Under the Princess Crown: Jennie Marts & her new book Romancing the Ranger #ContemporaryRomance #newbook #MFRWorg

USA TODAY Best-selling author Jennie Marts writes for Entangled Publishing and is addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends. Her books include the contemporary western romance Hearts of Montana series, the romantic comedy/cozy mysteries of The Page Turners series, the hunky hockey-playing men in the Bannister family in the Bannister Brothers Books, and the small town romantic comedies in the Cotton Creek Romances.  Visit her at www.jenniemarts.com and sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news and releases.

Speed Round:

Favorite movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Last book read: Girl On A Train
Favorite color: pink
Stilettos or flipflops: flip-flops
Coffee or tea: coffee
Ebook or paperback: paperback

Pencil or pen: pen (with purple ink)

Favorite song: Give Me One Reason

Streak or not: hmmm…I have a pink streak in my hair-does that count?

Favorite dessert: DQ Blizzard

Champagne or gin: Moscato

Paranormal or Historical: Paranormal

Ginger or Mary Ann: Mary Ann

Favorite TV show: Downton Abbey

Hot or cold: hot

POV: third

I'd die if I don't have: Todd (hubby)

A romantic comedy about Reese Hudson, a city girl, who meets a hunky park ranger when she accidentally burns down a structure in his state park and is required to rebuild it under the sexy ranger’s supervision.

Excerpt from Romancing the Ranger: 

The sound of an engine startled Reese, and she looked up as a green Park Service truck pulled into the parking lot.

 “What the hell are you doing?” the park ranger asked, stepping out of the truck.

Reese registered blue jeans and cowboy boots on a tall, muscular frame. The man’s sandy blond hair held the natural highlights she paid dearly to achieve every month at the salon.

He wore a brown uniform shirt and a scowl on his otherwise handsome face.

A whoosh of flames burst at her feet. She jumped back as the fire spread to the tall dry grass in front of the outhouse.

Oh no! What have I done?

Panic welled in her chest as she pulled off her suit jacket and whacked the ground, trying to stamp out the fire.

As if it had a mind of its own, the flames headed straight for the dry timber of the outhouse, searching for more fuel to sate its fiery hunger.

Focused on the fire, she didn’t look up, but heard the ranger swear and radio for help. Then he ran up beside her, a fire extinguisher in his hands as she vehemently tried to put out the flames.

“Get back,” he yelled.

Her dog barked feverishly in the car. She wasn’t sure if it was at the fire or the man wielding the big red canister.

A glance at the car showed the dog scrambling out the open window, his yapping replaced with a painful yelp as he fell to the ground.

“Bagel!” she cried as the injured dog limped toward her.

She ran for the dog, oblivious of the ranger wielding the extinguisher. Intent on getting to Bagel, she ran right in front of him.

“Aahh!” she cried as a shot of white foam hit her in the chest. Shocked, she stumbled, her heel broke, and she fell to the ground. The little dog whined as it limped to her.

“Come here, baby.” She pulled it into her arms, cradling its hurt leg while trying to keep it from licking the white foam from her bare arms.

“Are you okay?” the ranger called to her as he continued to fight the flames that now engulfed half of the park’s outhouse.

The sound of a siren filled the air, and another Park Service vehicle arrived, equipped with a water tank and hose. Two men jumped from the truck and had the fire extinguished within a few minutes.

One of the men patted the ranger on the back. “You all right, Wade? Lucky for you, we were already coming up the pass when we heard your call.”

Wade ignored the fireman and turned to her, his face full of anger. “What the hell were you thinking? You could have set the whole forest on fire. This is a state park, and we’re under a fire ban.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She awkwardly tried to stand, wobbling on one foot with the hurt dog in her arms, her broken shoe lost somewhere in the chaos of the fire.

A low chuckle sounded from one of the firefighting rangers as he glanced at her chest.

She looked down to see the liquid from the extinguisher had turned her ivory camisole see-through. The white lace bra she wore was no help in concealing her assets, and her headlights took advantage of that moment to shine.

That’s just great.

She lifted the dog higher as Wade stripped off his shirt and held it out to her. Distracted by his broad shoulders and seriously muscled chest, she clumsily handed him the dog and took the shirt. Tearing her eyes from his slim tapered waist and tanned bare skin, she pulled the warm shirt around her. It smelled like aftershave and campfire smoke. “Thanks. Look, I really am sorry. I’m happy to pay for the damages.”

She felt horrible for starting the fire. Her stomach ached at the thought of what could have happened.

But her regret was lost on the ranger.

His face darkened with anger. That had apparently been the wrong thing to say. “What’s wrong with you people from the city? You think you can come up here with your fancy clothes and your flashy cars and disregard all the rules. You could have caused some real damage here. You don’t care about anyone but yourselves. Money doesn’t fix everything, lady.”

Whoa. This guy was hot. And not just in a handsome way. In a seriously pissed off way.

She needed to tread lighter. Not make him any angrier.

Hmmm. Why did this feel familiar?

Because this was what she always did. With her father. With Brock.

Hadn’t the purpose of her drive up here been to take back control of her life? To throw away not just the mementos but the bad habits of trying to please everyone else and bending over backward to not get anyone upset?

The only way to quit being weak was to be assertive.

No time like the present.

She squared her shoulders and stared the ranger in the eye. “Look, mister. It was an accident. I said I was sorry and offered to pay for the damages. That’s my offer. What are you going to do about it?”

Thirty minutes later, she was reconsidering her decision to test her newfound assertiveness on Ranger Wade as she cooled her one dusty heel in a jail cell.

Find Jennie Marts at:  https://www.facebook.com/JennieMartsBooks/

 

Find Romancing the Ranger at: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/romancing-the-ranger/