It's Up! Bowen's Battle Available Now!

Finally!! I didn't make the amazing cover I tried to make-- the software I had kept glitching, and I can't afford to buy a gorgeous cover, but I did the best I could!

Y'all remember Bowen and his men, Chiz and Dare?

Well, their story has been edited (oh my hell, was it edited!) but there are no substantial changes. Right now, the book is available at Smashwords, but will be up on Amazon ASAP. After 2-4 weeks, depending on sales, I'll be removing it from everywhere else so I can put it on KU, which will mean it will then only be available there. Y'all know KU's rules.

Anyway! Link, cover, blurb, excerpt!

Please repost and share anywhere you can, thank you <3

Bowen's Battle

Blurb:

Bowen's used to a solitary life. As a wolf shifter, he feels isolated from regular people, but he's also an introvert who is content to stay on his ranch. The occasional hook-up in town is about as adventurous as he gets. And he doesn't often play with the same man twice. Chiz is the only exception to that rule. 
Chiz has some rules of his own when it comes to men. He doesn't want to let anyone too close. The problem is, he's always had a soft spot for Bowen. 
One night in the men's room at the bar will change things for Bowen and Chiz. 
Bowen sees that there's so much more to Chiz than he ever suspected. It's impossible for him to think of Chiz as a means to an end after that. 
Chiz stops hiding behind his, 'yeah I'm easy' persona and lets Bowen in, and not in the usual way. 
Then Dare, a burly, angry man barges in on them, and something unexpected happens-- a connection is born between the three men, though none of them realize it at first. 
Dare comes from the wrong side of the tracks, and his family thinks serving time in prison is a right of passage. He's not really interested in living up-- or down-- to the family name. He's spent years hiding his true self from them, and one moment of freedom, one decision to take a chance and do something crazy, ends up changing his world forever. 
Three men, one of them a shifter unaware of his powers, an accidental bite, and an uprising of an enemy pack-- Bowen, Chiz, and Dare are in for the battle of their lives.



Excerpt:

Narrowly avoiding damage to his family jewels, he didn’t manage to dodge a hard slug to the ribs. Gasping, Bowen put his weight behind elbowing his opponent in the gut before using an uppercut to finally take the fucker out. 

“That was easy.” Chiz was standing, hands on his slender hips, tapping one foot. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” He was still trying to wrap his head around Chiz kicking some serious ass. 

Chiz gestured at the downed man by Bowen. “Wasn’t sure if you’d need help with him.”

Bowen almost laughed at that. He’d held back a lot of his strength since he didn’t want to end up in prison for murder. 

Chiz scowled at him. “I can take care of myself. I’m not some delicate flower.”

“Yeah, I get that. The proof is on the floor, unconscious. Maybe we should leave before these fuckwits regain consciousness?” Bowen suggested. His knuckles burned, the skin raw and abraded. He wasn’t concerned because it’d be healed up in no time at all. 

“Probably.” Chiz wrinkled his nose as he glanced at the men. “Ugh. I hope they aren’t thinking they’ll be regulars here.” He canted his head and grinned at Bowen. “And I didn’t get to come. I’m pretty sure you’re not a psycho-serial killer, so, um. If you want to go back to my place, we could do that.”

Bowen started to say no out of habit. He didn’t often go back to anyone’s place for sex. This was different, what with the threats and fight. He and Chiz needed to get out of there. 

“Come on.” Bowen took Chiz by the elbow. 

“Not a delicate flower,” Chiz muttered, but he didn’t pull away. 

“Nah, you kicked ass. What were you doing?” Bowen asked as he glanced at the downed men. 

“Fighting,” Chiz replied. “Duh.” 

Bowen cut him a narrow look. “Anyone ever spanked you?”

“I refuse to answer that,” Chiz drawled, “On account of I’d have to explain where the bodies were, hypothetically, of course.”

Wednesday sneak peek--

First, thank you all for the kindness you've extended to me and my family. **huggz**

This week is going by quickly! I've been working on Cherri's book, all royalties of which will go to help cover the unpaid medical costs they garnered before Peyton was sent to St. Jude's. I'm also working on a short story follow-up to the Torq short I had out, How the Mighty Have Fallen. If any of y'all read that, you might remember Larry in there, the man who goaded Hadrian to make a play for the dom of his dreams. Larry doesn't allow sex in his scenes, and he has his reasons, but the right dom just might fulfill all his needs.

Back to Cherri's story, which will be the first in a series titled Wild Ones, and the book itself is Deadly Prey. It was only supposed to be about 30k, but it's looking to be between 40-50.

I mentioned this before-- its about coywolf shifters, and you can read up on coywolves here:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes/coywolves-emerge-as-super-predators?src=SOC&dom=fb

Here's a bit of rough cut from it, unedited of course.

Wild Ones
Deadly Prey

Copyright 2015
Bailey Bradford

Chapter One

Jack Tucker watched his brother retrieve the rifle from the gun cabinet. “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 the office. 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 had 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 Tylenol 3’s 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. 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 hear 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.