Release Day Celebration for HUSTLIN' TEXAS by KC Klein + Giveaway

Welcome to my Release Day Celebration for HUSTLIN’ TEXAS, book two of the Texas Fever series by KC Klein and I hope you'll join me in wishing KC a very Happy Release Day. Yesterday, I reviewed this amazing, new contemporary romance and can’t recommend it enough to everyone. I’m also thrilled to have KC visiting with me today. Feel free to click on the title to read my review but hurry back because KC and I have some fun in store for you, including a giveaway!

When thinking about how to celebrate, I thought I’d challenge KC to a little character fun. I wrote the following lead-in and asked KC to finish it for us. Think of it as a teaser. You can read an actual excerpt a little later, but in the meantime let us get some insight into what some are thinking about the return of Nikki Logan to Oak Groves, Texas. Enjoy!

Cole and Katie Logan relaxed on their front porch to watch the day end. Katie’s cherry red boot-clad feet settled casually on the top of the railing as she leaned back in her favorite seat in the porch swing, while Cole sat cross-legged in an old rocker. His denim wrapped legs still carried the evidence of a hard day’s work seeing to the horses and his dirt smudged tee shirt stretched nicely across his broad chest as he chewed a piece of sweet hay he’d snagged from the bales he spent the afternoon loading in the barn.

Katie smiled in appreciation of how much she enjoyed looking at the man who owned heart. However, she wasn’t happy that she was about to shatter the peace of the moment.

“I hear Nikki’s back in town,” Katie mentioned as nonchalantly as possible all the while knowing how Cole was going to take the news.

“Where did you hear that?”  The rocker halted its relaxed motion as Cole’s boot hit the wooden floor.

“There’s been some rumors floating about, is all,” Katie remarked. She brushed away an annoying fly while hoping Cole would just let things lie. She only threw it out there to find out if he knew and since she still wasn’t sure what he may or may not know, she wasn’t about to push him.

“Jett know?”
         

Katie shrugged her shoulders but didn’t meet Cole’s inquisitive stare. She wasn’t going to add any fuel to that fire either.

“Does it matter? The way she left I mean,” Katie said with a deep sigh. “There are going to be a lot of folks in town not too happy to see your sister. But I’m only worried about you?”

Cole stared out over the land. They both listened to the sound of the horses settling down for the night as the sun slowly sank into the horizon spreading stripes of pink and orange across the sky.

Amy:  So, KC, how does Cole feel about Nikki’s return to town?

KC:  As far as how Cole feels, I had to think about that for a moment. Cole and Katie’s relationship is a bit rocky, especially at this juncture in the story. Deep down Cole is worried about his sister. He has been for a while, but he just doesn’t have the tools to deal with her. Like a lot of men, Cole finds the female brain a mystery. He’s had a lot of responsibility thrust on him at a young age, and though he knew there was more to raising a teenage girl then just providing food and a roof over her head, he was totally clueless as to what that meant.

That was where Jett came in. Jett was able to provide more of the emotional support that Nikki needed through the years. But Cole’s blinded to where Jett is concerned. To Cole, Jett was the reason that Nikki up and left two years ago, and it would be over Cole’s dead body if Jett became the reason Nikki left town again.

Cole wants Nikki to stay and get her feet up underneath her. He doesn’t need Jett coming in and making things complicated for Nikki. Nikki can do that all on her own.

I accepted Amy's challenge and here’s my little snippet of Cole’s reaction to Katie’s news. I thought it was interesting how Amy wrote the scene from Katie’s perspective, so I decided to keep the POV the same:

Cole took the piece of straw out of his mouth and threw it over the porch railing. “Well, it’s a fine thing letting me know about it through town gossip. Doesn’t she have the decency to come and tell me herself that she’s home?”

Katie took a long slow deep breath in and out. There was a way that a person learned to deal with the Logans, and it wasn’t by rushing forward like a bull seeing red. “She’s just got in. Give her a few days to settle. I’m sure she’ll make her way over. And when she does—”

“And when she does,” Cole stood up, the rocker behind him careening forward and back like something possessed. “When she does, I’m sure gonna ask her about the other town gossip swirling around her. Typical Nikki, can’t just give the town one thing to talk about. Have to make it multiple.”

