Tag Archives: Joanne Walsh

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Brides as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, watch our first 10 films, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

 

Meet the First 10 Brides of Tule Publishing and Fall In Love with Their Stories:

 

Champion barrel-racer Tegan Ash has nothing left to go home to in her native Australia and every reason to stay in the USA. But her visa is about to expire, and her prospective groom has called off their green-card wedding.

Jamie MacCreadie doesn’t actually want to marry a woman he can’t stand, but his best friend and fellow rodeo rider Chet has just let her down and, somehow, he finds himself offering to do the deed instead.

There’s no chance it could turn into the real thing, because they have nothing in common… do they?

 

. . . . . . . . . .

What a bride wants…

Ella Grace Emerson adores her father, but he keeps trying to marry her off to every eligible rancher in Montana. When he puts an ad in the paper on her behalf – for a docile house-husband – Ella retaliates with one of her own, pinned to the noticeboard of the local saloon. No husband required, housebroken or otherwise. What she wants is the perfect lover.

What a bride needs…

Newcomer Cam Sawyer is perfectly willing to tear up the sheets with Ella and be her partner in chaos. She wants a bad boy and he’s had experience aplenty. But what she really needs is a strong and loving partner, and until Sawyer stops running from his past he can never be that.

Sawyer’s the one Ella wants. But can he be the man she needs?

. . . . . . . . . .

Scarlett Buck has always been flaky in comparison to her sensible twin sister Tara, so nobody is really surprised when Scarlett spends all her money on a one way ticket to Australia to be with the man she’s met on the Net. But she hasn’t reckoned on the guy already being married, or her mom getting sick, and now she needs money for a flight home to Marietta, MT—quick. Signing on with Bella’s Belles in Kalgoorlie isn’t be the proudest moment in her life but it will get her home fast. After all, it’s just sex. Or is it?

Mitch Bannister‘s ex is about to marry his best friend, and he could really do with a cold beer and a hot woman. But the cowgirl he takes a shine to at Bella’s is surprisingly skittish, and in the end he leaves without hooking up.

Later, when Mitch spies the cowgirl in the local pub begging for a job, he shrinks into the shadows–he’s not looking for complications, and something tells him that Scarlett Buck is a whole handful of them. But soon it’s clear she’s not just trouble, she’s in trouble, and like it or not, he’s not about to turn his back on this stray from the States. Especially if she can do him a favor in return. After all, it’s just a helping hand. Or is it?

. . . . . . . . . .

Tara Buck has always been the good sister, level-headed by comparison to Scarlett, her flaky, impulsive twin. But when Tara learns her fiancé has been cheating on her with one of his school students, the orderly world she’s created for herself suddenly feels as if it’s falling apart. For years she chose the safe option, but from now on she’s going to live a little, stretch her wings…be a little daring. And if that means acting on the long-suppressed feelings she’s always had for Reid Dalton, then so be it! Reid has wanted Tara from the moment he met her, but she’s always been out of bounds. Not only is she his patrol partner at the Bozeman PD, she’s also engaged. But then her relationship blows up, and Reid finds himself battling his own instinct to stake his claim with the finest, hottest woman he’s ever known.

Even if anything did happen between them, it would only ever be temporary – Reid’s a born wanderer, while Tara’s roots run deep in Marietta. So even if things are good between them, it seems their romance is destined to be short and sweet…

. . . . . . . . . .

Wanted: nanny. Needed: wife.

Laurent Fletcher has to admit his life would be a whole heap better if there was woman in it. His kids are running wild, and his dog is acting crazy; he’s been finding it tough to juggle everything since his wife died, and run his successful custom-built furniture business. But maybe there is a solution that won’t demand any emotional input from him: hire a female to whip his turbulent household back into shape.

Emma Peabody is a British nanny, looking for a new life in the New World. When she arrives at River Bend and finds two small motherless children, a miserable pet and a man who’s placed his emotions in the deep-freeze, she realizes she’s joined a broken family and it will be down to her to put it back together again.

The kids and the dog are easy—all they need are routines and love. Their father is something else. Laurent isn’t about to drop his guard and let Emma work her magic—and it doesn’t help that she finds this dark, brooding man incredibly attractive…

. . . . . . . . . .

Monty Davison is a man on a mission: he’s determined to track down his fiancée, Risa Grant. Why did she leave Vegas so suddenly and without telling him? Okay, perhaps their engagement was a little hasty—in between deployments to Afghanistan and wearied and changed by the horrors of war, he grabbed at the chances of real life and happiness that she seemed to offer, by proposing after only one week of knowing her. But he was sure she shared his feelings of hope and excitement. What was so scary about loving him that made her want to bolt?

