PP Guest: D'Ann Lundun & Desert Heat

         

A warm Plotting Princess welcome to D'Ann Lindun who is sharing a bit about her new contemporary western, Desert Heat

Have you ever seen petroglyphs? If not, I have to tell you they are the neatest thing ever! Carvings etched into rocks, hundreds, if not thousands of years old.

I have been lucky enough to see them here in Colorado and also in Arizona. Both times on trail rides, right next to the trail. I don’t usually take something straight from my life and put it into one of my books, but this scene is very close:

At the boulders overlooking the ranch, she dismounted and tied Zorro to a Palo Verde’s branch.  She gave his neck a quick pat and turned to admire the view.  Sitting back on her heels, she studied the land.  No one seemed to be around on the ranch, so she lifted her face and looked into the distance.  Even the brown cloud over Phoenix was less today.  The Superstitions looked like rolling green hills, thanks to the rain.  From here she could almost see to Mexico.   She noticed Canyon Lake in the distance and where Tortilla Flat should be, but she couldn’t see it from here.

Nothing jumped out at her, so she stood and moved to the rock with the Native American drawings.  Tracing her fingers over the rough surface of the rock, she didn’t see anything she knew.  A stick figure looked like a man, and another figure might’ve been a horse or a mule.  But she wasn’t sure.  Some symbols resembled letters, but she didn’t read Apache or whatever language they were written in.

Closing her eyes, she traced the marks again. 

Her fingers slid over rough granite, but nothing struck her. 

Something here had drawn her back, but what?  Just the mystique of the characters?  No, it was more.  She opened her eyes and stepped back. 

Then she saw it.

Blurb from Desert Heat:

Mallory James doesn’t trust men. How could she when her own father abandoned her twenty-two years ago? Now, when she receives a phone call from a man claiming to have found the body of her father in the Arizona desert, Mallory has no way to find out the truth. For closure, she flies to Phoenix to claim the body.

Mike Malone has more trouble than he knows how to cope with. An environmental group, the Salt River Protection League has gotten an injunction that prevents his guest ranch from operating. Tired of the battle, his longtime girlfriend has left him, and his friends—all depending on him for their livelihood—are getting desperate. The last thing he needs is the body of desert rat, Skeeter James, in one of his vacant cabins. And Mike really doesn’t need a beautiful woman taking his mind off business.

The minute Mallory reaches the deserted guest ranch things seem odd. Mike’s friends aren’t welcoming, and one in particular, Diana, seems to want Mallory gone. A vial of gold and half a treasure map are the only legacy Skeeter leaves. Before she can have the burial, Mallory is lured into the desert, bucked off a horse sabotaged by a thorn under his saddle blanket and stalked. Although she is falling for Mike, she can’t love a man she can’t trust. At first, Mike is skeptical of Mallory’s claims, but as incidents begin to pile up, he is forced to admit someone is trying to hurt. But how can they stop what they don’t understand?

D'Ann is offering a deal on this book…review it on any reputable site, let her know, and she will send you a copy of any of her other books!

D'Ann's Bio:

Falling in love with romance novels the summer before sixth grade, D’Ann Lindun never thought about writing one until many years later when she took a how-to class at her local college. She was hooked! She began writing and never looked back. Romance appeals to her because there's just something so satisfying about writing a book guaranteed to have a happy ending. D’Ann’s particular favorites usually feature cowboys and the women who love them. This is probably because she draws inspiration from the area where she lives, Western Colorado, her husband of twenty-nine years and their daughter. Composites of their small farm, herd of horses, five Australian shepherds, a Queensland heeler, nine ducks and cats of every shape and color often show up in her stories!

Find D'Ann at:

http://dlindunauthor.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/DLindunAuthor

http://www.amazon.com/DAnn-Lindun/e/B008DKL9TU