10
Favorite Authors and Why
Cait
Lavender
Listing
my favorite books or authors is like choosing which one of your
children is your favorite. Each author has a unique writing style and
personality and I love them as much for their differences as their
similarities. And when I discover a new favorite? I don’t love the
others less, I just have more reader love to go around! Still, even
though it’s so hard for me to do it’s nearly impossible, for you,
my beautiful, wonderful readers, I will try.
10.
Heather
Killough-Walden:
I love Heather for so many reasons, not the least of which the fact
she’s so active with her readers on facebook. Her books are
amazing, original and I’m continuing to be surprised with how much
I love her male lead characters.
9.
Robert
Jordan:
My relationship with Jordan started in high school when I picked up
The
Wheel of Time. The
series is an epic fantasy that personally I put on par with The
Lord Of the Rings. His
way with words and descriptions forces you to submerge into that
world and connect with the characters. It was a tragedy when he
passed away from cancer, but luckily for all of us avid readers the
saga has been continued by Brandon Sanderson, another author I’m
beginning to love.
8.
Kate
Johnson:
Johnson is a new love of mine. She’s from the UK and her books are
set there as well and, even though I find myself using Urban
Dictionary to muddle through the ‘language barrier’, I love
getting that glimpse into the British culture. Her Sophie Green books
are funny, quirky and very entertaining.
7.
Anne
McCaffrey: I
fell in love with her works when I was in Jr. High and have read and
re-read them ever since. An icon in Fantasy, her books truly do
transport you to another world, with whimsical dragons and relatable
characters. Love her!
6.
Jeaniene
Frost:
Only recently discovered, Frost has quickly become one of my
favorites. Her main characters, Cat and Bones, just work their way
into your hearts with Cat’s tough, kickass-ness and Bones superior,
arrogant sarcasm.
5.
Jeff
Lindsay: I
discovered Lindsay before Michael C. Hall was playing the emotionally
detached serial killer we all love, Dexter. The simple fact that he
can create a character so inhuman and yet so amazingly likeable
should be enough to make you go out and buy one of his books.
4.
Karen
Marie Moning: Good
Lord I love her. What Mr. Darcy did to ruin men for the women of the
world, Jericho Z Barrons ruined fictional leading men for me. How can
I go back to the emo, whiny sparkly boy when I’ve had the Dark,
sometimes-bastard, sexy man with questionable motivations? *sigh*
3.
Patricia
Briggs:
Briggs
is amazing. I adore her Mercy Thompson series. Mercy is kick ass,
self-sufficient, oh, and did I mention she changes into a Coyote?
This is by far my favorite Paranormal Romance series and I eat up
everything she writes.
2.
Jane
Austin:
Come on, I wouldn’t be a girl if I didn’t say I loved her. I’ve
read and watched Pride & Prejudice so often I can almost quote
the entire thing. I relate so much to Elizabeth Bennet and wish all
men were like Darcy.
1.
Terry
Pratchett:
I love to laugh. If a book can get me to giggle aloud as I’m
reading, it scores major bonus points. Pratchett’s sense of humor
and clever wit endeared him to my heart forever. But he’s not all
laughs (well, mostly), the satirical nature of his books poke fun at
the inane hypocrisies of our world.
So
there they are, my top 10. Check them out and I guarantee you won’t
be disappointed!
Hunter
Moon
By
Cait Lavender
Bawling
cattle tore Shelby Flint from her bed. With lawyer fees to pay in her
struggle to keep her ranch from the clutches of her greedy cousins,
she couldn’t afford the loss of even one calf. When she sees a
large wolf circling her cows, she aims and fires. While the wolf
escapes, Shelby can’t seem to get away from her troubles when a
marijuana grower sets up shop on her land, sabotaging her property
and eventually coming after her.
Adding
to that, a handsome game warden is poking his nose into her business
and working his way underneath her skin. Shelby will have to fight
harder than she ever fought before to keep from losing her heart and
everything she ever loved.
Shelby
Flint is a self-sufficient cowgirl and cattle rancher, but when a
wolf goes after her calves, a man is murdered on her land and someone
is sabotaging her property she can’t do it by herself any longer.
In walks a handsome game warden, poking his nose in her business and
working her way under her skin. Shelby will have to fight harder than
she ever has before to keep from losing her heart and everything she
ever loved.
Excerpt:
“Hey,
have you heard anything about—wait, what? The fuzz is after me?”
I sifted through my recent actions, but couldn’t remember doing
anything illegal that would put a cop on my tail. “Wait, you’re
not talking about Tyler, are you?”
One
of her husband’s favorite pastimes was making me pull over without
cause. I was always tempted to pull a stunt like I was on Cops
and lead him in a high speed pursuit. But since I’d gotten out of a
few speeding tickets by dropping his name, I guess it was a wash.
“What,
Tyler? No, I wish he was this hot.” She leered. “The game warden
stopped by about five minutes ago asking all about the girl who lives
on the Flint ranch.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.
It
was Jesse’s mission in life to set me up with a man. It was the
bane of her existence that I’d sworn off cowboys. A cowboy hadn’t
worked out too well for my mom, and that was pretty much all there
was around Raymond. It was probably the only lesson I’d learned
from my mother.
