hawk fought to
keep from smiling. “There are days it
seems that way.” He then looked at the
woman’s leg, and frowned as he saw the blood staining her pants. “We’d better
get you inside so that can be cleaned.”
“The door’s
locked,” the woman said, leaning against the rail as he came up beside
her. Her face was pale, most probably
due to the pain she was experiencing and the loss of blood.
He smiled,
looking down into her eyes. “Luckily, I have a key.” They were pretty brown eyes, he decided. No, they were hazel. And the fact that he
didn’t want her to turn away so he could know for sure surprised him.
Standing six
feet tall, he towered over her small frame, although he was probably no more
than eight inches taller than her. And
she smelled like fresh soap as if she’d just taken a shower. But looking at the
dirt and blood on her hands, that probably wasn’t the case.
“You must rate
to have your own key to the doctor’s office. When does this Hawk doctor usually
come back?”
He slipped the
key into the door and turned the handle. Then he smiled as he pushed the door
open and held it for her to come inside. “Why don’t you have a seat here. It’ll
just be a minute.”
Hawk curled his
fingers around the woman’s upper arm gently and helped guide her to the chair.
As she sat down, a look of relief washed over her face.
“Does that take
some pressure off?”
“What?”
“Your leg. Does
sitting help?”
As he waited
for her to reply, he walked behind the receptionist desk and sifted through the
wall organizer that was filled with insurance forms. Nancy was going to have a
fit if he had this woman fill out the wrong one.
“Ah, a little.”
He felt a
muscle pull between his eyebrow as he glanced at the forms. For all his higher
education, insurance forms were a mystery to him. Finally he sighed and dropped
the papers on the desk.
“I’m going to
need you to fill out some forms, but I’m not sure which one's right at the
moment and my receptionist, Nancy, will have my hide if I have you fill out the
wrong form. So why don’t we just have a look at your leg first and fill out
paperwork later?”
“Your
receptionist?”
“Yes. She’ll
probably be back from lunch before I’m done.”
“You? Wait,
you’re Dr. Hawk?”
His lips curled
up just slightly. “It’s just Hawk. But if you prefer, you can call me Dr.
McKinnon.”
Her mouth hung
open just slightly. “Oh, I’m…oh, okay.”
“Did someone
tell you I was a deranged killer?”
“What? No, of
course not, it’s just…”
She was
adorable, all flustered with her flub. Hawk couldn’t resist teasing her. “They
said I was a mean old bastard who was going to cut off your leg?”
She rolled her
eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then what?”
“You aren’t…I
wasn’t expecting someone so…” She took a
deep breath.
“So…handsome?”
Color
immediately stained her pale cheeks. “Young. You look like you just graduated
college.”
He chuckled.
“So they didn’t tell you I was good looking. They told you I was old.”
She sighed
heavily. “No. Mr. Bennett didn’t say anything except your name is Hawk. What
kind of person walks around with a name like that anyway?”
“Me,” he said.
“And I can assure you that you are in good hands. I may not be a crusty old
doctor, but I not only went to college, I made it all the way through med
school, my internship and a stint at the city hospital in Sioux Falls before
coming back to Rudolph and starting my practice here.”
Her shoulders
slumped. “I didn’t mean to imply—”
“Let’s get you
cleaned up,” he said. “Let me help you—”
He bent down to
help her to her feet, and he caught a whiff of her soapy scent again. Normally
he didn’t notice such things. But he was having a hard time not noticing every
little detail about this woman from the slight hook of her nose to the patch of
too many freckles on her left cheek.
“No, I can do
it.”
“Okay, follow
me,” he said as they made their way down the hall to the first examining room.
He opened the door and let her into the well-stocked room first. Then he
carefully helped her to climb onto the examining table before going to the sink
to wash his hands. When he was done, he put on a white medical jacket that was
hanging from a hook on the door, and then turned to her.
“Now that you
know my name, why don’t you tell me yours?”
“Regis Simpson.
But people call me Reggie.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would
people call you Reggie when Regis is such a pretty name?”
Her lips lifted
to a sideward grin. “You’ve got one hell of a bedside manner, Doctor.”
“Did it make
you forget the throbbing in your leg?”
She thought a
second and then chuckled softly. “That’s not why you said that to me.”
“Are you sure
about that?”
My Review: 4 1/2 stars
I'm liking this series. This book is all about Regis, or Reggie, as she likes to be called and Keith, or Hawk, as he likes to be called. Regis is a woman with no roots and no one who is looking out for her. That makes the world a lonely place, I think. Hawk is the town Doctor, and when he runs into Regis at his clinic, he is intrigued by her. I liked that they both had the name thing going on, with them liking the other calling them by their actual name, but no one else. Sometimes, you just meet someone and there's just a natural chemistry there. That's how it is for Regis & Hawk. Of course she denies it, because she's just going to be leaving in a few weeks anyway. At first anyway. Hawk can be mighty persuasive, and handy to have around, not to mention persistent. He wants Regis, and he doesn't want to let her go. She is afraid, because she's never really had a home like most people do. She's a gypsy, and I can relate to that all too well. Sometimes though, you can find someone worth staying for. That can make all the difference. Because when you find that person, it's not the place that is home, but where ever that person is, that's home.
Dakota
Heat
Dakota
Hearts
Book
3
Lisa
Mondello
Genre: contemporary romance
Cover Artist: Purple Girl Design
Book Description:
Hotshot Sam McKinnon was always
leaving town, chasing another fire until his own hometown became vulnerable
during the fire season after a devastating winter flood left debris and
destruction in its path. He didn't expect out of town dispatcher, Summer
Bigelow, to catch his eye or his heart.
