Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!!! : BABY STETSON by Nikki Lynn Barrett (CR)

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Book Blurb

In small Texas towns, strangers come and go...

Left in a Stetson hat, on the steps of the local bed and breakfast, Avery Callimer came into the world on a wing and a prayer. Raised by loving adoptive parents, she's never lacked for love...only the knowledge of her past.

By day she works the Inn, but by night...Avery comes alive as lead singer in a band. Life was good...stable, until new guests blew into town. 

Some strangers come with secrets and lies.

Lucas Bennett is one such stranger. Drifting from one mess to another has left him jaded. Doesn't matter the dramas are never his doing. Giving it one last shot to make a fresh start lands him Harmony's Echo, Texas and smack dab in front of the tantalizing Avery.

Despite his best efforts to ignore the burn Avery's ignited within, he's intent to keep his distance. Secrets have followed him. Secrets he doesn't want Avery to know. Each time they're near the other things heat up like a brushfire on a dry Texas prairie. But maybe, after the dust settles and the smoke clears, love can bloom with a fresh start.

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Book Excerpt

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked gently.  All he wanted was to sit beside her and hold her.  Instead, he stayed where he was, leaning up against the front porch post.

Avery’s gaze connected with his.  “Yeah.  I’ll be okay.”  Something in her tone called to him.  He was torn.  Move next to her, or back off?  Which one?

Moving to sit beside her won.  Whatever Avery did next, Lucas would deal with it.  He perched beside her on the swing.  The old wood creaked under his weight.  Avery watched him with those big, beautiful greenish gray eyes.  “Do you want me to go?  I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want.”  Lucas hoped she would want him to stay, but wouldn’t blame her one bit if she chose the latter.

Why did he care so much?  Why did it have to be the one time that he started to feel again, it was for a woman that complicated things?  Ah, but life was so cruel, of course there were no answers to these things.  He should have never gotten so involved, so invested.  Avery wanted a life filled with traveling, because that’s what a singer did.  Lucas needed to stay in one place, find some roots and actually plant them.  Alone, or not alone.  What mattered was that those things needed to happen.  No more life as a shadow.  No, he was ready to find his own way.  How could he have lived, but yet not lived, for all of his adult life?

“You can stay,” Avery whispered.  She looked so stricken and sad, her eyes filled with confusion and a sadness Lucas had never seen.  She huddled by the arm of the swing, rocking back and forth, occasionally darting her gaze to look at him.  All Lucas wanted to do was gather her in his arms, hold her and make her problems fade into the background.

For what seemed like ages, they sat in silence again.  The swing squeaked while the rocking motion put Lucas in a daze.  This was nice.  Just sitting back and enjoying a breeze, not having to do anything.  Lucas flexed his wrists and when he moved his right one to rest on the seat, he found Avery’s hand there.  Sparks of awareness flowed through him like hot lava.  When his hand lingered over hers, he expected her to snatch it away, but was surprised when she didn’t.  Lucas took that as a sign.  He entwined his fingers with hers and shifted his body so he could face her.

“Avery, I want you to know that I like you.  A lot.  When I came here, I never expected things to progress like they did, and I’m not sorry for anything except for not coming to you with the truth earlier.  I wish I could make you understand.”  Lucas rushed the words.  He squeezed her hand, loving the way her fingers fit so perfectly with his own.

When had he started thinking like that?  Geez.  His mind was all over the place when it came to Avery Callimer.  Lucas had to admit he kind of liked it, though it terrified him at the same time.  What was this effect Avery had on him?  He could never give her the life she so desired.

Okay, what the fuck?  It’s not like she’s even asked for anything from you, other than the truth, so why in the world would you even think like that?

Yep.  There, once again, went those strange feelings.  He needed to think straight.  Not like that happened anytime he was in close range of this tantalizing woman.

