From Cataromance ... My First Review!

Review: Texan's Wedding Night Wager by Charlene Sands

Pride and lack of communication are at the root of the Charlene Sand's excellent story, Texan's Wedding-Night Wager.

Cara Pettigrew has not talked to her husband for four years. Now it is time to end the marriage and get a divorce. She agrees to meet with Kevin Novak so he can sign the papers but Kevin refuses to let her off easy. In return for his signature, Cara must remain in town for two weeks and then Kevin wants one final night. Kevin embarks on scheme to court and seduce Cara and when she falls in love with him, he will leave her just as she did him four years ago. Cara left those years ago because she felt she came in second to Kevin's work. Now she sees a different man and begins to hope there could be a future for them, until she learns the truth.

Both Cara and Kevin felt hurt and injured in their breakup but neither fully understood how the other felt. Charlene Sands does an excellent job of allowing us to view their opinions and feelings. Both were trying to protect themselves from more hurt and wanted to keep their heart safe. Intensely emotional and thoroughly satisfying, Texan's Wedding Night Wager will tug at our emotions and have us rooting for these two to put pride behind and talk to each other honestly. Texan's Wedding Night Wager - another not-to-be missed tale by Charlene Sands.

Cataromance.com
Debby Guyette – Reviewer

4.5 Stars ****
Sensuous Rating

Pre-order on Amazon

New Contest on my Site Today!!

I'm celebrating the release of my Texas Cattleman's Club book in September with the Texan's Wedding Night Wager Contest! You could win two great prizes... all you have to do is Enter Here!!

Don't miss out and Good Luck!!

And Texan's Wedding Night Wager is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be available in August on Eharlequin!

The Proposal with Sandra Bullock

I loved this! My hubby loved this! If you want to see a cleverly written, very funny, feel good movie, this romantic comedy is for you. Gotta give Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds kudos for their portrayals.

It's been very well reviewed, but often I don't pay them much attention. This time they got it right! Run, Don't Walk, to make this one the next movie you see!

Fame Fortune and Country Music

Blogging today on the Desire site and giving away a book or two.

Join me!

Sneak Peek at Texan's Wedding Night Wager

Yay! I've been waiting anxiously for my new cover!

What do you think?

Coming in August on Eharlequin and Amazon and in Bookstores in September!

Join me on Facebook!

I'm new to Facebook, but I already have 67 friends.

Come join me and let's talk romance, books and anything else!

We also have a Desire and Silhouette site on Facebook.

Lots of things cooking!

Facebook!

Marrying Minda ... a great read from Tanya Hanson

Just a note to be sure to read Marrying Minda - Tanya Hanson's new western is available now on Amazon. Be sure to pick up your print copy!

Or if you love ebooks, it's available today at Wild Rose Press!!

The Story:

Mail-order bride Minda Becker arrives in Paradise, Nebraska and eagerly marries the handsome man who meets her stagecoach. His wedding kiss melts her toes. Too bad he's the wrong bridegroom. Cowboy Brixton Haynes can't deny he'd like a wedding night with the eastern beauty, but the last thing he needs is to be saddled with a wife and the three children his brother left behind. First chance he gets, he'll be back point riding along the Goodnight. But leaving Minda proves to be much harder than he expected.

Read a short excerpt:

Night fell soft and silent, and the snuffles of Norman Dale’s livestock comforted Brixton with memories of the trail. Lord, he couldn’t wait to get back. Habit had him walk quiet as he could from the barn to the house. Even the tiniest noise sparked stampedes on the trail, so his footsteps were cautious wherever he went.

At the back porch, he set down Minda’s valises and paused to peek in the back window. Her lush curves swayed beneath the simple dress as she readied the children for bed, and he couldn’t fill his vision fast enough. The memory of her soft sweet cheek brushed his fingertips once more, and his heart raced and his groin throbbed. It was the heartbeat he didn’t like; a man desiring a beautiful woman was just what a man did. But a galloping heart might mean a man felt something deep inside. Even worse, night after night alone on the trail, he’d keep seeing her shining hair sweep across Ned’s shoulders while she kissed the top of the lad’s head. So he pulled out his flask and drank deeper. It was too much like having a family of his own, something he swore he never needed. Suddenly he missed his brother more than he’d missed anything.

