Title: Beauty and the Brit
Author: Lizbeth Selvig
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publish Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Avon Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins
Synopsis
Tough and self-reliant Rio Montoya has looked after her two siblings for most of their lives. But when a gang leader makes threats against her sister Bonnie, even Rio isn't prepared for the storm that could destroy her family. When their dreams are shattered in one dangerous moment, Rio seeks refuge for them all at a peaceful horse farm in the small town of Kennison Falls, Minnesota.
Rio should feel safe in Kennison Falls, but her budding romance with the stable's owner, handsome British ex-pat David Pitts-Matherson, feels as dangerous as her past. The incredibly sexy David is as far from her type as any man could get, yet he tempts Rio in a way she never expected. But Rio knows that her time in Kennison Falls is limited, that her family is still in danger, and that she and David come from completely different worlds–a recipe for disaster.
David has his own secrets, and even the sparks he feels flying with the fiery and beautiful Rio may not be enough for him to let her into his heart. Can the beauty and the Brit ever find common ground? Or will their pasts stand in the way of true love?
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About the Author
Lizbeth Selvig lives in Minnesota with her cradle-robbing husband and a border collie that inspired the character Dug (”Squirrel!”) in the Disney movie Up.After working as a journalist and editor and raising an equine veterinarian daughter and a talented musician son, Liz entered and won RWA’s Golden Heart® contest in 2010 with her contemporary romance T he Rancher and the Rock Star. In her spare time, she loves to hike, quilt, read, horseback ride, and play with her nearly twenty four-legged grandchildren.
TURNING
A BRIT INTO A COWBOY – SORT OF
Hi
everyone! Thanks so much for having me here today to talk about my new release,
BEAUTY AND THE BRIT. I love this book
because it’s got such a mix of characters and plots in it—and I got a chance to
get to write about everyone from a gang member, to a teenager, to a
tough-but-vulnerable inner city heroine, to an understated, handsome, soul-searching
BRITISH hero!
It’s
my yummy, accented hero David Pitts-Matherson I’d love you to meet today. I
fell in love with David when he showed up in my second book RESCUED BY A
STRANGER as the incongruous owner of a high-end horse stable in my small, Minnesota
town, Kennison Falls. There he was in
the middle of corn and soybean country with a duke’s accent, a crazy last name,
a rather one-dimensional personality, but the protective wisdom of a hundred
big brothers. Who the heck was this man? Was he really as mellow and easy-going
as he seemed?
When
he let me into his life and past I found the answer was a resounding . . . heck no , , , yes! David turned out to be an
emotional enigma to say the least.
His
background is anything but bland. David is an ex-soldier who served in Basra
with the British Armed Forces. As a Boy
Scout in his youth he took an interest in survival and tracking skills, and
he’s a bit of a self-made expert. His CO in Iraq was more than happy to take
advantage of his skills—until tragedy struck his unit, and David’s decision at
a critical moment turned a routine scouting expedition into a life-changing
disaster. Even though David made a correct assessment and choice, his military
service ended in humiliation.
How
that brought him to America and a life with horses has a lot to do with his
father—a tough-minded ex-military man-turned-Olympic Equestrian—who couldn’t
deal well with a son unable to toughen up for the Army. When he couldn’t live
up to his father’s critical standards, David emigrated and found his home in
the U.S.
But
not exactly as a cowboy? He made himself into a mild-mannered, non-confrontational,
businessman—and then he met Rio Montoya. And then he invited her and her
teen-age sister to come and stay at his farm in order to protect them from a
gang leader’s menacing threats. Rio—a product of the inner city—dreams of open
spaces and hunky cowboys. What she gets as a safe haven is a stable where the
riders where breeches and helmets, jump obstacles in English saddles, and are
as far from cowboys as they can be.
Fortunately,
steamy attraction for a strong-willed woman will lead a Brit to a Stetson
faster than a dog to a steak. With a little help from a pair of chaps, a
bareback ride and a secluded cabin—David found his inner cowboy. Along the way
he found his inner strength, too..
I
loved watching David learn to stand up for himself and accept his past. I loved
hearing his accent and using subtle little turns of phrase to bring it alive on
the pages. I loved the way he wore his jeans when he changed out of his sexy
breeches I loved how Rio fell in love with her Brit just as hard and fast as I
hoped she would!
So—that’s
how I made my Brit into a cowboy. I might have stretched the cowboy promise a
little—but I hope that you’ll read
BEAUTY AND THE BRIT and think David looks just as good in a Stetson as
any hard core cowboy out there!
Here’s
a little taste from BEAUTY AND THE BRIT:
Rio’s stomach fluttered. “You
aren’t too bad either. With your hair a little mussed like it is, that
saddlebag over your shoulder . . . those chaps. If you took off your shirt
you’d look just like the cowboy in the picture I used to have on my wall.”
Obvious pleasure pulled the corners
of his lips upward. “We have the compliments well in hand. Excellent.”
“I know what you’re trying to
do—keep me from being nervous about tomorrow. But I’m fine.”
“Not frightened?”
“Apprehensive, but not scared.
We’re meeting in a safe place that Paul chose. He won’t do anything.”
“I think you’re amazingly brave.
I’m quite proud of you.”
She didn’t know how to respond. She
wasn’t brave; she was desperate to be done with this
and . . . and what? Go back home? Where was home?
“I’ve had a lot of
help . . .”
She stopped midsentence and stared.
David hadn’t moved, but he grasped the hem of his gray T-shirt with both hands
and drew it up and over his head. It landed on the floor in a heap.
“Best I can do,” he said.
His best beat the lost cowboy from
her old wall by miles. She didn’t speak. She barely kept drool off her chin.
“Not good enough, ’eh?” His teasing
grin turned the flutters in her stomach into full-fledged trembles of
excitement.
His hands dropped to the small
buckle at the front of the chaps. Wordlessly he pulled the leather strap free
of the buckle prong, then he bent forward and slid a zipper down the outside of
the left leg. He did the same to the right. He pulled the chaps off with the
slow flair of a Chippendale dancer.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Rio
whispered, her throat dry. “Are you trying
to turn me on?”
His brows arched. “Is it working?”
“It’s been working for the past
three days.”
He strode to her in three steps as
if his patience had evaporated, hauled her against his bare chest, and sent his
fingers diving into her hair. The heat of his kiss flowed over her, melting her
will, her knees, and their kiss into delectable sweetness. She explored his
back, kneading and stroking the broad muscles, then she smoothed down his
tapered waist and gripped the seat of his jeans.
“Now who’s trying to turn whom on?”
“I do love your proper grammar.”
“Dukes must have it.”
“There’s no duke here. Just some
hot American cowboy.”
He released her, stepped back
slightly for balance, and lifted her into his arms. “We’re going to build a
fire and then pretend it’s a campfire. If you want cowboy . . .”
“I don’t see anything to build a
fire with.”
“Leave it to me.”
Now I’d like to
ask you—what’s your favorite foreign accent?
I wax on about British accents but there are so many sexy ones out
there. I’d love to hear.
Thanks
again for hosting me today!
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