RELEASE DAY: Linda Covella "Yakimali's Gift"

Blurb:

It’s 1775 in Mexico, New Spain, and 15-year-old Fernanda Marquina, half Spanish and half Pima Indian, can’t seem to live up to her mother’s expectations or fit into the limited female roles of her culture. A tragic accident sets her on a course for the adventure she longed for but at a greater cost than she could ever have imagined. With her family, Fernanda joins Juan Bautista de Anza’s historic colonization expedition to California. On the arduous four month journey, Fernanda will find not only romance, but she’ll discover truths that will change the way she sees her ancestry, her family, and herself.

 

Author:

Linda Covella’s varied job experience and education (associate degrees in art, business and mechanical drafting & design, a BS degree in Manufacturing Management) have led her down many paths and enriched her life experiences. But one thing she never strayed from is her love of writing.

Her first official publication was a restaurant review column in a local newspaper. But when she published articles for various children’s magazines, she realized she’d found her niche, writing for children and teens. She hopes to bring to kids and young adults the feelings books gave her when she was young, the worlds they opened, the things they taught, the feelings they ex-pressed.

No matter what new paths Linda may travel down, she sees her writing as a lifelong joy and commitment.

 

 

 

Now available on
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Excerpt:

August – October 1775

 

Chapter One

 

Fernanda pressed her heels into the horse’s sides. “Faster, pretty one, faster. We want to feel the wind in our hair, no?”

The horse flicked its ears then galloped across the plain toward the river, kicking up stones from the hard ground. Fernanda leaned closer to the horse’s neck, her long braid slipping over her shoulder. The animal’s smell of grassy manure and sweat filled her with the thrill of riding. It had been too long.

Her body rocked forward and back with the rhythm of the pounding hooves. Water streaked from her eyes as she raced across the desert, dodging barrel cactuses and mesquite bushes. Her rebozo loosened and slipped to her shoulders; then the shawl untied completely and was gone. Fernanda glanced over her shoulder and saw it flutter to the ground. A laugh burst from her chest, and watching a hawk glide, dive, and then fly high into the sky, she thought, I feel as free as that bird!

The power of the horse flowed through her, charging her with the desire for adventure, her heart soaring beyond Tubac to worlds far away, worlds full of golden riches, handsome men, and green hills that rolled on forever. Worlds where she would ride, explore, and each day discover something new.

Before realizing how far she’d gone, she saw her family’s adobe hut. She tightened the reins, stopped the horse, and squinted toward the house. Her soaring heart dropped like the hawk diving to the ground. There, in front of the hut with her hands on her hips, stood her mother. Fernanda braced herself against the scowl she was sure to see on Mama’s face when she returned. The scolding words she was sure to hear.

Fernanda turned the horse around and headed back to her brother Luis, back to the presidio and the market. Keeping the animal at a respectable trot, she clenched the reins. Why did Mama insist galloping was improper? And why did Papa follow her lead when he knew Fernanda had a special way with horses?

She retrieved the rebozo and shook the dust and weeds from the rough cotton weave. Then, stopping the horse in front of Luis, she jumped to the ground and threw the reins to him. Ignoring the sound of disgust he forced from his mouth, she marched over to her mule and flung the shawl across the two baskets of vegetables slung over its back.

“I told you to be quick,” Luis said. “Nicolas is back from Horcasitas, and I promised I would safely deliver these horses to him.” He held the leads of two other horses.

Fernanda eyed in the distance the high adobe walls and closed gates of the presidio, Tubac’s military garrison. She was grateful for a chance to ride, and doubly grateful she’d been able to avoid Nicolas. After pressure from him — and Mama — she’d finally promised to set a date for their marriage once he returned from the capital.

“I’m only back this soon because Mama saw me,” Fernanda said. “I expect I’ll hear her usual lament—“ She held her head between her hands and said in a high wailing voice, “Why oh why must my daughter run around like a wild Apache?”

Luis laughed and nudged his sister. “Perhaps Mama is right. After all, a girl can never ride as well as a man.”

