Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host CiCi
Cordelia aka Cheryl Yeko and Char Chaffin and their new book, “The Dance Hall
Wife”! For other stops on their Goddess
Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the
images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Cheryl
and Char and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
The Dance Hall Wife
by CiCi Cordelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Western
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BLURB:
CAT . .
.
Cat
Purdue has come a long way from the days when her father used her as partial
payment for a gambling debt to a ruthless man. Reacquiring the saloon Father
had lost, and turning it into a successful restaurant, is only the beginning of
her drive for success.
FRANK .
. .
Unable
to reconcile the new, sophisticated Catherine Purdue from the saloon girl he
once dallied with and foolishly spurned, Frank Carter finds himself blocking
his growing attraction with sharp words and sarcasm. But when the Carters’ old
nemesis escapes prison and comes back to Little Creede for vengeance, Frank’s
only thought is to protect Cat, as well as his family.
A PAIR
OF HEARTS . . .
Determined
to lead separate lives yet bound together by danger and their growing desire,
Frank and Cat will leave their mark in the new state of Colorado.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
“Um,
there is a . . . gentleman . . . demandin’ to see the owner.” Susan twisted her
hands together. Her starched white apron had come undone, its ties wrinkled as
they drooped on either side of her ample hips. She audibly swallowed. “He’s
wearin’ a double gun holster,” her voice lowered to a scandalized whisper, “and
carryin’ the biggest rifle I ever saw. He asked for Old James. Miss Catherine,
I don’t even know who Old James is.”
Catherine
released a sigh tinged with reluctant humor. Probably another miner, coming
into town after a typical stint holed up and pounding ore, who hadn’t yet heard
of the changes wrought since she’d officially opened The Miner Stage House.
She
laid a hand on Susan’s arm. “I’ll deal with this. Just check with the kitchen
staff and see if Missus Loman delivered her pies. You know how our customers
love their desserts.” She gestured toward her employee’s wayward apparel. “Tie
your apron first, please.”
While
Susan nodded in obvious relief and bolted for the hallway, Catherine followed
at a slower pace, taking the stairs gracefully, calming breaths in and out as
she always did before she began each shift of overseeing the main floor of the
Stage House.
Her
steps faltered when she came face to face with Frank Carter toward the bottom
of the wide staircase, his deep gray eyes fastened on her as he clutched a
dusty Stetson in one big, callused hand.
Dark,
tousled hair curled around his ears, and his wide shoulders filled out his
faded work shirt almost to the point of bursting the seams. The soft cotton did
nothing to hide his rippling muscles, either.
She
lifted a defiant chin. No man should be that handsome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK REVIEW:
This
is the second book I’ve read from the amazing writing duo, Cheryl Yeko and Char
Chaffin that go by the penname CiCi Cordelia.
Last year I had the privilege of reading their book, “Realm of the Dragon,”
which is part of the Soul Mate Tree Book Series and I totally loved it, so I
was very excited to read their latest work, even though it falls into a
different book series.
I’m
not sure if it was because I just had such high hopes for this book, knowing what
these authors are capable of, but for me, this book fell a bit short. And when I say that, I mean in terms of the characters
and the pace. I still very much enjoy
these ladies writing style, the flow of sentences, the vivid details, and of
course, their storylines. Plus, it’s
always impossible to tell where Cheryl’s words ended and Char’s began as their
lines remain cohesive.
There
is so much drama, passion, tension, and resentment in this book – especially between
the main characters, Cat, aka Catherine, and Frank. I liked Cat – she was definitely the best part
of the book. She was smart, strong, fierce,
driven, independent, and passionate.
Frank was definitely an alpha male.
He was, well, honestly quite a bit of a jerk – always saying the wrong
thing, being rude, treating Cat badly, and making unwise decisions. However, he does have some redeeming qualities,
and over the course of the book – more towards the end – he tries to win back
the audience and Cat, but I think for the most part (and possibly for me) it
would be too little too late. He does
care about Cat, and he does want to protect her, and keep her safe, especially
after the prison break, he just really seems to have a hard time conveying that
message.
Also,
apparently Cat and Frank had previous baggage from book one that carried over
into this book. I had not read the first
book so I felt really out of the loop of why there was so much hatred and
distrust right off the bat.
As
for the storyline plot point of the prison break, I found this to be quite
interesting and intriguing. This book genre
is marketed as a historical western and yet the authors found a way to throw
in a mystery, intrigue, and suspense element to the book. It definitely added a fascinating twist to
the story!
