Spotlight & Giveaway: The Bull Rider’s Second Chance by Leah Vale

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Leah Vale to HJ!

Hi Leah and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Bull Rider’s Second Chance!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Bull Rider’s Second Chance is the first book in my Rodeo Romeos series. Caitlin Neisson needs help to face her fears so she can fulfill a deathbed promise. Unfortunately, her best choice is the most notorious member of a family her family has been feuding with her entire life. Bodie Hadley has resigned himself to being an outcast. But from the moment he meets Caitlin, he starts to wonder if redemption may be possible, after all.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“Excuse me.”
Bodie Hadley heard the female voice over the pre-parade commotion and hoped she wasn’t addressing him. His human-ing skills weren’t the greatest on his best days anymore, and with today being the kick-off of the Pineville Rodeo in Pineville, Oregon, he’d been up since the butt-crack of dawn without an additional hit of caffeine. And now at ten a.m., Mr. Friendly Pants he was not.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Bodie’s horse, Dutch, is named for the barrel racing Quarter Horse I pretty much grew up on, Duchess. Granted, my Dutch was a sweet little bay mare and I saw Bodie’s horse as being a big black gelding (no idea why), I still wanted to honor her by naming my hero’s horse after her.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

I always knew Bodie would be strong and stoic because of his physical and emotional wounds, but I didn’t expect him to be as protective of Caitlin as he turned out to be. But, well, hero!

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Bodie and Caitlin’s first kiss, of course!

“His gaze remained locked on hers as he skimmed his hand higher up her thigh beneath the shorts. Gone was the flirty sparkle that had danced in his eyes when she’d first talked to him at the parade. There was nothing superficial about the way he searched her gaze. He sought an answer to an unspoken question. A question she didn’t know.
He didn’t seem to be asking for permission to touch her. His hand continued its exploration of her thigh.
He lifted his hand from hers and cupped her cheek. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Caitlin.”
She nuzzled into his hand. “You first.”
He made a noise deep in his throat. Amusement or frustration? She couldn’t tell.
Caitlin decided she didn’t care when he leaned forward and kissed her.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

That everyone is worthy of a second chance. Not just the chance to live their best life, but most importantly, to love and be loved in return.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I am working on the second Rodeo Romeo book, which will be my next release.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Ebook copy of The Bull Rider’s Second Chance and Tule swag.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Caitlin’s brother Ian believes you can tell a lot about a man from how much his horse likes him. What do you think is the true measure of a man?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from The Bull Rider’s Second Chance:

“Your friends are sitting at the table right behind you, FYI.”
Caitlin jumped in her seat, bumping her knee on the banquet table when her oldest brother, Ian, spoke directly in her ear. The dangling strings of lights in the tent of the sponsors’ party cast shadows on his face. She hadn’t noticed Ian sit back down next to her. She’d been working hard to ignore her next oldest brother, Liam’s, ridiculous I do have a very particular set of skills routine delivered in between huge bites of cake. He rolled the impression out every time their two younger brothers dared him with a chaser of varying amounts of tequila. They were enough to make her crazy.
She darted a quick look at their father seated on her right. Dad was staring down at his paper plate, absently using his plastic fork to push around the beef ribs, potato salad, and baked beans she’d dished up for him. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t eaten a bite. Her heart pulsed with an all too familiar ache. Mom had been gone almost six months now. A blink of the eye and an eternity all in one. But at least Mom was no longer in pain.
“Assuming,” Ian’s deep voice caught her attention again, and she met his disturbingly knowing deep blue gaze, “your friends were who you’ve been craning your neck trying to spot the entire time we’ve been here.”
They weren’t. She’d already talked to most of them after the parade to learn more about a certain cowboy. The general consensus was Bodie had been the quintessential Rodeo Romeo as well as a top-twenty ranked bull rider before his awful wreck.
“Oh, what a coincidence.” She made a show of glancing over her shoulder in surprise, even though she’d seen—not to mention heard—the table full of rodeo pageant court members. Thankfully, the girls had understood her tonight’s-not-a-good-night-to-engage-the-Neisson-clan subtle headshake when she’d first arrived. The girls were now fully occupied with the evening’s latest gossip.
She sent Ian a wide smile. “How’s that for handy.”
Ian grunted and speared a bite of chocolate sheet cake. He was far too perceptive for her liking. Even as a kid, Ian usually knew when she was up to something. Usually. And he never hesitated to rat her out. All the boys in her family considered keeping an eye on her to be some kind of sacred duty. But Ian took his protectiveness to whole other level.
Especially now with Mom and Grandma gone.
She hated the smothering, the hovering, the protectiveness. She understood the whys of their behavior. If their mother hadn’t veered away from Caitlin in the paddock at the last second, with a shout to draw the bull’s attention, Caitlin would have been trampled too. She understood they intended to do everything in their power to keep her safe, but she hated it nonetheless.
In an effort to distract herself as well as her oldest brother, she asked, “Do you want some cake? I can get you some cake.”
Ian froze with a fork-full of cake halfway to his mouth. Oops.
He raised his blond brows, a shade lighter than hers from endless hours spent on horseback tending his valuable herds of rodeo bucking broncs, roping steers and a select few rank bulls. Slowly he set his fork and bite of cake back down on the plate next to his half-eaten slice. Leaning back in his chair until it squeaked, he considered her again.
She inwardly cringed, hooking her booted feet around the legs of her folding chair. If she told him she was looking for a cowboy, and which cowboy, he’d lock her in the nastiest stall he could find for sure.
He cocked his head to the side, the way he always did when he was taking the true measure of a member of the herd, and narrowed his eyes. “What’cha up to, peanut?”
She opted for telling him the truth. Sort of. “Okay. I am looking for someone I met today during the parade, when you guys dressed me up like a full-blown clown.”
He snorted a laugh and tried to cover it up by wiping at his mouth with his white paper napkin from his lap.
“Which I discovered, thanks to Amanda’s uncle, Old Red, they don’t require of bullfighters anymore, and not even all the barrelmen—especially the shoes, for obvious reasons. You guys made me dress up like the clowniest of clowns, then you didn’t even show up for the parade. I was out there all by myself in that hot, silly costume.”
“Consider it an initiation.” Ian shrugged.
“More like hazing,” she groused.
“You met someone…” He clung to her statement in his usual way. Ian never let anything slide. If a job needed done, he’d finish it. If he owed you a favor, consider it done. If you tried sneaking out of your window after curfew, he’d be the one standing in the dark to scare the snot out of you, shoving you right back inside with nothing more than “Back to bed, peanut.”
She sighed, and glanced again at their father, other brothers, and cousin to see if they were listening. Liam was no longer carrying on about his particular set of skills and had angled his head toward them more than before, but Caitlin couldn’t tell if he was listening to her and Ian or not. Drew was destroying a huge barbequed turkey leg with his face. Alec was watching Drew with the sort of wonder and awe only the youngest brother could muster. Her oldest cousin Jack had his chin propped on his hand and was gazing wistfully at the table full of feminine rodeo royalty.
She frowned at Alec. He didn’t appear the slightest bit worried about what he intended to do this week. Bravery? Or stupidity? He’d actually need a hearty dose of each, in her opinion. Both of them would.
She realized it really didn’t matter if Liam, Drew, Alec, or Jack were listening. Ian would fill the other boys in regardless. He might not burden Dad. Then again, maybe he would. He definitely wouldn’t tell Grandfather.
She turned back and met Ian’s sharp gaze again. “Yes. Someone who, I hope, will teach me what I’m beginning to suspect you all”—she hitched her chin at the other occupants of the round banquet table—“won’t.”
Her oldest brother’s nostrils flared.
She was in for it, now.
“Come again?”
Knowing her best defense had always been a strong offense, she cut to the chase. “You’re just humoring me, Ian. You guys will never let me—”
Her father’s deep, care-worn voice broke into the conversation. “I said you could train to bullfight, Caitlin Ann. So train.”
Caitlin swiveled in her chair to face her father seated on her other side, but he hadn’t moved. Hadn’t looked up from his plate. Had she imagined him speaking? “Dad?”
Liam pushed his crumb-scattered cake plate toward the center of the table and planted a heavy forearm in its place. “Why, Dad? Why should we let her risk her life in the arena with a bull when she hasn’t even been on a horse since—”
Ian snapped, “Enough, Liam.”
Dad finally raised his face to meet Liam’s, then Caitlin’s gaze. What she saw in his light blue eyes broke her heart a million times over.
