![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/quincyswoman_msr.jpg\" "\\"quincyswoman_msr\\"")
<\/a>Fresh from the post-Civil War salons and drawing rooms of Boston, Lucy McKenna considers herself a sophisticated young woman. But when she meets Texas rancher Ambrose Quince, she turns into a flustered girl. He\u2019s too old, war roughened and unrefined and she has no idea how to deal with the sensual hunger he arouses within her.<\/strong><\/p>\nAmbrose falls fast and hard for the innocent debutante visiting Eclipse, Texas. Persuading Lucy to accept his pursuit becomes a duel of wits and passion as he awakens her desire.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lucy leaves Boston and childhood behind when she becomes Mrs. Ambrose Quince. Her lonely days on the Double-Q ranch are filled with work and frustration. But she spends each night in her husband\u2019s arms learning carnal awareness one molten caress at a time.<\/strong><\/p>\n KIRSTEN\u2019S THOUGHTS:<\/strong>\u00a0 QUINCY\u2019S WOMAN is the journal of Lucy McKenna Quince. I have to admit I\u2019m a bit leery of first person narratives and when a book is supposed to be the journal of one of the characters. But Gem sold me! From page one it was like truly reading a journal I found in a dusty attic of a young woman struggling in an unfamiliar world and as a new bride to a rough Texas rancher who represents everything she detests and everything she desires.<\/p>\n When we\u2019re introduced to Lucy McKenna she is spoiled and while intelligent doesn\u2019t have much common sense. But I never found her an unlikable young lady, even during times when I’d like to shake some sense into her, she just seemed to be exactly what she was a young woman forced to move from everything and everyone she knows to a country that is worlds away from her comfort zone, so she tries to make everything and everyone around her conform to what she used to have and know.<\/p>\n Enter Ambrose Quince who is 100% man and 100% Texas rancher, but wants Lucy and is willing to give her anything to have her.\u00a0 At the same time he is unyielding and believes he knows best in any and all circumstances.<\/p>\n The two start a journey toward meeting in the middle in QUINCY\u2019S WOMAN, but it will take another book and a lot of heartache before they reach a real understanding and appreciation for what they can be together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lucy and Ambrose Quince share fiery passion in and out of bed; they love hard but fight often, both having opinions and tempers. But Lucy mysteriously disappears in 1874, leaving the Double-Q ranch and all she loves behind. Three years later, scarred in mind and body, Lucy is drawn back to Eclipse and the life she\u2019s forgotten\u2014including a snarling, lustful husband.<\/strong><\/p>\n Although she claims she can\u2019t remember him, Ambrose hasn\u2019t forgotten a damned thing. Lucy left him and he owes her nothing. Trouble is\u2014his heart remembers too, and Lucy\u2019s the only woman who\u2019ll ever own it.<\/strong><\/p>\n KIRSTEN\u2019S THOUGHTS: <\/strong>\u00a0PERFECT STRANGERS is a go to book for me. I don\u2019t know how many times I\u2019ve turned to Ambrose and Lucy\u2019s story when I feel like reading, but want to delve into a story I know will satisfy me every time. It\u2019s certainly not a fluff piece, or really even a feel good book, but I love it. It\u2019s real and gritty and I just fall in love with the characters and story every time delve into the world of Eclipse and the Double-Q Ranch.\u00a0 Really, it\u2019s a good thing I have this book on kindle because the pages would be falling out of a paperback by now.<\/p>\n I read PERFECT STRANGERS before I read QUINCY\u2019S WOMAN. When QUINCY\u2019S WOMAN was released I read it and then read PERFECT STRANGERS again to follow Ambrose and Lucy\u2019s story from the beginning.\u00a0 This was enlightening as to how the couple got to where they were at the beginning of PERFECT STRANGERS both as a couple with great passion for each other, but two extremely stubborn people not willing to give an inch.<\/p>\n At the beginning of PERFECT STRANGERS Lucy is pretty much the same woman we left at the end of QUINCY\u2019S WOMAN. She is still spoiled with a tendency to fly off the handle.\u00a0 Boy does that change when she reenters the picture after suffering memory loss from a brutal attack. I don\u2019t want to give anything away, but her initial reintroduction to Eclipse is one of my favorite scenes from any western.\u00a0 But what I enjoyed more than Lucy\u2019s transformation to a stronger, more self-sufficient woman, was her new found strength of heart.\u00a0 My heart ached for Lucy as her children, Ambrose, and the citizens of Eclipse revealed her past nature and she had to restore relationships, but at the same time assert herself as who she was, not who she had been.<\/p>\n At the same time Lucy is learning and dealing with her past, Ambrose, too, must face his past and mistakes he made in their relationship and his part in its destruction. \u00a0Ambrose is gruff, rough and bossy, and I just love him to death, because most of his gruffness comes from loving Lucy so much and not wanting her to have control over his heart yet being unable to control how much he loves her (and Ambrose hates not being in control). As he fumbles, seduces and strong-arms his way into her heart he\u2019ll claim your heart, as well.