Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Guest Post: "What's a Little Murder When It Comes to Love?" by Brenda Whiteside


I am delighted to welcome a fabulous author to Romance Righter today. Her brand of romance fits right in to our region. Welcome, Brenda Whiteside!

When it comes to relationships we all got 'em, we all want 'em. What do we do with'em?…in the words of one of my favorite music minstrels, Jimmy Buffett.
In Southwest of Love and Murder, Mason Meadowlark and Phoebe Anderson are trying to figure that out. The old saying “opposites attract” strikes them both in the beginning.
Phoebe is a free-spirited writer. You know, the artsy kind of lady in flowing skirts, sporting a tattoo and lots of jewelry who dates starving artists and musicians.
Mason is a playboy rancher: work roughened hands, cowboy boots and always a Stetson on his head. He works as hard as he plays. He’s also from a small town and the trouble never gets more serious than an occasional bar fight.
Then he finds out the woman he’s attracted to, mystery writer, Phoebe, owes her success to killing her first husband on paper seventeen years earlier.
Whoa…
Although that might put off a few men, Mason is intrigued by Phoebe’s passions. Phoebe, on the other hand, is intrigued by Mason’s passion for the land he ranches. Maybe they aren’t so opposite. Strip away the clothing (they do that a few times, too) and their professions, you find two people who share some common personality traits.
But murder? Murder gets in the way of a relationship a whole lot more than a difference in styles.

Blurb:

Mystery writer, Phoebe Anderson, owes her success to killing her first husband on paper seventeen years earlier. Now, someone has actually done it. When she decides to take a few days away on the ranch of her best friend’s brother-in-law, she doesn’t expect romance to find her...or murder to follow her.

Mason Meadowlark is happy with his wild cowboy ways, avoiding love since the death of his baby and the end of his marriage twenty years ago. When Phoebe shows up, he fights to control his emotions, but soon wonders if she just might be worth the risk of opening his heart again.

With an obsessed fan close on her heels, Phoebe is thrown into her own murder mystery…and the next target on his list is Mason.

Excerpt :

Phoebe shuddered and stilled.
Like the aftershocks of an earthquake, trembling overtook her body. Her knees wobbled, but Mason caught her before she collapsed.

“What’s wrong?” He hugged her briefly then brought his face even with hers. “Phoebe, tell me. Why are you shaking? What’s happened?”

“Oh my God, Mason.” She spread her hands on his chest and glanced back at the bathroom. “Tell someone to call an ambulance. Hurry!”

He took a step toward the ladies’ room, but she grabbed his shirtfront. “No!” She peered around him and shouted. “Someone call nine one one.”

Mason touched his pocket. “My cell’s in the truck.” He grabbed the shoulder of a male customer, the closest person to them. “You got a cell on you?”

The man nodded and pulled a phone from his pocket.

“Call nine one one right now. There’s been…” His face questioned her.

“Someone’s badly hurt in the bathroom. Oh hell, hurry!” She thumped her palms against his chest.

The man pulled out his cell as he raced into the ladies’ room.

Phoebe wrapped her arms around Mason, tipped her chin upward, and found the words. “It’s that
waitress, Mason. Carla.”

His expression went blank, from concern for her to no comprehension.

“There’s so much blood.” She stifled a gag, the sweet, copper penny reek still heavy in her nostrils. “Her throat.” A shudder rippled the length of her body. “I think she’s dead.”




Brenda spends most of her time writing stories of discovery and love entangled with suspense. The rest of her time is spent tending vegetables on the small family farm she shares with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Together, they’ve embraced an age-old lifestyle that has been mostly lost in the United States - multiple generations living under one roof, who share the workload, follow their individual dreams and reap the benefits of combined talents.

Visit Brenda at www.brendawhiteside.com.
She blogs on the 9th and 24th of every month at http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com
She blogs about writing and prairie life at http://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/

6 comments:

  1. Good morning, Angelica. Thanks for having me today.

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    1. It is a delight to have you here, Brenda! Thanks for sharing your talents with my readers!

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  2. Southwest of Love and Murder is full of twists, turns, romance & mystery....Brenda has found a way to weave it all together into a story you just cannot put down!! 5 stars :)

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  3. Hi Brenda,
    Great excerpt and I love your title. It makes me wonder how direction fits into this story. Going to have to pop over and get my own copy. Best of success!

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