BLOG TOUR - GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Painted Boots by Mechelle Morrison

When her father drags her to a new life in Wyoming, Aspen Brand doesn’t expect to fall for a cowboy named Kyle Thacker—but she does. Aspen and Kyle share unexpected ground: guitar, running, physics. And guilt. Aspen blames herself for her mother’s car accident, while Kyle can’t find a way past his brother’s suicide.

On their first date they open up to each other, forging an unbreakable bond between them. But Kyle has spent two years living with a vicious secret—one his ex-girlfriend will do anything to protect—and sharing his truth with Aspen makes her a target. Now if Kyle is to be her love story, Aspen must first win the fight of her life.

EXCERPT:

From Chapter Twelve

“My parents had a great relationship,” I say.  “They were always touching each other, like they’d never evolved beyond infatuation.  I lost my mom, yeah.  But my dad lost more.  He lost his other half, his best friend, the girl he’d been with since he was sixteen years old.  It’s like I don’t know him, since Mom died.”

“If your mom was anything like you,” Kyle says, “I guarantee your dad’s hurting.”

“It’s hard for me to see him without her.  I still think of my parents the way they were—loving and physical and fun with each other, all the time.”

Kyle slides his hand beneath the hem of my tank top, resting his fingers on the bare curve of my waist.  Goose bumps spread across my skin.  He pulls at me until our bodies touch.  “Any guy’d want that,” he says softly.

Author Bio: 

As a child, Mechelle filled her journals with someday-my-prince-will-come fantasies.  Then one day her prince arrived, driving a silver Tundra, and they adopted a fine daughter.  Life got busy—work, family, daily cooking—but she still spends her evenings giving voice to the stories inside her head.  Only now, instead of locking them away, she publishes them.

Author Links:

Goodreads l Website 

A day in the life of Mechelle Morrison . . . .

Is insane.  Hence, my intense apologies for getting this interview to you so late!

I like being busy, and I’m (usually) a good multi-tasker, but I’ll admit that there are times when I feel like life rushes over me like a Hawaiian mega-wave.  I do my best to just hold on and enjoy the ride!  That definitely defines how life has been lately: my daughter is in middle school, I work part time outside our home, my husband is self-employed, our house is a jumble of remodeling craziness.

For example, today:

Up at 5:45.  I’ve had a crazy cold for two weeks now, so first it’s into the kitchen for a decongestant, then into the shower.

Breakfast for three, lunch for two, finding something to wear, my daughter and I out the door by 7:50.

From 8-2:  work, work, work.  Email, balancing accounts, errands, meetings, a few moments to chat (and today, an unexpected disaster: an up-and-quit by one of our office members!  Gah!)

Home by 2:30: throw in a load of laundry and write for two hours!  Whoo-hoo!

5:30-7:30: cook dinner, eat dinner, watch my daughter clean-up dinner while my husband and I play gin.  Yes.  I usually win J

7:30: painting our family room; cleaning out the dining room since my husband invited friends for dinner this weekend . . . . hmmm.  There’s a Costco run in my near future.

10:00-ish:  Write for another hour!

Then to bed. 

And there you have it!

Giveaway:

Mechelle will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour and a unique, hand-crafted bookmark to one randomly drawn commenter at each stop. The more you comment, the greater your chances of winning, so make sure you check out the other stops on the tour HERE