Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Sarah
Hadley Brook and her new book, “The Twisted Oak”! For other stops on her 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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Sarah
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
The Twisted Oak
by Sarah Hadley Brook
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GENRE: LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance
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BLURB:
Wade
Dwyer's life is turned upside down when his father dies and he learns he must
marry or he and his siblings will lose the ranch. One last jab of the knife
from his father. On top of that, his father's only friend knows about the
stipulation and is determined to own the property by any means necessary.
He's
facing the very real possibility of being the reason his family loses their
home when his brother's best friend, Lance Matthews, offers to walk down the
aisle with him. A faux marriage to the man he's loved for years is a torture he
isn't sure he can endure.
Can he keep the ranch ... and the man of his dreams, too?
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EXCERPT ONE:
Over
an hour later, covered in dirt and grime and smelling like cattle, Wade walked
through the back door into the kitchen and was immediately met by a furious
Allyson.
“What
the hell? Do you know people are already arriving? The wedding starts in
fifteen minutes, Wade.” She stood in his way, her hand on her waist. Her purple
dress clung to her small frame, ending just above her knees, and Wade couldn’t
help think that Casey was a lucky man. Allyson was beautiful in a wholesome,
girl-next-door kind of way. Her auburn hair, more red than orange, hung down in
ringlets around her shoulders. Her cornflower blue eyes sparked with anger as
he met her gaze and he wanted to take a step back, but refused to cower to
someone standing barely over five feet.
“Well?”
He
lost the battle and took that step back. It didn’t matter. She took a step
forward.
“Cattle
got out. I texted,” he explained, his eyes flitting around the kitchen. Something
smelled really good, like apples and cinnamon, and his stomach rumbled. He was
starving.
“Lance
and Casey have already brought everything over from Lance’s and they’ve dressed
for the wedding,” she accused, pointing a finger at him. “You know you could
have let Charlie handle this.”
His
hackles up, he straightened and looked her in the eye. “He’s got some people
fixing the fence right now, but no, I needed to handle this. Milton Randle
tried to steal some of our cattle. A Dwyer needed to be there.”
Her
shoulders sagged a little and she let out a huff. “Fine, but you owe Lance an
apology. He thinks you don’t want to do this.”
Wade
stared at her. “It’s a fake wedding. Of course I don’t want to do this.”
She
pressed her lips into a thin line and looked at him hard. “Go get ready, Wade.
And you better think about what you just said. This man is uprooting his life
to ensure you and your brothers can keep your land. I don’t know about you, but
I’ve never known anyone that kind. Have you?”
No.
Definitely not. Properly chagrined, he nodded. “You’re right.”
“Of
course I am.”
Wade
smiled. She may not be married to his brother yet, but she was already part of
the family.
“What?”
she asked, obviously not quite ready to let go of the mad.
“Casey’s
lucky.”
She
blushed and shook her hair. “Right again. Now go get ready. You’ve got maybe
ten minutes, tops. Your suit is laid out in Casey’s room. Use his shower—your
room is a mess with the move right now. I’ll stall for as long as I can, but
you make sure you look and smell good when you come downstairs.”
“Yes,
ma’am,” he replied and watched her turn on her heels and leave the kitchen,
mumbling something under her breath—something that sounded suspiciously like
“idiot,” but he didn’t have time to dwell. He took the back stairs two at a time.
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GUEST POST:
My Favorite Memories Spent at the Local Library
When
I was a child, reading was my haven—my retreat into the wonders of another
world. No matter the adventure, it was a chance to feel safe and let my anxiety
go for a little while.
Back
before I could even read, Saturday mornings became “Library Time”. There was an
amazing librarian that read stories to children every weekend. We’d all quietly
walk to the back of the library—well, semi-quietly, anyway—until we reached the
rug where the magic happened.
The
librarian’s name was Jean and she had a special rocking chair, surrounded by
some packed bookshelves and a colorful box holding hand puppets. On the small
table next to her chair sat the books she’d read to the group—each carefully
selected to engage us in different ways.
Jean
was what I would refer to as “grandmotherly”, but looking back I can see she
was fighting aging with every ounce of strength she had. Her hair was black,
with a blue hue (blue rinse was big back then) and she wore more makeup than
anyone else I’d ever known. Bright blue eyeshadow, eyelashes that even I knew
were fake, bright rouge on her cheeks, and very red lipstick. Her fingers were
adorned with rings that included a mood ring that fascinated everyone by
changing colors. She probably bathed in the perfume she wore, because I think
the entire library smelled like her—including the books I checked out. After
all, she was there for decades.
So,
yes, Jean was a character. But she hugged and she pinched cheeks and she
praised us for reading our first words. She reveled in our joy at hearing her
tell us a story.
And
when she told a story, it was an event. She used the voices, she had
hand puppets, she showed the pictures to everyone, and she patiently answered
questions when she was finished. When the hour was over, she turned us free in
the children’s section. I shudder now at the thought of so many children
pulling books off the shelves, but we were allowed to sit there and look at as
many as we wanted. It was something I looked forward to for many years.
I’ve
always loved reading and I credit Jean for fostering that desire in me. As I
grew, I still visited the same library, where I joined the Summer Reading
Programs, tried to read as many books on the Newberry Medal Winners list, and
checked out books that took me to places I’d never heard about.
The
library is where I found The Boxcar Children, The Secret Garden, Nancy
Drew, and anything by Beverly Cleary. It’s where I found acceptance
and adventure and understanding. The library is where I found myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Sarah Hadley Brook lives smack-dab in the
middle of the Heartland and is the mother of two wonderful young men, as well
as two cats. During the day, she works in the non-profit world, but reserves
evenings for her hobby-turned-passion of writing, letting the characters she
conjures up in her mind take the lead and show her where the story will go.
When not working or writing, she can be found reading, working on dollhouses,
trying her hand at new recipes, or watching old movies and musicals. In her
ideal world, Christmas would come at least twice a year, Rock Hudson and Doris
Day would have co-starred in more than three movies, and chocolate would be a
daily necessity to live. She dreams of traveling to Scotland some day and
visiting the places her ancestors lived. Sarah believes in “Happily Ever After”
and strives to ensure her characters find their own happiness in love and life.
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CONNECT WITH SARAH:
Website:
Website – QueeRomance Ink:
Blog:
Email:
contact@sarahhadleybrookwrites.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
Instagram:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Kobo eBook:
Apple iBook eBook:
Google Play eBook:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Sarah will be awarding a $25 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.**
Sarah ~ Good morning! It is great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteGreat post - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGreat guest post
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThank you so much for hosting me today!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate getting to hear about a book new to me. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDelete