More shovelling…
More shovelling…
Winter has hit the Pacific Northwest with a vengeance. While I was shoveling the driveway for the third time yesterday, I suddenly thought of a scene from WILD SKY REDEMPTION, in which a city girl ends up on a Montana cattle ranch in the depths of winter.
Here she is, riding on a snowmobile for the first time. (And where I create a word used nowhere else in literature. I hope.) Enjoy Throwback Thursday!
*
Damn her and her big mouth.
And her vanity. She shuffled her feet on the running board of the snowmobile, praying she wouldn’t fall off, wishing she could get better purchase on the narrow skids.
“How you doing?” Zach yelled, his words whipping away in the wind. Des tried to answer, but she couldn’t move her lips. She couldn’t feel her cheeks. Or her eyebrows. Or her toes.
She’d begun the trip holding on to the bars at the side by her thighs. But when Zach opened the throttle, the speed had thrown her backward and she’d grabbed his waist instinctively, locking her hands together and burying her face against his back. Once there, she was unable to change position. Now, her arms might as well have been frozen in place. Even if she wanted to say something, she feared her lips would not be able to form the words.
The rumble of the engine beneath her and the nearness and position of Zach’s body between her legs created a distracting reminder of the sensuality that sparked between them. It was frustratingly inconsistent; sometimes, she’d swear he was deliberately antagonizing her, but other times, she saw the same old heat they’d generated the first time they’d met. He was not immune to her, no matter how he tried to hide it.
Zach pointed toward a ridge, shading his eyes against the sun. Des turned her head, blinking, feeling as if her bones had frozen in place. Her nose tingled. She probably had the mother of all danglers hanging off it, but unless she wanted to risk her life for a one-handed swipe, she was stuck with it. God. Zach would die laughing.
She looked where he pointed but saw nothing. Thank goodness she was wearing her sunglasses, or her eyeballs would be iced over, too.
“I’m going to circle around them,” he said, yelling over the engine noise. “It’s a bit of an angle, so hang on.”
When he turned his head, his mouth was disturbingly close to hers. She saw the rough stubble on his chin, the sculpted plane between jaw and cheekbone, lips open with exertion, the way they would be, she thought suddenly, when he made love.
“Okay,” Des yelled back. Or tried to. The sound that came out squeezed past lips frozen and sluggish, from a throat thick with phlegm.
Oh yeah, she was quite the seductress.
When he rounded the side of the ridge and began the steep climb, Des felt him shift his weight, to compensate and remain balanced. His hip pressed warm and firm against the inside of her thigh, sliding easily over the leather. She tried to do the same, but her butt didn’t slide. She gave herself a push off the rubberized running board, but her foot slipped. Her fingers lost their grip on each other and slipped apart, despite her conscious effort to keep them locked. In slow motion—or so it seemed—she broke away from Zach and the machine.
Before she knew it, there was only cold air under her.
Des saw the horizon do a complete turn before landing on the soft snow, bouncing once and plowing to a stop.
Vaguely, she heard Zach yelling her name. Snow rasped over her skin, filling her mouth and eyes. She gasped for air, coughing and spitting, her teeth aching. Her sinuses were on fire, and between the cold and the shock and the glare, she could barely see. Her sunglasses had gone AWOL.
Zach crashed through the snow and knelt at her side.
“Des? Are you okay? Don’t move. Can you talk?”
She struggled to sit up, to make some kind of response, but she might as well have been swimming in syrup. Her limbs were so cold they weren’t obeying properly.
She finally managed to sit up and rubbed a glove over her face.
“I’m fine.” At least the snot-sicle was gone.
Zach had been right, damn him. And now that he could see she was in one piece, his concern fell away. “Damn, Des, don’t scare me like that.”
“So sorry,” she paused for a sneeze, “if I caused you any discomfort.” She managed to get onto all fours, but then one boot slipped out from under her and she went sprawling again.
“Hey, Princess?” He didn’t even try to hide his laughter. “You’re gonna have to work on your dismount, but I’d still give you a solid five out of ten.”
Escape to New Zealand
- At January 31, 2019
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Rox Reads
- 0
I’ve always wanted to escape to New Zealand
(This won’t happen until 2023, stay tuned!)
There’s nothing like escaping to warmer climes during the deep, dark days of winter. Alas, we took holidays in November, so any escape I manage now will come through the pages of a book. The Escape to New Zealand series by Author Rosalind James been entertaining me recently, mostly because the audio versions are narrated by the talented Claire Bocking. Her ability to do a Kiwi accent is amazing!
