Welcome to Teaser Tuesday where I share snippets from new and past releases and works-in-progress, and occasionally twist the arms of author buddies to do the same.
As is the case today!
But more on our lovely guest in a moment.
Eddie and the Show Queen appears to be giving lots of people the warm-fuzzies which is wonderful to hear and gives me even bigger warm fuzzies in return.
For those who have already savoured the delights of Eddie and are hankering for the next instalment, I can assure you I’m working hard on Scarlett and the Model Man. This week I had the horrible realisation that I might need to change the hero’s name so it doesn’t clash with a previous character. I hate that. I love the name I’ve chosen for him. But we shall see. There yet might be a way to make fun of the similarity and save it. Wish me luck.
Ah, this writing biz throws up some conundrums sometimes. Half the fun!
Speaking of fun …
If you’re a rural romance fan (and who isn’t?), then you’ll be thrilled with our guest today. Pamela Cook galloped into the genre with her debut novel Blackwattle Lake and continued her success with Essie’s Way, Close to Home, and The Crossroads.
Pamela is now branching out into the women’s fiction market with her gorgeous new release Cross My Heart, hitting online stores in just a few days on September 26th. Never fear, country lovers, there’s still plenty of rural and small-town (and horsey!) goodness to be had, and today Pamela is on hand to tell you more about it, tease you with a lovely excerpt and maybe, if you’re good little Vegemites, offer a GIVEAWAY!
Please give Pamela a hearty Teaser Tuesday welcome.
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Hi Cathryn and All,
Thanks so much for having me as a guest on Teaser Tuesday. I love reading the excerpts on the blog and getting a taste of so many great books. This week I’m celebrating the release of my fifth novel, a women’s fiction title called Cross My Heart. It’s the story of Tessa De Santis, a thirty-something career woman who becomes foster-mother to her oldest friend’s daughter, and is haunted by a promise she should never have kept. This one is similar-but-different to my previous rural fiction titles in that it still has a gorgeous country setting, a smattering of horses but focuses very much on the main character’s journey without any romantic elements (although there could be a teensy hint of things to come).
Cross My Heart is available on all major online retailers and signed copies via my website. To celebrate the release I’m giving away a copy to one lucky Teaser Tuesday reader who will be selected randomly from the comments. So be in it and please share the chance to win with your friends.
I hope you enjoy reading this excerpt.
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Something crinkled under the sole of her foot as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed: the mail she’d been too tired to deal with last night. She gathered it up and shuffled through the envelopes. As predicted most were bank statements addressed to them both, one was an electricity bill— overdue—and a few were for TDS. A thrill tripped through her veins. It was the same whenever she saw the acronym, especially in logo-form, the letters entwined with a rough sketch of a heart: Team-Driven Solutions. A play on her own initials joined by the heart of her own human resources consultancy, which just happened to be going gangbusters. Not bad for a thirty-five-year-old. Even if it was Plan B. One last envelope fell from her lap as she stood. This one addressed to Ms T. De Santis, her full name, and while it looked official, it didn’t seem to be a bill. She slid her finger under the seal and ripped, unfolding the single-page document.
FACS, Department of Family and Community Services.
Why would they be writing to her? Her stomach hollowed as she skimmed over the first few lines, and she dropped back onto the bed. She needed to read from the beginning, but each word sucked her a little further out of her own skin, so by the time she reached the end of the letter she was watching herself from somewhere outside her body. She stared down at the signature and the department-speak at the bottom of the page, the muscles in her chest tightening as if a too-small elastic band had been wrapped too many times around her heart.
This could not be happening.
No.
It was not happening.
She folded the paper back into the torn envelope and placed it deliberately on the bedside table, pinching the points of her elbows tightly as she crossed her arms, holding herself together.
‘Tess?’ Josh’s voice came to her through a cotton-wool fog.
‘What’s wrong?’
Somehow he was right there, standing by her side, already showered, the brown waves of his hair wet and towel-ruffled.
‘It’s …’ She tried to pick up the letter, but it fell from her grasp like a hot coal. Her hand flew to her mouth. If she didn’t say the words then they wouldn’t be true, would they?
‘Tess … what is it?’
As much as she didn’t want it to be real it was right there at her feet, black print blurring into a haze of grey. She pressed her fingers against her palms, scoring the soft pads of flesh with her nails.
‘It’s Skye.’ The name was foreign on her tongue after all these years, like a rare fruit she’d tasted long ago, in another lifetime, and then forgotten. But it wasn’t as strange as the answer to Josh’s question. It came out quickly in a strangled cough, a bitter seed she couldn’t stand to swallow. ‘She’s dead.’
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Hooly-dooly, what a teaser! I bet that itchy buy finger is a-twitching right now. Cross My Heart releases September 26th but why not secure your copy today with a pre-order? Simple to do with any of these retailers:
Booktopia | Bookdepository | Angus & Robertson
Amazon.com | amazon.com.au | amazon.co.uk
Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Barnes & Noble
Now, as mentioned above and because Pamela is lovely and generous, and because we adore them, we’re having a …
GIVEAWAY!
For your chance to win a paperback copy of Cross My Heart, simply share with us in the comments a favourite memory of a friend and we’ll pop you into the draw.
Easy!
One of my favourite memories is playing mud baths in the backyard with my girlfriend Megan and then being rinsed off in the old concrete laundry sink. There’s a great photo of us somewhere, grinning naughtily in our pink bikinis and covered in mud. Must dig that one out.
We’re still great friends, even though we haven’t seen each other for over 20 years. Special friends are like that though, aren’t they?
What cool memories do you have of friendship? Share for your chance to win a copy of Cross My Heart.
Please note: Giveaway closes midnight Friday, 27th September 2019. Australian postal addresses only.
If you’d like to learn more about Pamela and her books, please visit her website. You can also connect via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using @PamelaCookAU.
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