Dad placed his rope-roughened hand over hers and gave a light squeeze. “Do what makes your heart happy, girl. If you think dodging bulls is going to make you happy, then dodge them.” He patted her hand, then picked his fork up and went back to pushing his food around.
Realization hit her. Her father was the one placating her. She could hear the mollifying in his tone, the almost dismissive way he told her to go ahead and do what she wanted. Her brothers and cousins might be giving her the runaround and hazing treatment, but they at least knew they had to keep her out of the arena.
Her father, on the other hand, didn’t believe she actually intended to go through with becoming a rodeo protection athlete. He didn’t think she had what it took to face a bull, mano a mano, so to speak, by distracting the bull to help a rider get clear after he was either bucked off or bailed willingly. Something her bullfighting cousins had been doing for years.
He didn’t think she’d do it. He didn’t think she’d go through with the rigors of the training or face the reality of the danger literally head-on.
She met the stormy blue gaze of her younger brother Alec, who’d clearly been listening after all, and waited for him to fess up to his part. She was having to do this because of him, after all.
He remained silent, and she wasn’t surprised when his attention dropped to the vacant tabletop between them. She had to admit to herself that, ultimately, this had been her decision, but he didn’t have to leave her twisting in their brothers’ scrutiny.
Caitlin rose from her seat. “Alec, come help me get some more cake.”
Alec’s gaze leapt to hers, but he didn’t move, so she rounded the table and gave a quick tug on the back of his shirt.
“Now,” she insisted in the way reserved for older siblings.
He pushed away from the table and stood up, blessedly ignoring the fact that, aside from Liam, everyone still had various amounts of cake in front of them.
Sidestepping one of the top bull riders, Josh Caldwell, and the cluster of sponsors he was holding court with, Caitlin led Alec to the long table against the side of the tent where the caterer had laid out pre-sliced pieces of chocolate and white cake on small paper plates. She pretended to struggle with the choice between the two types of cake.
“What, Caitlin?”
Without looking at her little brother, Caitlin whispered, “You know exactly what, Alec. Why aren’t you helping me?”
He turned to her. “Because you don’t have to do this, Cait.”
“Yes, I do.” She shot him a look. “You know I do. After you told Mom you were going to ride bulls—”
“That’s not what happened. It was like she knew she didn’t have long left. A day before she…she passed, she was lucid enough to ask me what I would do if I could do anything in the world—”
“And you told her you would be a champion bull rider.”
Alec straightened to his full, six-one height. At nineteen, he had his height, but he had yet to fill out. “I did. Because it’s true. I couldn’t lie to her. It’s what I’d planned to do before she was run over by that damn bull.”
“You were nine when that happened.”
“Yeah. A nine-year-old who’d dreamed of riding his grandpa’s bulls. But after what happened in the paddock…” Alec shook his head as if he had no words to convey what essentially losing his mother had done to his nine-year-old self. “No way could I put Dad and everyone else through the stress of me riding bulls after that. But she made me promise I’d go for it, that I would give it an honest shot.”
Caitlin leaned toward him to keep from being overheard and said, “Then she made me promise to do everything I could to keep you safe. The least you could do is back me up.”
Alec reared back. “She didn’t.”
Caitlin heaved a sigh at her little brother’s cluelessness. “She did, Alec. I would never make up something like that.” She glanced at the table where their family was seated. Only Ian and Liam were watching them, the suspicion on their faces plain. She turned back to the dessert table and grabbed two plates of whatever cake was closest.
Alec followed her lead and managed to balance four plates in his hands. His expression pensive, he said, “Mom loved us, Cait. Maybe getting me to go after my dream and you to face your fears was the only way she could think of to show us.”
Caitlin had nothing to say to her brother’s logic, and simply stared after him as he took the cake plates back to their family. There was no way for her to know if he was right or not.
But she did know one thing. Their dad was wrong.
She did have what it takes.
And she would keep Alec safe like she’d promised their mom, even if she had to go hunt down the help she needed.
Caitlin followed Alec back to their table, depositing the cake-filled paper plates in the center of the table as Alec had. Drew and Jack immediately reached for one, even though they’d already had a piece.
As she retook her seat, her attention was snagged by three men entering the tent through the entrance to the left of the band.
Liam saw them, too, and grumbled, “Those damn Hadleys, showing up just in time to monopolize the rodeo officials.”
A trick her grandfather had perfected over the years to secure rough stock contracts before his competition—namely the Hadleys—ever had a chance.
There had been bad blood between her family and the Hadleys for Caitlin’s entire life, though she had no idea why. The competition wasn’t simply for rodeo rough stock contracts. The boys had competed for spots on the rodeo team, for girls, for everything strapping young men vied for.
Her pulse quickening, Caitlin straightened in her chair to better see the new arrivals. While there was definitely a resemblance to Bodie Hadley in their dark hair, broad shoulders and attractive features, he wasn’t with them. But to make sure, she asked, “Which ones are those?”
Liam practically growled, “Jacob, Garrett and Ben.” He didn’t seem inclined to specify who was who. The older of the three must be Bodie’s father, with the other men being his brothers.
Definitely no Bodie. Caitlin slumped back against her chair. She’d been trying to watch all the entrances—there were four—on the chance Bodie showed up tonight. According to Amanda, he’d be breaking with his past behavior of avoiding official rodeo functions since he’d been gored and her cousin killed, but a girl could hope. Amanda had doubted he would show up. Caitlin had been crossing her fingers the entire night regardless.
But truth be told, she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to come to the party tonight or not. Now that she’d decided she would ask him for help, she was nervous about seeing him again. Especially when she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how attractive she found him, and the fact that, as far as her family was concerned, he was the enemy for simply being a Hadley.

