Blog by VONNIE DAVIS -- International, Award-Winning Romance Author: Adventurous...Humorous...Amorous.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Valentine Honky Tonk Hearts Blog Hop

Ladies, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking old Gus, owner of The Lonesome Steer honky tonk couldn’t have brought together all the lonely, broken hearts that he did. But I’m here to tell you I have. Not only do I have the pictures of these couples in my office to prove it, but there’s been a whole series of romances written about the men and women who found love at The Lonesome Steer. And just like every one of my couples, each of these romances is a keeper.
 

The authors of these books have put together a Valentine Honky Tonk Blog Hop, an easy way for you to get a sneak peak at every story. And there are prizes to put a bounce in your Texan Two-Step. 

Blog Hop Prizes:

$50 first place gift card to The Wild Rose Press
$25 second place gift card to The Wild Rose Press
TWRP Mug (for US visitors only) 

To be Eligible:

Visit each blog and leave a comment. Every comment constitutes an entry for grand prizes. The more hop stops you visit and comment on, the more chances YOU have to win. Comment away, ladies!!! Y'all know how ya love to talk.
 
 
 

Here at Vintage Vonnie, I'm offering prizes too ... NO, not him!!! For two of my commenters, I'm offering your choice of any of my Wild Rose Press backlist in eBook format. Look at the titles to your right and choose one, should you win. To be eligible, you must answer both of my questions asked at the end of the post.

I have two stories in the Honky Tonk Hearts series.
My first is THOSE VIOLET EYES, first place winner in the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA) and also first place in the Contemporary Novella division of the International Digital Awards (IDA's).
Here's an excerpt:
Evie rolled her eyes and stepped behind him, tapping him on the back. The metal strainer clattered in the sink and a blur of motion barely registered before steely hands gripped her forearms. Oh my God! In a flurry of movement, he snatched her off the floor and backed her against the stainless steel counter. Cold wet hands viced her arms. Her eyes snapped wide and the air whooshed from her lungs when his body slammed into hers.
Win’s eyes were narrowed, his breathing rapid through a clenched jaw and a vein bulged in his forehead. “Don’t do that.”
The man was every inch the warrior, every hard tensed inch. He held her mid-air, so close they were nearly eyeball to eyeball. As his gaze traveled over her face and awareness evidently crept in as to the sex of his attacker, several inches of his frame hardened even more.
Evie swallowed. Oh, good Lord.
He glared and his nostrils flared.
“I…I’m sorry, Win. I called your name, but…but you didn’t answer. I was only trying to get your attention.” Her lips twitched at the humor in the situation—hadn’t Keira told her the man lost part of his hearing? Evidently she’d startled him. Poor soul. She felt a portion of herself return. A portion she’d hidden for so long; that light-hearted part of her soul that teased and cajoled. “Honest, I wasn’t trying to attack you.” She placed an open palm on his defined pecs and patted. “You’re safe with me, big guy.” Just to rattle him some more, she winked.
Win’s hazel eyes flashed for a second, then he slowly leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You’re not safe with me.”
 
My second story, BACK WHERE YOU BELONG, is a bit of a love triangle. A different triangle than you might expect. Our heroine, who tends to prattle when she gets nervous, our single-dad-hero and his thirteen-year-old daughter, who likes to play matchmaker.
EXCERPT FROM BACK WHERE YOU BELONG:
Holy crap! The guy from the Lonesome Steer was sitting in her kitchen and looking at her as if he couldn’t believe this crazy quirk of fate any more than she could. Now, if she could only get through the next few minutes without prattling and making a fool of herself—once more.
“Hello, again, Lacy.” His deep voice washed over her, raising gooseflesh and setting her insides to melting. Then he smiled and her heart stuttered for a few beats. Only one man in the entire world could smile like that with dimples so deep they carved grooves into his cheeks.
“You’re…you’re Tyler Desmond? I haven’t seen you since I was a teenager and you were young and handsome.” Shit, did I say that?
Tyler’s chocolate eyes narrowed.
“I don’t mean you’re not still handsome, you’re just older.” She cleared her throat and glanced frantically around the room, mentally searching for a way out of this awkward situation. “Not that you’re real old.” She waved a hand in expression. Men like Tyler didn’t age, they sauntered into the arena of perfection. “You’re just…older.” And twice as sexy. She pursed her lips. “I had a serious crush on you at one point.”
His dark eyebrow quirked in silent surprise.
“I can’t believe it’s you. Why didn’t I recognize you the other night?” She fingered her curls and shook her head once. “You, of all people. I even took a picture of you years ago, when you weren’t looking. Just one. A profile shot.”
Now both dark eyebrows rose.
“Had it blown up poster-sized and taped it to the ceiling over my bed. That was ten years ago, the summer I turned fourteen.” Shut up! For God’s sake mouth, shut up!
But, of course, her demon tongue kept right on talking. “Grandma had a fit when she saw it. Said I had no business lusting after a married man.” She pursed her lips again. “I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing. I just simply enjoyed looking at you.”
He sat there silent; his gaze locked on her, looking better in a navy T-shirt and worn jeans than any male had a right to. One of his elbows rested on the table; his square chin was cupped in his hand and a long finger slowly stroked his lips as if he were erasing a smile before it had a chance to grow.
THE TWO QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ANSWER IN YOUR COMMENTS TO BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN WHAT I’M OFFERING – What color are Win’s eyes? Why did Tyler stroke his lips?
*** Don't stop here!!! Click on the following story titles which will take you to the author's blog where you can read about their Honky Tonk Hearts story and leave a comment to increase your chances to win!

