Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Sensual western romance. Heartwarming stories. Strong family ties.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
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  • Tag: western romance novel

    • #AmWriting Short Snippet Saturday: No Guarantees

      Posted at 11:35 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on March 18, 2017

      Hello and good morning, evening, or whatever time of day it is for you. LOL. Yesterday I gave a sneak peek of the cover for Lassoing the Last Dance, book #4 in the Double Dutch Ranch Series. Today I’m giving you an excerpt. I can’t call this one a short snippet, but I’m calling it Short Snippet Saturday anyway.  🙂 

      western romance, contemporary romance, Mary J McCoy-Dressel

      We’re in Roxanne’s POV. She’s about to do something she’s put off for over eight months–something that destroyed her relationship with Randy, and there is no guarantee they’ll get it back after telling him. Slightly modified to avoid spoilers.

      Randy strolled to the doorway and extended his arm toward the living room. She sat on the end of the three cushioned, contemporary styled, burgundy colored sofa. The fireplace had a screen over the front. Above the mantel was a good-sized painting of Superstition Mountain, while three other walls showed smaller paintings of horses. One was a photograph of Randy’s stable during sunset. Another painting of the Grand Canyon sat nestled between two smaller sunset pictures. They were new since her last visit. He pulled an ottoman over to sit across from her and took her hands.

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, series romance“You have the look of pain in your eyes. What’s going on, Rox? Did that asshole hurt you again? Finally tear you down?”

      “Oh, God.” She released her hands and got up to pace, and stopped to get a better look of the picture over the mantel. The house was cool but her body felt overheated. In order to get out what she wanted to say, she took short, fast breaths until she was capable of speaking. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to handle what I have to tell you—”

      He stood in a rush, his hands clenching into fists, and he was at her side in a flurry. “You’re back with him?” he asked dryly.

      “For God’s sake, no! Nothing is the same, Randy.” Facing him, she searched his eyes. “Sweet Randy. You deserve more.” She grasped her head with both hands. Oh, how I missed you.

      “I deserve more? Then why are you even here? Why’d you come?” He didn’t wait for an answer and ambled to the kitchen.

      Back on the couch, her gaze followed after him and she waited. He looked out the window from the kitchen sink. Damn, he looked hot from the back, the way his raven hair fell over his collar. His hands shifted to the top of his head and he spread his legs to a wider stance. He looked strong, like he could take on the world and win.

      How could he know what to expect when she didn’t? At the sink, he twirled around and stood in the doorway. He gripped the woodwork on each side of him. Mr. Randy Drake looked so good from the front, too. Whoa, baby, his jeans sat low on his hips without a belt, and he wore black motorcycle boots to give him such a sexy persona. This was serious, and she shouldn’t be seeing sexy right now.

      “You know I don’t play games. I don’t try to be something I’m not. Again, Roxanne. Why are you here? Here in my house—in Canyon Junction?”

      “Why am I here in your house? Because you’re like a… Your magnetism pulled me here. But, I’m scared.”

      “Let me be the judge. Tell me what the hell’s going on, and let me make my own decisions. I’m a man, not a little boy. What are you scared of?” He came into the living room where he took a seat and straddled the ottoman.

      He was right. It wasn’t her decision to make, though she had herself convinced it was her decision to think for him. Her skin tingled as sweat formed on her arms, her face, while she built up the nerve to let it all out. First, she had to find a way to push that lump down her throat. Here goes. “I had an accident and nearly died. My reason for staying away is probably worse than you would even imagine.” She clasped his hot, calloused hands. “Randy…” I have to do this.

      He squeezed her hands and remained quiet. His gaze never faulted from staring at her eyes, her lips.

      End of Excerpt

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Western romance, series romance


      Oh, boy! That even gets my heart pounding because I know what’s coming. Thanks for reading.

      The book will be out in April IF everything goes to plan. In yesterday’s post I mentioned why I don’t do preorders, which isn’t to say I never will do one. One day, I might.

