Take one devil-may-care cowboy bent on revenge. Add a frightened young woman desperate for a place to hide. Stir in a dangerous outlaw, a marauding band of Ku Klux Clansmen, and three inept matchmakers. Add to this mixture a bank’s missing loot and one dishonest deputy sheriff. Stir well then settle back and wait for the kettle to boil.
HONKY TONK COWBOY:
Ex-convict Sarah Scott returns home after serving four years in prison with only one thought in mind, to create for herself a secure and stable life. Then she meets Blake Hamilton, ex-rodeo cowboy turned night club owner. The chemistry between them is explosive and instantaneous. A passionate encounter blossoms into a tempestuous affair. But there are problems, Blake's family disapproves of Sarah. Her friends dislike Blake. Sarah wants forever. Blake refuses to make a commitment. This star-crossed pair seems headed for heartbreak, then fate intervenes in a most unexpected way.
BRUSH COUNTRY:
Brush Country is a collection of poems that vary greatly in style, tone, length, and content. Their unity is in the setting. Each poem is about some person, place or event that has transpired or been inspired by the Brush Country of Central Texas. Each poem has its own ambiance and its own rhythm. Whether rugged and rough hewn as the tangled underbrush that grows in stubborn profusion beneath the stately oaks and scrubby mesquites or as finely wrought as the fragile flowers that bloom in shady glades and hidden places, these poems reflect the unique environment, the ambiguous nature and the paradoxical people who inhabit this distinctive and unusual little corner of the world.
CHAPTER & VERSE:
Chapter And Verse has one theme--love. Yet there is diversity within that unity, both in form and substance. The poems run in length from a few short lines to a several verses. The rhyme schemes are many and varied. The subject matter addresses the charm, the mirth, the drama, the chivalry, the bliss, the gravity, and the mystery of love. Each poem speaks directly to the heart with its symmetry of ideas and its eloquent development of thought. Each one is finely wrought, well crafted, and easily unfolded. But the book's overall appeal lies in its poignant simplicity. It is imbued with a charm that points without emphasis and a beauty that transports as it inspires.
A LONG SHADOW:
For most of her life Tyler Carson has been a square peg that does not fit into the round hole of a small town's 1955 society. She's thirty and still unmarried, she's had more than one love affair, she has a job that is traditionally man's work, but the crowning insult is she couldn't care less what people think. At least that's how the majority of Summerville’s citizens perceive her.
Coral Morgan is running from an immoral man who would sell her to the highest bidder. Her only hope of escape is to assume another woman's identity and take her place on a wagon train heading west. She has scarcely begun her journey when she discovers that she has escaped one wicked circumstance only to be faced with another, even more insidious fate.
Wagon master Luke McDade is, by his own admission, a drifter and a hell-raiser. He likes being footloose and having the freedom to keep discovering what's over the next hill. Then he meets the mysterious and beautiful Lilly Malone who sets his heart spinning even though he suspects from the beginning that Lilly is not who she claims to be. The surprise comes when he discovers not who she is, but what she is
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Billie and Herb Houston have been writing as a team since 1990. Billie is a former teacher and educator. She holds an undergraduate degree in history and a graduate degree in educational psychology from The University Of Texas at San Antonio. Herb is a former teacher, computer programmer and technical writer for the Air Force. He holds a degree in education from Trinity College in Fort Worth, Texas.
Billie and Herb write the kind of books they enjoy reading -- stories about relationships; stories that explore feelings and probe emotions. The plots revolve around ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances and faced with difficult decisions.
LOVE An Anthology by Barri Bryan and others:
What would you do for LOVE? Would you risk your life to save another? Would you face all your fears and confront your past?
Whiskey Creek Press is pleased to announce the release of the LOVE Anthology, a beautiful collection of short stories and poems devoted to that heady feeling of love. The collection is available in both trade paperback and ebook form.
STARTING OVER:
From the first moment he saw Diane, dancing in another man’s arms, Burt Carlisle knew she was the woman for him. The handsome and charismatic attorney swept the young and innocent Diane off her feet. After a fiery romance led to an unplanned pregnancy they married, settling into what seemed like the perfect life.
