Texas Lightning by Caroline Clemmons #MFRWauthor #AHAgrp

Happy Monday everyone!  Today I have Caroline Clemmons on my blog. Before we get to her book, Texas Lightning, let's hear something that happened to her as a teenager.

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​Today I’d like to share something that happened to me as a teenager. A version ended up in my book HOME SWEET TEXAS HOME. Actually, this happened to my mom but I was in the car. This was before everyone had a cell phone.
West Texas appears flat, but is riddled with ravines, canyons, and low places. The low places—or playas—become shallow lakes in wet weather. My mom and I had gone south from Lubbock to visit my mom’s siblings.
After spending time with my aunt, we headed the two miles away to visit my mom’s brother. Mom decided she’d take a short cut on an unpaved road but soon realized it required going through muddy water. She was afraid to back up so she slowed the car to a crawl. In the middle of the playa, the car stopped.
We had no idea what to do. My uncle’s house was visible in the distance. Though shallow, the playa was deep enough that if we opened the car door muddy water would pour inside the car. Soon we saw him approach in his pickup truck. He hooked a chain to our car and pulled us from the muck, but that meant he got wet and muddy.
He teased Mom she should have known to speed up so she had momentum to get through the playa. She said that didn’t matter—she would never drive on that road again. At the time, it was frightening, but later became funny.

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LOL, bet you guys had a lot of laughs about that. Tell us about Texas Lightning!

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How can two people from different eras own the same ranch?
Penelope Jane Terry knows everything about ranching in spite of being a lone woman. She is determined to send to jail the rustlers who believe they can steal what is hers… until she is caught spying on their dirty works and must ride for her life. What Penny doesn’t count on is being hurtled over a 120 years into the future.
Jake Knight believes the attractive woman who stumbled into his home one rainy evening either has amnesia or is certifiably insane. Unless, that is, she is in league with whoever is trying to drive him out of business. Someone is trying to force him to sell his ranch by staging a string of damaging incidents. Jake’s been kept so busy making repairs that he can’t run his ranch. Even if he were stupid enough to wish to sell, the ranch is so firmly entailed that no one can break the conditions.
Jake gradually learns Penny is who she claims, no matter that time travel is supposed to be impossible. They’re locked into a clash that it seems only one of them can win. If an outsider weren’t trying to kill Jake as well as bankrupt him, perhaps he and Penny might be able to reach an agreement. But, there is that treasure….
 
TEXAS LIGHTNING Excerpt:
 
She should have gone around to the back door, but she couldn’t walk another step. Weariness and sore muscles overwhelmed her and she wanted nothing more than to shuck out of her wet things and lie in her nice bed—if she could summon the energy to walk upstairs. She heard footsteps approaching and raised one foot. Eyes closed, she leaned back against the stairs.
“Had me a passel of trouble, Jake. Help me get these danged boots off, would you? Then I’ll tell you all about it.” A dog’s cold nose pressed against her cheek. She jumped and pushed her hair out of her eyes. A black and white dog stared at her. “Who are you?”
“His name’s Rascal.” An unfamiliar baritone said, “He’s mine.”
She looked up.
Whoa! The man who faced her wasn’t Jake. In spite of her wariness, her mouth dropped open in awe. Instead of her arthritic middle-aged cook, this man was young and tall and definitely fit. And handsome. Unbelievably, mesmerizingly handsome.
He might be as comely as a fairy tale prince, but the regal disapproval on his face appeared anything but friendly.
Energized by fear, she jumped to her feet and grabbed her rifle. “Who the heck are you?”
He crossed his arms and ignored the Winchester pointed at his middle. His dark hair glistened in light that seemed too bright. Dark blue eyes had tiny creases at the corners, as if he laughed a lot.
He sure wasn’t laughing now.
“I might ask you the same question. And what are you doing tracking in mud and dripping water all over my foyer?”
“Your foyer? This is my house, and it’s been my house since my daddy and I built it six years ago. Don’t you think for one minute I’ll let you steal my home.”
 The dog growled, the fur of his ruff bristling.
The man snapped his fingers. “Quiet, Rascal.”
Who was this man? He didn’t look the type but maybe he was one of the men stealing her cattle. Could he and his dog have been waiting for her? She gripped the rifle with all her strength. Why hadn’t Jake shown up to help her?
Oh, no, had they killed Jake?
He glared at her. “Lady, I don’t know who you are, but this is my house, get it? I grew up here. My daddy grew up here. My granddaddy grew up here.”
Penny’s knees trembled, but she fought fear to appear strong. “Don’t try and trick me. The Double T ranch was started by my granddaddy in 1836. No con man is going to steal it from the Terry family, and you can take that to the bank.”
“The Terry family hasn’t owned this since Penelope Terry died in 1896. Knights have owned it since then.” He threw up his hands. “Hell, why am I arguing with a crazy woman?”
“Crazy?” She was about to light into him when the first part of his statement hit her. “Hey, what do you mean, I died? I’m as alive as you, whoever you are.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I see you’re alive. I said Penelope Terry died. Are you hard of hearing as well as nuts?”
Increasing fear spiraled inside Penny, knotting her stomach. How could this man think her dead? What kind of trick was he working? Had she been conked out long enough that Jake sent men out to look for her and they decided she’d died?
Forcing herself to appear calm when she shook inside, Penny stood erect. “I’m Penelope Jane Terry and you can see I’m very much alive…”
 
TEXAS LIGHTNING Buy Links:
USA http://a.co/8DRmNbs
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Texas-Lightning-Time-Travel/dp/1986339459/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521667698&sr=8-3&keywords=Caroline+Clemmons
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/138-9010344-2686736?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Caroline+Clemmon

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Intriguing! Can't wait to read the book!  Thanks for sharing, Caroline. Let's see what we can find out about her.

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Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To make up for this tragic error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest.
Click on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there.
Follow her on BookBub.
Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter here to receive a FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you?
She loves to hear from readers at caroline@carolineclemmons.com

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Thank you so much, Caroline, for stopping by my blog today and sharing your stories. I hope you have great success with the book!

If you're visiting, please leave us a comment that you've stopped by. We love to hear from our readers!

Thanks
Connie

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