Heather Long takes readers on a ride into her Always a Marine series. I'm ready to saddle up.
The Marine
Cowboy was inspired by the desire of my readers to have a Marine and a cowboy, but—historically
speaking—Marine cowboys have defended our country for generations. I want to
share a story with you about a man named Fraser West.
From a young
age, West worked as a cowhand. In 1936, he passed up an appointment to attend
West Point. He preferred to work with the land and his horses. But when war
loomed over the United States, West attended Marine Office Candidates School
following his graduation from University. Unfortunately, his service was
delayed after a skiing accident delayed his officer training and in 1941, he
graduated with a regular commission to the 5th Reserve Officer’s
Class.
West served in
the South Pacific, by his mid-twenties this cowboy was a veteran of the battle at
Guadalcanal. He rotated stateside and received a promotion to Captain. He soon
joined to the 3rd Marine Division and returned to the battlefield
with “George” company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment
and participated in the Bougainville campaign, a long and dedicated Allied
effort to reclaim the island from Japanese occupation.
As George
company’s commanding officer, he earned a Silver Star for his heroism and spent
several months in a hospital recovering from a bullet that shattered his left
leg. He returned to duty in 1944 and directed tank gunfire. West returned home after the war and back to
his beloved ranching. In 2003, the veteran suffered another injury when his roping
horse collapsed from a heart attack and pinned him. Despite breaking his back,
the resilient Marine recovered and returned with his unit to the island of Guam
in 2004 to cut the ribbon on the newly named Marine Corps drive.
In an interview
posted on the military.com
website, West said, “The Corps
teaches you a 'can-do' attitude. All you've got to do is keep moving. Never
retire, keep volunteering, and keep looking forward in life."
While A.J.
Turner wasn’t based on Fraser West, he could have been. Ooh-rah, Marine!
Keep up with
Heather! And be sure to drop by the Always a Marine
series page today, Heather will be chatting with readers and answering
questions!
Blurb:
Turning down a billet at Mike's Place
in Dallas, Sergeant A.J. Turner left Iraq for Freewill, Wyoming with one goal
in mind—to forget the last five years. Trading his MARPATS for jeans and his
cover for a cowboy hat, he plans to work his ranch and pray the green grass,
tall trees, and sweet mountains can wash away the taste of the desert.
The last thing he expected was a
reminder of a promise made to his buddies: one night to help them all start
again.
Sheri Vaughn quit her corporate job,
sold her house and moved to Freewill on a whim. Six months after her divorce,
she's hardly ready to put her toe in the dating waters again. One bottle of
wine later, however, she signs up for Madame Eve's exclusive 1Night Stand
service and lists a very particular set of qualities she wants in a man; he
must be honorable, courageous, forthright, single, have served as Marine, but be
a cowboy at heart. If she wants to dream, at least she can dream big.
But when local hero A.J. Turner arrives
home, Madame Eve comes through, and Sheri has to find the courage to make her
dream a reality…
Can one night, even a night arranged by
Madame Eve, fulfill both a promise and a dream?
Read on for a juicy excerpt. I so want a Marine Cowboy.
Excerpt
Holy hell in a
hand basket. Her gaze tracked the rugged
stranger as he left the café and crossed the street. The jeans he wore hadn’t
been spray painted on, but they definitely gave her a great visual of hard
muscle and male confidence. He walked like he owned the town, but without any
hint of pretentious air. That was a man who belonged in Freewill. She didn’t
know who he was. She thought after six months she’d met most of the locals, but
she would have remembered him.
“A.J. Turner.” Bea poured fresh coffee into her cup, heating
it up.
Sheri spent nearly every morning at the café reading before
she walked one block down to open the library. Trading her job as a corporate
executive at a Fortune 500 company to be a small-town librarian didn’t suggest
upward trajectory, but the town of Freewill healed that broken empty place
inside left by her ex-husband’s series of affairs.
“The war hero?” She blinked and glanced back at the window,
but he’d already disappeared.
“One and the same. Boy hasn’t been home since he left and
didn’t tell anyone he was coming back either.” Bea clucked her tongue and wrote
out the check. The café preferred the old pen and paper method, and since Sheri
ate fruit and drank coffee every morning, the price was always the same.
“What branch did he serve in again?” Curious, she glanced at
the waitress. Bea had been born, married, gave birth to her children, and
buried her husband in Freewill. The town fixture wasn’t going anywhere. She
also took Sheri under her wing from the day she arrived, treating her like an
old friend—or a daughter.
“Marines, honey. That young man is definitely one of
Freewill’s proudest.” She winked and went back to work.
A Marine.
A tremor raced over her and her stomach seemed to bottom out.
The message waiting in her email that morning from Madame
Eve made so much more sense. Biting her lip, she strained to look down the
street. She wished she’d paid closer attention to him when he walked in, but
she only got one good glimpse at his face when he turned and caught her
staring.
Her cheeks heated at the memory. He’d caught her attention
the moment he entered the café. She hadn’t missed the corded muscle in his
arms, tense and well defined even as he drank a cup of coffee. The man was
gorgeous and wore his masculinity like a second skin.
But his smile.
Her heart squeezed. The polite smile creasing his rugged
face transformed him from handsome to a full-blown heartthrob. Her body hummed
in reaction. To a smile.
Wow.
He just got home, Sheri. Dial down the hormones.
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