The Songbird Is Now Available

 By Kristy McCaffrey

It's release day!! I had such fun revisiting Matt and Molly from THE WREN along with writing my first western in a good long while. I hope you'll join me in seeing what they've been up to.

This novella finds Matt and Molly 15 years after THE WREN, and Molly's past with the Comanche is about to catch up with her. This story includes other couples from the Wings of the West series, and you'll meet the daughters of the second generation. (Soon to star in their own novels.)

"It was so great to come back ... to read more of this series … can't wait for more." ~ Goodreads Reviewer

“Love, adventure, mystery and thriller all rolled into one.” ~ Goodreads Reviewer

"The themes of past trauma, hope, redemption, and teamwork were prevalent throughout ... I highly recommend this!" ~ Amazon Reviewer

Excerpt

Matt entered the restaurant and hung his hat on a peg, Nathan and Bill Harner behind him. When he spotted Molly sitting with Emma, he made his way to the table and leaned down to kiss Molly’s cheek.

“I want you to meet someone.” Stepping aside, he said, “This is Bill Harner.”

Surprise crossed Molly’s face. “You were at the corral today with the horse with the colorful noseband.”

Bill nodded. “That was me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“Bill was a Texas Ranger,” Matt said, taking a chair beside his wife. “We ran into him this morning and invited him to supper. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all.”

Once the men were seated, a waitress took everyone’s orders.

“Were you all in the same company together?” Emma asked Bill, indicating her husband, Nathan, and Matt.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Matt almost smiled at Harner’s formality, since he wasn’t much older than either Molly or Emma. “You were the youngster the year Nathan and I left,” he said.

“It’s really nice to see you again, sir,” Bill said. “I’d heard that you’d been rescued after Cerillo captured you. I guess I wasn’t surprised you didn’t return to duty after that.”

“It was Nathan who got me out,” Matt said, trying to gloss over that memory.

“I’m glad you survived, sir.”

“You can call me Matt.” He’d said as much earlier, but it had apparently not taken.

The waitress brought drinks for everyone. Bill nodded and smiled and took a large gulp of water.

Matt glanced at his wife, taking in her peaked appearance. It was subtle, but he knew Molly better than anyone. Leaning close, he said in a low voice, “Are you all right?” He worried she might be coming down with something. She hadn’t been sleeping well since they’d arrived in Denton two days ago, and even before that she’d been plagued with bad dreams of her Comanche family for the last few months.

Just as he didn’t much care to discuss his capture and incarceration of several months by Augusto Cerillo, a Mexican outlaw, Molly generally didn’t speak of the trauma of her childhood, which had included the murder of her folks. He still had the occasional bad dream. Is that what Molly was dealing with? Was she having flashbacks to what had happened to her when she was young? Did it have anything to do with their own children? Eli was fourteen now, Katie twelve, and Josie was eleven. Molly had been nine when she’d been taken, so their children were a bit older, but still, it was hard to fathom how she had coped.

But she surprised him with a broad smile that instantly transformed her into the beauty he’d been blessed to share his life with these past fifteen years. There was no doubt he would be lost without her.

“I’m fine,” she replied, and clasped his hand in a reassuring squeeze. She turned her attention to Bill. “Mister Harner, how did you come by that noseband on the horse you were showing?”

“My wife made it.”

“Who was that boy with you?”

Bill seemed a bit taken back. “Well, that was my son.”

“Is he ….” Molly’s voice trailed off.

“Is he what?” Matt asked, his brows furrowing. Molly’s behavior was confusing him.

She appeared a bit chagrined and took a sip of her lemonade before saying, “When I was a child, I lived with the Comanche for many years. Your son … he has the look of them. Is your wife also of the People?”

Bill had gone silent, his face pinched and shuttered. Matt didn’t know what to say. Molly rarely confronted others in such a way.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly added, “My apologies. It’s just … when I saw your horse, it took me back to that time.”

Bill cleared his throat. “Mrs. Ryan, I had no idea you were taken as a child. That must’ve been a trying experience.”

“Yes.”

Available in eBook and paperback.

Amazon US: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdAmazonUS

Amazon UK: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdAmazonUK

Amazon CA: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdAmazonCA

Amazon AU: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdAmazonAU

Amazon DE (English version): https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdDEenglishversion

Nook: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdNook

Apple Books: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdAppleBooks

Kobo: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdKobo

Google Play: https://kmccaffrey.com/SongbirdGooglePlay

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Songbird-Wings-West-Kristy-McCaffrey/dp/1952801176/

The Wren is now available in Italian

 

By Kristy McCaffrey

I'm pleased to share that THE WREN can now be read in Italian.

LO SCRICCIOLO
Ali del West: Libro Uno

Texas del Nord
1877

Sono passati dieci anni dal giorno dell’attacco al ranch in cui i suoi genitori furono assassinati e lei rapita. Adesso diciannovenne, Molly Hart torna finalmente a casa nel Texas del Nord dopo aver trascorso il resto dell’infanzia con una tribù di Comanche Quahadi. Ad attenderla ci sono una dimora deserta in balìa della polvere e del tempo, nonché l’agghiacciante scoperta del proprio tumulo e la presenza di un uomo che pensava non avrebbe mai più rivisto.