It was nearly midnight and Bodie had been doing a hell of a good job of avoiding Kate. With every check of his bulls, someone sought him out to update him on the whereabouts of a strawberry-blond Kat, a dark blond Kim, and the undaunted Mary Jo that had offered to lighten her brown mane after word had spread he was looking for a blonde, even though he adamantly denied looking for anyone. There had been a lot of witnesses to his ham-fisted flirting this afternoon, and now he was paying the price.
The only reason he hadn’t put a fast and decisive end to the nonsense was because Old Red Rodrigues, a member of the local rodeo circuit old guard, had wandered over to the pens and made an off-hand comment about how surprised—and pleased—he was to hear Bodie had been talking to cute-as-a-bug-Caitlin before the parade today.
A warning horn louder than a thousand completed ride buzzers had gone off in Bodie’s head when he’d heard the name, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. And now he needed to figure out the answer. So here he was, still up, walking amongst the trailers behind the rodeo grounds, when he should be in bed.
Even though he told himself nothing would come of this night, he wound his way through the trailer town that sprouted up at each venue, counting on the cold high desert air to clear his head.
Who the hell was this Kate? Or was she Caitlin? And why did he have to know? Was he starting to slip toward his dangerous compulsions of acting without thinking and catering to his baser needs again? Or was he just a fool?
At the last row of trailers, campers, and motor homes, he started to wonder if he’d imagined the primitive connection he’d felt surge between him and the woman he only knew as Kate when he’d looked into those big blue eyes of hers. Or was Red right and Bodie had mistaken her name?
If he hadn’t imagined what he’d felt and couldn’t shake the connection, he knew he shouldn’t be out here right now. Definitely dangerous.
So he turned to head back to his own rig. The rodeo grounds were close enough to his family’s property that he could just go back to the ranch and his own bed, but he’d decided to bring the fifth wheel out and set up near the bull pens so he could keep an eye on Boomerang himself. That bull was mischief on cloven hooves.
Something stopped him in his tracks. It wasn’t a sound so much as a rippling in the air, a shift in the temperature toward hot. He pivoted and saw a woman emerge from between the trailers and walk away from him. She wasn’t walking like most of the women he knew, though, with unyielding denim and overly optimistic size choices.
This woman’s jeans fit her more like a well-worn glove than a girdle, and her gait was more like an athlete than a seductress, her cadence smooth and lithe. And, to him, one of ancient sexuality. It wasn’t just the straight, dark blond hair hanging down her back that made him certain she was his Kate. He refused to get metaphysical enough to wonder at how he knew, considering her last getup.
He just knew.
“Hey!” he called out, then winced at how loud, not to mention uncouth, he sounded. What the hell was he thinking?
She stopped with a start and looked over her shoulder at him, seeming to relax when clearly recognized him.
“Kate, nice night.” He tried again as he walked toward her, sounding so much more suave he thought with a mental snort.
“That it is.” She didn’t sound impressed with his choice of opener, but she did sound sexy without the rubber nose. She pointed at the spot where she’d emerged from between the trailers. “Were you following me?”
“No. I only just now saw you.” He had been looking for her, sort of, but he hadn’t been following her.
“Huh.” She looked toward the spot she’d come from. “I could have sworn someone was following me.”
“Wasn’t me.” When he reached her, he was struck not only by her looks—thank God he hadn’t merely developed the hots for clowns—but also her height. Dutch was a big horse so he hadn’t noticed how tall she was while he was in the saddle and she was on the ground. The unwanted image of all the places they would nicely fit together popped into his mind.
He had to clear his throat before he could talk again.
“I’m sorry.” He snatched his hat from his head. “I haven’t properly introduced myself. The name’s Bodie Hadley. At your service, ma’am.” Okay, he was laying it on thick, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
“You are Bodie Hadley.”
“In the flesh.” Such as it was, he thought sourly.
She gave him that little smile again, her mouth truly luscious without a clown nose overshadowing it. “You said you would be at the party tonight.”
“Did I?” He hadn’t gone near the party. No way, no how. Too many curious and pitying folks to contend with. “I sent Cabe. That kid is charm wrapped in denim.”
She nodded, not looking at all surprised. “Because you never go to those parties anymore.”
Someone had been giving her a crash course in Bodie Hadley.
A very unpleasant sensation started fluttering in the pit of his stomach. Early on, after his wreck, in the wake of Elizabeth breaking up with him, he’d encountered one too many buckle bunnies wanting to get a peek at the damage done to him by Porky Chops and then not being able to handle the reality. He’d decided to pass on repeating that experience some time ago.
“I always assumed everything I’ve heard about you was exaggerated.”