“I
have to say, Matt Albert wasn’t a fan of Mr. Warden asking about
you. Gave me one scary glare when I told the hottie where you live.”
“Oh
geez. You haven’t told Matt I’d date him again did you? The guy’s
dumber than a box of rocks!”
The
Albert clan was huge in Raymond. Half the population was related in
some form or another, and Matt had his eyes on me since grade school.
I’d always chalked up his infatuation with me to the fact we
weren’t related. Kissing cousins were so
Alabama.
Matt
liked to get drunk at the rodeo and pick fights. The one date I had
gone with him I ended up with four glasses of Coors on my shirt and a
bruise on my cheek where the other guy had elbowed me to get at Matt.
That had been four years ago. He was either tenacious to the extreme
or stupid, and I leaned toward the latter.
“Of
course not. Especially if you’ve got Hunky McWarden in the wings!”
I rolled my eyes at Jesse’s outrageous nicknames. It was never a
good sign when she waxed poetic.
“Why
do you keep saying that? I thought the game warden was an
octogenarian?”
“Yeah,
that was Bill Freedman, and he retired last month. Officer
Hotstuff
must be his replacement. Lucky for us! Lord knows we need an infusion
of new blood around here.”
While
that was certainly true, I wasn’t in the mood to play ‘The Dating
Game’ with Jesse. “Oh quit it. I’d better get home if there’s
a popo waiting for me. Wish me luck!”
I
walked back to my truck and looked down at Reggie.
“Sorry,
I forgot your hot dog. I guess I owe you one.”
He
hopped in the back, forgiving as always and off we went. I wondered
why the warden would be looking for me. I hadn’t hunted or fished
in years, not since grandpa’s health went downhill. I hoped one of
my cows didn’t get out. That could be a nightmare if it ruined
property or someone hit it with a car. Great,
that’s all I needed right now.
I
saw the warden’s forest green Silverado when I pulled in, but no
sign of the warden himself anywhere. I lowered the tailgate of the
Blazer to let Reggie down and he took off toward the barn. I trusted
his instincts and followed him and found an image I could use to warm
the lonely, cold nights. On the trailer of alfalfa was a 6’4’
Adonis. The man, or god, who I assumed was the warden, had his shirt
off while he was unloading hay. His fantastic shoulders were bare and
rippling as he unloaded bale after bale of hay. His biceps flexed as
he squatted to pick up another and bless him, I had a front row seat
to his fantastic rear.
The
warden couldn’t have been any older than late twenties or early
thirties, and his golden skin just added to the Greek god effect he
had going. Something stirred in me while I watched him work,
something I had never felt before. Pure
unadulterated lust.
I wanted that man more than anyone in my whole life.
Irritated
with my surging libido, I tamped down my unwelcome feelings as much
as I could. I definitely didn’t need that kind of complication in
my life right now. He bent over and picked up another bale and I had
to bite the inside of my lip to keep from moaning. No
man should look that delicious.
I nodded my head in agreement with myself and continued to gawk. His
shoulders were nearly twice as wide as mine, and his broad chest
narrowed to flat, rippling abs and a trim waist.
In
the ten minutes I supposed he’d been there he had almost the whole
trailer unloaded, and it didn’t even look like he’d broken a
sweat. If I’d unloaded that much I would have been a puddle of
exhausted goo. I stood there, staring at all his assets, for a few
minutes longer before I climbed on the trailer and started helping.
When
I came up behind him, he stopped working and stared at me. His
nostrils flared wide, but he didn’t seem surprised at my arrival.
Unnerved a bit by his piercing gaze, I picked up a bale. He just
shrugged and resumed unloading, maintaining a silence the whole time
we worked. In between bales he brushed his dark brown hair off his
forehead to reveal two eyes the brilliant blue of sapphires.
He
looked at me for a moment, and then unloaded the last bale of
alfalfa. I hopped off the trailer, suddenly needing distance from his
cobalt stare. Without the hay bales to occupy my hands, they were
itching to touch the ripples of all six of his abs. I stared at the
ground, shifting from foot to foot.
“Thanks.
I really appreciate the help. If I was by myself, this would have
taken hours.” I handed him his uniform shirt that was hanging off
the side mirror of my truck and glanced at the name tag. “Officer
Newcomb.”
“It’s
warden Newcomb, but you can call me Cash.” He put his uniform back
on and I couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss. The fabric covered
a spectacular chest with just a judicial smattering of curly brown
hair that drew together in a fuzzy line that lead south. Talk
about a happy trail.
About
the Author:
Cait
Lavender is a twenty five year old wife and stay at home mother of
one in Central California. Living on a cattle ranch and raising her
daughter doesn’t afford her much leisure time, but when she has a
spare minute or two she loves riding horses, baking and reading
everything she can get her hands on. She grew up loving the written
word and creative writing and finally decided to work on her dream of
becoming a published author.
She
has a short story, Cowboy Moon, and a full-length novel, Hunter Moon,
both available on Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She’d
love to hear from you on her Facebook
author page,
@caitlavender
on Twitter or on her blog, www.caitlavender.com
Cait is giving away 5
print copies of Hunter Moon and a $25 Amazon gift card just go here to enter ->
Thank you for hosting!
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