It hadn't been Summer's idea to move
from Providence to South Dakota, but when a serial murderer suddenly turns his
attention on Summer, her boss insists she leave town...at least until the heat
dies down. She's dealt with high tension, life or death situations many times
in her job. It isn’t until she meets Sam McKinnon and falls for the sexy
Hotshot that she really begins to know fear. The fear of losing someone she
loves.
Excerpt
Dakota Heat :
The girl was
new. Sam walked around the Interagency
Fire Crew basecamp with familiarity. He
saw faces he recognized from working in different locations over the past few
years. But the girl… Yeah, she was new. He doubted he would forget the soft blond
color of her hair or the slight tilt of her head as she read through paperwork,
pretending she didn’t notice the people around her.
He grabbed two
water bottles from the bucket full of ice in the back of the Quonset hut and
walked toward her. She didn’t look up
until he held the water bottle in front of her.
Blue eyes met
his with a mixture of irritation and surprise.
“You’re
dropping ice pieces on my paperwork,” she said.
He noticed the
smooth as silk sound of her voice before the water splatter on the top page of
her paperwork. He immediately pulled the
water bottle back a few inches.
“Sorry. I thought you might like something to drink.”
Her face
softened as quickly as it had shown irritation.
She reached her hand out and took the water bottle, and then placed it
on the bench next to her before shaking her hand of the residual moisture the
bottle left behind. “Thank you.”
“You’re new
here,” he said as he sat down next to her.
Not looking up,
she said, “So are you.”
She smelled
like soap and lavender. After breathing
in smoke and dirt for so long, it was refreshing to breathe in the sweet scents
of a woman.
“Not
exactly. I grew up in Rudolph.”
That earned him
a lingering second glance. One that
afforded him a few seconds to really look into her eyes, at her face.
“Really?”
“My whole
life.”
She glanced
around quickly. “When I got in last
night I was told the basecamp here was new this year. I didn’t realize South Dakota had a dedicated
fire basecamp.”
Sam had never
worked fire duty in his home state before.
And he’d never come to a new location and been so familiar with faces as
well as the location. His reason for
wanting to come back to South Dakota this year was personal.
A lot of his
friends who worked with the Interagency Fire Crew were still reeling after the
deaths of nineteen Hotshot firemen in Arizona last summer. Some had quit fighting fires altogether at
the urging of their family. Sam’s own
mother had tried her best to do the same during many phone calls since the tragedy,
but Kate McKinnon settled for having him come home to Rudolph to work.
“This was just
constructed this year. The Black Hills
are a hot spot this year because of all the flood and ice damage that occurred
over the winter. When I found out they
were setting up a base here to do fire control for the season, I put in a
request to work here.”
She
nodded. “Must be nice to be home. At least for the season.”
She glanced
down at her paperwork again.
He chuckled at
how quickly she fell into her reading again.
“You’re looking at that like you’re cramming for a final exam.”
She
shrugged. “I feel I am. This is my first season working fire dispatch
anywhere.”
“Ah, then that
explains it.”
“Must feel good
to be home after—”
“Summer?”
Both Sam and
the girl looked up to see the chief calling out from across the tent. The girl quickly collected her paperwork and
stuffed it in a folder.
“Be right
there,” she called out. She turned to
Sam, lifting the bottled water in her hand.
“Thanks for the water.”
“No problem.”
But she was
already trotting over to the superintendent’s office. He hadn’t even had a chance to get her
name. But he would before the day was
done. This was one woman he had a
feeling he wanted to get to know.
My Review: 4 1/2 stars
Lisa has got a good thing going here, I'm loving learning all about the McKinnon brothers. This book is about Sam and he's a Hotshot Firefighter. So he goes all over the country fighting fires and keeping people safe, it's just what he does. Summer is a police dispatcher who is in hiding from a serial killer, learning how to be a fire dispatcher. Summer is so afraid being in a new place and trying not to show that fear. Sam is drawn to Summer's natural beauty and fiesty attitude, and when he sees fear on her face it scares him. He's not used to falling for the lovely ladies, but this one grabs his heart all the same. Summer and Sam get to know each other and build a relationship, neither thinking that it would lead to love. But it does, and they realize it at a moment that is not really convenient for either of them. Sam is out fighting fires and Summer is back at base camp, scared that Sam will never make it home. Once he does, they have to decide where they want to be, and if they want to be together despite the risks. The risks could be deadly. This book especially touched me, because Lisa mentioned the Hotshot Crew that was killed in Arizona last year. I live in Arizona, so the fact that she mentioned them twice stood out to me as a person. These firefighters are such special people, doing what they do. Thank you Lisa for honoring their memory.
About
the Author:
USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Lisa
Mondello, has held many jobs in her life but being a published authors is the
last job she'll ever have. She's not retiring! She blames the creation of the
personal computer for her leap into writing novels. Otherwise, she'd still be
penning stories with paper and pen.
Her first book, All I Want for
Christmas is You won Best First Book in the Golden Quill. Her books have
finaled in the HOLT Medallion, and the Colorado Award of Excellence contests.
In 2011 she re-released her award winning book All I Want for Christmas is You
along with a re-issue of her romantic comedy, The Marriage Contract, with a new
contemporary romance called The Knight and Maggie's Baby.
In 2012 she reissued the first 3
books of her popular Western Romance Series TEXAS HEARTS including Her Heart
for the Asking, His Heart for the Trusting and The More I See. Writing as LA
Mondello, her romantic suspense, MATERIAL WITNESS, book 1 of her Heroes of
Providence series made the USA TODAY Bestsellers List.
You can find more information about
Lisa Mondello at lisamondello.blogspot.com
@LisaMondello
No comments:
Post a Comment