Book 1 of The Colton
Gamblers….
In anticipation of the June release
of Book 3: Gambling On A Dream,
Kensington Publishing has put Book 1: Gambling
On A Secret on sale!
***ON SALE FOR THE MONTH OF
JANUARY FOR $0.99***
Blurb:
When Charli bets everything on a secret, will she
find the deck stacked against her?
Former runaway-turned heiress Charli Monroe is hiding her sordid
past and planning a future in Colton, Texas. Attending the local college for a degree in social work, she intends
to raise cattle on her newly purchased ranch, which she plans to open as a home
for troubled teens. Only a few glitches—the Victorian mansion is crumbling, the
barn needs a roof, and her oilman neighbor wants more than friendship. When she
meets Dylan Quinn, Charli is willing to take a chance on the town drunk to help her rebuild the rundown ranch.
Dylan has his demons,
too. The former Special Forces commander can’t get past his ex-wife’s betrayal
and the botched mission that left him with much more than a bad limp. Certain
the greedy oilman next door to Charli wants much more than just her heart,
Dylan’s even willing to stop drinking in order to protect her.
When things get
dangerous and secrets of the past are revealed, is he only looking out for his
new employer, or is she the new start he so desperately needs?
COVER QUOTE: “Full of intrigue, tangled
pasts, and raw emotions, this one is guaranteed to keep you turning pages from
start to finish and then wishing for one more chapter!”
Carolyn Brown, New York Times bestselling author.
“HONESTLY this was
a FABULOUS read. Gambling on a Secret
is a gripping, entertaining and an absolutely delightful romantic read which is
set in the town of Colton located in Texas. Sara Walter Ellwood has scored with
this book. This has been one of my favourite reads for 2013…” Read the rest of this 5 Satin
Pillow review at Satin Sheets Romance
Excerpt:
Dylan regarded her for a long moment and cocked a brow. Damn, was he
making fun of her? He looked her up and down. “Wouldn’t a woman like you be
more comfortable getting manicures and massages in a Dallas spa, not worrying
about cattle breeds and barn roofs? It’s no secret around town you’re the
heiress to the Monroe Farm Equipment fortune, and you sold a huge ranch in
Oklahoma your grandfather left you. Why on Earth did you buy a dump like this?”
Now he’d pissed her off. Charli might have more money than she’d
ever dreamed of having. She might like to dress in designer clothes, but it was
none of this jerk’s business which ranch she bought. Or why she wanted it. She
had a business plan and a vision for the ranch; what else mattered? “I happen
to like this place. It suits me better than the ranch I sold.”
“Is that so? Did you bring any equipment with you? A tractor, a
planter, hay mower, baler, anything?”
He would bring up one of the stupidest things she’d done. Sighing,
she admitted, “I sold the equipment with the ranch when I decided to leave
Oklahoma. One more reason I need a manager.” Her cheeks burned. “When I sold
the ranch after inheriting it, I didn’t intend to buy another.”
“Why did you buy another ranch?” He slid his gaze back to hers and
peered at her as if he could read her every thought--but what had her
swallowing hard was the spark of something hot in his eyes.
She tightened her arms in the hug she gave herself--a
self-protecting, insecure gesture she’d acquired while she lived with her
abusive lover in Las Vegas as a teenage runaway.
“Buying a ranch the size of this one isn’t something most folks just
wake up and decide to do, Miss Monroe. A ten-thousand-acre spread takes
commitment and dedication and is damned hard work.”
Yeah, she knew that.
He looked down at her multicolored Manolo Blahnik five-inch heeled
slides. The ghost of a smile touched his lips again, but this time little
crinkles formed at the corners of his eyes, which held a spark of interest she
didn’t want.
Damn, he was good-looking. She squelched that notion like the roach
she’d killed earlier in the house. Hadn’t her life with Ricardo taught her a
handsome face meant nothing but trouble?
“I can’t imagine you stuffing those pampered and polished feet into
rubber boots to muck around in the barn.”
Me, either. But she would if she had to.
