It’s a pleasure to tell
you about the recent release of ONCE IN A BLUE
MOON by USA Today bestselling author Sharon Sala.
With this new release,
Sharon brings you back to Blessings, Georgia, to visit with old friends and
find new ones.
How often do you find a
love like this?
Cathy Terry is tired of
running. Full of fear and hope, she backpacked across the country to Blessings,
Georgia, not knowing if or when her abusive ex-husband would catch up to her.
In Blessings she glimpses a safe haven and the closest
feeling to home she’s had in a long time—even more so when she meets Duke
Talbot. The sweet, strong, and handsome rancher provides a shoulder to lean on.
The stakes get higher as
the community embraces her and her relationship with Duke deepens—but can Cathy
claim a new home and family before her past claims her?
An
excerpt for your reading pleasure
Duke loved this time of
year. The leaves on the trees were as varied and colorful as the old patchwork
quilts they’d slept under as children. And the sky today was a clear, cloudless
blue—the same color as Cathy’s eyes.
The cows saw him driving
across the pasture and looked up, hoping to see he was slowing down, which
meant they would get fed. But when he kept driving, some moved beneath a small
stand of shade trees, while others moved to the feeders with the big, round
bales.
Duke had put up the
cameras within a couple of hundred yards’ radius and facing the direction where
the rustlers had come in before.
He walked a few yards into
the trees to pick up the first cam and took it down. Out of curiosity, he
stopped and rewound it to watch some of the footage and grinned at the view
he’d caught of the backside of a boar raccoon waddling through the woods. He
fast-forwarded through the minutes with nothing, then watched the footage of
two black squirrels foraging on the ground.
There was more to be seen,
but he could watch it at home if he wanted, so he packed it up, then started
walking through the trees to the next location, where he retrieved the cam and
put it in his backpack before moving on to the last.
As Duke approached the
tree where he’d mounted it, he noticed a lot of paw prints in the area. They
were from either dogs or coyotes, and if there was a pack of dogs running in
the area, he wanted to play the tape back to see.
He was all the way on
yesterday’s footage before he saw the coyote, and then it turned to face the
camera. Duke gasped, watching as the coyote started staggering toward the
camera, its head down, swinging slightly from side to side and foaming at the
mouth. At that point he groaned, then stopped the camera.
The hair stood up on the
back of his neck as he looked around at where he was standing. He’d only seen
an animal with rabies maybe twice in his life, but the coyote he caught on the
trail cam exhibited all of the symptoms.
They had to find it and
put it down before it spread the disease to other animals. Something like that
could easily become an epidemic. He needed to get home and call the county
wildlife department and then notify the neighbors.
Duke drove home as fast as
he could, then ran into the house carrying the cameras. He dumped them on the
kitchen table and headed for the office. He had a friend who used to work for
the county wildlife department and would know what to do and who to call.
He sat down without
bothering to take off his jacket, found the number on an old business card, and
made the call, then waited for someone to answer. This was the last number he’d
had for Will, and he hoped it was still good.
And then the call was
answered.
“Wildlife Animal Control,
this is Carol.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m trying to
locate a ranger by the name of Will Polson. Does he still work there?”
“Yes, who’s calling
please?”
“Tell him it’s Duke
Talbot.”
Duke was put on hold,
giving him time to put his cell phone on speaker. And then he heard a familiar
voice and smiled.
“Well, hello, Duke Talbot!
How the heck are you? Are you still out on the family farm?”
“Hi, Will. We’re doing
good here, and yes, I’m still here. Listen, we have a problem out here. We had
some trouble with cattle rustlers on the farm, so I put up some trail cams in
the area, hoping if they came back I’d catch them. But they recently got
themselves arrested. Today I went to take down the cameras and had quite a
shock when I saw what was on the last one. It was a very obviously rabid
coyote, and the last thing we need to have happen is to let this disease
spread. There are a lot of farms around here, and people with kids and pets who
roam the hills and creeks, not to mention the other wildlife that could get
infected.”
“Oh man, this isn’t good.
We haven’t had to deal with a rabies case in months,” Will said. “What were the
date and time when you caught it on film?”
“Yesterday about this time
of day,” Duke said.
“There’s no telling where
it is by now, but I’ll get a crew together and head your way. You might notify
as many neighbors as you can about the problem. Tell them to keep their dogs up
until we find it. You said you’re still on the family farm?”
“Yes. Do you need an
address?”
“Nope. I still remember
how to get there. Can we drive up to the area?” he asked.
“Yes. To a point, and then
the trees will be too dense. It will all be on foot from there.”
***
Excerpted
from Once
in a Blue Moon by Sharon Sala. © 2020 by
Sharon Sala. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON is available to purchase
at the following sites:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cQJg8B
Apple: https://apple.co/36i3YMe
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2ZTSiwx
Bookshop: https://bit.ly/2WNiZTb
Meet
the Author
 |
| Author Sharon Sala |
She is an eight-time RITA
finalist, five-time Career Achievement winner from RT Book Reviews, and
five-time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award.
Writing changed her life,
her world, and her fate. She lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
For more on Sharon and her
writing, you can connect with her at https://www.facebook.com/sharonkaysala/
Thanks so much for
stopping by today. Be sure to enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy
of Sharon’s book. If the widget doesn’t work you can click HERE to also be
directed to the giveaway.
Doesn’t this sound like a delightful story that will tug at your heartstrings?
Doesn’t this sound like a delightful story that will tug at your heartstrings?