Until this minute, he had never felt shy about coming through this door without a knock. His wife’s current disposition gave him pause, but he had goods to deliver and damn, the kids just might like one of his good-night songs. His tongue clicked. Truth to tell, his bride would think him nothing but a rowdy bridegroom wanting a tumble between the sheets. Already she’d tried to disgrace him by letting a room at the boardinghouse just for herself. Another long hard swig consoled his throat as it emptied his flask.

Damn woman.

Conan's Tonight Show

Do you like Conan O'Brien as the new Tonight Show host?

I'll admit to being a fan. When my hubby worked nights, I'd stay up late to wait for him and began watching Conan's late night show. I'd usually be dosing off just at the 12:30 am hour and then Conan came on. Before I knew it, I'd be laughing at something so outrageous that I'd find myself wide awake! He is so off-the-wall and strange that it's refreshing and I find him funny. It's a matter of taste, I suppose.

Some friends don't enjoy his brand of humor. It's either, you like him or you don't. I do. You never know what he's going to do or say. And he's taping in our valley now, right up there at Universal Studios. There's something nice about familiarity too.

I've seen a taping of Jay Leno and he is a really nice man. He relates to his audience and talks to them in a warm way before the show. When his prime time show comes on the air in Sept, I'll probably watch him too. I need my talk show hosts to fall asleep to at night ... no offense intended to Jay or Conan. But after a stressful day, a bit of comedy relaxes me. What can I say?

Sexy Texans - The Texas Cattleman's Club

Here's a sneak peek at some sexy Texans! I'm thrilled to be a part of this series from six Desire authors!


Katherine Garbera starts off the series with Taming the Texas Tycoon.

STARTING IN JULY

A NEW 6-BOOK TEXAS CATTLEMEN SERIES


July - Taming the Texas Tycoon by Katherine Garbera
August- One Night with the Wealthy Rancher by Brenda Jackson
September - Texan's Wedding Night Wager by Charlene Sands
October - The Oilman's Baby Bargain by Michelle Celmer
November - The Maverick's Virgin Mistress by Jennifer Lewis
December - Lone Star Seduction by Day LeClaire


I'm anxiously awaiting my new cover for my September book!

Look for my new Texan's Wedding Night Contest!!
Coming soon!

It's my day at Petticoats and Pistols

Stop on by! We have a brand new Contest up and running.
And don't forget to post a comment.
We're talking WEDDINGS!

www.petticoatsandpistols.com

It's Freebie Fridays

At Eharlequin if you order two books, you get a third book free.

I just ordered Cheryl's St. John's debut Love Inspired Historical and Susan Mallery's Under Her skin, received a third book free and GOT FREE SHIPPING!

That's right Eharlequin is now doing a promotion to spend just $10.oo and you get Free Shipping! Do this Friday and you get the added bonus of that third book free!

Such a good deal!

The Chocolate Calculator - Your age by Chocolate Math

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway -but the Hershey Man will know YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH (The only math I enjoy!)

This is pretty neat.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST! It takes less than a minute . Work this out as you read . Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out! This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)


3. Add 5


4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator


5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 .. If you haven't, add 1758.


6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.


You should have a three digit number




The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).



The next two numbers are
YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

chocolate Calculator.

A Friday Smile

Every now and then someone is in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

Biggest Loser Upset!

Yay for Helen!! I had her in my scopes the entire season - she was the dark horse in the competition and eventually went on to win it all!!

At 48 Years Young she has been an inspiration for everyone, including all the over 40's out there!

And the AT HOME winner of Biggest Loser was Jerry - a 64 year old man who had collasped on the very first week on the show.

Kudos go to Tara, who was an amazing competitor and to Mike too!


Come on over to the Desire Blog today and surprise me with a comment!

Romantic Getaways?

Come visit me at the Desire Blog Today and bring your best hula!

THINGS THAT MADE YOU SAY HMMMM......