Risa Grant has found sanctuary in Marietta, Montana, and the chance to heal. She’s opened a florist’s business and is settling down to life in the pretty, friendly western town, attempting to put the trauma of past behind her. Only she can’t erase the memory of Monty, the big, handsome, protective Marine who asked her to be his wife. She left without saying goodbye, without getting the chance to tell him what had happened, and now so much water has passed under their bridge that she doesn’t know if she ever can.

When Monty finally finds Risa outside Marietta one chilly April evening, stranded and needing help, his protective instinct kicks in: she’s still as feminine, vulnerable and pretty as ever, and as ex-military he’s trained to come to the rescue. But a knight in shining armor seems to be the last thing that Risa wants right now, so where does that leave him?

. . . . . . . . . .

Emmy Mathis is sure of three things:

1. Her sister Margery’s three-week wedding extravaganza at their grandmother’s Marietta, Montana home will be over-the-top ridiculous.

2. She’d much prefer to stay home in Atlanta in a pair of sweats.

3. And she absolutely, positively, won’t feel even a hint of a spark for Griffin Hyatt, grandson of her beloved grandmother’s best friend and the architect of the most embarrassing night of her life ten years ago.

But Emmy is dead wrong about number three. The moment she and Griffin lock eyes again, the passion that’s always smoldered between them flames. And they aren’t kids any more, so why should they deny the desire that sears through them both?

Is this no more than a wedding fling between two people with too much chemistry and an overload of history, or can Emmy try to build a new life from the ashes of their past? And if Griffin is truly really free of his fiance, why is he a finalist in the town’s Wedding Giveaway? Emmy can’t answer those questions, but she does know that Griffin has the power to burn her like no one else.

Still, how can Emmy walk away from the one man she’s always loved now that she knows what she’s been missing?

. . . . . . . . . .

Once upon a time, Marly Akers had believed that, for better or worse, people made their own luck…

Marly wonders how she could ever have believed it. Jilted and pregnant, she’s come back to Marietta with her tail between her legs, the blow to her ego huge as she begins working at her family’s small newspaper, the Copper Mountain Courier, and sharing a tiny apartment with her disapproving mom.

Things can’t get any worse. Or maybe they can. Drake Everett, who secretly captured her teenaged heart and then publicly trampled on it, decides to make her re-acquaintance. Though Drake isn’t the sharp, funny, cocky, arrogant rich boy of yore. These days he seems sharp, funny… and supportive and decent, and Marly realizes she could fall for him all over again… if she listens to her heart. But what about her reporter’s head, which has sniffed out a story that paints Drake as the sweet talker she’s always known?

. . . . . . . . . .

“It’s for the ranch. It’s your duty. A man does his duty, always.” His father Sam’s words were carved into Cole McCullough’s brain. His responsibilities lay with Rafter M Arrow, which had been in their family for over a hundred years. Even though they were fighting a losing battle to keep the place going.

The ranch always came first, over personal comfort, sometimes reason and definitely women. Sam had seen both his wives walk away, dismissing them as hot-house city girls who couldn’t survive the wilds of rural Montana. So how had Cole ended up making a spur-of-the-moment marriage last year in Reno to TV director Nell, who was as city as they came? Nell was prepared to give it all up to be with Cole. But he knew how it would end: as it had always ended before. It was time to stop living a pipe dream and sue for divorce.

But then Nell came back to Marietta with The Compatibility Game, a reality program, in which couples discovered what they were willing to do for love by living and working at Rafter M, and Cole found himself taking part too…

. . . . . . . . . .

A romantic honeymoon in Paris, with a sexy billionaire Russian groom…

There are only two problems. It’s a marriage of convenience. And, the virgin bride is frigid.

Kate Edwards has never embraced her sensuality, is terrified of intimacy, and the wedding night is a disaster. Instead of calling the whole thing off, Isaak Zaretsky listens to her and challenges her using his unashamedly sensual nature and superb bedroom skills. But can Kate really give herself without love?

 

 

 

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Thanks for stopping by to check out the first 10 Brides of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!

Tule Author Q&A: Joanne Walsh loves second chances!

Joanne Walsh stopped by the Tule blog to discuss the third book in her Greek Island Millionaires series, The Millionaire’s Marriage Proposal!

