Cougar Falls, Montana, is a magical place. The first time I wrote about it, I just knew I’d like to live there. A small town where folks take care of one another, where the sheriff upholds the law, the ice cream parlour has been up and running for decades, and seasonal town festivals celebrate goodwill. Except the only way to live in the town is to be born there. And to be born there, you need to be rather special. An Ac-taw—shapeshifter—or at least the descendant of one.
In Cougar Falls, there’s the catamount pride, the wolf clan, bear clan, raptor clan, and silver fox clan. And I’m sure there are a few other shifters who’ll show up from time to time. But if you’re not part of a clan or pride, you can’t live in Cougar Falls. The community’s safety comes first, and the town has been in place for hundreds of years because town folks subscribe to town law.
I wrote Rachel’s Totem, about a woman who visits Cougar Falls when her aunt dies and learns she’s got Ac-taw blood and a heavy responsibility to the town. I wanted to write something different for a cat shifter anthology, and Cougar Falls was born.
Then I wrote In Plain Sight, about the raptor clan, birds of prey with their own 
rules. A character from Rachel’s Totem never sat well with me, and I thought that maybe I’d misunderstood her, as had other members of the close-knit community. And so Sarah, a woman done wrong, finds her place and a deep and abiding love with her own golden eagle shifter.
In September, Foxy Lady will release from Samhain. The town sheriff finally tracks down the woman who’s eluded him for years. Julia, a canny silver fox, can’t outrun her heart any longer. And dangerous circumstances prove there’s nothing better than a silver fox when it comes to outwitting an enemy.
Here’s a blurb and an excerpt from Foxy Lady. Enjoy!
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Sheriff Ty Roderick likes order, but Julia Easton is one vixen that turns his well-ordered life upside down. She’s cool, contained, and unshakable. Until one night she makes him an offer he hates to, but must, refuse. Now the one woman he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him the time of day. And then she vanishes. When he learns she’s in danger, he rushes to help and finds more than he bargained for.
Julia took a huge chance and fell flat on her face, rejected. Trying to save her younger sister from the same fate is giving her fits. The man Meghan’s engaged to isn’t a shapeshifter, he’s human, his family likes to hunt, and his bully of an older brother is fixated on Julia. When Ty comes to the rescue, Julia plans to use him and lose him. But Ty isn’t going anywhere. Instead, he gives her the answer she wanted the first time she asked, if she can only find the courage to accept it.
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Ty Roderick didn’t know whether to beat Julia or kiss her senseless. Just seeing her again aroused him in a way he was hard pressed to explain. Her scent, the feel of her smooth skin under his hands, her soft kiss, all of it made him want to throw her down on the nearest bed and take her until he couldn’t move. He wanted to tie her to him and make her admit she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Because he sure as hell couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Hearing that Neanderthal claim Julia as his had nearly ended the man’s life. It had taken a lot of discipline to remain still. And Ty didn’t like that loss of control. As town sheriff, he came into contact with conflict on a daily basis. He had a reputation as calm and collected. So why did Julia Easton tie him in knots?
At least the woman looked nervous. As well she should.
“Well? I’m waiting,” he said in a quiet voice, pleased when Julia and Gabby jumped.
The three sisters were exceptionally popular in the clan, as well as in the town itself. Meghan being the youngest, no one had balked when she’d left town for college on the outside. Still, this Jason business would need some explaining.
Everyone liked Gabby, the most outgoing and genial of the three. She had a tawny complexion that suited her dark red hair, and a curvy frame where Meghan and Julia were leaner.
Slender, sexy, and beautiful. Julia made him ache. She made him want to beg. He huffed. A Roderick didn’t beg. Hell, at home he rejected offers left and right. But not from Julia, not until the sly vixen had propositioned him, drunk as a skunk. Now how the hell could he say yes to that and not have her hate him in the morning?