AT 5 MINUTES AND 6 SECONDS AFTER 4 A.M., ON THE 8TH OF JULY, THIS YEAR, THE TIME AND DATE WILL BE: 04:05:06 07-08-09


THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN UNTIL THE YEAR 3009!!!



(I had a deep feeling that you just needed to know this) ;-) Aren't you glad I posted this?

Are you A Trekkie?

I'm not! But my hubby always watched Star Trek. In fact, it's one of those original TV shows that he'll watch over and over again. It's hard to imagine that Star Trek with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy ran for only four years, yet it, like the I Love Lucy show has endured with reruns for years.

So when Star Trek debuted this weekend, we decided to see it and to be honest we weren't expecting much. We'd seen the other Star Trek movies and weren't impressed. Somehow, those movies had lost the flavor and fun of the original series.

It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised. When we walked out of the theatre with smiles on our faces, my husband said, "They got it right this time."

And being a writer, I recognized the truth in that. This movie stayed true to the original and showed us how Captain Kirk came to be, how his mother and father had lived and died, but more importantly, the movie stayed true to the characters. Each and everyone of them must have studied the original actors. Bones was the best, then Scottie, Ohoura and even young Chekov brought smiles on our faces.

The actors who played Spock and Kirk were perfect. " This actor's resemblence to Spock is uncanny. You might recognize him as Sylar from the NBC show Heroes.

Kirk and Spock's chemistry was right, the writing superb, the action intense and Star Trek's own brand of humor was dead on! I even liked the little romance between Spock and ... no I won't spoil it. It's too much fun and the whole effort was such a joy to watch.

From across the aisle in the theatre you could see smiles on moviegoers faces. You heard their laughter mingling with your own. You realized that though the TV series of Star Trek ran only those four years, it was a show that impacted so many people for decades... and not just Trekkies!

What's more-- they left the ending open for more Star Trek movies to come. If they do it half as well, it will be worth seeing.

Have you seen it yet? Do you plan to? Did you ever watch the original series?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

To all the mother's out there, if you are one, if you have one, or if you love someone as a mother, enjoy the special day!

And treat yourself for a chance at a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card - the Contest begins on Mother's Day at Petticoats and Pistols!

For you Cat Lovers out there!!

They sure know how to relax!! Are they not the cutest? We all could take a lesson from them. Enjoy!

New Contests coming soon!

Look for a new contest coming soon at Petticoats and Pistols. Keep an eye out for a chance to win an Amazon gift Card.

And a brand new contest coming soon at www.charlenesands.com. Yes, you'll find it in May on my contest page.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I'm off to see Wolverine!!

Surfing for a Hero!!

I'm blogging today at Petticoats and Pistols!

Stop on by, and enter to win a signed book from my backlist!

We'll be chatting about how to choose a hero for our romances!

Predicting the Winners!

I love three shows. The first one I find extremely motivating and it helps keep me on track with a good diet and exercise. The Biggest Loser!

When I first heard of the show I thought, there's no way I'm watching that! I'd prejudged it without giving it a chance. Now it is by far the one show each week I won't miss.

Before and After

My predictions for The Biggest Loser is and always has been Tara. She's an amazingly strong willed and powerful woman. Mike is doing great and who knows, he just may pull it off.

I also love American Idol for sheer entertainment value. It's fun to watch the performances and see what each of the contestants will sing. My hubby and I critique their songs and most often agree (we both have NO musical talent, btw). Both of us are blown away by Adam Lambert. He's in a class by himself. I think Chris Allen will come in second.

And of course, because I love to dance, I watch and cheer on the celebrities on Dancing with the Stars. I was shocked by last night's elimination. All of the remaining couples are very good and I hated to see Chuck and

Julianne go. Julianne is my favorite of the professionals with her brother Derek, a close second. My prediction is really a toss up between Melissa of The Bachelor fame, who remained despite a bad injury and Giles, the

Frenchman who looks like a professional already and my sentimental favorite, Olympic gymnast, Shawn Johnson. She's too cute for words and so talented!





So there you have it! When I'm not writing, I manage to get these shows in along with Lost, Desperate Housewives and Medium. We are now a 2 DVR family... thank goodness!