Lassoing A Bride Anthology Released Today

LASSOING A BRIDE Anthology  Released Today

A broken dream…a cancelled wedding…and an unexpected blessing

When Juliet Wilding’s dreams are crushed, she cancels her wedding plans to Harry O’Connor. But Harry is not about to give up on the only woman he has ever loved.  What neither of them expects is the event that will forever change both their lives.

Excerpt:

When Harry entered the hotel kitchen, he saw the place was busy with two white-coated cooks and several servers running here and there with trays of food. The pleasant odors of roasted chicken, fresh baked bread, and cherry pie greeted him as he entered. He felt happy—until he saw Juliet’s face as she issued orders and tossed a large summer salad of greens, tomatoes, and other vegetables in a huge glass bowl. Red-rimmed eyes, a thin-lipped frown, and dark splotches beneath her eyes told him all was far from well.

She met his gaze from across the room. The pain in her expression made his gut ache, as if someone had punched him. He hurried to her and took her hand. “Juliet? Are you ill?”

She turned from his gaze. “No. I’m fine. Really.”

Unconvinced, Harry put his fingers beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. The golden flecks that usually shone behind her emerald eyes had faded. “Come with me, Juliet. We need to talk.”

“I can’t. Early supper diners have arrived. We’re swamped.”

“I don’t care. What’s between you and me is much more important than food.” He peered about the kitchen at all the white coats. “I’m sure your staff can handle things for a few minutes without you.”

A moment of hesitation, and then she clasped his hand and led him out of the kitchen and into the courtyard behind the hotel.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRETTIEST LITTLE HORSE THIEF (Gail Jenner)................................................. 7

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS (Sarah J.  McNeal)................................................. 41

NO LESS THAN FOREVER (Tracy Garrett)........................................................ 70

THE BANK ROBBER'S LAMENT (Sara Barnard).............................................. 105

THE BADGE AND THE BRIDE (Livia J.  Washburn)..........................120 

In Memory of My Mom

MY MOM AND ME

To all the mothers and daughters all over the world, I bid you joy and love.

     Until I was twenty-seven years old I took Mother's day for granted. I took having a mother for granted. We did, as most families do on this special day. We gave our mother breakfast in bed, dinners out at her favorite restaurant or had cook-outs in the back yard or down in the orchard. We showered our mother with gifts and we always made her a cake--from scratch.
      Mother's Day celebrations, for us, were intermingled with trips to the hospital, beeping monitors and days when Mom couldn't get out of bed. I was used to these episodes of illness from the time I was five. I never imagined that Mom would go to the hospital one day and never come home again.
That was way back in November 1974. A lot of years have passed since then. But no matter how happy I am on most days of the year, Mother's Day is when I miss my mother the most. It's the one day that makes my heart ache and it doesn't seem to lessen after all these years. So I accept that this one day is probably going to always be the saddest day of the year for me. It's when a mother's unconditional love passed from my life.
So for this one day, I will remember Charlene Hilda McNeal and hold her close to my heart. She meant the world to me.
I love you Mom.