Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: Kissing Kin

KISSING KIN

by Karen Hulene Bartell

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GENRE: Paranormal Romance

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BLURB:

Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.

When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.

But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

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EXCERPT :

Our shoulders rubbed each time we moved. The downy hairs on the back of my neck tickling from the electricity passing between us, I shivered as the currents barreled down my spine.

“Cold?” Eyes wide, he caught my gaze.

I opened my mouth to speak but, forgetting what I meant to say, lost myself in his inviting brown eyes and could only nod.

He reached his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, sharing his body warmth.

With the faint scents of leather and saddle soap wafting from his jacket, his nearness was intoxicating, and I was tempted to lean into a kiss. Yet huddled together on the bone-chilling ledge, I gazed instead at the rugged wilderness surrounding us, content to savor the sweet ache of longing. If more is meant to be, it’ll happen.

Then thoughts of Cody froze me like a blue norther. Why did he come to mind?

****

So close, Luke felt the rise and fall of her chest each time she breathed. Her hair tickled his ear, raising goosebumps--and possibilities. If she turns toward me or gives any sign…But her sigh signaled something else. He side-glanced to read her mood, but she stared at the scenery, apparently oblivious of his rising libido.

“Want…” His voice cracked. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Want some water?”

“Sure.” She turned her head quickly, her hair brushing his cheek with a citrus scent.

A Word With the Author

Do you have any tattoos? Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body?

None—I hate needles of any sort--and am one big needle-chicken!

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

Nothing--Two years ago we were living in central Texas--the Hill Country--and I was trying to pitch my latest novel, Kissing Kin. Nothing, and I do mean nothing happened for two years prior to and two years after…

…until last June, when not one, but four contracts came our way. A Wild Rose Press contract for Kissing Kin came days before we received a contract to purchase our house, which we’d been showing/waiting to sell for nine months. (That’s a LOT of dusting and mopping for all the “lookie-loos,” who strolled through without making offers.)

Two weeks later, I received a second Wild Rose Press contract for Fox Tale, followed days after that with the fourth contract on a house we wanted to buy on Foxtail Lane. Tell me that wasn’t a coincidence…synchronicity…

How long have you been writing?

An only child, I began writing my first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating my own happy endings…However, I got four pages into my first “book” and realized I had to do a lot of living before I could finish it!

IMHO, reading is the entry to writing.

Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually--sometimes monthly--I found my earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became my portable pals. Ghost stories kept me up at night--reading feverishly. Novels offered an imaginative escape, and the paranormal was my passion.

So here I am all these decades later, still creating my own happy endings…

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

R E A D! Read everything that interests you. Read when you’re bored. Read when you can’t sleep. Read at the beach…in front of the fire…in bed…waiting for doctor appointments…

Then start writing about what interests you. Before you know it, you’ll have found a genre--even, dare I say it?--a style! Keep a notebook. Jot down ideas as they come to you!

I broke into writing with cookbooks--but Google now takes their place for recipes. However, I still recommend writing non-fiction first, be it via cookbooks, textbooks, or technical writing of any sort.

Finally, start drafting a story that “grabs you.” You’ll find the story--and sometimes the characters--seize the pen and write themselves!

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.

Twenty years ago, my husband and I spent Christmas week hiking and horseback riding in Big Bend National Park--the southernmost tip of Texas that borders the Rio Grande and dips into Mexico. Driving home early New Year’s morning, we missed the turnoff in Alpine and followed TX-118 north. Snow-covered and glinting against the frosty blue January sky, the remote jumble of mountain peaks and ranges beckoned as they rose above the desert floor. I was enchanted.

Gazing at the sky island for the first time, wide-eyed, I wondered whether those rocky pinnacles were mirages or optical delusions, but a hasty glance at the map told us these were the Davis Mountains. Vertical basalt columns rose like giant fingers reaching for the sky. The palisades, buttes, and bluffs towered above both sides of the only route through those mountains--Wild Rose Pass.

That missed turn bloomed into Wild Rose Pass, Book I of the Trans-Pecos Series, then Kissing Kin, Book II of the Trans-Pecos Series. The area’s mystique and raw beauty set the tone for this paranormal romance.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

Connect with Karen:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHuleneBartell

MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/karenbartell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuleneKaren

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/karenhulenebartell/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell

Website: http://www.KarenHuleneBartell.com/

Email: info@KarenHuleneBartell.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenhulenebartell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhulenebartell/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-hulene-bartell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhulenebartell/