Meet Kellen Brand from Cowboy Watch by Petie McCarty #characterinterview #romanticsuspense #paranormalsuspense #newrelease #ku
- N. N. Light
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Hello! I’m Kellen Brand, newest resident of Riverside, West Virginia, a place I thought I’d never see again and was terribly glad for it. You see I grew up in Riverside or at least until I was ten years old. My father died when I was young, and my mother tried to make a go of the farm without him, but times were beyond tough, and the three of us, my brother Joey included, barely scraped by and by that I mean not starving. My years here held lots of harsh memories, but it was those memories that made me who I am, someone who worked harder, worked longer, and learned to be self-sufficient and dependent on no one. I had been taught to count on no one, at least until recently. Then things changed. Everything changed.
What is your greatest fear?
No having enough food or any food. Hunger was a large part of my youth, hunger so powerful it can keep you awake at night. And I never want to feel that way again. So, my cupboards are always stocked. Full as I can make them.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Feeling like I’m not good enough. Even now as an adult I constantly fight to prove myself at everything I try, though I don’t always need to. My brother and I were the poorest kids in Riverside and with the most tattered clothes and “used” everything, we were a target for the other kids to make fun of us. Me especially, because I let them see my anger and upset. I was never good enough for them and not good enough for my stepfather either who eventually took us to live with him. He had other older children and didn’t really want anymore. Joey and I were obligations.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Nice business clothes, suits, and especially shoes. Growing up, someone else had worn all my clothes and shoes before I had them. To have new anything was a dream come true for me. I had an overwhelming drive to be as good as everyone else.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
As a child, I wanted my own knight in shining armor. Most young girls did. But I really needed one. Only once, after my father died, did a man try to help us and my mother thought he was one of her Watchers—fallen angels seeking redemption by helping people like us. I didn’t believe her of course. Now I’m not so sure. What I would look for in a man today would be a man that will let me be myself, my self-sufficient, independent self.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To be able to trust more easily. To expect others to be nice to me and not the other way around.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I’m one of the best banking consultants in all of Manhattan, but that’s because I work longer and harder than all the others. Of course, that comes with not having much fun and probably not being much fun, sad to say.
Where would you most like to live?
I used to think anywhere by Riverside and now I’m not so sure. There are some wonderful people with big hearts who live here, one in particular that I can’t seem to get out of my mind.
What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty, compassion and kindness—you’re lucky to find friends with all three.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Well, there is a particularly handsome and annoying man right here in Riverside who has saved my life at least twice and extricated me from several other dangerous situations. So, either I am a magnet for getting into trouble, or he is a real-life hero for always knowing where to be when I need him most.
What is your motto?
Never give up on your dreams.
Check out Kellen and the rest of the characters in Cowboy Watch…
Title Cowboy Watch
Author Petie McCarty
Genre Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Suspense
Book Blurb
Book 1 of The Watchers Series: Fallen Angels seeking redemption get one last chance to complete their bodyguard mission…
Someone—or something—wants Kellen out of town . . .
Kellen Brand’s inheritance comes as a monumental shock—a rundown farm in West Virginia she doesn’t want and one paroled Watcher all her own. Kellen’s eccentric mother believed Watchers to be fallen angels seeking penance by guarding individuals who had lost their way. Seriously? A Watcher?
Only her mother . . .
Since Kellen vows no sane woman would choose to live in Riverside, she’s on a mission to dump the old farm fast and to the first buyer who comes along. Unfortunately for her, the only buyer is a resort developer, spurned by a townful of objectors and one handsome cowboy—her neighbor, Luke Thornton. Luke must block Kellen’s farm sale or risk exposure of his own family’s secrets. He can ill afford his immediate and compelling attraction to his new neighbor.
Someone is watching Kellen, but not who she thinks. Someone deadly and intent on scaring her out of town. Or worse. Luke has a hellish choice to make—step in and rescue Kellen from her threats, or to protect his family, stand by and watch . . .