      I appreciate your visit. Thanks for stopping by today.

      To learn more about the Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, visit HERE.

       

      Posted in #AmWriting, Double Dutch Ranch Series, Short Snippet Saturday | 6 Comments | Tagged Arizona, contemporary western romance, Full Length Novel, Lassoing the Last Dance, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, No Guarantees, rancher, Romance, series romance, western romance novel
    • Tattling: 5 (subtle) Secrets in a Romance Novel

      Posted at 10:10 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 13, 2016

      Every once in a while, I’ll guest post on another blog. Sometimes I do an interview, or showcase a new or previously published book. Other times, I’ll have fun with a regular topic from the host blogger. Last year I did a Guest Post on Author L. A. Sartor’s blog. The guest spot was called “Five Secrets” and can be about a book or about me. Oh, my! Leslie was kind enough to let me repost the post here for you. Authors? Do your books have any secrets? Readers? Do you want to know a secret?

      Cowboy Boss and his Destiny has secrets, though I had to dig deep for some of them. Albeit, there were more, and it was tough to decide which to use. I suppose they aren’t really secrets now that I’ve blabbed. I hope you enjoy the ones I chose to tattle. You can find more information about L.A. Sartor at the end of this post.

       

      Five Secrets:

       

      • From: My Story My Way ~ An Indie Adventure:

      Hi Mary, please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about Cowboy Boss and his Destiny or you, but will after today!

      Hi, Leslie. Thanks for having me on your blog. I have no major secrets to give away in this book. Let’s call them subtle secrets. 🙂 Here we go…

      1) Nora, Destiny, and Tristan star in Cowboy Boss and his Destiny. When this book was planned, Destiny’s original age wasn’t what you see in the book. She’s four, but turns five shortly after the story begins. When I began planning, Destiny was sixteen-months old. She remained sixteen-months-old until about page two when she told me she wasn’t a baby. Our characters are almost always right. (I love it!) Why did I change her age? I wanted her to interact in her world, with her dad, and with the rest of the family. To have her own opinions. No doubt she has opinions, and she also has her own fun personality. Destiny adds to the story and it was a great decision to make her older. In the “bonus book” #1.5, a mid-length novel I wrote as an addition to Cowboy Boss, I noticed a change in her attitude.

      2) Tristan calls Destiny Baby Cakes. I’m a widow now, but when I met my second husband his daughter had just turned eight. He called her Baby Cakes. I didn’t call her that, because it was special between her and her dad. In Cowboy Boss and his Destiny, Nora won’t call Destiny “Baby Cakes,” either, for the same reason. In fact, no one else in Destiny’s family calls her by that nickname.

      3) This one surprised me in the beginning. Nora uses the color teal or turquoise at times for her carpet, bedroom colors, or clothes. Most of my heroines mention something in this color. This goes all the way back to the first book I wrote. Teal is my favorite color. It wasn’t planned in the beginning, but once I realized some of my heroines liked the color, I went with it. Update: I stopped doing this in recent books, but don’t be surprised if a new heroine also likes this color.

      4) The reason Tristan drives a Dodge Ram pickup in this book? I had my very own Ram pickup and I loved that truck. I guess that was my adult Tomboy stage. :-0 This type of truck fits my hero. If it brings me good memories, heck, why not give one to a hero? Mine was red and your basic pickup. His isn’t basic in any way. He’s a rancher and his truck fits the need, plus he has fun with the built-up engine. Tristan’s isn’t red.

      5) The original idea that I can contribute to Cowboy Boss and his Destiny is a post office box I used to have. Once, years ago, I’d often see the same guy picking up his mail when I picked up mine. My mind automatically saw this as a way for my characters to meet. Is this how Nora and Tristan meet? No, not exactly. But through the years I kept going back to that idea. When Tristan came to me, he also came to me with the same predicament he’s found in, in the beginning of the book. It happens to be at the post office in a roundabout way. They would have met inside like my imagination showed me, but the scenario changed when I realized Tristan was a single dad.