The are 12 books in the series, at least, and it’s available in a few combinations as well, I believe. These two were my favorites. I highly recommend the audio books!
Audie nominee, Best Romance Audiobook, 2015
Everyone needs to be rescued sometimes.
Everyone but Hannah Montgomery, that is. She just needs a vacation. Three weeks in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn’t looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn’t do casual. But maybe just this once …
As much as he’s shared with Hannah, Drew Callahan has kept one very big secret: that he’s the captain of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s international rugby team, not to mention the best-known rugby player on earth. And learning the truth, now that she’s back home again, has made Hannah warier than ever. Drew knows that she’s right for him. But how can he convince her to let down her guard enough to explore what they could have together?
Just This Once: Escape to New Zealand Book One
For teacher Jenna McKnight, nothing spells “heartbreak” like finding her husband with somebody else–in her bed. It’s clearly time to reinvent herself. A new body, a new city, and a new job later, she’s done just that. The beautiful Auckland villa isn’t really her home, though. Finn Douglas and his kids aren’t really her family, however much she wishes they were. And playing house can be a dangerous game.
Rugby star Finn Douglas is just looking for a temporary nanny and housekeeper. Not a girlfriend, and definitely not a wife. He can’t resist Jenna’s cooking, it’s true. Who knew he’d have so much trouble resisting her? He wants to do what’s right for his kids. But waiting is so hard …
Just For Now (Escape to New Zealand Book 3)
And here’s the box-set containing the first three books, including Just Good Friends (Escape to New Zealand Book 2)
I never imagined I’d be interested in reading (listening) to stories about rugby players but the New Zealand setting, the Maori culture and the steamy stories surprised me. Now, if I ever visit, I’ll be sure to go when the All Blacks are playing!
The second volume contains books 4-6 and looks great, too.
Roxanne Reads
Roxanne reads… oh yes, she does!
I joined the Goodreads Reading Challenge this year and set myself a goal to read 200 books. Actually, I clicked that number accidentally, then looked at it, shrugged and thought, “Maybe,” and left it. It probably won’t happen. Or, more likely, I’ll read them but forget to record them. But now I want to try.
Anyway, I want to tell you about the winners I’ve landed on so far this year. The first, by a landslide, is The Humans: A Novel by Matt Haig. It’s weird and wacky and entirely hilarious. It’s also profoundly moving, perceptive and thought-provoking. Read it.
When an extra-terrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to complete the gruesome task assigned him and hurry home to his own utopian planet, where everyone is omniscient and immortal.
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, their capacity for murder and war, and is equally baffled by the concepts of love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this strange species than he had thought. Disguised as Martin, he drinks wine, reads poetry, develops an ear for rock music, and a taste for peanut butter. Slowly, unexpectedly, he forges bonds with Martin’s family. He begins to see hope and beauty in the humans’ imperfection, and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.
Praised by The New York Times as a “novelist of great seriousness and talent,” author Matt Haig delivers an unlikely story about human nature and the joy found in the messiness of life on Earth. The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable tale that playfully and movingly explores the ultimate subject—ourselves.
The Orphan’s Tale: A Novel by Pam Jenoff. A very interesting WWII story, set against the unusual backdrop of the circus world.
A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.
Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Waiting On You (The Blue Heron Series) by Kristan Higgins. This a comfort re-read for me. The whole series just makes me happy, which I often need this time of year. So, thank you, Ms. Higgins!
Is your first love worth a second chance…?
Colleen O’Rourke is in love with love…just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke her heart…an experience Colleen doesn’t want to have again, thanks. Since then, she’s been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.
But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who’s ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they’ve got some unfinished business waiting for them—but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she’s ever loved.
I’m adding this one too, even though I finished it last year. It’s on sale right now and a tremendous read. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel by Balli Kaur Jaswal is a “lively, sexy, and thought-provoking East-meets-West story about community, friendship, and women’s lives at all ages.”
Every woman has a secret life . . .
Nikki lives in cosmopolitan West London, where she tends bar at the local pub. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she’s spent most of her twenty-odd years distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community of her childhood, preferring a more independent (that is, Western) life. When her father’s death leaves the family financially strapped, Nikki, a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a “creative writing” course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community.
Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. Eager to liberate these modest women, she teaches them how to express their untold stories, unleashing creativity of the most unexpected—and exciting—kind.
As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men who have appointed themselves the community’s “moral police.” But when the widows’ gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife—a modern woman like Nikki—and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
What about you? Read anything great lately?