Excerpt
Without warning, a gunshot sounded, and the bullet ricocheted off a tree about twenty feet away. The Appaloosa jerked hard at the sound of the shot and then reared, ripping the reins from Kellen’s grasp. She grabbed the saddle horn with both hands and concentrated only on staying in the saddle before the horse tumbled her off. The frightened Appaloosa reared a second time and bolted for open ground, leaving Kellen to hang on for dear life.
Two leaping strides and Lily had surged to a full-on gallop, streaking for the wide open grassy hills. Thundering hooves sounded behind them, and Luke shouted for Kellen to stop. She was helpless, too scared to even glance back at him for fear her grip would loosen. The reins trailed beneath the Appaloosa’s pounding hooves as the mare continued her panicked race to nowhere. If the mare’s hooves got tangled up in the dragging reins, they would both go down.
A fallen tree appeared directly in the mare’s path, and Kellen let loose a scream as the sure-footed horse gamely cleared the tree trunk like a thoroughbred jumper. Kellen slipped to the right side of the saddle when the Appaloosa landed, and they raced on across the open field. One leg still straddled the saddle, and her other leg dangled precariously between the matched pairs of pounding hooves. She heaved her leg up as tight as she could to the mare’s belly and prayed it didn’t get tangled with Lily’s legs, but her muscles weakened with every stride and bounce she sustained. And still, the Appaloosa galloped, sheer adrenaline keeping the mare out in front of the mighty Windsor, intent on catching her.
Bred for endurance, the mare focused on putting as much distance between her and that gunshot as possible. Her powerful hooves hammered across the open pasture. Kellen’s arm and leg muscles burned, and she didn’t know how much longer she could maintain her balance. If she slipped off the mare, she would be trampled to death the second she hit the ground.
As that thought flashed through her brain, Lily hit a gully and waggled her stride enough to send Kellen further off-kilter. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure of her death grip on the saddle horn, and her legs had nothing left to give. She prayed that if she slipped further, she could muster hidden strength to push off and roll away from the deadly hooves.
The mare careened toward a small copse of trees perched on the side of a hill, and a fresh wave of terror slammed through Kellen. Low-hanging limbs would tear her from the horse. Suddenly, Luke appeared alongside. His long arm snaked around her waist and yanked her off the panicked Appaloosa. He slowed Windsor with each stride until he could bring the stallion to a stop and gently lower Kellen to the ground. Her legs gave way the second her feet touched solid ground, and she crumpled to the grass in a heap.
Before she could suck in a full breath, two strong arms lifted her, and Luke crushed her tight to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding out its cadence, as Windsor’s hooves had done moments before. A single sob erupted when she tried to draw a breath, and she clung to him with what little strength she had left. Her muscles quivered, and she didn’t care. For once in her life, she didn’t want to be tough. She just wanted this big, strong man to hold on tight.
Long moments passed. Her legs grew steady. Luke eased back, and a cold wave of disappointment rushed over her. He took her face in his hands and gently brushed his lips against hers, as though asking permission. Whether it was her close call with death or the way Luke had looked when he said her mother was wonderful—Kellen didn’t know and didn’t care—she gave up trying to resist this man and threw her arms around his neck, pressed her lips to his. His muscles flexed hard and pressed her tight against him. His fingers threaded into her curls and then closed into a fist to hold tight as his mouth covered hers.
She grew lightheaded with wild sensations all rolling into a sensual overload, and yet he kissed her as though he would never stop. His mouth tasted and searched hers, first gently and then passionately and then gently yet again, keeping her off-balance. This sometimes-frightening, sometimes-charismatic man seduced desires from deep within her soul, where she kept them under lock and key. She knew she should pull away, but she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. She felt his muscles flex beneath her hands, and fresh waves of giddying hunger rifled up her spine.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
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Author Biography
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said goodbye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time.
These days, Petie spends her time writing new Cinderella series tales, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones to go along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy, who will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Book 2 of The Watchers series, Christmas Watch.
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