<\/p>\n The tender moments between the couple were made the sweeter because of the iron resolve of each, so when it bent to meet the other halfway it meant more than a weak spirit, which bends whenever the wind blows. \u00a0Ambrose and Lucy are a dynamic, unbeatable team when they set aside all the misconceptions and distrust to rebuild their lives, restore their family, and destroy those who tried to separate them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sam, being a bounty hunter, discovers Eden\u2019s wanted for murder. He plans on keeping her safe\u2013a prisoner in his bed. But Eden\u2019s doing her own outlaw hunting. She\u2019s on the trail of her husband\u2019s killer and Sam\u2019s in her way. To get free from the hard-headed, soft-hearted, gorgeous man, she uses every sensual trick she knows\u2013and Sam soon discovers she knows plenty.<\/strong><\/p>\n Eden\u2019s planning a showdown with a monster only she can identify. Protecting her puts Sam at risk. He\u2019s in a high-stakes poker game with hearts on the table and forever on the line. Winning\u2019s the only option because one taste of Eden will never be enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n KIRSTEN\u2019S THOUGHTS:\u00a0 <\/strong>I read FIVE CARD STUD when it was first released and loved the story. Then a few days ago I decided to skim through these books again just to make sure I was remembering everything correctly. Well my skim through FIVE CARD STUD turned into reading the whole thing and finding out I didn\u2019t just love this story and the characters, but I adored this story and wondered what medication I was on the first time through that I didn’t recognize how remarkable this story is.\u00a0 Sam and Eden are fabulous multidimensional characters!<\/p>\n Sam is the boy in school who pulls the girl\u2019s pigtails until she either decks him, realizes she likes him, or both.\u00a0 He\u2019s just plain irresistible and the more his character is revealed the more he just moves right into your heart.\u00a0 His playful nature brings splashes of light into a dark story of murder and revenge. But don\u2019t get too comfortable with his smile, because he\u2019s as deadly as they come, which just adds to his appeal. Who doesn\u2019t love a man who can make you laugh even when you\u2019re spitting mad at him and at the same time his very name strikes fear into your enemy?\u00a0 Add to that he has more swagger than any man should be allowed, but inside wants to find acceptance and love. Sam is definitely not afraid to use tenderness\u2026or whatever else he\u2019s been graced with to win Eden\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n Eden is a woman in desperate need of a man to tug on her braids as well as her heart strings and bring her back to life. She\u2019s a passionate woman who has forgotten that passion until Sam reminds her (and whoa baby does he remind her).\u00a0 Gem does a magnificent job of bringing the reader inside Eden\u2019s head, heart and pain as she learns to let go of the past and hold fast to what the future can hold.<\/p>\n This is an ace-high story with characters who go straight to the heart as they pit iron will against iron will in the ultimate game of Texas Hold \u2018Em.\u00a0 (Okay I\u2019m done with the card references. Aren\u2019t ya glad I didn\u2019t say Sam and Eden will be the king and queen of your hearts?)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not one to let unfavorable circumstances stand in her way, Naomi bargains with him\u2013a night of seduction for his services. Though their sexual encounter leaves her amazed and bemused, she has no illusions. Charlie Wolf agreed to help because he\u2019s after a huge outlaw reward.<\/strong><\/p>\n Charlie laughs a lot at the know-it-all school marm\u2019s ideas. For all her smarts, sometimes she doesn\u2019t have a lick of common sense. He has a whole different reason for joining Miss Parker\u2019s hunt. The bounty Charlie\u2019s after is Naomi\u2019s heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n KIRSTEN\u2019S THOUGHTS: <\/strong>\u00a0WOLF\u2019S TENDER was actually the first book I read of Gem\u2019s and I was hooked. It was published by a different publisher, and I cannot wait to read the new expanded version! Hey, I\u2019ll take all the time I can get with Charlie Wolf McCallister! Watch for this one folks! You don\u2019t want to miss Charlie and Naomi\u2019s story! I mean seriously NOT to be missed. This story is packed full of action, the McCallister dry humor, heart and scenes so hot you’ll crank up the air conditioner in January!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Necessity breeds strange bedfellows.<\/em> Making a devil\u2019s bargain, Julie Fulton agrees to marry Grady Hawks and produce the son he needs to inherit Hawks Nest ranch. At the end of a year, child or not, Julie will receive enough money to escape to San Francisco and leave behind the rough existence she lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n Grady intends to breed back to the fair skin and Scottish features of his father and Julie meets every requirement. Her red hair and pale skin are an excellent way to dilute Grady\u2019s half Kiowa blood and save his land from an Eastern business consortium.<\/strong><\/p>\n The formula is right, but the outcome unexpected. Siring a son is the last thing on Grady\u2019s mind when he discovers pleasure in Julie\u2019s bed. And San Francisco no longer seems like paradise to Julie when she finds heaven in Grady\u2019s arms.<\/strong><\/p>\n KIRSTEN\u2019S THOUGHTS:\u00a0 <\/strong>BREED TRUE is another of the Eclipse series that has been expanded and will be re-released. And it is another must read!\u00a0 This story doesn\u2019t have quite the hero and heroine going up against a visible enemy storyline like the McCallister stories, or even PERFECT STRANGERS.\u00a0 BREED TRUE\u00a0 is about Julie and Grady finding and fighting their way through preconceived ideas and prejudices to discover where they belong. And do I have to mention the heat level, just look at that cover!!