Synopsis:
Hayley’s
father has a gambling problem that’s now become hers. He lost her in a bet.
Now, she must either leave the only place she’s ever known or marry a man who
is only interested in a servant he can control.
On the run and scared, she finds sanctuary at a ranch with seven
men and one little boy. Though hired as a cook and nanny, she quickly realizes
she’s found a home. With brothers, Ben and Tate, vying for her affections,
Hayley starts to believe she can have a life that doesn’t involve alcohol, abuse, and gambling.
But the winner of the card game has other plans.
Ed
Thompson tracks Hayley down, determined she’s going to become his wife. But
Tate isn’t about to allow that to happen. He’ll move whatever mountain he has
to for Hayley’s safety. And when she’s kidnapped, he’ll tear the town apart to
find her. But Ed has an ace up his sleeve that could end up getting Hayley
killed.
About
The Author
Jennifer
has a brain that is never quiet (even in her sleep), she uses writing as an
escape to be and do anything she can create. Plotting is her favorite thing to
do in her down time. Raised in southern Arizona, she was influenced by being
raised a cop’s daughter (plenty of teenage angst material there), Mexican food,
and the old West. She is a busy mother to three rambunctious boys, married to
her amazing cowboy, a full-time nursing student, and desperately needs a long
vacation. Her biggest fear in life is to be completely mediocre.
·
Author Social Media links
Facebook: Author Jennifer Bryce
BlogSpot: jenniferbryce.blogspot.com
Twitter: @JenniferBryce1
Snippet #17
“I’m going to make your life miserable.”
“Lovely,” said Haley sarcastically. “Have a good life. We’re not in high school anymore.” She turned her back on Emma Jean Toulsen’s bullying forever. Haley dreamed of putting the famous Indian Geronimo, a rattlesnake, and Emma Jean Toulsen in the same box and shake it. But it probably wouldn’t that fun, anyway. Most likely Emma Jean would come out unscathed with a rattlesnake purse and the infamous Apache carrying her schoolbooks. She walked off school grounds and headed home. Because she was late from last night’s slumber party in the field, Haley hadn’t gotten the morning chores done before scrambling onto the honking school bus. If Haley hurried, she could walk the ten miles before noon to milk the cow, gather the eggs, and chop a few rows of weeds in the cotton field before dark. Two miles out of town, Haley hitched a ride in the back of a truck the rest of the way to the farm.
The Writer's Revolution with Jennifer Bryce
Let’s get to know you a little more. Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a jack of all, master of none. I have many different interests that put me down all sorts of interesting paths. I’ve done cosmetology, interior decorating and now I’m a full time nursing student and hope one day I can be a labor and delivery nurse. I’m a mother to three rambunctious boys. My husband and I are part owners of the Double Circle Ranch in Eagle Creek. I love dreaming up plots to stories, cooking, making new friends, jujitsu, and watching old movies. One day I want to learn Spanish, play the guitar, and travel all over Europe.
What inspired you to write?
Wanting to be somewhere else other than on bed rest with my last baby. I felt fat and trapped inside my own body. I read to keep my mind off of it. A few the books were awful and seriously lacked in substance. I thought I could do a better job than some of the books I read. With the hormone crazed dreams that I had on a regular basis, I dreamed one night that I time traveled back to the 50’s and became the very single and thin Gidget looking for her Moondoggy. Putting time and creativity into the same space I wrote my first manuscript about time travel.
Tell me a little about your book. (Title, plot)
Haley’s Song takes place in the forties shortly after the war in southeast Arizona. Haley sings to keep the night monsters away as she irrigates cotton in the muggy summer fields in the dead of night. When her abusive father loses a gambling bet to crusty Ed Thompson, she finds is she is to marry him by the end of the summer to pay the debt. Thompson sells liquor to the Apaches on the reservation and wants to use Haley as his personal slave. She decides to skip town the day before the marriage and stumbles across a job as a ranch cook and nanny. The ranch is very remote making for the perfect place for Haley to hideout.
Seven polite and protective cowboys restore her faith in men through their kindness and care for her. Two of the cowboys are brothers who vie for her attention. Ben is a newly graduated doctor with a more serious nature who plans on living in the city. Tate is Ben’s exact opposite, wearing his female attention-grabbin’ shotgun chaps. Both men are good picks, but Haley favors Tate. When Tate’s almost fiancée, Margret, comes home for summer vacation, Haley pulls away from Tate and decides a friendship is best because heart and logic nearly never reside in the same space. Finding her heart too burdened from the past to give it freely she slows Ben’s advances as well. Tate’s feelings for Haley develop, as they become best friends. Tate sees the scars of Haley’s past and works to uncover all her secrets and earn her trust. Thompson finds Haley and forces her to decide if she believes, her father is worth saving. The cost? Submit her freedom and happiness. Haley’s seven cowboys must come to her rescue in time, while she lets go of her past and embrace love under the Eagle Creek stars.
Who has been your greatest writing inspiration?
I really want to write good ooey-gooey romances like Marcia Lynn McClure does; The Fragrance of Her Name is one of my favorites. I covet Jennifer Griffith’s pure whit and the way she uses her voice in her writing. I call her “my writing Yoda.” But there are the greats like Charlotte Bronte, Pat McManus, and Erma Bombeck. I suppose there are a handful of authors that really inspire me.
Now a little more about you: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring (excluding family, laptop, or writing utensils)?
A clean working bathroom, a nice bed, and some comfort foods. I don’t rough it very well… A weekend resort trip is what I call camping.
We find out the world is going to end tomorrow. How do you live your last day?
Spending the day with my family, doing very ordinary things and enjoying being present with them.
