Nicholas (The Circle Eight) by Emma Lang-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

Nicholas
The Circle Eight #5
by Emma Lang
Genre: Western, romance,
Release Date: February 12, 2014

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About the book:  Release Date February 12, 2014

Even in the darkest of shadows, love can light the way.

Nicholas Graham is caught in the middle: of his family, of his desires, of his own unhappiness. After he meets Winnie Watson, his self-imposed curmudgeonly existence pales in comparison to spending time with her. He wants to be with her, to get to know her. She is a beacon to all the secret cravings he has controlled. Until now.

Winnie Watson endured, and survived, a horrendous childhood that would give others nightmares. She started over, a new name, a new goal in life. Then she met the Grahams and everything went sideways. She’s done the unthinkable and struggles to accept it. She wants to forget it all again, but the specter of Nicholas Graham, physical and in her dreams, won’t let her move on.

Caught between their needs, their wants, and what the world will allow them, Nick and Winnie are doomed from the moment they met. However, love will teach them that even the biggest obstacles can be overcome if you believe in love.

•••••••••••••••••••••

This is book five in The Circle Eight series by Emma Lang. I’ve never read any of Ms. Lang’s books before, but I can see I’m missing out on some wonderful wild west adventures filled with sinfully swoon worthy cowboys. Even though this book is a short but fast paced read, Ms. Lang packs it full of detail and back story so I never once felt I was missing pieces to a puzzle.

We quickly learn that Nicholas and Winnie have already crossed paths in the previous book. Nicholas lives with his 7 siblings at their Circle 8 Ranch, while Winnie runs a boarding house in Houston. We also learn that he wound up saving her life in the previous book. Thanks to all the backstory, we see how this leads us up to this point in both their lives. Both characters are feeling lost, alone and carry a darkness in them that they can’t seem to banish without the other. Somehow over their short time together previously, they formed a bond, and discovered they are whole as long as they have the other in their lives, but can they find a way to be together, and does the other person feel the same way? As Winnie and Nicholas embark on a journey to find her daughter she had given up at birth, they find that love does indeed conquer all and both will fight with everything they have to be together and form a family neither thought they’d ever have one day.

Like I said earlier on this is a fast paced read, but never once did I find I was confused or missing pieces to the story. The story is well written, with a solidly developed plot that’s easy to follow, and a cast of characters that are well developed and easy to like. The men are strong and capable, and want nothing more then to protect what’s theirs and love their women. These men are your typical gun- slinging cowboys who don’t allow anyone or anything to threaten their own. Love of family, unity and loyalty is seen throughout the book and is showcased in every interaction between the Graham siblings. I especially enjoyed the sibling interactions where they poke fun at each other, but through it all they love one another unconditionally and will always have each other’s backs. These comical scenes were well placed and timed in my opinion and balanced nicely with the seriousness of the plot that involved Nicholas, Winnie and her daughter. Now I just wish I had been reading this series from the beginning. Guess I’ll have to find the time to so.

Until next time, happy reading everyone

Copy supplied by the author

Reviewed by Marcie

Just like that Nicholas was there in front of her. All the breath whooshed from her body and her face heated. She felt like a twelve-year-old girl and not a twenty-five-year-old woman.He was incredibly handsome with thick, dark wavy hair and those blue-green eyes like Elizabeth. His jaw was set, seemingly carved of granite. He stood with his legs apart, arms crossed and hat down toward his eyes. Dangerous. Unfriendly. A shiver ran up her spine despite the warm summer day.Beside him were three other men, two were obviously kin with the same eyes and build. The other had hair as dark as pitch and the coldest blue eyes she’d ever seen. The four of them were a wall of muscle and guns.

“Montgomery. Who’s your friend?” One of the other men spoke to Vaughn.Vaughn squeezed her arm.

“This is Miss Winifred Watson. She is a friend of mine and Ellie’s. Benjy and Nicholas also know her.”

The men’s gazes cut to Nicholas, who hadn’t moved so much as an eyelash.

“That true, Nick? You know her?” The same man spoke, and she came to the conclusion he must be the eldest, Matthew. After a few moments of excruciating silence, during which Winnie’s cheeks heated, he finally nodded. It wasn’t as if she came armed and threatened the family. She was a wedding guest. This type of greeting was unacceptable even in impolite society.

“I am also able to speak for myself. Elizabeth and Vaughn invited me to the wedding. I’m unaware there was an inquisition involved to attend.” Her sharp words made three of the men smile.

“She reminds me of Aurora.” The second brother spoke.

“And Hannah when she gets a bee in her bonnet.”

“Damn sure is tart like Liv, too.” This from the dark one.

“We’re pleased you could come, Miss Watson. I’m Matt Graham and this is my brother Caleb and brother-in-law Brody Armstrong.” Matt tipped his hat. “I’m sure Ellie will be happy to see you. The women folk are in the house. Why don’t you take her there, Montgomery?”

“I’d be happy—”

“No.” Nicholas finally spoke.

“Pardon me?” Vaughn’s tone told her he was near his breaking point with his new family. They were tough men—she didn’t blame him. If she hadn’t been dealing with men her entire life who were harder, darker and more evil, she might have been intimidated.

