This week, I'm breaking ranks and bringing a friend of a friend who I hope will become a direct friend: Award-winning author LaQuette. Not only does she have an amazing blog of sermons for the Non-Denominational Romance Covers Temple of Worship (which you should go read right now because it's glorious - I wanted to bring the WHOLE blog over for your edification but it would only distract from the lusciousness offered up below) LaQuette has a brand new novel out this week. It's a smoking toasty hot contemporary romance and my friends, I can ask for nothing more!
From
celebrated author LaQuette comes a sizzling opposites attract Texas
Ranger romance that will leave you breathless...
Aja Everett longs to turn her old family ranch into a place where anyone
can find rest and healing. But her big heart's bound to get her in
trouble if she's not careful—someone wants her gone, and they'll do
whatever it takes to drive her away from the land that's her lifeblood.
Whether she's willing to admit it or not, she needs help.
She needs a man like Ranger Jackson Dean.
Jackson doesn't trust love. He once made the mistake of following his
heart and all he'd gotten was pain in return. But when city-slicking
do-gooder Aja Everett asks for his help, he can't stay away...and as
attraction sizzles and protective instincts flare, she may be the only
woman able to restore the heart of this Texas Ranger.
Get out your fans for this steamy contemporary romance which features a
hunky Texas Ranger with trust issues and a confident, sexy, full-figured
heroine who believes in the best in people. Sometimes oil and water are
meant to mix.
Buy Link for Jackson
Excerpt: Jackson
by LaQuette
Jackson tried to keep his mind empty as he waited in his office for
Gleason and Jennings to arrive with Aja Everett. It was a common practice of
his, mellowing enough to push distractions out of his head before the start of a
case. But every time he attempted to do it, the image of the confident woman
striking a model’s pose with her hip jutted out and her hands on her waist
popped into his head.
Jackson caught himself groaning and was thankful Colton and Storm
had left him alone. The idea of having to explain to his coworkers why he was
so distracted had no appeal.
He glanced down at the open case file on his desk and thumped his
finger on top of it. The three of them at the ranch weren’t nearly enough to
investigate as many angles as they needed to, but they’d been in tighter spots,
and they worked well together. With Gleason and Jennings backing them up at
headquarters, hopefully there would be a quick and effective end to all of
this. Because if the way he couldn’t take his eyes off the sumptuous beauty’s
photo was any sign, spending time with Aja Everett was bound to be a problem
for him.
A tap on his door drew his attention as Colton leaned in. “Gleason
and Jennings are in the parking lot with Ms. Everett. You want me to put her in
one of the interrogation rooms?”
Jackson shook his head. She was the niece of a sitting judge and the
victim of a serious crime. Putting her in an interrogation room could be
misconstrued in all sorts of ways. That was grief he didn’t need. “No, bring
her in here.”
Colton tapped on his phone’s screen. When he was done, he opened the
door wide and he and Storm walked in. “Message sent. They’ll come directly
here.”
Another knock on the door, and Jennings stepped inside, greeting
Jackson and their colleagues while holding the door open and jerking a thumb
behind him. Jackson blinked, and suddenly Aja Everett was filling his doorway
in the flesh.
And what lovely flesh it was. She wore a red blouse with a black
fitted suit vest and matching black slacks that hung like a second skin on her.
No way she pulled that outfit off any rack, the way the material seemed to
lovingly hold each of her curves. It was a power suit, battle armor for the
powerful attorney the preliminary background check he’d run said she was.
“Morning, Ranger Dean.” A bright smile graced her lips. “May I come
inside?”
Jackson was caught off guard by the greeting. Her outfit, the
stacked platform heels that peeked out from the hem of her pants, even the
blood-red matte lipstick she wore told him firmly she was poised to attack. Her
easy smile seemed out of place.
“Please, call me Jackson.” He ushered her into the room, then
pointed to Colton and Storm seated at the conference table. “These are the rest
of my team members, Colton Adams and Storm Cordero.” She waved at each of them
before looking at Jackson. “Can I offer you a cup of coffee before we begin?”
“From a federal building?” She shook her head. “I care about my
health more than that. In fact, I brought my own coffee and snacks too.” She
raised her hand in a graceful wave and pointed toward the door. Like magic,
Gleason appeared at the door pushing a cart with a large thermal coffee
dispenser and two large, insulated food bags.
Jackson closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He moaned as his
stomach protested that breakfast so far had been one-and-a-half cups of bad
black coffee.
He opened his eyes, and his chest tightened as he took in the sight
of her again. She looked even more tempting standing in front of him now than
she had in the picture in her file.
She unzipped the food bags and placed out two large pans of what
looked and smelled like the best cinnamon rolls he would ever have in his life.
When she was finished setting up the food and made disposable cutlery and
flatware appear out of thin air, she returned to Jackson and his men with a
broad, welcoming smile.
“You didn’t need to go through this kind of trouble, Ms. Everett.”
She lifted her shoulders, dismissing his comment. “My mama taught me
to never show up anywhere empty-handed. It’s bad manners.”
He chuckled. Aja might be a New Yorker, but her southern
sensibilities were definitely showing.
“Now that that’s settled, I hope you gentlemen don’t mind something
sweet, hot, and sticky for breakfast.”
Jackson closed his eyes again as he tried to control his breathing.
He’d hoped for short and simple. But this woman standing in the middle of his
office, looking the picture of a poised, dominant professional mixed with a
touch of down-home goodness, was as complicated a start to this case as Jackson
could imagine.
A two-dimensional Aja Everett in a photo, Jackson could deal with.
But this tempting stranger, smiling as she offered him something sweet, hot,
and sticky, would not be easy at all.
About the Author
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An activist for DEIA in
the romance industry, LaQuette writes bold stories featuring multicultural
characters. Her writing style brings intellect to the drama. She crafts
emotionally epic tales that are deeply pigmented by reality's paintbrush.
This
Brooklyn native's novels are a unique mix of savvy, sarcastic, brazen, &
unapologetically sexy characters who are confident in their right to appear on
the page.