Meghan was the first to answer him. “Ty, uh, I’m, well…”
“Get on with it, Meghan.” She really was cute. A younger version of Julia.
“The brat thinks she’s in love,” Julia said, her words laced with disgust. Her gaze met his before it skittered back to her sister.
“I am in love,” Meghan retorted. “Just because you’re turning into the neighborhood cat lady is no reason to be jealous I’ve found someone special.”
Ty coughed to smother a laugh. “Cat lady?”
“You know, the old lady with no life who lives with like thirty cats for company.”
“We like cats,” Gabby defended, shooting Meghan a look that surprised Ty. She seemed genuinely annoyed.
Meghan flushed. “I’m just saying Julia blames me for having a sex life.”
“I so did not need to hear that,” Ty muttered.
Julia’s eyes sparkled and her scent grew richer. In a fury, the little spitfire turned him hard in a heartbeat. He casually crossed the room to stand behind an oversized chair to hide his erection. Talk about embarrassing, not to mention irritating. The vixen made him crazy like no one could.
“Okay, you want to talk about your sex life? Fine. Are you using birth control? Does Jason know what can happen when you go into heat? Is he prepared to help rear your litter?” Julia sneered.
Fascinated, Ty watched the family interplay. He’d never seen Julia so impassioned. Normally, she did her job with calm precision and couldn’t be described as anything other than cool. But with Meghan, she acted like a virtual firecracker. A sultry redhead with a temper to boot. God, he wanted her.
Meghan stared from Julia to Ty and back, her cheeks scarlet. “I am not going to talk about this in front of Ty.”
Thank God.
She continued. “I’m going to call Jason to come get me.” Tears filled her eyes. “He’s the only one that understands me. The only one who cares!” She sobbed and fled the room.
Everyone stared at the slammed door in silence.
After a moment, he asked, “You sure she didn’t major in drama?”
Julia’s lips curved.
Gabby choked on a laugh. “I’ll go talk to her. You deal with him,” she said to Julia, a knowing look in her eyes that made Julia blush. Gabby joined Meghan in the bedroom, leaving Julia and Ty alone together.
“Now it’s just you and me, honey. Where should we start?”
Julia gnawed on her lower lip, and he wanted to kiss the sting away. She turned her direct amber-eyed gaze on him. “Why are you here?”
“You’re welcome for saving you, by the way. Or would you rather I stepped aside, so you and Ned can head down the aisle?” he asked dryly.
“Please. I can handle Ned.”
“Oh?”
“Granted, he’s an ass. But I know how to handle the type.” The look she gave him heated his blood to boiling.
“I raced nearly two hundred miles on no sleep and shitty gas station food. I left the raptors in a frenzy, ready to rip out Sarah Duncan’s feathers one by one. The bears are at the throats of the gray wolves again, and half our clan is in favor of instituting a new mating policy, whereby the silver foxes will soon have arranged marriages. I left all that behind to save you from hunters.”
“Hunters?” Julia blinked in confusion. “Rip out Sarah’s feathers? Is she okay?”
He spoke through gritted teeth. “The Whitefeathers and Gerald have it all under control. Sarah’s the one who told me you were having trouble with hunters.”
“What do the Whitefeathers have to do with this?”
“Julia, focus, would you? Why would Sarah think you were dealing with Hunters?” Hunters lived to kill Ac-taw. Certain outsiders knew the shapeshifters existed, and a group of them always seemed prepared to annihilate any and all Shifters they could find. The thought of Julia being hunted down and killed had nearly stopped his heart before he’d managed to bear down and concentrate on finding her.
“Hunters? Where would she get that idea?” Her expression cleared. “Oh. Right. The last time we spoke I mentioned Jason’s family’s disgusting hobby of mounting dead things in their homes. She might have gotten the wrong impression.”
“I’m not sure she did. Ned Williams seems pretty threatening.” And he likes you way too much for my liking.
