Get ready…get set…READ…
This book was
written as a fundraiser for Peyton Hollingsworth, a family friend of Bailey's
who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Destined Prey
Bailey Bradford
Series: Wild Ones, book one
Release date: December 18, 2015 (available
for early download on December 14 from Rainbow Ninja Press)
About Peyton:
Peyton is a funny, loving, 11-year old boy
who loves playing outside, riding go-carts, and Batman. In April, we found out
he had cancer. Peyton has asthma, and often had to have nebulizer treatments,
so when he was having trouble breathing, his doctor thought it was asthma. But
nothing worked to ease his breathing, and the doctor sent Peyton to the
hospital for a suspected collapsed lung.
From one day to the next, it went from us
thinking he had a severe bout of asthma to finding out that he had a tumor
pressing his lung up until it was almost completely obscured, and he couldn’t
get much, if any, air into it.
Peyton was sent to St. Jude’s and diagnosed
with Ewing’s Sarcoma. The mass was attached to one rib, and was spreading. He
has undergone radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy, several transfusions and
MRI’s, numerous tests and received numerous shots. It’s been a rough, rough
time for the Hollingsworth family, and we are hoping to help them out.
While St. Jude’s doesn’t charge for
treatment, the Hollingsworth family has accumulated medical bills from Peyton’s
doctor and hospitalization before he was sent to St. Jude’s. Cherri, his
mother, has been unable to work during this time, and the financial constraints
are something they could really use help overcoming.
We are currently awaiting another MRI to be
scheduled and done to see if all the cancer has been eradicated. We are hopeful
and have faith that Peyton will be in remission and the cancer will not have
spread or reoccur.
If you'd like to
help, a Go Fund Me campaign has been set up. Thank you for your thoughts
and prayers and donations.
Blurb:
Destined Prey
All Jack Tucker wanted was to come home for
a little while and try to figure out where his life had gone wrong. Moving from
Wyoming to New York hadn’t turned out the way he’d thought it would, and a bad
breakup leaves him bruised in more than just the emotional sense.
He doesn’t expect to be glad he’s back on
the Double T Ranch with his brother, Rhett, and he sure doesn’t expect to find
the place crawling with coywolves, wolves, and coyotes. There seems to be some
kind of animal-warfare going on, and he and Rhett are caught in the middle of
it.
Coywolves—the hybrid of wolves and coyotes,
hated by both, and more predatory than either. Add in the fact that all the
battling species are shifters, and there’s bound to be trouble.
Ben Akers is part of his brother’s pack. The
only coywolf shifters in existence, they find themselves under constant attack
from wolf and coyote packs determined to make the Akers pack extinct. But
coywolves don’t die out so easy, and when Ben’s life takes a surprising turn in
the form of one sexy human named Jack Tucker, they’re both in for surprises,
danger, and, if Destiny rules, an abiding love that most people—and
shifters—only dream of.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M
Romance
43,000 words
Publisher: Rainbow Ninja Press
A day in the life of Ben the coywolf:
Ben is a coywolf shifter. He is also a mechanic. On a typical
day, he’d get up, shower, have breakfast while bickering with his siblings,
then he’d go to work. Business has been slower than he’d like, but it’s not too
bad. Getting his hands greasy and taking an engine apart is his idea of a good
time at work.
Ben’s to-do list:
- Survive breakfast
and don’t give in to the impulse to
smack a sib.
- Order the parts for
the old Mustang I’m restoring.
- Finish the oil
changes and tire rotations scheduled, then have fun with the ‘Tang.
- Stop by the grocers,
glare at Gregg. He is not getting my man. Pick up a double chocolate cake from
the bakery there for Jack, and his favorite ice cream.
- Go home and fight
off the siblings trying to eat Jack’s cake and ice cream.
- Shower at Jack’s
instead.
- This one is rated x.
Sorry, folks.
Excerpt:
Jack Tucker watched his brother retrieve the
rifle from the gun cabinet in the office. “Um. Rhett? What’re you doing?”
Rhett didn’t even glance back at him as he
loaded the gun. “What does it look like I’m doing? You been living in the city
so long you forgot how a Wyoming rancher lives?” Then he did look
over his shoulder at Jack, and Jack kind of wished he hadn’t.
He hated seeing that judgment in his
brother’s eyes, and knowing he’d never be good enough for Rhett, never be the
man his brother was. “No,” Jack mumbled, “I didn’t forget.”
Rhett sighed and turned until he faced Jack.
“Look, that was uncalled for. I’m… I’m sorry, okay?”
Jack was so startled by the apology that he
gulped and couldn’t think of a word to say.
Rhett grimaced. “Yeah. Well, okay. Gotta
check on some tracks Eddie said he found leading from his property to ours.
I’ll be back in a few hours.” He left, striding from the room without seeming
to hesitate.
Jack groaned and closed his eyes. Of course
Rhett didn’t hesitate—he never had. Rhett always knew what to do, and how to do
it, and who he was, and that he was right… Except, he apologized to me,
and it screwed my head right up.