Cole said the last sentence under his breath, but Katie wasn’t one to let important matters slide. “Like what?”

“Like where the hell she came up with the money to go to college, that’s what?”

Katie had been wondering the same thing herself, and though she had some ideas of her own they weren’t ones she wanted to share with Cole just yet. “And you’re sure bringing that subject up on the first time you see Nikki in two years is the best way to calm the waters?”

“Well, fine then, what would you like me to bring up?” He turned toward her, his blue eyes already getting that hardened icy look to them. “Maybe something about a job? Like does she have one?”

Katie sighed and rubbed the spot between her eyes. How did she fall in love with a man who was such an idiot? “And when are you planning on having this little heart to heart?”

Cole resettled his hat and patted down his jeans to locate his truck keys. “No time like the present.”

“For Pete’s Sake Cole, just wait until morning. At least give the poor girl a solid night’s sleep before you go in there huffing and puffing.”

Cole stilled, then nodded. A wise-ass smile brought out the dimple in his left cheek. “Perfect. The morning is even better. I’m up around dawn. That should give her plenty of time to get settled in.”

Katie groaned. Damn Logans. Well, she gave Nikki as much reprieve as she could. The best Katie could hope for was that brother and sister somehow found their way back together. Poor Nikki, the least Katie could do was make sure the girl had some caffeine. Katie stood to go set up the coffee maker to automatically brew at some ungodly hour, because Katie sure the hell wouldn’t be getting up that early, not if the baby let her sleep in. She stifled a yawn. Not even Logan family peace was worth that.

*             *             *             *             * 

Thank you, KC, that’s some interesting insight into what’s in store for us in HUSTLIN’ TEXAS. Nikki is definitely a handful as both Cole and Jett know but we hope Jett can bring her back to earth. I hope everyone will read HUSTLIN’ TEXAS and find out. I promise you that KC delivers and delivers big –big like Texas!

KC, it’s always a delight to have you join me here at Unwrapping Romance and I’m so glad you brought Cole and Katie with you. You know you're always welcome here! Thank you so much for allowing me to co-write this scene with you. I’ve got one more quick question for you before we get to the Giveaway.

So, what can we expect from you next?

KC:  Next thing I am working on is book three in the series tentatively titled, RIDING ON THE EDGE.

Amy:  Awesome. I can’t wait to read the next one! In the meantime, if you'd like to read an excerpt from HUSTLIN’ TEXAS by KC Klein just click HERE but do come back, we’ve got that giveaway coming!

Thanks for joining KC and me for a Release Day Party celebrating HUSTLIN’ TEXAS by KC Klein and don’t worry, we can’t have a party without a prize now can we?!

But first, if you'd like to learn more about KC and her fabulous books, please feel free to visit her website and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and at Goodreads.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

KC Klein has lived most of her life with her head in the clouds and her nose buried in a book. She did stop reading long enough to make a home with a real life hero, her husband, for over seventeen years. A mother of two children, she spends her time slaying dragons, saving princesses, and championing the belief in the happily-ever-after. Her debut novel, DARK FUTURE, was a 2010 Prism finalist and has been honored with a reviewer’s choice award. She’s the author of the sexy cowboy Texas Fever series, which starts off with,TEXAS WIDE OPEN, available now, and HUSTLIN' TEXAS out today, and also a contributing author to the fun, sci-fi romance anthology, Hotter on the Edge and Hotter on the Edge 2. KC loves to hear from readers and can be found desperately pounding away on her laptop in yoga pants and leopard slippers or more conveniently at www.kckleinbooks.com.

And now for that GIVEAWAY!  

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR PLAYING.

Happy Reading Everyone! 

HUSTLIN' TEXAS, a Texas Fever novel by KC Klein, Kensington Press, available now in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

***click on links or cover below for purchasing information