I also
enjoyed that this book was an old-fashioned historical western that took place
in Colorado. I used to live in Denver, Colorado,
but it was nothing like the lovely picturesque Smokey Hills and Bonney Creek
that were ever so beautifully described.
The authors continue to find just the right words to describe a scene
that make you feel like you are right there and in that moment.
I
really liked that the authors are clearly familiar and well-versed on the
culture, customs, and traditions of the historical western time period in the 19th
century in Colorado. This helped make
the book feel real and authentic.
I
also liked that the authors used 19th century slang and phrases that
the characters realistically would have said, such as, ““Still sore at me, darlin’?”
Frank wasn’t even sure what bee was under her bonnet this time. (201).” Again,
it really showed the authors skills and technical ability to write in their own
style while still implementing phrases that felt true to the time period and
message.
However,
even though things were slow back then, I just wish the pace of this book wasn’t
one of them. I would consider this book
to be mostly steady paced with a few slow-paced spots throughout the book.
This
book is book two of the Brides of Little Creede Book Series. I had not read the first book before reading
this book and unfortunately, I wish I had.
There are so many references to the previous book and the characters significantly
overlap. It could technically be read on its own as
a standalone. I wasn’t completely
confused or lost. I just felt out of the loop and that I was missing lots of
important information about the characters and how they got to the point at
where they are when book two starts.
So, I personally would recommend reading book one, before you start book
two.
Even
though I didn’t completely love this book, I still enjoyed reading it and would
absolutely recommend this book to all historical western readers! However, I would just strongly suggest
reading book one first. Regardless,
there is a great storyline and fantastic writing that do make this book an
interesting and intriguing historical western read and one that should be added
to you TBR List!!
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/RY10V9WPN6A1D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TWO AUTHORS!!:
CiCi Cordelia is the writing team of BFFs Char Chaffin and
Cheryl Yeko. They share a love of well-written stories infused with their
favorite romantic genres: paranormal, suspense, western, and erotica. Both are
fans of Alpha Men and the women they’d lay down their lives for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH
CICI CORDELIA:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
cicicordelia@yahoo.com
Facebook Fan Page:
Facebook Group – CiCi’s Cohorts:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO –
CHERYL YEKO:
Cheryl Yeko is an
award-winning author and Acquiring Editor with Soul Mate Publishing. She writes
Romantic Suspense and Sexy Contemporary. She also co-writes under the pen-name
CiCi Cordelia with her BFF, Char Chaffin.
She
enjoys novels with fast-paced action and steamy romance, protective alpha men
and strong heroines. She belongs to several writing groups, including Romance
Writers of America, Wisconsin Writers Association, and Wisconsin Screenwriter
Forum.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH CHERYL:
Blog – Where Love Always Win:
Email:
romance@cherylyeko.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
YouTube:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO –
CHAR CHAFFIN:
Char Chaffin writes
multi-genre romance filled with family, rich characters and engaging plots. For
her, it all comes back to the love.
Utilizing
multiple romance genres, she crafts strong yet flawed heroes and heroines who
find each other against all odds. She is currently working on her eighth novel.
Her
love of romance and erotica interspersed with paranormal, horror, science
fiction, and fantasy has inflated her reading collection into several groaning
bookcases and an overburdened Kindle. Char voraciously reads in between writing
novels, novellas, and short stories. She is multi-published, and always working
on that next manuscript.
In
addition to her solo releases, Char also co-writes with fellow editor and BFF
Cheryl Yeko under their pen name, CiCi Cordelia.
Char
is a member of several writing groups, and RWA National as well as Alaska’s RWA
chapter.
Char
and husband Don divide their time between two homes: Fairbanks, Alaska, and the
Coastal Bend of Texas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH CHAR:
Blog – Falling in Love is Only the Beginning:
Email:
char@chaffin.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Amazon Audiobook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Goodreads Book Page:
BookBub Book Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
CiCi aka Cheryl and Char will be awarding a $10
Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Cheryl & Char ~ Welcome back! It is great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!! And thank you for reading and enjoying our book.
DeleteThanks so much for hosting us again, Ally, and thanks for the lovely review! :)
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the tour. Sounds like a book I will enjoy reading.
ReplyDeleteHow long did it take to write your book? I hope the book is a success. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good read. I haven't read too many western romance novels but I'd like to start with this one.
ReplyDeleteFlyergal82 (at /yahoo -dot /com?
What a great romance book
ReplyDelete