Honky Tonk Man by Sylvie Kay                               A Song for Sophie by Mackenzie Crowne
Those Violet Eyes by Vonnie Davis                          Cowboy-sexy by Donna Michaels
Lonesome Cowboy by Stacy Dawn                           Back Where You Belong by Vonnie Davis  
 

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!


36 comments:

LaVerne Clark said...

Woot!! I'm first here - and first to ogle the man-candy. Sorry for the drool, ladies. Let me just wipe up a little here. But boy-oh-boy does Vonnie do GOOD candy! ;)

Win's eyes are Hazel and Tyler is erasing a smile.
I'm pretty sure I've got every single one of your books, so count me out of the draw but never fear - I'm leaving with a smile on my face :P

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Hi LaVerne! My first blog guest and all the way from New Zealand, too. Thanks so much for popping in. Hugs, darlin'.

Angela Adams said...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Same to you, Angela!! Stay warm!

Brenda Whiteside said...

I really enjoyed Those Violet Eyes. I have to read Back Where You Belong!

Unknown said...

NICE! I enjoyed both excerpts SO much! I have your books, now I need to treat myself and take time to read them.

Win's eyes are Hazel and Tyler is erasing a smile. Fun game! (You can leave me out of the drawing since I work for TWRP) Off to check out the other posts...

Calisa Rhose said...

Win's eyes are hazel. I LOVE that story! And I haven't had a chance to read Tyler and Lacy's story yet, but I'm fairly certain he's either erasing a smile or the urge to kiss her. I can't wait to read it now!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks for stopping by, Brenda. Back Where You Belong also deals with bullying, especially in schools. As a grandma, it's something that concerns me.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Alicia, so glad you enjoyed the excerpts. Thanks for popping in for a visit!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Calisa, Lacy is like many of my friends. Put her in a stressful situation, and she'll talk your ear off, say things she doesn't mean to and the entire time wish the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

Jannine Gallant said...

Read and loved Those Violet eyes. Now I need to read the second one! Very entertaining excerpt, vonnie, and those pictures...whew!

Sherri Thomas said...

Good mornin' Vonnie! Great excerpts! Have to say I love the pics! Happy Valentine's Day!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Jannine. As a mother of girls, I think you'll fall in love with Olivia, Tyler's daughter...and get mad as blue blazes over her being bullied in school.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Well, Sherri, if I can't dazzle you with my words, I'll snag you with my pictures. LOL Thanks for stopping by!

Sylvie said...

Great writing! there's no doubt why you won the NERFA award. Congrats!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Aw. thank you, Sylvie. Everyone seemed to like my wounded vet story.

Donna Michaels said...

Hi, Vonnie!

Loved both of your HTH books! Was great to add just a smidgen of an appearance of Win in mine. Thank you for letting me borrow him. :-)

1. Win's eyes are hazel
2. To erase a smile.

Happy hopping!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Donna, it was my pleasure to let you borrow Win...and he didn't seem to mind a bit. Enjoy the blog hop.

Darcy said...

Hi, Vonnie, and a Happy, Happy VLentine's Day to you and Calvin. As others have already said and I readily confirm Win has hazel eyes and Tyler seems as though he wants to erase a smile from his lips. Lovely excerpts, but, all of your books I've read have always been terrific.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Darcy. You're good for my ego. Happy Valentine's Day to you also. It'll be a snowy one here.

Stacy Dawn said...

2 Awesome stories in the series...both with Vonnie's special brand of tugging at the deepest parts of you.
Happy Valentine's Day Vonnie!

Catherine Lee said...

Win's eyes are Hazel (like mine) and Tyler stroked his lips--as if to erase a smile.

Margo Hoornstra said...

No drawing for me either, I am just totally enjoying myself on this blog hop! Thank you all. Congrats on the awards, Vonnie. Well deserved!

Unknown said...

Okay, Win has hazel eyes and Tyler stroked his lips to keep from smiling. And it's a hard choice to pick one. But I think I'd go with Back Where You Belong. Although both sound great.

Lauri said...

Fun, fun stories! Thanks for writing them for this series! Happy Valentine's Day!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

So glad you stopped by, Stacy. Thanks for you kind words about my writing. This was a great series to be part of.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Catherine Lee, of the hazel eyes, thanks for taking part of our blog hop.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Margo, I'm thrilled you're enjoying the blog hop. I had a good time making the rounds too.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks for taking part in the blog hop, Debbie! Happy Valentine's Day to you.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I enjoy writing fun stories, Lauri. My humor sometimes gets the best of me.

Debby said...

I have not read one of your books so far but I really liked the blog post so I am adding your books to my list.
debby236 at gmail dot com

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Debby. I hope you enjoy them.

Mackenzie Crowne said...

Oh man, I loved both of these and just had to re-read the excerpts. Now I need to re-read the stories themselves. :-)

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Mac. They were fun stories to write.

Nancy Dow said...

Ohhh how I wish HE were the prize!!! Thanks for sharing :)

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Oh, Nancy, you made me laugh out loud. He is a dreamboat, isn't he? So glad you stopped by.