 

Un vento smanioso spinge Matt Ryan verso le rovine fatiscenti del ranch degli Hart. Guarito di recente, dopo una prigionia che lo aveva quasi ucciso, non prova ormai che un briciolo della brama di verità e giustizia di un tempo. Dieci anni di devoto servizio all’esercito degli Stati Uniti e ai Texas Rangers, in cerca dei responsabili del feroce assassinio di una bambina, non sono serviti a niente se non a scoprire che la rassegnazione non sarebbe mai arrivata. Diretto verso il posto in cui tutto ebbe inizio, s’imbatte con sorpresa in una donna dagli stessi occhi azzurri della piccola che non riesce a dimenticare.

 Disponibile in formato eBook e cartaceo.

 Acquista Ora

In arrivo

The Origins of Backgammon

By Kristy McCaffrey

Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games and can be traced back 5000 years to archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). The Royal Game of Ur from 2600 BC may be an ancestor of today’s version of backgammon. Today the game is still popular in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and throughout the Arab world.

Backgammon involves a combination of strategy and luck (from rolling dice) and is played by two people. Playing pieces are usually called checkers, but also draughts, stones, men, counters, pawns, discs, pips, chips, or nips. The objective for each player is to remove, or bear off, all of their checkers from the board before their opponent can do the same.

 

Each side of the board has a track of 12 long triangles, called points. Play commences in a horseshoe path with players moving checkers to their home board. Once all checkers are collected, then they can be removed depending on the roll of the dice.

There are many variants to the game as well as the optional use of a doubling cube. 

The United States Backgammon Federation (USBGF) was organized in 2009 to help popularize the game in the U.S.

In my book ANCIENT WINDS, Brynn and Tristan play a game of backgammon in the Bolivian jungle.

Excerpt

Brynn couldn’t sleep and found Tristan sitting by a small fire near the main building. With elbows on knees, he was hunched forward, his gaze intent on the flames as shadows ebbed and flowed across the angles of his face. He sported a few days’ growth of whiskers and his dark hair was curling along the collar of his shirt. The wilderness was slowly consuming them, making them wild in the process, or maybe it was simply the jungle stripping away societal barriers and laying them bare. Brynn suspected, however, that Magee had never paid much attention to such niceties.

“Communing with aliens?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others who might be nearby. Tristan had been right—privacy was in short supply. 

The glint in Tristan’s gaze conveyed annoyed amusement. And maybe something else. The tug in her belly was immediate, and she all but lifted her nose to catch his scent. For a moment she let herself revel in everything male that was Magee: muscle, strength, and possibly the biggest aphrodisiac for her—irreverence. 

He motioned for her to sit as he said, “Well, if you consider talking to Dimar interacting with something not of this world, then the answer is yes.”

She took a seat, leaving the one between them empty. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in the jungle,” he said. 

“Is that a sleeping aid?” she asked as he took a sip from his canteen. 

He replaced the lid. “Nah. Just water. Can you play backgammon, Galloway?”

“Yes. I used to play with my grandfather.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared, and then returned with a mini version of the game. He unfolded the board and proceeded to set it up on the empty chair between them.

“Why backgammon?” she asked, helping him organize the pieces in the glow of the firelight.

“It was my dad’s favorite. Did you know it’s one of the oldest known board games?”

“I do. They’ve found evidence of it in Mesopotamia. Maybe it was a gift from their alien benefactors.”

“The dice were made from human bones, so no alien intervention likely.”

“You do know your artifacts.”

“I try.” He handed her a die, his hand brushing hers. “Need a refresher on the rules?”

“Nope, I’m good,” she replied, pretending his touch hadn’t left a burn mark.

Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC

You can learn more about Ancient Winds, a contemporary romantic adventure, at my website.

  

Valentine Anthology Coming Soon

By Kristy McCaffrey

I'm excited to be included in an upcoming Valentine anthology featuring a collection of contemporary romance short stories.

Love...what a tricky and powerful feeling.

In this anthology, seven authors are ready to make you swoon over their steamy stories. Are you ready to fall in love?

This anthology includes stories by:

B Crowhurst, Sarah Peis, L.A. Remenicky, Amy Stephens, Kristy McCaffrey, Diana Dawn, and Pandora Snow

WITH EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART is now on pre-order for only 99 cents. (The anthology will be wide for one month and then available in Kindle Unlimited.)

Release Date: February 8, 2022

Buy Links are here.

Add it to your TBR shelf on Goodreads.

My story will be tied to my Pathway series and features great white sharks off the remote Chatham Islands in New Zealand.

SHARK REEF

A Contemporary Adventure Romance Short Story 

Dr. Gabe O’Grady has had it bad for Jen Fairfield since the moment they were introduced, but she had a boyfriend at the time, so Gabe stayed in the friend zone. When he learns she’s about to spend three weeks in the remote Chatham Islands off New Zealand tagging great white sharks with a notoriously sketchy filmmaker, Gabe inserts himself into the project to protect her. But her indifference confounds him.

After ending her previous stalled relationship, Dr. Jen Fairfield is blindsided by her true feelings for Gabe O’Grady. After a night out with girlfriends and buoyed by their support, she makes her move with a very forward voicemail after a few drinks. But when O’Grady ghosts her for two months, Jen buries her hurt, certain she’ll never see him again. Then he shows up on her expedition …

When Gabe learns Jen is single, he knows he can’t let a chance with her slide by. But first he must rekindle the friendship that she seems determined to walk away from. He also needs to keep her safe from one of the most dangerous predators on earth.