End of Summer Bash: Welcome Mary Connealy!

Mary Connealy is a super sweet, super fun person, and it's my pleasure to host her today! If you enjoy Western romance with LOL humor, then you'll want to read on to learn more about Mary and her latest release, Out of Control:

Amber: Thank you so much for joining us today! Could you share with us one of your favorite memories from this past summer?

Mary: Wow, Amber, tough summer. Flooding. Sickness in the family. My dearly loved Mother in law died. Trying to think of the best of it. I’ve gotten a lot of quality time with my grandchildren, who are spectacular, btw. That’s always fun. Honestly we live very close to the Missouri River, not right ON it, so we’re not personally affected, but close enough that many friends are. That’s all any one talks about.

I suppose the coolest thing is going to NYC for the Romance Writer’s of America Conference. It was terrifying and exciting…kinda like the cave in Out of Control. I went because I was nominated for a Rita Award. I lost, but I had a wonderful time.

Amber: I'm sorry you had such a hard summer, Mary. I hope this next season brings more happy times your way!

If you could choose one of the characters from your latest novel to join you for an “end-of-summer” party, who would you want to celebrate with in person and where would you go?

Mary: I’d LOVE to go explore that cavern in Out of Control with Julia. I based the cavern on Carlsbad Cavern and that is still the most fascinating experience (well, close…) in my life. It captured my imagination the way very few things ever have and even long before. And Julia is so in love with that cavern that I'd love to see it with such an enthusiastic guide!

Amber: Sounds like a great time to me!

Please tell us more about your latest release. If you could share a scene from the book to whet our appetites, that would be fabulous!

Mary: "Julia Gilliland has always been interested in the natural world around her. She particularly enjoys her outings to the cavern near her father’s homestead, where she explores for fossils and formations and plans to write a book about her discoveries. The cave seems plenty safe—until the day a mysterious intruder steals the rope she uses to climb her way out.

Rafe Kincaid has spent years keeping his family’s cattle ranch going, all without help from his two younger brothers, who fled the ranch—and Rafe’s controlling ways—as soon as they were able. He’s haunted by one terrible day at the cave on a far-flung corner of the Kincaid property, a day that changed his life forever. Ready to put the past behind him, he plans to visit the cave one final time. He sure doesn’t expect to find a young woman trapped in one of the tunnels—or to be forced to kiss her!

Rafe is more intrigued by Julia than any woman he’s ever known. But how can he overlook her fascination with the cave he despises? And when his developing relationship with Julia threatens his chance at reconciliation with his brothers, will he have to choose between the family bonds that could restore his trust, or the love that could heal his heart?"

Here’s a scene from the book:

~ Excerpt from Out of Control ~

It occurred to him that the right thing to do was slap her. That'd clear her thinking. Give her a bit of fight, too. He just couldn’t do it. “You’ve got to get ahold of yourself." Pulling her close, he added, "My name is Rafe. Can you say that?”

“Let me out.”

“No!” He gripped her shoulders. “You say my name or we’re not going. You need to calm down. We’re going to be fine, but not if you shake so hard you fall off this ladder. I’m Rafe.” He shook her hard. “Say it. Prove to me you’ve got the guts to hang on and climb out of this pit.”

"R—Rafe." A long slow breath lifted her shoulders. “Rafe. I’m sorry…Rafe. I’m so scared. It's so dark. I couldn't get out. My—my Rafe. I couldn’t find my Rafe—uh—rope. Rope. I need to get out and I—I—”

“Stop.” Slapping her just wouldn’t do.

So he kissed her.

She froze in his arms. He braced himself to be on the receiving end of a slap. He almost hoped her head cleared enough to be insulted.

Suddenly, her terror flipped over into something—else. She flung her arms around his neck and nearly lifted herself off her feet in an effort to hold him closer.

Rafe wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

The darkness receded, the whole world was bright and warm. Being far from the outside world just seemed like a blessed chance to be alone with a beautiful woman.

Beautiful?
That though cleared his head. "Uh…you're not fifty or sixty years old are you?"

"What?" She sounded dazed. Which was sort of like calm.

"I'm just thinking I haven't really…um…seen you yet. I mean you seem…young. You feel really young." And beautiful. She felt very young and beautiful. "But if we get out of here and you're…uh…old…and—” ugly, "—sixty years old or something…well…it's going to be awkward."

Her arms were gone from his neck. He should have kept his mouth shut and continued with the kissing. But the notion of getting her up to the moonlight and finding out she was a sixty year old woman, maybe with a moustache and a face like the downhill side of a climbing mountain goat…not someone he'd choose to kiss…in the light…well, that was in his head now, and he couldn’t get it out. Yep, awkward, sure enough. And yet, she’d felt very young and beautiful.

Very.

"Get your hands off of me."

He loosened his grip but didn’t let go all the way because she had a ways to fall if he did, about twenty feet straight down. Then he’d have to climb back down there and start this all over again.
She slapped him.

Which stung, and not just his cheek. After all he'd considered doing the same thing to her—for medicinal reasons. Life and death really. But he'd refrained. She should have given him the same benefit of the doubt.

"I think I'm ready to climb now." She sounded much calmer. Deadly calm.

Rafe remembered a long time ago, it seemed like an hour—how long had he been kissing her anyway—when getting out of here was his main concern. Now he wasn't in such a big hurry. But he didn't want to get slapped again either.

"Great. You’ve calmed down. Let's go." As if getting himself slapped had been his plan all along.

~ End of Excerpt ~

Book Trailer:

Amber: Love it!! (And isn't that book trailer wonderful? I love the music and everything about it!)

So, what do you look forward to most about the coming autumn season?

Mary: No contest, the ACFW Conference in St. Louis in September. It’s the most fun I have all year.

Amber: Oh, I've heard such great things about it! Perhaps someday I'll get to meet ya'll there... =) Thanks for chatting with us today, Mary!

Readers, after reading that hilarious excerpt, would you like a chance to win a signed copy of Out of Control? Thanks to Mary's generosity, if you leave a comment with your e-mail address, you'll be entered in the drawing! All winners this week will be announced on Saturday, August 27th.

*This drawing is open to U.S. residents only.*

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to visit with author Leanna Ellis and learn more about her Amish/vampire book!