“He is, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.” Now she sounded like the competent legal assistant he knew her to be. Sexy, unruffled, self-contained. “I’m sorry if you rushed out here on our behalf, but we’re fine.”
“Oh, right. I can see that. Some asshole just shot all of our tires. Your sister is involved with an outsider the clan knows nothing about, and you’re getting married to Ned No-Neck Williams.”
Julia pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t say were weren’t having some problems, but it’s a family matter. Not your concern, Ty.”
He liked her saying his name. He’d like it a whole lot better if she’d cry it out as her body clenched around his in orgasm. “Oh, but it is my concern. Meghan’s in some serious trouble. And it doesn’t seem like she’s going to drop this Jason anytime soon.”
“I know.” Julia sighed. “But we’ll handle it.”
“Yes, we will.” Ty made a sudden decision. Maybe he could fix a few issues at once. He had no transportation at the moment. Considering the “long line of Williamses” in Nowhere, he’d venture a guess he’d have a hard time finding spare tires for his truck in town.
Time to match wits with a sexy, conniving adversary. Satisfaction flooded him at thoughts of tangling with Julia again. He really had missed her.
“What does ‘we will’ mean?” Suspicion made her voice husky.
“It means I’m here to fix a few things. But first thing’s first.” He took a step closer, pleased when she licked her lips, nervous.
“Ty—”
He said what he should have answered the first time she’d asked, four weeks ago. “Yes, Julia. Yes, I’ll take you home and make love to you until neither of us can walk.”
He kissed her before she could close her pretty mouth.
I hope you enjoyed reading the excerpt!
Marie
www.marieharte.com
I’m an addict, and I freely admit it. I love romance. Books, movies, life. The thought of two people (or more) falling in love just makes my whole world feel right. Romance is my favorite genre to read because I’m guaranteed a happy ending. And that guarantee feels vital to my sanity and survival as a romance author.
I'm not a patient person. So it's a wonder I chose a career in which I have to wait a while to hear back from editors, agents, publishers, you name it. Recently, I've been trying to purchase a house. And once again, I'm waiting on word. So that got me thinking. What career might you have in which you don't wait for anything? Being a doctor? You wait on permissions for procedures, right? Or a lawyer? You wait on rulings and hearings. A policeman? More waiting on bureacracy.
Fast forward to the unveiling of the Nook. It had color at the bottom of the screen. 
Christmas is just three short days away, counting today of course. Tradition is one of those things that rears its head during the holiday season. I’m always intrigued by why we do what we do, and I thought I’d share a little of that today.
Well, it’s finally here. The release day for Foxy Lady. I love Cougar Falls, a slice of small town America where shapeshifters live and breathe—where Sheriff Ty Roderick keeps order but can’t keep his mind off Julia Easton, a silver fox who’s been giving him the cold shoulder lately.
Cougar Falls, Montana. A place where the folks are friendly, funny, and sometimes furry. Shapeshifters abound, and humans steer clear thanks to a magical totem that protects the town from outsiders. Millie’s has the best ice cream for miles, the town sheriff is as wily as a fox, and the mayor is a real cougar when it comes to younger men—when she’s not on four feet howling at the moon.
Would you pick up a book with this picture as the cover? I would. That blue and well, yes, that hot bod and tattoo would urge me to take a closer look. 
The summer schedule always throws off my writing schedule. Heck, it throws off my life. I must now devote myself to my children 24/7, as opposed to dropping them off at school. The little monsters, er, buggers, must be constantly entertained or they get creative, and not in a good way. I have boys, so “creative” often devolves into “destructive.” By nature I’m a lazy person and I’ve always worked best under deadlines, guidelines, and rules. So now I must find ways to instill self-discipline if I want my house to remain intact and finish the darned book I committed to write by early July. If you’re like me and need help “organizing” thought, here’s a glimpse of my life as I try to make do.
In a choice between fight or flight, love makes the final decision.