The very unpleasant sensation stopped fluttering and started stomping and kicking at his guts.
“I mean, they said you were good-looking, but you’re really…” she trailed off, waving a hand at him like he was something she couldn’t quite comprehend.
The storm going off in his innards relented that she hadn’t been referring to his scars. He grinned, inanely flattered that such a pretty woman found him attractive. “Really? What? A snappy dresser?” He straightened the collar of the crisp white shirt he’d changed into earlier, then tugged suggestively on his championship belt buckle. “A sparkling conversationalist? Speaking of which, we have a bet to settle.”
“What?”
His gaze inadvertently dropped to where her breasts were hinted at beneath her chambray shirt. His fingers started to itch to find out exactly what she was hiding.
What was wrong with him? Why now? Why this woman?
The tiny hairs at the nape of his neck stood on end, and he firmly ignored them.
He met her remarkable gaze, the blue smoky in the near darkness. Kate was definitely one he would have to warn off. He wouldn’t be able to bear the look of revulsion in her beautiful eyes. Better she think him a bastard than pity him.
He best cowboy up. “Now, about that bet…”
“Bet?”
He cocked a knee and slanted one hip toward her, his body humming to touch hers, but he ignored it the way he ignored most of his discomforts. Most. “Yes. I bet you I could find something to talk to you about for more than two minutes, remember?”
“Yeah, but—”
“What super power would you rather have?”
“Excuse me?” Her finely arched brows came together sharply, her confusion clear.
He returned his hat to his head and pulled his phone from his back pocket and checked the time. “I’m starting my two minutes now. What super power would you want?”
“Ah. Okay, we’re doing this now…” She straightened up and gripped her hands in front of her, worrying her fingers. She took a deep breath and said, “Um…time travel.”
Interesting. “I’m not sure if that’s a super power, but…I guess if you want to be Orson Welles Woman—” He shrugged as he struggled to suppress his grin.
She slumped against the trailer. “What would you pick?”
“Super strength, of course. Show those bulls who’s boss.” He tried to keep his tone light, but she already knew who he was, so he probably sounded lame.
“Speed is better than strength. It’s always better.”
He inched closer to her, closing the space between them. “Not always,” he said on an exhale, bringing his mouth closer to hers.
She lifted her face toward his, her gaze fastened on his mouth. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. Heat surged through him so hard and fast he was surprised his hat didn’t fly off his head.
She released her lip, looked him in the eye, and said, “Definitely. Sometimes slow is definitely better.”
“Mmhmm,” he agreed as she brought her full mouth within a centimeter of his, their breath blended in a hot melody.
Of course, he had been kicked in the head in recent years.
He knew she’d be infinitely kissable, and Bodie’s pulse went from pounding to roaring. She smelled sweet, like she’d been drinking cola, and he wouldn’t be able get enough of her.
Another warning bell went off in his head. Nothing could come of this. There was no point in doing this to either one of them. It was cruel to even start anything physical when he knew how the encounter would end. How his few previous amorous attempts had ended since that fateful day.
The flash of horror on his date’s face before it was replaced by something more kind, more socially acceptable like…
Pity.
He’d had more than enough pity.
He’d rather be known as an asshole than be pitied.
He started to pull away from the almost kiss when she wrapped her arms around his neck, brought her lush body tight against his, and kissed him hard. Bodie grabbed hold of her hips and did his best to extract her, fighting the sensations she was stirring as best he could.
And losing.
Because he’d lose his mind if she kept kissing him like she was, meeting the strokes and thrusts of his tongue with hers, like certain other parts of them would meet if he could go all the way with her.
But he wouldn’t.
He couldn’t.
He could have this moment with her, though, until he forced her to classify him as just another jerk in this world.
It was time to go.
Bodie pulled his mouth from hers and put some distance between them. “You’ve convinced me, Kate,” he rasped, fighting to catch his breath and maintain his control.
She went up on her toes to nibble on his ear, knocking his hat askew. “My name is actually Caitlin.”
“Oh, geez, sorry. So you are Red’s ‘cute-as-a-bug-Caitlin.’”
“Mmhmm,” she murmured, kissing her way toward his mouth. He arched his neck away from her sweet torture. If she reached his mouth again, he’d be doomed.
“Well, Caitlin, it’s been real, but I just remembered I have an equally hot babe waiting for me in my trailer.” He peeled her arms from around his neck. “And technically, she has first dibs. Sorry, but I gotta go.”
She grabbed ahold of his belt buckle and pressed her breasts into his chest. While the light from the currently occupied trailers and campers didn’t quite reach them, he swore there was an odd, almost desperate glint in her beautiful eyes.
“Come on, cowboy. I have a proposition for you. My Airstream is just a row over. What do you say?”