      This is my Five Secrets about Cowboy Boss and his Destiny.

      I’ve had more books published since this interview.  Please see the Menu or Welcome Page.

      Books one and two in the Bull Rider Series are also available.

      More books will follow in the Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight. Book #4 out of 5 comes in 2016.


      Blurb :

       Heartwarming. Passionate. (Cowboy Boss was revised in November 2015.) The newly revised edition was released in 2018.

      Tristan Carlson does the best he can to raise his four-year-old daughter on his own. His mother remains on the Double Dutch to lend a hand—giving him the ability to maintain the ranch, tend to his horses, and keep up his small-time ranching magazine. His pretty, new assistant is everything he wants in a woman, including her ginger-red hair. But from his experience with women lately, he’s learned that some don’t want a ready-made family. This one seems different, and he’s falling hard. But, there’s his little blue-eyed girl, and he’ll protect Destiny’s heart with everything within him. Until he knows for sure…

      Living the good life in a big city for many years, Nora Trinity ends up a statistic after the magazine she works for makes cutbacks. Despite a family betrayal from her past that still needs mending, she moves back home to the small town of Canyon Junction, Arizona, with forgiveness on her mind. When she is hired by a local rancher to help with his ranching magazine, she finds herself profoundly attracted to him. The thing is, her sexy boss comes as a package deal, and his little girl is immediately drawn to her. It’s not just about two hearts taking a chance now—or two people falling in love. Nora has to be sure of what she wants before she takes on the cowboy and his child.

      Don’t forget to stop by L.A. Sartor’s blog~

      L.A. Sartor
      National Bestselling Author & International Digital Award Winner
      Live the Adventure, Love the Romance

      My Story My Way ~ An Indie Adventure.

      While there, check out her books and other guests. She also has a Mailing List Sign Up and she sends out about four emails a year.

      Thanks again for letting me repost this on my blog, Leslie.


      Readers of my blog~ Here is my Mailing List Sign Up Link to be notified of new releases and important book information. Remember, if you contact me via my website Contact form, please check your spam box if you don’t hear from me. I personally reply to messages.

      Thanks for stopping by today.

      Posted in #AmWriting | 8 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, contemporary romance, cowboy, Cowboy Boss and his Destiny, Five Secrets, guest post, L A Sartor, Leslie Ann Sartor, mary j mccoy dressel, My Story My Way An Indie Adventure, rancher, Romance, series romance, western romance novel
    • NaNoWriMo 2015 ~ 10 Day Update & More

      Posted at 2:53 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on November 11, 2015

      PrintForgive me for posting two in a row today, but the previous Veterans Day post was time-sensitive.

      Here we are eleven days into NaNoWriMo2015. Since I haven’t written yet today, I’m posting my progress for the first ten days. I must admit I’m off to a running start, but this is how I do NaNoWriMo. Writing is my full time job since retirement, so it’s only natural for me to keep the “butt in the chair.” When I worked, I still followed my plan to write what I could, when I could, even if it was a hundred words at a time.

       

      Nano stats 11 11

      What am I writing this year? One night before falling asleep, a song came on, and as the song slowly revealed itself to me, so did one little story idea. Out of nowhere, this whole image for the hero took over my mind for the rest of the night, including his first name and what he looked like, so I had to write it all down. This happened a couple months before NaNoWriMo. The note got tucked away for future use. Here I was with two books already started, so no way could I begin another one at that time. “Ahem…” said little miss sexy innocence.

      As usual, this persistent cowboy wouldn’t leave me alone. I know he was in cahoots with my muse. (They always are.) He stole into my thoughts at night, during the day, and plainly whenever he felt like it.

