As we count down to Valentines Day, this blog hop is a little different. I’m sharing the love and surprising a few of my author friends by giving them the gift of your Facebook Likes and Twitter Follows. In exchange, each one you Follow/Like will be a bonus entry for you to win my prize, an advanced digital ARC of THROWN. And for those of you who aren’t on FB or Twitter, you still get to enter. All you need is an email address to do so. And as an additional thanks, I’ve posted an all new excerpt from THROWN at the end of this post.

The Fine Print: Contest ends 11:59 PM ET Feb. 14, 2014. PromoSimple will generate a winner from the entrants. I will email the winner of my prize, an eARC of my May 20th release THROWN, as well as post their name here on Feb 15th.

THE WINNER IS FROGGY! SHE HAS BEEN CONTACT BY EMAIL.

THROWN (Studs in Spurs, Book 6) by Cat Johnson

This ain’t their first rodeo…but there are a lot of other firsts they can experience together

Skeeter Anderson was born to ride bulls. He bypassed college to shoot straight to the top of the elite pro tour, but lately all he can seem to do is hit the dirt.Unwilling to admit his career might be over at twenty-one, Skeeter brainstorms a bull-riding boot camp with his buddies, which will put him closer to a girl who’s caught his eye—a stock contractor’s daughter called Riley.

Riley Davis lives and breathes bulls. Since her mother’s death, she’s been her father’s business partner as well as the apple of his eye—until a coronary rips him out of her life. Now, at nineteen, she must find a way to hang onto the family business. When Skeeter hears about Riley’s dad, he drives straight to Mississippi to lend her a hand, his buddies hot on his heels. Suddenly Riley has more help than she can shake a stick at, and an attraction to Skeeter that’s heating up by the minute…

Warning: Contains cowboy yoga, cowboys in love, and a romance that hits so hard and fast, it makes being thrown from a bull look like a friendly game of hopscotch.

EXCERPT from THROWN (rated G)

10 Years Ago

Glen walked over with the bull rope that had fallen off the bull right after Skeeter had. He looped it over the rail and shook his head. “Damned if he don’t remind me of you, Coop.”

“Oh, really?” Cooper cocked a brow.

“Yup. You get that same look in your eye after a ride.” The man grinned.

As Glen walked away in the direction of the barn, Cooper’s gaze shot to Skeeter. “If that’s true, then God help you, boy. You’re bound to have a tough life ahead of you.”

Skeeter could handle it. His life hadn’t been a piece of cake so far anyway. But the life of a professional bull rider like Cooper? He was ready for whatever that threw at him.

The sound of gravel crunching on the driveway caught Skeeter’s attention. He turned to see his mother’s car inch its way toward the ring. He hardly held himself in check so he didn’t go running toward her. The only thing preventing him was that he didn’t want to act like a little kid in front of Cooper.

She seemed to take an eternity to park and then walk toward him. She stepped carefully through the dust and the sparse grass. Her waitress uniform looked so out of place next to the practice pen it might have made Skeeter laugh if he hadn’t been so excited, but his mom didn’t seem to notice or care that she didn’t fit in here dressed like that.

Cooper must have noticed her uniform though. He was staring at her as she made her way from the parked car to the ring.

Skeeter jumped to explain. “My mom works at the diner weeknights after her shift at the hospital is over. She works there on Saturdays too. That’s why she’s wearing that uniform.”

“That’s a lot of work for one lady.” Cooper shot Skeeter a sideways look. “What’s your daddy do for a living?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t live around here.”

After a second, Cooper nodded. His gaze shifted, moving to Skeeter’s mom and then back to Skeeter. “There ain’t nothing wrong with having two jobs and working hard, son. Except I suppose it doesn’t leave her much time for herself, now does it?”

“Sure, it does. She has Sunday mornings off. We go to church and then she and the ladies there have coffee and cookies together while the kids go play outside.”

Cooper nodded again, but by then Skeeter’s mother was close enough he could tell her about his ride. “Mom! Cooper said I did great and I can ride again tomorrow.”

She raised one brow. “Is that so? And it’s proper to call him Mr. Holbrook.”
Cooper grinned. “That’s fine, ma’am. Cooper works for me.”
“As long as it’s all right with you.” His mother didn’t smile even though Cooper was smiling at her. In fact, she looked a little sad as she looked at Skeeter. “But I’m not sure about another lesson so soon.”

No! She couldn’t say that.

“I need to keep practicing if I’m gonna get good.” When she pressed her lips together in a move Skeeter had seen many times, his heart sank. She was going to say no. It was no use, but he had to try anyway. “Please.”

She drew in a slow breath.
“Ma’am. If I might step in here for a second?”
Finally letting out that big breath, she glanced at Cooper. “Sure.”
“I could use someone to help me out here. If you dropped him off for a few hours a couple of days a week, he could do a little work around the place and then I could get him on a few bulls. It would only be when I’m around, of course. I do a lot of traveling, but if I’m here, he’s welcome.”

She bit her lower lip before she nodded. “That would be real nice of you, Mr. Holbrook.”

“Nah, he’d be doing me the favor helping out. And it’s Cooper, remember?”

“All right. Thank you.” A small smile tipped up her lips and Skeeter’s heart began to pound. He was going to get to work and ride with Cooper, almost like they were partners. That was even better than just taking lessons.

“It’s my pleasure, ma’am.”

She swiped one hand across her eyes and then turned to Skeeter. “Come on. We’ve got to go. I need to get a load of laundry in so my uniform’s clean for work. You need to thank Mr. Hol—Cooper.”

PREORDER: AMAZON KINDLE