Caitlin couldn’t believe she’d actually had the nerve to say the words. But she needed more time with him to ask for his help. All the girls had gone on and on about what a hound dog he’d been, and how he’d agree to anything if he thought he’d get some action in return.
She could promise him all sorts of things. No one said she had to pay up.
Though that kiss…best not to add hot, intense and oh, so delectable into the equation. She needed this man’s help. And she’d rope him in one way or another.
He gently extracted himself from her. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m really flattered, but—”
She cut him off before he could send her on her way. “Please. Can we go somewhere and just talk?” Realizing Ian or one of her other family members could have been the one she’d sensed following her and would be waiting for her in their trailer, she said, “Look, forget about my trailer. But can we go somewhere and talk? Just for a few minutes?”
Bodie heaved a sigh. “All right. Come on,” he relented and gestured for her to follow him.
Shoring up her resolve, she fell into step with him. She didn’t believe for one second her brothers would do as their father said and let her train like an actual bullfighter. Liam would find a way to keep her out of the arena or, at the very least, force her to remain squatting down inside the barrelman’s barrel in the center of the rodeo ring. Relegated to the role of comic relief for the crowd and nothing more.
No, she needed to find someone outside of the Neisson family to help her.
She had no choice but to ask for help from one of the infamous Rodeo Romeos.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Feuding families, a legacy to prove and redemption…

To fulfill a deathbed promise to her mother, Caitlin Neisson must face her fear of bulls to learn how to be a rodeo bull fighter in order to protect her bull riding-wannabe youngest brother. She also needs to find him a teacher before he puts himself in danger. Too bad the best man for the job is her family’s number one enemy. He has a bad attitude and an even worse reputation. To complicate matters, he’s sexy and she begins to suspect his bad boy reputation hides a warm heart that just might melt the ice in hers.

…there’s more at stake outside the rodeo arena

Bodie Hadley was nearly killed by a bull in a rodeo arena and carries the weight of guilt for the death of another. Can he gain redemption by helping Caitlin, a member of the family his family has been feuding with for decades? Or will the weight of additional guilt crush him if he refuses her plea?

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Having never met an unhappy ending she couldn’t mentally “fix,” Leah Vale believes writing romance novels is the perfect job for her. A Pacific Northwest native with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington, she lives in Central Oregon, with a huge golden retriever who thinks he’s a lap dog. While having the chance to share her “happy endings from scratch” is a dream come true, dinner generally has to come premade from the store.
Facebook |  GoodReads |