Review, Author Spotlight and Giveaway ~~~Texas Rebels: Egan (Texas Rebels #1) by Linda Warren~~~

 Art teacher, Rachel Hollister returns home to Horseshoe, Texas after twelve years away and finds herself in a bit of a bind after taking a wrong turn. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Rachel is lost and now her rental car breaks down as well. Just when she begins to worry a tall, dark and handsome cowboy comes to her rescue.

Egan Rebel just can't leave the beauty to her own defenses, even when he discovers she's the daughter of the judge who sentenced him to jail time in his youth. When terror strikes and Rachel is attacked by dogs belonging to feuding family head, Izzy McCray, Egan wastes no time is saving Rachel's from a fatal end. On Rebel property, but out of cell phone range, Egan and Rachel make do at a barely used cabin where Egan can do his best to tend to Rachel's injuries. Becoming acquainted while staying safe, Rachel sees Egan as much more than her savior but Egan wants no attachments to the obvious distraction named Rachel.

Once rescued confusion ensues when Judge Hollister seeks to jail Egan once again for the apparent kidnapping of Rachel, who can't refute those claims since she was brought to the hospital unconscious. So until she regains consciousness, Egan must remain in jail, a place he never wanted to be again. Both Rachel and Egan have issues from their pasts that they must overcome in order to move on. Rachel's feelings for Egan are evident and his actions show he cares, but getting that chip off his shoulder is harder to do than anyone could have realized. 

Texas Rebels: Egan by Linda Warren is a wonderful introduction to the Rebel family and all it's members with all their quirks. Meeting the Rebel brothers, this reader knows she is going to be in for some roller coaster ride. Egan is the strong and dependable brother but the one who is completely gun shy when it comes to relationships and meeting Rachel Hollister just sets his world upside down. Rachel's looks are hardly what she's all about, she's tough and ambitious and she has set her heart on Egan. Well written and gripping, Texas Rebels: Egan is a fabulous read and should not be missed.

~KIMBERLY~

MEET THE AUTHOR

LINDA WARREN

Please welcome Linda to the 

Book Obsessed Chicks Blog. 

I am so happy to have her here. I was very fortunate to have met Linda at the RWA National in San Antonio last Summer and I got to fan girl on her a bit. I hope you enjoy getting to know her! 

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in rural Texas on a farm/ranch in a place called Smetana,Texas. Maybe 200 people with a beer joint, gas station and grocery store combined. It was a place where everybody knew your name and, believe me, if I did something wrong, like driving my mom's Oldsmobile with smoke billowing from the engine, my parents knew about it before I got home. I was the only girl in a family of boys (3) and I was the biggest tomboy ever. I wanted to do everything my brothers did. My parents felt otherwise. My dad told me many times, "You're a girl. Be a girl." That only make me madder. He said I was the cause of all his gray hair.

Tell us how the Texas Rebels came to be.

Now that's an unusual story and I feel a little insane when I tell this. My husband and I watched the Hatfields and McCoys on television and we love Longmire and Hell on Wheels..I told my husband I'd like to write a modern-day type Western saga, but not as gritty as the Hatfields and McCoys. It must have been heavily on my mind because I dreamed about these two feuding families in Texas, the Rebels and McCray's. Kate Rebel had seven sons and I had all their names and things that had happened to the family. That morning when I woke up, I hurried to my office to write everything down. My husband called, "What are you doing? It's breakfast time." I kept saying, "Just a minute. Just a minute." I was furiously writing every tidbit I could remember. I pitched it to my editor and she loved it. I'm excited for the chance to share these stories.

What are you currently working on?

I'm finishing Quincy's story, the third book in the series. It will be out in December.

Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be?

No. I honestly never thought about being a writer. Since my parents instilled in me that I was girl, I wanted to be a nurse. I went away to college to do just that. After my first year, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and soon could not walk to class. Thus began years of dealing with a crippling disease. It got me down a few times, but my saving grace was always books. I could get lost in a Harlequin and feel that happy-ever-after. It was therapeutic and uplifting. Soon I was wanting to write those happy-ever-after books, never dreaming that I actually would.

Who was your favorite character to write and why?

My favorite character would have to be Marisa Preston from The Christmas Cradle. It was the first book I wrote and agonized over for years before I ever submitted it to Harlequin. Of course, it was rejected, over and over until I finally had to put it away. I kept writing though, and eventually sold my first book. The editor who bought my book asked about The Christmas Cradle, which at that time was titled The Silent Cradle. She was one of the editors who had read it. She loved the plot and wanted me to resubmit, but I had to rewrite it with all the new skills I had learned. It became my 10th book and my first for Harlequin American.

It's the story of a young girl who has lost a baby and can't get over it. Unexpectedly, the hero comes back into her life and she feels if she could share this loss with him, she could move on. He doesn't know about the baby. I cried while I wrote this book and through all the rewrites. It's a very emotional book and I'm so happy it's in print.

Where can you fans meet you?

Every time I have a book out I have a book signing here in Bryan/College Station, Texas. It's lots of fun and I get to meet a lot of readers. And, of course, I'm always on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorlindawarren\

and twitter https://twitter.com/texauthor  and readers can also reach me on my Web site  http://www.lindawarren.net/.

Who are your favorite authors?

Oh, gosh, that's a hard one. There are so many fabulous writers. When I first started reading Harlequin books, I didn't have a favorite author. I just read book after book. It was like my daily medication. Today I'd have to say Delores Fossen, B.J. Daniels and Carolyn Brown are some of my favorite authors. I love Western-type books.

What is next for you?

I will continue the Texas Rebels into 2017.

What would you like readers to know about you?

My dad would be proud I'm writing about feisty heroines, to-die-for-heroes, and everlasting love. I finally got it right! (I'm a girl) (I just had to say that.)

 I guess what I would like readers to know is that every book I write has a little part of me in it. It all stems from my childhood and being raised on a ranch in a small community. Some of the eccentric secondary characters I write about I've actually known, and some of the weird things that happen in my books have happened, and I get to tell about it all over again. I love sharing that time of my life. It's like going home.

Kim fan-girling on Linda Warren: RWA2014

GIVEAWAY ALERT:

PLEASE LEAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A PRINT COPY OF TEXAS REBELS:EGAN. 

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY, APRIL 10