Title: Love and Guns Don’t Mix (Irine Wicklow: Bounty Hunter Book One)
Author: Laura Strickland
Genre: Western Romance
Book Blurb:
Irine Wicklow lives her life as the merciless bounty hunter, Wolverine. Nobody knows she’s a woman, and she’s earned a reputation that’s as mean as her namesake. For eight years, she’s been running from a past so painful it turned her from a young girl who believed in love, to one with steely armor around her heart. She relies only on her guns and her wild mare, Jezebel, and the need for vengeance drives her on.
Justice Turrant also understands the desire for vengeance. A survivor of the Civil War, he came West with his family after serving time in a Union prison camp. But their bid to settle a homestead went terribly wrong. A varmint called Virgil Clary and his men brutalized Jus’s sister, Jenny, and Jus feels responsible.
He wants Wolverine to bring in Clary, even after he discovers she’s a woman. He never expects to lose his heart to a dangerous female who doesn’t believe in love.
Excerpt:
Justice looked pretty happy when they left the saloon and pushed out into the street, or so Rine thought. Which just proved what a fool the man was. He thought he’d won something.
Damn idiot.
Her horse, Jezebel, stood at the rail, her reins dangling. Jezebel didn’t like to be tethered, and never hesitated to let her displeasure show. In fact, if Wolverine and Justice were going to be hunting together, she’d better warn him.
“That black mare, there? That’s my mount. Don’t go near her, all right? She don’t like men.”
“Oh?” He ran his gaze over Jezebel, who at the moment looked deceptively innocent. “Appears calm enough.”
“Well, she ain’t. Nobody touches the mare but me. Got it?”
Who this? Jezebel’s thoughts trickled into Rine’s mind. Don’t like him.
I know you don’t, girl. Patience.
Maybe it was mere fancy on Rine’s part, that made her think she could hear Jezebel’s thoughts in her mind, and talk back to her, too. She and the horse shared a deep bond. No exaggeration to believe they understood each other. Why not suppose she knew what the mare was thinking, and the other way ’round?
“She’s a beauty,” Justice said, standing well back. “How come she’s not tied up?”
“She ain’t leaving me.” Rine put up a hand and caressed Jezebel’s nose. “Are you, girl?”
“That there’s my mount, Settler. The brown one. Only reason he’s still with me is, I rode him to town that day.”
“Clary and his crew stole the rest of your stock?”
“Killed all the chickens, killed or stole our cows.”
“So, you planning to go back and work that homestead when this is done?”
“Never want to see the place again.”
She pushed the hat to the back of her head. “Then, what you going to do with yourself, once you have your vengeance?”
“Don’t suppose I’ve thought beyond that point.” He glanced at her and froze. Out here in the clear light, beneath a sky of cloudless blue, he had his first good look at her.
Caution seized Rine by the throat. Was it possible he discerned the truth?
“You—”
“I, what, Mr. Turrant?” she cocked the hat further, giving him an eyeful.
Tall for a woman, she never garnered much attention for her height. The bulky duster she wore served to conceal more than her six-shooters. She kept her hair covered by her hat and had perfected a long-legged, cocky stride that translated to masculine, in the eyes of any observer.
She wasn’t pretty—she knew that full well. She had been once, to her sorrow. The cruel sun, hatred, and grief had burnt it out of her. Yet Justice’s expression clearly revealed that he recognized her as female. Strange, that—hardly anybody did. Not even men she dragged in for a bounty or the lawmen who paid out on them. Why Justice Turrant?
Dismay flooded his blue eyes, and he hissed out a breath. “Well, shiiit. You’re—”
“Does it matter?” Still soothing Jezebel, she leaned toward him. “Does it matter, so long as I get Clary for you?”
“No. Just—I been following you all this while, heard any number of stories about you. Nobody ever said—”
“That’s because hardly anybody knows. I don’t usually travel with company, and those who do find out, don’t tell. Right?”
“Right. I understand.”
“One fella threatened to tell, once. I staked him out on an ant hill. Another fella—well, he suffered an unfortunate accident on the trail. I reckon you don’t really care ’bout anything except the result of our association.”
“That’s right.”
“Then mount up, and let’s ride.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Irine-Wicklow-Bounty-Hunter-Western-ebook/dp/B09J1NZQ48/ref=sr_1_1
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Irine-Wicklow-Bounty-Western-Romance-ebook/dp/B09J1NZQ48/ref=sr_1_1
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Irine-Wicklow-Bounty-Hunter-Western-ebook/dp/B09J1NZQ48/ref=sr_1_1
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Irine-Wicklow-Bounty-Western-Romance-ebook/dp/B09J1NZQ48/ref=sr_1_1
What makes your featured book a must-read?
This is the first book in a hard-hitting, edgy Western Romance series that will be seven books strong.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $40 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win. Runs January 11 – January 20, 2022. Winner will be drawn on January 21, 2022.
Author Biography:
Multi-award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, the latest of whom is a little boy named Tinker, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura's mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Social Media Links:
Author Website: www.laurastricklandbooks.com
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000002632317
Author Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Strickland/e/B001KHSACW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Author Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/760146.Laura_Strickland
Author Twitter:
Laura Strickland Author @LauraSt05038951
This sounds like my kind of read 😃
The cover looks very nice
Wow, Laura. You continue to amaze me with the breadth of your writing. I am so looking forward to reading this book. Continued best, my friend.😊
Thank you, Laura, for sharing your book in our Book Series Starter Event!