Blog Tour: Maddie's Choice: Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
Maddie’s
Choice
Joyce
Zeller
Paperback,
274 Pages
Adult
Contemporary Romance
Publisher:
Camel Press
Release
Date: September 1, 2013
Overall
Rating: 4/5
Romance writer Maddie Taylor is fed up with New York
City. She is getting nowhere with her latest manuscript and does not believe
true love exists outside of her imagination. When a friend, Jonah Spartman,
dies and wills her half of his Arkansas cattle ranch, she sees the chance for a
new beginning. Jonah has also left behind two orphaned great-grandsons
desperate for affection and an accounting book in the red.
The other half of the failing ranch belongs to Gideon
Spartman, Jonah’s grandson, who believes all capacity for love was torn from
him during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Rugged and sexy, Gideon is the
enthralling physical manifestation of the hero in Maddie’s current manuscript.
He is far from happy to be sharing an inheritance that is rightfully his. As
she senses the need behind Gideon’s rough and unwelcoming exterior, Maddie
acknowledges her own yearning for love and family.
Jonah’s will requires Maddie to stay on the ranch for
three months. When that time is up, will she return to her comfortable but
emotionally barren existence or embrace the challenges of her new life, which
include cattle rustlers and drug dealers? Maddie’s choice proves to be far from
simple.
{Disclaimer: I received a free copy
of this book from the Tribute Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions presented here are my
own}
Wow!!! This was a great book. Maddie a writer who at the
moment can’t do so finds herself on this unexpected trip, if you will to a
ranch owned by a man she barely knew, who leaves half of the ranch to Maddie in
his will. Thinking it would be a good idea to get away from the city for a
while Maddie sets off to places unknown, at least to her. There she meets the
sexy, yet damaged vet Gideon, who inherited the other half of the ranch. So
naturally the two bump heads on just about everything. The chemistry between
them is so strong that it could burn a hole in the moon.
This book was well written. It was beautiful and one you
would seriously enjoy. The story flowed and was easy to picture in your mind,
the details were so vivid that they jumped right off of the page. This was the
tale of two broken people who met and realized they had the power to save not
only themselves but each other if only they did it together. You fell in love
with these characters easily, they sucked you in and held on tight.
Ms. Zeller is truly a master at her craft. This is a
book I would recommend to any and every one. So please do yourself a favor and
pick up Maddie’s Choice, it will hold a special place in your heart.
Joyce Zeller's Bio:
Joyce Zeller has written articles for a magazine and a cooking
column for a chain of suburban newspapers north of Chicago. She has written
five books and published two, The Hidden History of Eureka Springs, and
Accidental Alien, a work of science fiction, both available on Amazon. Her
short story, “Love is a Seed,” is featured in Embrace: A Romance Collection,
(2012 Goldmine Press).
Joyce has served in the United States Army. As a professional
perfumer (School of Perfumery, London, England) and an aroma-therapist, she
made custom fragrances in her store. Her creation, Mountain Air, was declared
the Arkansas Sesquicentennial Fragrance in 1965. Her latest achievement was
getting elected as Alderman to the Eureka Springs City Council. Maddie’s Choice
is a romance with her favorite theme, that being human is a lonely business,
but for everyone there is somebody to love. It’s a matter of finding them.
There will always be kids and animals in her books, and always, humor, “because
life without humor is unthinkable.”
Joyce Zeller's Web Site: http://joycezeller.com/
Joyce Zeller's Blog: http://joycezeller.blogspot.
Joyce Zeller's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Joyce Zeller's Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Joyce Zeller's Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/
Joyce Zeller's Blog: http://joycezeller.blogspot.
Joyce Zeller's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Joyce Zeller's Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Joyce Zeller's Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/
Excerpt
Glancing up, he saw Maddie and Abe
approaching at a near run. The urgency in her step, and that look on her face—a
mix of worry and fear, like she expected trouble—alerted him.
He got the picture. Blabbermouth
Mark was telling him something he wasn’t supposed to know until she got here to
explain, because she didn’t think he’d approve. She was playing him. She was
going to try to talk him into doing something she was sure he didn’t want to
do. Damn. He was going to enjoy this, but it nettled him a little. Her
opinion of him was pretty low if she thought he’d object to a birthday party
for Abe. And why the hell should he care what she thought?
Because you want her, stupid. But
to get her, she has to return the want. For sure, giving her a hard time isn’t
going to get you anywhere.
Eyebrow raised, head cocked to one
side, he watched through narrowed eyes as she slowed her pace to a saunter and
replaced her worried look with a casual smile.
“Why, Gideon. What a nice surprise
to find you here,” she said.
He stared without commenting,
liking the little flicker of doubt in her expression.
“But Maddie,” Mark said, “you knew
he was here. Remember we saw Uncle Gid’s truck outside?”
She glanced at Mark, clearly
exasperated, not saying what Gideon knew was on the tip of her tongue.
Abe said it for her. “Shut up,
Mark.”
Sighing, she gave Gideon a falsely
sweet smile and fluttered her eyelashes. “I see that Mark told you about Abe’s
birthday party.”
“What about it?” He wanted to
laugh. He barely managed a glare.
She gazed at him, trying to hide
her unease at his response. “Well, it was the funniest thing,” she said,
brimming with false enthusiasm, waiting for him to smile in return.
Eyes narrowed, he studied her. His
silence was making her fidget.
Damn, she had a beautiful mouth—that lower lip distended softly
in a coaxing pout. He imagined taking it between his own lips and pulling on it
gently. She’d taste as sweet as strawberries warmed by the sun. Her voice
faded. He was lost in a sensual haze that would have him agreeing to anything
as long as he could taste that mouth.
“Doris Potter and Genevra Wilson
are going to do most of the planning, but I worry about where we’re going to
put all those people. Is there some way we can set up tables?”
All those people? Tables? He tried
to remember what she’d said, but he hadn’t heard a word. Alarmed, he demanded,
“How many people have you invited?”
“Uh, well, I guess most of the
town. Genevra said the Spartman barbecue was an annual tradition, perfect for
Abe’s birthday party. It’s two weeks from today, but all we have to do is
supply beer and sodas and the barbecued beef,” she said.
He stared at her, aghast. “Hell,
Maddie, we can’t do this. There could be two hundred people here. Do you know
what that would cost? We can’t afford a party like that right now. We’re low on
cash this time of the year.”
Her hand was on his arm, patting it
soothingly. Sparks of electricity shot along his flesh, clear to his brain,
took an awesome bounce and shot toward his groin.
“I’ll pay for it, Gideon. The party
is my idea, and I can easily afford it. It’s the least I can do. After all,
we’re partners, aren’t we?”
Easily afford it? Irritated because
he suspected, vaguely, that his manhood might have been insulted, he geared up
to retaliate, but then he caught the cruelly disappointed expression on Abe’s
face and changed course. If she wanted to pay for it, why not? How much money
did she make, anyhow?
He’d almost accepted the idea when
reality hit him. He couldn’t host a party for the whole town. He didn’t know
shit about parties or where to begin. He’d make a damn fool of himself. Ask him
to kill a man with his bare hands, lead a strike force, or take out a target
with a rifle at a thousand yards—yeah, he could do that—but throw a party with
the whole town looking on? God, no.
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Everyone!!!!!!
2 comments
La'Tia, I love your analogy that the chemistry between Maddie and Gideon could burn a hole in the moon! I'm glad Joyce's romance novel touched your heart. Thanks for the review :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for a great review. In the words of the great Dorothy Parker,"Men are queer creatures--I like men."
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