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Toot's Review

Baby Stetson is a CR about an aspiring singer who's nick name is Baby Stetson because she was found on the steps of an Inn as a baby in a Stetson hat. Her real name is Avery Callimer. Avery, since being found and adopted, has lead a happy normal life surrounded by love, not only by family but also her friends and band mates. One such band mate, Jameson, is her current boyfriend although things take a terrible turn and they break up. Avery is crushed but knows the breakup is for the best and hopes they can remain friends. 

Avery soon runs into a handsome stranger who's shown up at one of her shows and keeps popping up around town. He also happens to be staying at the Inn that her parents run. While the handsome stranger and her do some harmless flirting, she is also contacted via letter by a man claiming to be her real father and would like to start a relationship with her. Is Avery's world about to crumble or are all her dreams about to come true?

So ready for my review? I found this book a little lengthy for being a basic CR. There's lots of internal dialog going on in both main characters minds that sometimes got in the way of the story. I also found the day to day activity wasn't pushing the story along and it probably could have been edited or moved along more quickly with the same results. I think the author could have written less about the day to day stuff and concentrated more on the characters. I would have loved to learn more about Lucas's past, maybe some flash backs or backstories woven in more then just telling us what his history was. I'd also have loved to seen more of Avery's life on the road as a small town singer and more byplay with her band mates seening as how this is going to be a series based around that theme. Lastly, I also found the secondary story (first being the HEA, second being her adoption adventure) very expected. I can't tell you how many lost/found adopted characters I've read where every single one has the "birth" parents making an appearance and the abandoned child decides to build a relationship. While I know that this is the most likely outcome for most, it's definitely no surprise and as a reader, it gets boring to read about because we know what is going to happen, no matter the twist the author tries to put on it, oh the "birth" parents are famous or a family friend or that creepy guy down the street.....been there done that. I'd be more surprised if an adopted adult said "You know what, screw you!" and believe me, I have read only one story, that I can think of, where the character did just that and I was cheering, because it was unexpected and the character was like "you abandoned me, you threw me away and someone else found me and treasured me". Not every adopted kid who's presented with the opportunity to meet their "birth" parents, jumps at the chance and those are the more realistic ones that I prefer to read about.

With all that being said, I did love the second half of the story. There was some really great suspense and an absolutely wonderful HEA. The final scene/epilogue left me all oooey gooey inside and that's why we love our romances!

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Guest Post

10 Things you don't know about me (or Baby Stetson)

First, I'd like to thank you for letting my come hang out on your blog today! I'm excited and a bit nervous at the same time! 

I'm mostly an open book, but I'm sure that I can come up with a few things y'all may not know about me. 

1. I'm visually impaired. I actually only have vision in my left eye. When I was younger, my family was told I would never be 'normal'. 

Really? First, who IS normal? And second....well, I think I proved them wrong. I was mainstreamed in school and did just fine. I played the violin throughout fifth and sixth grade. I LOVE to read and can read pretty fast, sometimes even faster than most fully sighted people. 

2. I wanted to make a career out of music in Nashville. 

Why didn't I? Life happened. It pulled me in different directions. I never did go to Nashville for that dream. Do I still love music and performing? Absolutely. Music is in my heart, just like writing. Right now I live music through Avery...:D Her feelings about music and being on stage are a replica of how I feel. It's funny, because I don't like speeches. But I have no problem going up in front of a crowd with a microphone in hand and singing. 

3. I would totally go storm chasing! 

Weather has been a huge fascination for as long as I can remember. I've always been memorized by storms, even though I used to be scared to death of thunder! Now, lightning still scares the crud out of me, but that stuff is pretty dangerous! Arizona does get a stormy season, we call it monsoon and around that time, I always keep my camera charged. If I know there's a storm on the way, I'm outside taking pictures. You should see some of the monsoon sunsets we get here! And then there's the dust storms, which are strangely called haboobs....a HUGE wall of dust. If you don't think it storms in Arizona...you are mistaken. In fact, go to www.weatherchronicles.com and see for yourself. It needs to be updated, but there's plenty of pictures to feast your eyes on. :) 

4. I lived in Germany for about a year. 

Sadly, I don't remember much about it. I think I was three when we moved there. I do have family in Germany. In fact, my great grandmother is still there. She'll be 93 this September. I would love to go back and visit her, let her meet my son. Though I haven't seen her in over 20 years, I always feel close to her because when I go visit my grandmother in Texas, I talk to her with what little German I remember. 