<\/p>\n That\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say about WOLF\u2019S TENDER and BREED TRUE as I\u2019m hoping *smiles at Gem* to feature those after their re-release.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gem\u2019s westerns are some of the best I\u2019ve read.\u00a0 They don\u2019t gently tug you into the town of Eclipse, they yank you right off the chair and slam you onto a Texas road leaving you sputtering thick Texas dust and baking in the sun. And just when you think things couldn\u2019t get hotter she strikes the lucifer and turns up the fire with those chiseled, uncontrollable, unpolished, always sizzling, charming devil heroes and teams them up with iron willed, intelligent, resourceful women.\u00a0 What I love most about this series is while there’s plenty of action, in and out of the bedroom and bedroll, they\u2019re also amazing stories.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t just take you from one sizzling moment to the next. Her stories give a complete picture of the men and women of Eclipse, Texas, from their struggles to keep their livelihood to their battles against enemies, and then the internal conflicts to be accepted and find the one to share their lives. The people of Eclipse are authentic from the main characters to the supporting cast. You’re introduced to vibrant, colorful, real characters and thrown right in the middle of their lives to laugh, cry, and cheer them on, or in the case of the villains you wish someone would pass over a Colt .45 so you could help ’em meet a painful end.<\/p>\n A bonus to her hero and heroines is each knows and respects the strengths and weaknesses of the other. The heroines, even if begrudgingly, accept the hero\u2019s expertise and skill, and defer to them when necessary. The heroes respect and admire their heroines\u2019 abilities and encourage them to use their talents.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for sonnet spoutin’ heroes who use flowery words and heroines who fawn all over them, or scream and get in the way during a showdown, DO NOT read these books. If you want Western heroes and heroines you could believe walked off the pages of a history book then load up the kindle, nook, or grab paperbacks (when available) of this series!<\/p>\n These aren\u2019t people you\u2019ll forget anytime soon, and if you\u2019re anything like me, you\u2019ll visit Eclipse over and over again.<\/p>\n GEM\u2019S MESSAGE!<\/strong><\/p>\n Hi\u00a0 everyone. *waving* Thank you, Kirsten, for inviting me to your blog, today and giving me the opportunity to talk about my historical western series published by Ellora\u2019s Cave. To date, I\u2019ve written six books in the Eclipse Heat series and I\u2019m currently working on a contracted seventh\u2014Whispering Grace.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n Available now\u2014Quincy\u2019s Woman;<\/em> Perfect Strangers; Five Card Stud<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Coming in 2012 (or early 2013)\u2014Wolf\u2019s Tender; Breed True<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Coming in 2013\u2014 Trouble in Disguise; Whispering Grace<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Each book is a stand-alone romance linked to the others by the setting\u20141880\u2019s Eclipse, Texas. I hadn\u2019t planned to write a series, but during the research process, I became addicted to that particular time period and landscape.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in reading the series, I recommend that readers begin with Quincy\u2019s Woman<\/em> and Perfect Strangers<\/em>, the two titles I\u2019m giving away today. Leave a comment and Kirsten will let me know who wins the drawing.\u00a0 Good luck. Hope you enjoy. <\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks for stopping by, <\/strong><\/p>\n Gem <\/strong><\/p>\n Sweet summer rain, folks! I\u2019m soaking in tin tub of ice cubes before I combust! Cookie keep \u2018em comin\u2019!!\u00a0 We\u2019ve got four more Eclipse stories to wait for, I\u2019m about to have a heart seizure!\u00a0 I\u2019ll just hang onto Ambrose\u2026or maybe Sam\u2026or Charlie\u2026or Grady\u2026Well ya see the dilemma!\u00a0 While Cookie tries to keep me away from all this Texas heat; come \u2018round the campfire and jaw a bit.<\/p>\n In most of Gem\u2019s Eclipse Heat books there is a paranormal element revolving around an Apache warrior priestess, Lozen (who is an actual historical figure and sister to Apache leader Victorio) and her encounters with the characters in the story.\u00a0 I really enjoy this element of the stories.\u00a0 Do you enjoy when authors use paranormal elements in their stories (even if based on history) or not?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHOOO-EEE, Cookie, did ya park this wagon on the sun?!\u00a0\u00a0 Guess it just must be the super H-O-T cowboys Ms. Gem Sivad brought along to share the campfire! These are the heroes of her Eclipse Heat series and when Gem … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Although Sam McCallister\u2019s watching a poker game the first time he sees Eden Pace, he loses all interest in the cards when the thought of playing stud with the lady gambler stirs lust to life. Eden\u2019s the prettiest woman and the best card sharp Sam\u2019s ever met. She\u2019s only interested in poker but Sam has other games in mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Naomi Parker needs to follow the trail of marauding Comancheros who have kidnapped her students. But the best tracker in the state is Charlie Wolf McCallister and he works for cash.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n