“Worse than it already is,” he muttered.
Jack couldn’t stop himself from touching his left side, where his bruised ribs
throbbed as the pain meds wore off. He was lucky, very lucky, that Rhett hadn’t
pushed him on the accident that had sent Jack running home from New
York, and possibly into the unemployment line. His boss hadn’t been happy with
Jack taking off, even with a medical note as an excuse. Jack hadn’t told Rhett
much about any of that. As far as Rhett knew, Jack had fallen down some icy
steps, and that was all he was going to ever know about the incident.
Jack replayed his brother’s apology in his
head and somehow it mingled in with Alex’s. Cold fear trickled down Jack’s
spine and his gut cramped hard enough to make him worry about the dinner he’d
just eaten.
After several minutes of trying to calm
himself down, Jack stood and left. He’d wanted to sit and talk with Rhett about
finances and try to decide if he should offer to let Rhett buy him out. Jack
wasn’t made to be a rancher. He wasn’t made to be a New Yorker, either.
Jack didn’t know what he was supposed to do
in life, and at the age of twenty-seven, he kind of thought he should have an
inkling.
His cell phone was ringing when he stepped
into his bedroom. Without looking, he knew it was Alex calling. “Who else would
it be?” he huffed. It wasn’t like he had any friends left.
Rather than check to see how many times Alex
had called and how many texts he’d sent, Jack turned the phone off, then stuck
it in the nightstand. He eased himself onto the bed, then took a couple of
prescription pain meds and washed them down with the rest of the water he’d
brought in earlier.
The glass was old and familiar, and he felt
a pang of regret as he looked it over after he set it down. Green glass,
nothing special about it, yet he remembered so much as he stared.
He could see his mom in the kitchen, fixing
a pitcher of tea, talking to him, and listening as he told her about his day at
school or the chores he’d had to do around the ranch. She’d always been so kind
and understanding, Jack had to believe she’d have been okay with him being gay.
He’d spent many afternoons in the kitchen, helping her prepare meals or just
basking in her presence. Losing her had almost broken him.
For a few more minutes, he let his mind go
back to happy childhood days. His dad wasn’t in nearly as many of those good
memories, but Chauncey Tucker hadn’t been a bad man. His dad had been more like
Rhett—stoic, focused on the ranch and less on the people around him.
Jack ran one finger around the rim of the
glass. He was surprised, really, that there were any of the old things left.
The sound of gunshot startled him so badly
he jerked and nearly sent the glass flying.
“Shit!” He winced as he pushed it back, then
stood as quickly as he could manage.
Another shot rang out, then a third, and
fear quickly overtook every other sensation he’d felt until then.
Rhett had always been an ace shot. If he’d
had to use three bullets, then there was something bad outside—a bear or a
whole pack of wolves.
Jack didn’t like guns, but he went and got
one from the gun cabinet anyway. He loaded it as he walked to the front door,
and hoped like hell Rhett wasn’t hurt.
As soon as he stepped outside, the fine
hairs at his nape seemed to stand up and vibrate, like some kind of primitive
survival instinct warning alert system. Jack froze, his back to the door as his
heart slammed hard against his ribs.
Another shot sounded, and it jolted Jack
into action. “Rhett! Rhett!” He rushed down the steps and toward the direction
the shots had come from. “Rhett! Are you okay?”
When Rhett didn’t immediately answer, Jack
ran, careless with the gun, aware of that but unable to make himself do
anything other than find his brother as soon as possible.
“Rhett!” He stumbled over something on the
ground and almost fell before he managed to flail enough to keep himself
upright.
Pain tore down his injured side, but he
ignored it as he called out for his brother yet again. He cursed himself for
not thinking to grab a flashlight. The sky was overcast and there was no
moonlight to assist him in his search, and once he was past the barns there was
no light coming from the house or other structures, either.
Jack realized that the cattle in the closest
field were making enough noise to drown out his voice or Rhett’s, making it
impossible for them to hear each other.
The sounds of the gunshots must have scared
the cattle. Jack worried about a stampede, but he’d never seen any of the
critters take out a fence, so he dismissed the idea.
“Rhett!” His throat burned as he hollered
again.
Lightning streaked across the sky, blinding
Jack for a moment, then thunder followed and he couldn’t contain his startled
yelp as his ears rang from the sound.
Or his shriek when six pairs of glowing
yellow eyes appeared between him and the fence line.
“Shit!” Jack skidded to a halt and hoped he
could steady his hands, and force himself to do what he had to do.
Buy the book – remember
all proceeds and royalties go to Peyton’s medical bills!
It’s all about the author…
A few things about me…
I am a married mom of four who spends most
of the day writing, either on stories or at the blog. I love to write as much
as I love to read. I am generally quiet and laid back, choosing to let things
slide off me rather than stick and irritate me.
And it’s really hard trying to think of
descriptives for myself, so I’ll just let y’all e-mail me or comment at the
blog if there’s something specific you’d like to know, and spare you from
reading a boring bio.
…and stalking them :)
And here comes the
Rafflecopter…
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