The Baer Truth

Sometimes you get to keep your boots
Sometimes you got nothing left but your spurs
And sometimes neither one is as important as staying true to your soul

Baer Truth, Book One of the Three Baer’s Trilogy
One of them will be just right for you!

 

I met Tonya at Lori Foster’s Conference in Cincinnati. She spotted me across a crowded room. Not because I was that awesome, not because I sailed across the room like a Hollywood starlet, nope, she knew me because of my cute dog, exclaiming in her sweet southern cadence, “You’re Diesel’s mom!”

 As the old saying goes, you should never appear with a dog or a kid you will always be upstaged. Diesel is way more popular than I am. I can live with that, he always makes me laugh even on days when I get rejections.

When Tonya invited me to be on the Naked Hero Blog, I jumped at the chance, scaring Diesel Dog in the process. When she told me I had to strip down my cowboy I had all sorts of wicked thoughts involving six-pack abs, and huge, um, Stetsons. Then she explained that the whole “naked” thing wasn’t really naked. Once I calmed down, took a cold shower, and explained the situation to Joe, he put his hat on and high-tailed it toward the barn, but I lassoed him.

I set to work lying bare Joe Baer. (insert eye roll) Joe is already raw, with hard edges, a jaded heart, and a broken family. Plus, he is pretty set in his ways, and sleeps with his boots on, at least when he is out driving cattle. Although, Abby certainly can make him hang up his hat!

Joe Baer is the younger son of the Baer family, beef ranchers near Wind River, Wyoming. He is a good guy, a stoic cowboy that doesn’t need many words to say what he thinks, and recent events have made him pretty darned angry, particularly with women. Joe still believes a handshake is as good as a contract, that you help your neighbors, take care of critters, and when your heart gets wounded, you just ride off into the distance.

Then in stumbles Abby Clark. Actually, she was dumped. With pink and purple hair, orange stilettos, a potty-mouth and an aversion to meat, she’s a vegetarian.

She is absolutely nothing Joe would ever want in a woman. Abby would be the first to agree. Joe is cocky, a wise-ass, and angry. Angry at being taken advantage of, wounded by an old friend trying to steal his ranch, and hurt that Hidden Rock Ranch might never be a home again.

Yet every time you think Abby’s ranch disasters are going to bring out the worst in Joe, his better side shines through. As much as he tries to be the tough, independent cowboy that grumbles through all the chaos she causes, he needs her.

She is the first thing that has ever been more important to him than Hidden Rock. When a dark secret unfolds in his lap, well, you can say this cowboy earns his “white hat.”

Come visit the Hidden Rock Ranch where the cowboys are hot and sexy, the women are bossy, tractors are just booby-traps lying in wait for city-girls and true love is just a Baer cave away!

Note:

 My publisher Desert Breeze Publishing has contacted for two more books in this series. The next one will be Baer Necessities releasing in May 2012 then Baer Facts in February of 2013. In between these, I have a romantic historical, The Granite Rose, set in Ancient Rome, think Russell Crowe coming out in January 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/MaA8p65oOeo

The Baer Truth Excerpt:

“Please, call me Mike.” The ranch foreman smiled, starting the engine. Making a hard

u-turn, the truck slid across the pavement.

Abby fastened her seatbelt and grabbed the handle above the window.

The truck fishtailed across the ice, but Mike didn’t slow down. “I hope you don’t plan on going shopping very often.” He turned the wipers on. They screeched painfully across the glass. “It’s a fair piece to the nearest store. We plan far in advance for shopping trips, so you’ll want to keep a list for pantry purchases.”

They pulled off the main road onto a gravel road. He made several more turns onto smaller and smaller gravel roads, until they reached a rutted, one-lane dirt road. Suddenly the dirt road gave way to a smooth blacktop drive that wound around snow-covered banks, atop which a red snow fence ran as far as the eye could see.

“I think I’m going to have to drop breadcrumbs to find my way in and out of here.” Abby couldn’t remember ever having been so far from civilization. “Tell me, do you ever get snowed in back here?” As far as she could see in every direction was nothing, absolutely nothing, except hills, snow fence, trees, snow, and huge mountains.

“Occasionally we’ve been snowed in for a few days. We’ve got snowmobiles and we can get out for supplies with them.”

A lump formed in her throat that refused to be swallowed.

“We’ve also got the Cat and the Deere with plows and shovels.”

Abby had no clue what he was talking about, but as long as those things could get her out of this desolate wilderness, she liked them.

“Nobody’s lived at the cottage for awhile. I had the boys go in, knock down the spider webs, and make sure no snakes or anything was living inside, but they don’t always get everything. You aren’t afraid of spiders and such, are you?”

The lump on her head began to ache. Mike’s expression was kind, but odds were she was about to face those things, afraid or not. “I can’t say I care too much for them.”

“Well, snakes are hibernating this time of year. But they can move about when you start disturbing them. I’ll have the boys leave you a hoe just to be safe.” The truck slid across the blacktop road. Mike chuckled. “That was fun.”

Abby pushed a hand against the dashboard, her mouth becoming suddenly dry. “A hoe? What do I need a hoe for?”

“For hacking the snakes’ heads off, honey.” Mike was matter-of-fact.

“Hack its head off?” The ache in her head turned to throbbing and was joined by a rumbling nausea deep in her stomach. “Couldn’t I just call you or one of the men to come and–” she shuddered– “hack the thing?”

“Sure, but we’re usually out in the field or up at one of the cattle barns. It could be awhile before one of us could get it for you. By then it could disappear under the floor only to pop back out in the middle of the night and snuggle up with you in bed.”

“They’re cold-blooded, you know, and they like to find a warm spot to sleep. So it would be best if you just hack them when you see them.”

Her head swam. Her vision turned gray and began sliding into black. She had gone from a bad dream to a horrific nightmare. Abby pinched her thigh, wincing at the pain. Awake. She was awake. The nightmare was real.

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Isn’t Linda GREAT?!!?!??!!! She’s amazing. I knew it from the first time I yelled across that room at the conference! Linda is one of the nicest authors I’ve ever met. I’m currently reading all about her cowboy, Joe! WOW!! You won’t be disappointed!!

 (me with my dear friend Linda!!)

She is giving a copy of Baer Truth away today!!!!!

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