Spotlight & Giveaway: Her Cowboy Prince by Madeline Ash

Posted June 8th, 2020 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Spotlight / 27 comments

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Madeline Ash’s new release: Her Cowboy Prince

Hi Sara and all HJ readers! Thank you so much for having me today.

Meet the cowboy royal who will never be tamed—and the best friend sworn to protect him.

Kris Jaroka didn’t sign up for this. He and his triplet brothers were uprooted from their ranch to inherit the throne of Kiraly. His duties keep escalating, and no amount of shirking his guards can stop the gut-ache of leaving his best friend, Frankie, behind.

But his biggest challenge lies ahead.

For years, Frankie Cowan has secretly monitored the safety of Kris and his brothers. When Kris’s recklessness forces her to reveal herself as the head of palace security, her duty to protect him and his refusal to be tamed meet head on.

Bound together, their lies and hurt soon surrender to their chemistry, and Kris burns to offer her his future. But Frankie’s past isn’t fit for a cowboy, let alone a prince—proving that the person she most needs to protect him from is herself.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Her Cowboy Prince

He didn’t answer. Just scanned her face, expression serious. She braced for a comment she wouldn’t be able to handle.
But all he said was, “Your mascara’s smudged.”
“I had a shower—”
In a single, fluid movement, he’d licked his thumb and placed it beneath her right eye, the contact as gentle as it was startling.
With a delicious thrum, her body tightened.
He adjusted, leaning forward, his careful attention set just beneath her gaze. Scared to breathe, to do anything that would remind him of who she really was, she held still, her cheek tingling, aching as the rest of his hand hovered just out of range. Another moment for her collection—alone with him, but unable to enjoy the wonder of his intimacy for fear of losing her head.
“You been crying over me?” he murmured as he smoothed the makeup away. If he intended it as a joke, his tone completely missed the mark.
Always.
His touch ruined her—for something so light, brushing against the outskirts of her body, it felt like playing out a thousand heartbreaking moments at once. It was the kind of contact that broke the sky and put a stutter in the pulse of the earth. Then with another soft swipe, put it all back together again.
He stilled the instant he collected her tear on his thumb.
“Frankie,” he breathed.
She blinked, refusing to meet his shocked gaze. She was too tired to miss him this much and have him this close.
“You were lying,” he said, and shifted his thumb to her left side. Used the damp of her tear to clear the stain from her skin. “When you said our friendship was never real.”
Focus pinned on his knee, she nodded.
“When you said I was just your job.”
Her silence didn’t deny it.
“When you said you’ve never wanted my hands near you.” His voice had lowered.
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” She ducked her face away from his touch, even as her attention shifted up his leg to the hard strength of his thigh.
Under her gaze, his legs moved, inching inward. Not quite trapping her but setting her thoughts racing over what she’d do if he did.
“My guards overheard me asking to kiss you,” he said, Energy hummed in the air between them.
Her face heated and she snatched up the bag of cashews, pouring some into her palm. “Good for them.”
“You told me later your answer was no.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, but they both knew he was asking her to admit the lie. To turn this confrontation into a stolen moment; to mend the past week with taste and touch. But a kiss would never just be a kiss with Kris. Frankie had always sensed that. Once their mouths met, they’d have no hope of parting until their bodies had blended and brought bliss itself to its knees.
“My answer isn’t yes.” She raised her palm to her mouth, cramming it full.
He rested his hands on his thighs, seeming to wait until he had her attention before slowly sliding his palms up and down the length of his quads. How . . . how did he do that? Turn a simple movement into a sex act? It was everything she could do to keep chewing she watched.
“I don’t know the difference,” he admitted.
“For the purposes of this exercise, there’s no difference. There’s nothing left between us. You can’t be friends with someone like me. You can’t be . . .” More than friends. “I work for you. I’m not high born or even adequately born—and you’re literally going to be king.”
He raised a shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Not yeah,” she said, resisting the urge to cuff him around the head. “Yes. You are.”
“Yes, I am,” he said dutifully, coming infuriatingly close to smiling.
“For the love of God.” She sat back, pressing her fingers to her temple. “This is why I didn’t tell you I was here. I knew you’d do this. I knew you wouldn’t get it. But I get it. I live in the servants’ quarters—you own the palace. I work for the crown—you’ll wear the crown. We’re incompatibility’s greatest achievement.”
He looked unfazed. “All I’m hearing is antiquated classism.”
Frankie grasped either side of her head. “I can’t do this now. I can’t think clearly enough to argue.”
“Then don’t.” Kris leaned back, withdrawing his legs, his body. “We both need to sleep.”
Groaning, she nodded.
“A full night. Deep and proper,” he said, and paused before he said, “Camping.”
She snapped her attention to him.
“Tomorrow night.”

Giveaway: I’d like to gift one winner with a copy of both ebooks in my Cowboy Princes series (Her Cowboy King and Her Cowboy Prince).

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and post a comment to this Q: Kris takes Frankie camping to help her relax. Where do you like to go to unwind?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet the Author:

Madeline Ash is a contemporary romance author and two-time RITA Award finalist. She has also won Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year award (RUBY). She delves deep into the hearts and minds of her characters, creating flawed and compassionate leads – who are always rewarded with a happy ending.

Website: https://madelineash.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadelineAshAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Madeline_Ash
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelineashauthor
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/madeline-ash
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6856663.Madeline_Ash

Book links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Her-Cowboy-Prince-Princes-Book-ebook/dp/B0875ZTXH5
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/her-cowboy-prince/id1507625575
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/her-cowboy-prince-1
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-cowboy-prince-madeline-ash/1137062406?ean=2940164328320