Today's Special - - Tina Leonard

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard likes books that make her laugh, cry, or get up off her fanny.  She enjoys writing about smart women who always get the hot hero.  With over seventy books either published or contracted, Tina stays busy watching her heroes and heroines win each other’s hearts.
   
It's my pleasure to welcome Tina to her first visit with us at The Romance Dish.  I've been a fan of her books for about fifteen years and am looking forward to reading her new book, Hotter than Texas. Take it away, Tina!  

  

STAYING POWER IS HOT

In Hotter than Texas we meet a favorite town son who is trying hard to avoid the commitments his town is trying to foist on him, only to find himself falling for the woman the town certainly does not want in their opinionated Southern-bred society!  But Jake Bentley knows Sugar Cassavechia is just right for him, and that’s all that matters to him.

Jake definitely has Sugar’s back!  And he has “staying power”—he’s not about to let Sugar go if he can help it.  I fell in love with Jake as I saw how committed he was to fitting Sugar and her family into a community that really doesn’t welcome them to their tight-knit little town.  That’s romantic!

Have you ever asked the man in your life what he thinks you do that is romantic?  Sexy?  We all know our guys have some annoying habits, but what’s your favorite thing he’s ever done for you (or what is it about him), that makes your heart sing He’s so romantic! 

I hope you’ll join me in Pecan Creek for the first book of my new series, Hotter than Texas.  A $15 Amazon e-cert will be given away to one randomly selected commenter on this blog!  Good luck!

HOTTER THAN TEXAS excerpt

Sugar found herself sitting in Jake’s truck the next evening, picked up almost as if they were going on a date. They weren’t. He’d called it “dinner to make amends for being a dumbass,” so she’d accepted. “This is not necessary.”

“Don’t want my renter ticked at me.” Jake pulled in to a tiny bar and grill with a small white-gravel parking lot. “Pecan Fanny’s” flashed in pink neon above the black roof. “This is the place you never hear about if you’re a tourist.”

“Does Pecan Creek have many tourists?” Sugar asked.

“Not enough,” Jake said. “Only at Christmas for the small-town parade bullcrap we put on. We get a few antiquers in the summers. Occasionally someone on the road back from Louisiana when the highway’s jammed up. We’re an out-of-the-way side road, but folks stumble on us that way.”

Sugar smiled. “You love this place, don’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t love anything except my mother in a maternal sense. Maybe my buddies, in a fraternal sense.” He shook his head. “The military had my loyalty and my gut. I loved it until I realized I was too lazy to be a lifer.”

“You aren’t lazy.” She looked at Jake as he got out of the truck. He came around to her side, helping her out. “You talk about being lazy like it’s a goal. But I don’t think you’ve quite succeeded yet.”

“I’m working my ass off on it, though.” He walked her inside, and they took a table by a sparkly clean window that looked out over an open field. “Can I get you a drink, Sugar?”

She looked at him. “I’d love a beer.”

“Good woman. Two longnecks, Suzy,” he told the waitress, who looked pleased to see Jake in the tiny eatery. “So, Sugar, I’m sorry about the other day.”

“Why?” She was curious to know exactly what Jake was apologizing for.

“For saying I’d like to get you naked. I would, of course, but don’t let it worry you. I know how to keep my inner animal locked away.”

“Good.” Sugar looked at him. “I shouldn’t have dumped you in the pond. I have a short fuse for jerks. And I think I’m pretty much not ready for men who are probably nice guys but say something jerky.”

“Understood.” He raised a longneck to her when Suzy put them on the table. “Apology accepted?”

She nodded. “The thing is, I think my basic frustration with you is Maggie. I feel like you have an opportunistic side, and I don’t want you using my mom.”

“I get it.” He nodded. “You think I’m playing the whole Cassavechia family .”

“Well, not Lucy. Lucy’s too clever to let some guy use her.”

He sighed, and Sugar wondered what was on his mind. But he drank his beer and pretended to study the menu, not broaching whatever he was thinking. Sugar did likewise, almost too jittery to select something to eat, until she realized she was jittery because she actually forgave Jake for jumping the gun with the naked comment, and maybe she even kind of liked him, and then she felt a little ill.

It was far too soon to fall a little bit in like with someone, especially a sexy, handsome guy like Jake who had a tiny blonde that would make her feel like a basketball player standing next to her.

A huge truck painted with camouflage pulled up on the gravel next to Jake’s truck, and Jake sighed. “Here comes excitement. Do you mind company?”

Sugar looked at the door in time to see three big guys come in with two women. “Friends of yours?”

“Lifelong.” Jake grimaced when his buddies filtered over to their table, crowding around and pulling up chairs. “Everybody, this is Sugar. Sugar, in case you don’t recall, this is Bobby German, Evert Carmichael and Kel Underwood. They own the Bait and Burgers. This is Cat Jenkins, who works at the coffee shop, and Sandy Goody, the sheriff’s daughter. They’ve got a farm that keeps Sandy busy.”

“Hi, everyone.” Sugar nodded, smiling.

They pulled up a table, connecting the two together, and sat down in a noisy flock of fun. Evert sat Cat next to him, tagging them as a couple, and Sandy took the chair on the other side of Cat, obviously unattached. “I’ll call Lucy to round out the group,” Sugar said, and Jake said, “No!”

She put her phone back in her purse. “O-kay.”
He put a hand over hers, leaned close. “I’ll tell you later.”
His hand was warm; he smelled great. Sugar blinked, feeling something snap inside her. She gazed into Jake’s dark eyes, just four inches from hers, and felt herself gripping hard on to the edge of the side of sanity.

If she let go, if she slipped and let herself fall into the pit of love again, she knew she would regret it. It was a dark, foul pit full of heated emotions and sharp ups and downs, the roller-coaster ride from hell.

No roller coaster of love for her.

Please join Tina at www.tinaleonard.com, www.twitter.com/Tina_Leonard, www.facebook.com/tinaleonardbooks, and “like” her at www.facebook.com/authortinaleonard!