She drew in a breath and dropped her arms to her sides. “I think we
should get back to asking questions about you. When your sister called about my
newspaper ad, she said you were exactly what I’m looking for.”
He shrugged again in a not-a-care-in-the-world way again. What was
this guy’s problem? If she weren’t running out of time, she would tell him to
leave. She couldn’t waste this year, which meant she had to get someone hired.
And her prospects were limited.
“Can you do the job?”
“Affirmative.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn’t, she frowned.
“Do you have any references?”
“I expected you to ask. Everything you need to know should be in
here.”
She moved closer and took the folded sheet of paper he held out the
window. After glancing at it, she wasn’t surprised it was a resume, but his
listed experience had her heart beating a little faster. She looked up at him.
“You have a degree in agricultural business from Texas A & M, started up
your own ranch and served in the Army?”
He looked off in the distance. “I was in the service for thirteen
years, three years in the Corps of Engineers, four in Airborne and the last six
in Special Forces.” His jaw clenched, making his face the chiseled block of
cold stone again. “And I know something about building. When I wasn’t deployed,
I built the house and barn on my two-hundred acre ranch.”
“You don’t own the ranch now?”
“No. My ex-wife got it in our divorce settlement. I planned to get
out of the Army after my last tour in Afghanistan and raise cattle. But things
never happen the way we want them to.”
The bitterness of his tone had her stepping away. She shivered again
and busied herself with looking at the resume. Whatever his ex-wife had done to
him, it wasn’t good. “Your reference list is pretty skimpy.”
“The first name is my old commander, but I just got word he’s
shipped out on a secret mission.”
Something wasn’t adding up. Either he was hiding something or his
sister had lied about his experience. “Your sister said you worked on Oak
Springs Ranch while in high school, but it’s not listed on your resume. Are you
related to the owner, Leon Ferguson? You said your mother grew up there.”
His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned into a tight line. “Leon is
my mother’s stepbrother. While my grandfather was still alive and ran the
ranch, I worked there until I joined the Army after he died. I chose not to
mention it.”
But why? She didn’t press the matter. She wasn’t seriously
considering him for the job anyway, was she?
She studied the resume again. “Brenda Dailey. Is this person
off-limits, too? Or can I speak with her?”
“My ex-wife. I’d appreciate it if you don’t involve her. I put her
on there because of the ranch.”
She looked up at him. “The divorce that bad, huh?”
Dylan shrugged and looked away. He gripped the top of the steering
wheel hard enough to whiten his knuckles. “Suppose it’s no secret. Our divorce
has only been final four months, and she married her baby-daddy the day after
it became official. You figure it out.”
“Ouch. Okay, I won’t call your ex. Nevertheless, I’d like to see
your house. Your sister mentioned you were a carpenter.” She glanced at the
address of his former ranch. “Killeen’s south of here?”
He nodded. “It’s your two hours and tank of gas.”
“Thank you for stopping by. Your number’s on here. I’ll call you.”
“Thanks for your time, Miss Monroe. Good luck with this place.” He
looked around at the buildings and over her before he turned the key in the
ignition. The rusted bucket of bolts sputtered and the starter groaned before
the engine turned over.
As he pulled away, she looked at the piece of paper in her shaky
hand and studied his name at the top.
Damn, she’d hoped he was the one.
She crumpled the paper, and the memory of his weathered eyes, as dull
and gray as her ranch buildings, came to her. What ghosts did he see when he
closed them?
She opened her palm and stared at the wad of paper. Feeling haunted
by the past was something she understood very well.
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Bio:
Although Sara Walter Ellwood has long ago left
the farm for the glamour of the big town, she draws on her experiences growing
up on a small hobby farm in West Central Pennsylvania to write her contemporary
westerns. She’s been married to her college sweetheart for over 20 years, and
they have two teenagers and one very spoiled rescue cat named Penny. She longs
to visit the places she writes about and jokes she’s a cowgirl at heart stuck
in Pennsylvania suburbia. Sara Walter Ellwood is a multi-published and international
Amazon bestselling author of the anthology set Cowboy Up. She also publishes paranormal romantic suspense
under the pen name Cera duBois.
Author links:
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