 

Silver-colored Tungsten Ring on Human Left HandWhere did you get the inspiration for The Millionaire’s Marriage Proposal?

I’ve always been a fan of the marriage/engagement of convenience theme, and with this novel, wanted to challenge myself by taking an apparently convenient proposal and giving it a modern, believable spin. As it turns out, the hero, Dimitri, is proposing for real; he loves the heroine, Sally, and as a true alpha male, wants to do the best for their unborn child. But as Sally has reason to believe he might have other motives things don’t turn out the way he planned!

 

This is a fun second chance romance. What drew you to this trope? What’s your favorite trope to write?

I love the thought that we can have second chances in life, and I’m also fascinated by the concept of first love and how intense it can be. So I decided to take the two, mix them together and see what happened.

Sally and Dimitri have existed side by side for fifteen years since they split in a small Greek island community. Secretly, neither has stopped loving the other. The question is, now an opportunity has arisen for them to get close again, in the shape of relaunching Sally’s business, can they overcome the hurt and the lack of trust that swirls between them and reclaim the affection they once had?

My favorite trope is the secret baby because no matter how unexpected a child might be, it has the power to bring people together and heal.

 

How do you relate to Sally, your heroine, and how do you hope readers will relate to her? How do you relate to Dimitri?

I wrote Sally wanting the reader to understand how a lack of love in her earlier life has made it hard for her to recognize that lasting love has been there, right under her nose, all along. She starts the book feeling daunted and alone, but draws on the resilience and stubbornness she’s developed that have got her through some tough times. When the opportunity to start over doing something she’s passionate about comes along, she has to make a decision. If she goes with it, it’s her chance to break free, but it also means accepting Dimitri’s support.

I hope readers will enjoy her journey of growth and self-discovery. Personally, I relate to her because I’m willing her to succeed.

Dimitri, of course, is a romantic hero, so he has some archetypal fantasy qualities, such as being impossibly good looking and possessing unmatched prowess in bed! But because of his life experiences, he’s learned sensitivity and he also has flaws. It’s that less perfect, emotional side to him that intrigues me.

 

What was your favorite scene to write and why?

My favorite scene has to be the first time that Sally and Dimitri make love. They’ve traveled far to get there, and the sexual tension between them is at boiling point. What makes it more special for me is that Sally, after a lot of wrestling with her lack of confidence in the bedroom, pushes herself to take control—with red-hot results!

Here’s a little snippet for you:

 “Hey, don’t do things like that to me,” he gritted, taking hold of her chin and cupping it, “or I may have to make love to you.”

“There’s no may about it,” she replied, secretly reveling in the way he reacted.

Staring at her, one brow quirked with surprise, he moved his hand to smooth back her hair from her cheek. “Are you saying what I think you are, Sally? That you want to—”

“Make love. I’m ready now.”

“My Sally, I should ask you if you’re really sure about this. It seems quick after what we talked about.” Caressing her jaw, he searched her face. “But when I look in your eyes, I see fire, and when I listen to your voice, I hear certainty. You’re ready.” He bent and brushed her lips with his. 

Any lingering hesitation melted away like icicles in the sun as her longing for him, for his mouth and his body to meld with hers, took over. Shifting herself from under him, she pushed herself off the bed and got to her feet, surveying him for a second before reaching for the concealed zip on the side seam of her dress and pulling it with a determined little tug. “Let’s get on with it,” she announced curtly. Pushing the shoulders of her dress down and letting the garment drop to pool at her feet, she registered with deep satisfaction his expression of surprise, the look of sheer hunger, as his eyes landed on her naked body. Since she didn’t possess sexy lingerie, she’d opted for dispensing with underwear altogether…

 

What are you currently reading?

 Currently, I have Summer of ’69 by Erin Hilderbrand on my Kindle. It’s a kind of coming-of-age story, set around four siblings in the last tumultuous year of a decade when everything changed. It’s the perfect summer read because the author has a light style yet manages to pack in lots of relationship drama against an evocative setting.

 

About the Author

Joanne Walsh became hooked on romance when her grandma gave her a copy of Gone with the Wind for her birthday. The teachers at her strict girls’ school didn’t approve of a ten-year-old reading such a ‘racy’ novel and confiscated it. But Joanne still became a voracious romance reader and, later, an editor for one of the world’s leading women’s fiction publishers, where she could do two of her favorite things: work with her beloved alpha-male heroes and spend time in the USA. These days, Joanne lives in the south of England and divides her time between freelance editing, writing and spending time with her very own real-life alpha…