“And you are a man? At twelve years old?” But the truth was, even though Fernanda was three years older than Luis, someday he would have all the privileges of manhood, while she’d always simply be — a woman. She straightened her bodice and dusted off the sleeves of her blouse and her skirt. “You’d best deliver your horses, and I must sell my vegetables, or Mama will have another reason to be angry with her wild, troublesome daughter.”

RELEASE DAY: Kay Harborne "Never Say Forever"

 

Blurb:

Do you follow your dream or follow your heart?

That’s the decision Kendall McKenzie has to make when she meets hunky businessman Jake Newman. It’s obvious that he’s as attracted to her as she is to him. But Kendall has vowed to never get married – and it seems that Jake, too, is determined to never commit. When the two are together however sparks fly and it’s obvious to everyone except themselves that they’re meant to be together. Can Kendall trust Jake enough to give him her heart? And if she does will she have to say goodbye to her dream?

 

 

 

Author:

Kay Harborne has written several short stories for women’s magazines. Never Say Forever was her first romance novel, and is now re-published by Astraea Press. Her second romance novel, The Millionaire Plan, was nominated for the RONE award.

 

Now available on
ღ Amazon ღ Barnes & Nobel ღ Smashwords ღ

 

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“Want to go!” yelled Timmy at the top of his voice, stamping his feet. Kendall sighed. Why had she left it until the last minute to choose an engagement present for Tanya and Hugh? Shopping in a busy department store on a Friday afternoon with a lively three year old and a baby in a buggy wasn’t exactly a relaxing experience. She’d already spent fifteen minutes standing in a queue to pay for the decanter and glasses that she’d chosen and didn’t fancy starting all over again.

“Hang on a minute, Timmy. I’ll be served soon, and then we’ll go and find the toilets. I promise.”

“Now!” Timmy shouted, tugging at her sleeve. “Want to go now,” he insisted. Then, “I’ll go myself,” he declared. And before Kendall could stop him he turned away and ran off.

“Timmy! Come back!” She left the store’s wire basket on the floor and turning baby Sophie’s buggy around, set off in hot pursuit of the toddler.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t yet mastered the buggy’s steering and, somehow, instead of going forwards it went sideways... slamming into a pair of denim-clad legs.

“Ow!” exclaimed a deep masculine voice, and a large, suntanned hand reached down to rub the shin she’d just crashed into.

“Sorry.” She glanced up into a pair of gorgeous brown eyes and found herself blushing with embarrassment. Then she remembered Timmy.

She looked around anxiously. Lindsay, his mother, would be horrified if she knew Kendall had taken her eyes off him, even if only for a moment.

“Oh no!” she gasped as she saw the toddler heading for the escalator that led down to the ground floor. If he stepped onto it and lost his footing...

“Timmy! Come back!” she yelled, trying to run after him, but was hindered by the cumbersome buggy.

“It’s okay. I’ll get him.” The owner of the bruised shin and the gorgeous brown eyes was already sprinting across the shop, his impressive height and long legs making it easy for him to dodge through the crowds.

Kendall bit her lip as she followed him, pushing the buggy as quickly as she could and praying that he would reach Timmy — who was by now dangerously near the top of the escalator — in time.

People turned their heads to look, obviously wondering what was going on.

As the toddler reached the escalator and put out a foot to step onto it Kendall felt a cold shiver of fear run down her spine, then, as he was scooped up just in time by the handsome stranger, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Come on, young man. Your mummy wants you. That escalator’s too dangerous for you to go on by yourself.”

Timmy was staring wide-eyed at his rescuer as he was carried back to Kendall, who had finally managed to battle her way through the crowds.

“It was really naughty of you to run off like that,” she scolded. “Don’t ever do that again.”

She reached out as the man handed the child over to her. Their hands touched briefly, and she felt a tingle run up her arms. Feeling her cheeks flush yet again, she was grateful for the chance to hide her face as she bent over to put Timmy down.

“Now, hold on to the buggy and stay by me,” she ordered.

“Wanta wee-wee,” Timmy told her urgently, screwing up his face.

“I think perhaps you’d better take him to the loo before he makes a puddle on the floor,” said the man. “The toilets are over there. Will I look after the baby while you take him? You’d be quicker if you didn’t have to take that pushchair with you.”