Now it’s twenty years later. Their only child is in college, Burt’s career is at an all time high, and he’s still as deeply in love with his wife as ever. But he’s far from the model husband and after years of feeling second to Burt’s career, Diane has become restless. With the passage of time she not only lost her confidence, she lost her sense of self, her independence, and the ardent feelings that she once had for her husband.
When Diane announces that she has to return to their hometown to take care of her elderly aunt, Burt is supportive. But when he hears that she’s taken a job there and that her old flame is in town, he suddenly realizes that he could very well lose the woman he adores unless he is willing to fight for her.
Starting Over is a compelling story about a couple lucky enough to have found one another in their youth and smart enough to go in search of themselves as adults. As always, Barri Bryan does a fabulous job of capturing the love and the desire: the desire to rekindle faith in one’s self and the passion in one’s marriage, the desire to admit what’s gone wrong and to make changes, and the desire to simply commit to Starting Over.
CHARADE:
When gorgeous stranger Trace Randolph bursts into Lynn Evan’s Upper Crust Specialty Bake Shoppe, accuses her mother of seducing his father, then demands that Lynn put a stop to their dangerous affair, Lynn can’t help but burst out laughing. Lynn’s mother is a straight-laced, mousy little woman who wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to go about seducing a man. And she certainly couldn’t be endangering the life of Trace’s father by placing unreasonable sexual demands on him…or could she?
Lynn already has more problems than she can handle, she surely doesn’t need this, too! The building that houses her bakery is in danger of being condemned for building code violations she can’t afford to have fixed. But even more disturbing, is her tenth high school reunion that is just around the corner; her ex-husband is going to be there, and Lynn has yet to find a date!
As the arguments heat up and the sparks fly, Lynn learns that Trace is a carpenter, and she gets talked into a zany plan to help break up their parents’ affair in exchange for bringing her building up to code before her citation date. Does Lynn stop there? No way! The shrewd businesswoman also talks the hunky Trace into posing as her reunion date.
But who is fooling whom? As Trace discovers the voluptuous, passionate woman lurking under the starched white bakery apron, he and Lynn become more embroiled in their scheme of deceit. Feelings get out of hand and the pretense of seduction becomes all too real in this fun, fabulous, and fiery new read by Barri Bryan!
WISH ON THE MOON:
It’s 1907, and a time of political unrest and social upheaval in Texas. Twenty-seven year old Isabel Delaney was raised to be a proper southern lady, but she has a mind of her own. When her ailing brother makes arrangements for her to marry their neighbor, Myles Donovan, Isabel is both humiliated and angry at being passed onto yet another man intent on taking charge of her life.
Myles is as handsome as they come, with a silver tongue and strong political aspirations. The innocent Isabelle is attracted to her new husband almost instantly. Myles’ tender caresses and slow kisses leave her breathless. In spite of herself, Isabel yields to his advances, giving in to her feelings of both desire and love.
The newly married couple is thrust in front of the public eye when Myles becomes the democratic candidate for governor. The political climate is steeped in intrigue, and the race gets as hot as the great state of Texas itself. A scandal erupts, forcing Myles to reveal secrets from his past, secrets that could not only cost him the race, but perhaps Isabel as well. Will she succumb to old fears, or find the courage to stand by the man she loves?
LOVE WILL FIND A WAY:
In the charged silence of the room, her husband’s words erupt like an explosion. “I want a divorce.” Emily Franklin’s twenty-five year marriage is over. With renewed strength and courage she didn’t know she possessed, Emily sets out to rebuild her life.
Enter The Reverend Dennis Morrison, a compassionate man who awakens in Emily quiet but compelling emotions. Then abruptly and unexpectedly, her chastened and repenting ex-husband reappears, asking her forgiveness and pleading for her to take him back.
MAIL ORDER BRIDE:
Chadwick Hamilton may be a wealthy member of one of Boston’s most respected and prestigious families, but he is also a gambler and notorious rouge. Chad thinks that lady luck is on his side and that his prayers have been answered when he wins another man’s mail order bride in a poker game. After all, he does desperately have need of a demure and proper young lady for a wife and he’d rather marriage be a business arrangement than get caught up in the tangles that come with entering into affairs of the heart.