5. I am ridiculously good at The New Tetris for the Nintendo 64. 

Is that random enough for you? Smiles 

It is true. I don't know how I can play that game as well as I do, and sadly, I don't have a decent challenge and I need one! My husband got to the point where when his friends came over he would offer a few of them $5 to beat me....hasn't happened yet. I don't know what it is about that game, but I'm very addicted. So, do you want to earn that $5? Master up your Tetris skills and come on over! 

I can't think of five other things, so how about I do five things about Baby Stetson that you wouldn't know. 

1. Baby Stetson was not originally the first book in the series. 

I'd started writing what I thought was going to be the first, and then I wondered about the progression. How would Avery and her band fit in the story if it weren't first? So, at about 18k, I stopped writing that specific WIP and started on Baby Stetson. It all fit perfectly! I could write Avery and Lucas's story, and start from the beginning for the band. Well, not the complete beginning, because the band had been playing in Harmony's Echo for years.....but you know what I mean! I thought, why not show the band from how they first started out, and follow their journey to making it big? 

That leads me to number 2. 

2. The Love and Music in Texas series was originally going to be just four stories. 

Then a few things happened. 

I loved Avery and Lucas so much, I wasn't ready to just take them completely out of the limelight. I knew they would have their place in book 2, but I didn't realize how much until later. I also thought, why not focus stories on more of the band members? That way, they get their HEA, and there's more time to take the band on their venture to stardom. 

3. Jameson wasn't originally going to be a good character. 

I'm a total panster. I start out with an idea, and it forms from there, but I don't outline. So when I write Jameson in, I didn't think he was going to be a good guy. But he grew on me. I really liked Jameson, and wanted more of him. I thought..”How could I make this guy bad when I have a soft spot for him?” 

I couldn't. Since I didn't know exactly who was going to be the hero and heroine for book two, I decided that it would be Jameson. 

4. The original idea for Baby Stetson had some differences from what it turned out to be. Avery's name was originally Emily Winters. She was still left on the steps of the inn and was adopted. But she was a closet singer until she stepped in for someone. Lucas's name was going to be Eric, and he was a music rep In the original idea, the heroine's birth mother was trying to worm her way into her daughter's life. I loved reading the original notes and how much Baby Stetson evolved to what it is today. 

There are song lyrics in the book, written by me. I planned to put two in Baby Stetson, but I never got a full set done in time. So there is one. I'm hoping that with the lyrics that I use for the series to one day put out a CD with the songs. I love how a song can remind someone of a scene, so I thought it would really be a neat idea. We'll see how that goes. 

So there's a few things about me, and about Baby Stetson and the series itself. Is there something you'd like to know? Come on and ask me a question, if you'd like! 

Thanks for following along with me! 

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Author Bio

Nikki Lynn Barrett lives in Arizona with her husband and son. She's an avid reader, a dreamer, and loves everything about books. She runs a book blog, an online used bookstore, and writes various genres of romance. Nikki can also be found outside with her camera when a storm is near, snapping photo after photo. Her dreams of becoming a writer started when she was young, when she started writing books in one subject notebooks by the fifth grade. The Secret Santa Wishing Well is her debut book. You can visit Nikki's site at: www.nikkilynnbarrett.blogspot.com for more information. She is working on her next book. Nikki would love to hear from readers. Email her at nikkilynnbarrett@yahoo.com

Author Links:

Blog: www.nikkilynnbarrett.blogspot.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6583655.Nikki_Lynn_Barrett

Site: https://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor

Twitter: @Stormgoddess925 on Twitter

Other books by Nikki Lynn Barrett

The Secret Santa Wishing Well

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16159845-the-secret-santa-wishing-well

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~*Giveaway*~

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