“You go near that house, and the women are gonna shoot you.” Nick unfolded his arms. “I’ll take her.”

What’s so good about being the guy in the White Hat?

As a western romance writer, I have all sorts of heroes in hats, the cowboy kind that is. Not all of them are honorable men though. *gasp* Yes, it’s true, sometimes my heroes don’t where the white hat.

I am very much the kind of writer who tries to stay true to real life. I’ve had heroines who are homeless, disabled, bitchy and even scarred physically. I’ve had heroes who are drunks, suffer from PTSD, or missing a limb. Yes, the book is an escape from reality but in order to identify with the hero/heroine, I feel like they have to feel real to me, and consequently, to the reader.

So my heroes can also be bad guys, who find their way to a good place with the love of a heroine. I’ve had heroes who are truly badasses, men you would not want courting your daughter.

The first was Hermano, who made an appearance in my first book, The Bounty. In the first scene, Hermano was torturing the hero, Tyler Calhoun, to give him information. Nice guy, eh? He pops up throughout the book, and the next, The Prize, dancing in the shadows in the periphery.

Hermano kept whispering in my ear while I slept, telling me he needed his own story, por favor. I couldn’t resist the pull of such a dark, sexy man, one who valued loyalty but would kill in a blink if need be.

Thus, my third book, The Reward, became Hermano’s story. He was Malcolm Ross y Zarza, a half-scottish, half-mexican man with a past of his own, one that thrust him into the role of a bandito.

He’s unapologetic for his actions and his choices – one of the things I love about him. He’s real, y’know?

The second hero with a gun and a dark soul is also from the Malloy family books, Kincaid. Oh, Kincaid, how I love thee. He first appeared in book five, The Gift, as a man hired to kill the heroine, Adelaide. Somewhere along the way he became friends with Brett Malloy, the most reticent and quietest of the brothers. So when Brett’s story, The Tribute, was published, Kincaid played a major role. He found a friend in Brett that he’d not found before. At the end of The Tribute, Kincaid disappears only to resurface in his own book, Hell for Leather.

A man who survived a wickedly awful childhood, Kincaid tries to start over, to emulate the man he wants to be like his friend Brett. He finds a place to be, and a new name, Cade Brody, and tries to keep his dark past buried beneath the roots of a pine tree. It takes a strong woman, Sabrina, to force him to confront that blackness and find the love he deserves.

My third serious badass hero is Grady Wolfe from Ruthless Heart, my first book published as Emma Lang. Grady is the penultimate bad guy – who will take any and all jobs for money. He’d been an assassin since he was fifteen, darkest of dark. It takes a scientific, brainy heroine like Eliza Hunter to smash through the castle of hell he lives in, and find the man he could be.

Onto the Circle Eight… Brody Armstrong first appeared in the Circle Eight: Matthew as the investigator for the crimes committed against the Graham family. Black hair, ice blue eyes and an attitude to match, Brody was a mysterious force who needed to return for his own story, The Circle Eight: Brody. He wears a black hat and is hard as the land he protects. Fortunately for him, Olivia Graham is just as tough and stubborn as Brody. Clash of the Titans, y’all. 🙂

And now back to the Malloys – they lure me back in, don’t they? My newest release is THE PROSPECT. Not only is Declan Callahan a badass, he’s an enforcer for an Irish gang. He isn’t the darkest of men, but he lives in the shadows of all the things he’s done for money, including kidnapping Francesca Chastain who becomes John Malloy’s wife in THE FORTUNE. Her sister Josephine gets trapped with Declan through a series of circumstances. Declan wrestles with the chains that keep his soul trapped and his heart, which has fallen in love with Jo.

He tries his damnedest to forget his past, but it hangs on his back. While Jo tries to make him see all their future can be, he drags around those damn chains. It’s only when he loses everything he has, again, that he recognizes he has been reborn, and a second chance awaits him with Jo.

Who doesn’t like a dark, tortured hero? Each of these men personified what I want to see happen to all badass men, redemption. I find the bad heroes are the ones who steal my heart, especially those in the black hat riding a horse. 😉

~~Emma Lang~~

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Beth Williamson, who also writes as Emma Lang, is an award-winning, bestselling author of both historical and contemporary romances. Her books range from sensual to scorching hot. She is a Career Achievement Award Nominee in Erotic Romance by Romantic Times Magazine, in both 2009 and 2010.

Beth has always been a dreamer, never able to escape her imagination. It led her to the craft of writing romance novels. She’s passionate about purple, books, and her family. She has a weakness for shoes and purses, as well as bookstores. Her path in life has taken several right turns, but she’s been with the man of her dreams for more than 20 years.

Beth works full-time and writes romance novels evening, weekends, early mornings and whenever there is a break in the madness. She is compassionate, funny, a bit reserved at times, tenacious and a little quirky. Her cowboys and western romances speak of a bygone era, bringing her readers to an age where men were honest, hard and packing heat. For a change of pace, she also dives into some smokin’ hot contemporaries, bringing you heat, romance and snappy dialogue.

Life might be chaotic, as life usually is, but Beth always keeps a smile on her face, a song in her heart, and a cowboy on her mind. 😉

Emma is offering an ecopy of NICHOLAS (The Circle Eight) #5 to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

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