Miss Cherry Blossom may be a member of the 1857 graduating class of Miss Lavenia Sitwell’s Atlanta School for Young Ladies, but she is a far cry from the docile young lady that Chad expected. Cherry, a modern woman with strong beliefs and firm opinions, challenges the him like no one ever has and turns his life upside down and his heart inside out.
Drawn to each other to escape an unpleasant past, the young couple is surprised by one another and together they find love and forge a future. In Mail Order Bride, Barri Bryan presents us with a light-hearted story filled with fantastic imagery, endearing characters, and most of all…romance.
RENEGADE:
It’s 1837 and the spirited Rosa Perez has her hands full. A shotgun blast has shattered the calm of the little village of San Antonio de Bexar, taking the life of Rosa’s father and leaving her alone with a dangerous secret and a villain in pursuit. She’s also inherited a new business partner, the notorious renegade Quinn Gallagher.
Quinn is a rough and tumble cowboy who lives by his wits and his gun. Thrust into the role of protector, Quinn finds that neither his prowess nor his power can readily master the irrepressible Rosa. A fiery slip of a girl who seems to best him at every turn, she ignites a passion in him he’s unable to deny and a sense of conscience he’d rather do without. Will Rosa’s innocence and passion prove to be the motivation Quinn needs to become the man he’s destined to be, the one meant to spend his life with Rosa? Renegade is a fast-paced tale set in sultry south Texas. Rich with memorable characters and full of intrigue, this is one you won’t be able to put down.
WHAT WILL SUFFICE:
This collection of one hundred poems is charming and introspective with vivid and recognizable impressions, originality of diction and variations in tone. The author’s devotion to craftsmanship lends immediacy and expressiveness to a wide variety of poetic images.
WITCHES NIGHT (Anthology):
Witches Night is the first in our series of anthologies celebrating Halloween night, when the veils between worlds are thinnest and anything can happen. To kick it off properly, we’ve put together a collection of spicy, saucy, magical tales of witches and the people who love them. From the dabblers and charlatans to the full-fledged sorceresses of old, each of these stories is filled with curses and spells, wit and passion by authors familiar to our readers as well as some new, exciting faces. Seven very different witches, seven passionate, engaging stories that will draw you completely under their spell!
HOPE (Anthology by Whiskey Creek Press Authors):
Song Without Words by Barri Bryan:
Raye Larson awakens in a hospital room with blurred vision, a headache, no knowledge of her past, and no clear understanding of the events and actions that are taking place around her.
The man who insists that he’s her husband is handsome, charismatic and exudes a masculine charm that is both potent and compelling. Does she dare trust Craig Larson when every instinct she possesses warns her that she shouldn’t?
HEROES UNWRAPPED (anthology by Linden Bay authors) by Barri Bryan and others:
Cuddle up by the fire with Heroes Unwrapped - A charity anthology brought to you by the Linden Bay Romance authors. All proceeds are being donated to SOS America, Inc. in support of injured veterans.
Rules of Engagement by Barri Bryan: Mike O’Shea has never known any family or home outside of the Marine Corps. Carole Madison knows too well the pain of risking her heart. There’s no denying the attraction they feel for each other, and a little holiday magic makes it even more than that.
Barri Bryan invites visitors over 18 to click the CUPID below and browse on over to
Is a first love always the best love? Or can love sweeter the second time around? Susan Martin is about to find out.
Clytie’s Pond:
Clytie’s Pond is a sylvan glade, a pastoral paradise hidden behind a thick growth of tangled undergrowth .By the time Tom Sullivan learns its dark secret, it’s too late…
Pandora’s Box:
Pandora Penholt takes one look at Chance Chastain and falls madly in Love. When she conspires with Sister Fate Favors, a paranormal psychic with a passing ability to play hunches and a willingness to capitalize on the folly of her fellow human beings, the results are less than spectacular.