      Recently, I began writing with a focus on the hero, but most of my book ideas have started with the hero. Could it be because there have been so many men in my life? Cowboy face hiddenI had four brothers and no sister. Only one is still here with me. Even my own children are male. Out of eight cousins, seven of them are male. My youngest brother had three sons. My oldest brother had one (and a daughter). My dad was one of three boys. My first husband was one of three males. But, I digress…

      The story has since taken a total different turn from the first idea. This is a good thing, and there it was right in front of me from page six when I wrote: “…unless you want to count the time when I was twenty and ran off with my seventeen year old high school sweetheart.” Bringing this character in was the farthest thing from my mind, but not my stubborn little sexy-innocent muse. I had a feeling she knew it from the start. I love her so much. The new idea was the right choice, but WOW, did that change things. The words have been flowing off my fingertips so far.

       

      Thirty Days

       

      Writer picDuring this thirty day writing period, most participants find that the second week of NaNo is when writing and ideas begin to slow down. The third week can be grueling and you wonder why the heck you even started, but you’ve come so far… Don’t stop yet.

      This new story has not only given me a new book, though. A whole new idea will be revealed later.

      Now you know what I’ve been doing for the last ten, now eleven days. How about you? If you’re participating, how’s it going for you?


       

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      Posted in #AmWriting | 6 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, Full Length Novel, hero focus, mary j mccoy dressel, novel writing, Pandora, Romance, series romance, western romance, western romance novel
    • Short Snippet Saturday: Halloween at the Ranch

      Posted at 10:58 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on October 31, 2015

      This will be a little longer than a short snippet today, although I modified it a bit for this post. After all, it is Halloween at the Double Dutch Ranch. From Cowboy Boss and his Destiny. Nora thinks she has one over on Tristan. She couldn’t be more wrong. Her costume is a sheriff’s outfit.


      halloween

      Nora did her best not to crack up when she gazed at Tristan. His hair was slicked back. He had a yellow bow tie on a white shirt, top button so tight it looked like it’d cut off circulation, and a multicolored pull-over vest over it. She fiddled around to loosen the bow tie a bit.halloween bow tie

      “Thanks, now I can breathe.”

      She dropped her gaze to his too short khaki pants, striped socks and red, high-top tennis shoes.

      “Daddy’s a geek.”

      Nora almost fell to the floor like Destiny had earlier. Her laughter was uncontrollable and her mustache fell off. “Your daddy is a geek!”

      halloween glasses“Is it that bad?” he asked. “Well, ladies, I guess while you’re both using me as the butt of your jokes, I might as well go all out.” He pulled out a pair of black framed glasses and stuck them on his face.

      “Daddy, your glasses are broke. There’s tape on them.”

      Nora laughed hysterically all over again. “Well, rancher, all I have to say is I’m glad you didn’t lock your keys in the truck today, because you’d be breaking that window.”

      “Ah, ha, you finally admit it. You stopped to help because I’m hot.” Tristan chortled.

      “No comment.” Nora removed handcuffs from her back belt loop. “I do believe I have to arrest you.” She picked up the mustache and it no longer stuck to her skin so she tossed it on the table.

      “Why are you arresting my daddy?” Destiny grabbed the mustache and tried sticking it on her own face.

      “Because I’m the new sheriff in town.” She knelt and whispered. “It’s a joke, honey, part of the costume.”

      handcuffs“Yeah, but we’re using these instead.” Tristan pulled out a real pair of handcuffs. He clicked one ring around his wrist and the other around hers. “Shall we go?”

      Nora gasped. “What? Where did you get these? Take them off. Where’s the key?”

      “Don’t worry about it.” He tossed her plastic cuffs to the sofa. “It pays to be friends with the real sheriff, darlin’.”


      Thanks for reading!

      snipped halloween banner3

      Posted in #AmWriting, Short Snippet Saturday | 10 Comments | Tagged Contemporary #western romance series, Full Length Novel, Halloween, Happy Halloween, mary j mccoy dressel, series romance, Short Snippet Saturday Halloween at the Ranch, western romance, western romance novel
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