If we were to make a movie of your life. Who would play the part of you?
Oh boy, Kristen Bell! She’s got just the right amount of comedy and drama to give it a go.
Tell us 5 random things about yourself.
1. I’ve ridden a carousel with Mary Poppins in the “Give the Kids the World” Village.
2. I’m a daughter of a cop.
3. I dream one day of owning a thriving off the grid homestead.
4. I love to bake.
5. My favorite thing to do is to dine at trendy restaurants and pretend I’m part of the upper class once a year. I really love trying innovative food! I just don’t have the pocket book to match…
What are the three places you have always wanted to visit but have not yet?
Scotland
Iceland
Northern Italy
Okay, crystal ball time. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
I would love to do humanitarian trips to South America doing neonatal training for health care workers in third world countries. Writing will always be a part of my life and I hope I’ll have a few books under my belt by then. As always, trying to keep up with my very busy boys. If my husband will let me, maybe bring home a brown-eyed baby girl from one of my humanitarian trips.
Really, just trying my hardest at being amazing, because five years ago I never would’ve thought I’d be where I am now…with a published book! Got to keep the momentum going. Wear out, don’t rust out!
I’m a jack of all, master of none. I have many different interests that put me down all sorts of interesting paths. I’ve done cosmetology, interior decorating and now I’m a full time nursing student and hope one day I can be a labor and delivery nurse. I’m a mother to three rambunctious boys. My husband and I are part owners of the Double Circle Ranch in Eagle Creek. I love dreaming up plots to stories, cooking, making new friends, jujitsu, and watching old movies. One day I want to learn Spanish, play the guitar, and travel all over Europe.
What inspired you to write?
Wanting to be somewhere else other than on bed rest with my last baby. I felt fat and trapped inside my own body. I read to keep my mind off of it. A few the books were awful and seriously lacked in substance. I thought I could do a better job than some of the books I read. With the hormone crazed dreams that I had on a regular basis, I dreamed one night that I time traveled back to the 50’s and became the very single and thin Gidget looking for her Moondoggy. Putting time and creativity into the same space I wrote my first manuscript about time travel.
Tell me a little about your book. (Title, plot)
Haley’s Song takes place in the forties shortly after the war in southeast Arizona. Haley sings to keep the night monsters away as she irrigates cotton in the muggy summer fields in the dead of night. When her abusive father loses a gambling bet to crusty Ed Thompson, she finds is she is to marry him by the end of the summer to pay the debt. Thompson sells liquor to the Apaches on the reservation and wants to use Haley as his personal slave. She decides to skip town the day before the marriage and stumbles across a job as a ranch cook and nanny. The ranch is very remote making for the perfect place for Haley to hideout.
Seven polite and protective cowboys restore her faith in men through their kindness and care for her. Two of the cowboys are brothers who vie for her attention. Ben is a newly graduated doctor with a more serious nature who plans on living in the city. Tate is Ben’s exact opposite, wearing his female attention-grabbin’ shotgun chaps. Both men are good picks, but Haley favors Tate. When Tate’s almost fiancée, Margret, comes home for summer vacation, Haley pulls away from Tate and decides a friendship is best because heart and logic nearly never reside in the same space. Finding her heart too burdened from the past to give it freely she slows Ben’s advances as well. Tate’s feelings for Haley develop, as they become best friends. Tate sees the scars of Haley’s past and works to uncover all her secrets and earn her trust. Thompson finds Haley and forces her to decide if she believes, her father is worth saving. The cost? Submit her freedom and happiness. Haley’s seven cowboys must come to her rescue in time, while she lets go of her past and embrace love under the Eagle Creek stars.
Who has been your greatest writing inspiration?
I really want to write good ooey-gooey romances like Marcia Lynn McClure does; The Fragrance of Her Name is one of my favorites. I covet Jennifer Griffith’s pure whit and the way she uses her voice in her writing. I call her “my writing Yoda.” But there are the greats like Charlotte Bronte, Pat McManus, and Erma Bombeck. I suppose there are a handful of authors that really inspire me.
Now a little more about you: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring (excluding family, laptop, or writing utensils)?
A clean working bathroom, a nice bed, and some comfort foods. I don’t rough it very well… A weekend resort trip is what I call camping.
We find out the world is going to end tomorrow. How do you live your last day?
Spending the day with my family, doing very ordinary things and enjoying being present with them.
If we were to make a movie of your life. Who would play the part of you?
Oh boy, Kristen Bell! She’s got just the right amount of comedy and drama to give it a go.
Tell us 5 random things about yourself.
1. I’ve ridden a carousel with Mary Poppins in the “Give the Kids the World” Village.
2. I’m a daughter of a cop.
3. I dream one day of owning a thriving off the grid homestead.
4. I love to bake.
5. My favorite thing to do is to dine at trendy restaurants and pretend I’m part of the upper class once a year. I really love trying innovative food! I just don’t have the pocket book to match…
What are the three places you have always wanted to visit but have not yet?
Scotland
Iceland
Northern Italy
Okay, crystal ball time. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
I would love to do humanitarian trips to South America doing neonatal training for health care workers in third world countries. Writing will always be a part of my life and I hope I’ll have a few books under my belt by then. As always, trying to keep up with my very busy boys. If my husband will let me, maybe bring home a brown-eyed baby girl from one of my humanitarian trips.
Really, just trying my hardest at being amazing, because five years ago I never would’ve thought I’d be where I am now…with a published book! Got to keep the momentum going. Wear out, don’t rust out!
Grab your copy of Haley's Song now available on Amazon.com
I appreciate getting to know the author behind the book.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how you can balance it all!