Cheryl Yeko writes as herself, and with her writing partner Char Chaffin as CiCi Cordelia.
Uncaged: You were a Feature Author in Uncaged as both yourself, and as your pen name with co-writer Char Chaffin as CiCi Cordelia.
How was your experience with Uncaged?
As always, Uncaged is a gem to work with. Talented and professional in every regard.
Uncaged: You’ve just released two recent books, Loving a Hero and The Substitute Wife, what do you have for us in the near future?
CiCi (Char and me) just finished final edits for The Dance Hall Wife, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome of Frank and Cat’s story. So much fun. Look for it in mid-summer.
THE DANCE HALL WIFE:
CAT . . .
Cat Purdue has come a long way from the days when her father used her as partial payment for a gambling debt to a ruthless man. Reacquiring the saloon Father had lost, and turning it into a successful restaurant, is only the beginning of her drive for success.
FRANK . . .
Unable to reconcile the new, sophisticated Catherine Purdue from the saloon girl he once dallied with and foolishly spurned, Frank Carter finds himself blocking his growing attraction with sharp words and sarcasm. But when the Carters’ old nemesis escapes prison and comes back to Little Creede for vengeance, Frank’s only thought is to protect Cat, as well as his family.
A PAIR OF HEARTS . . .
Determined to lead separate lives yet bound together by danger and their growing desire, Frank and Cat will leave their mark in the new state of Colorado.
Uncaged: Are you planning on attending any conventions or in-person signings this year?
In July, I’ll be attending RWA Nationals in Denver, as an Editor for Soul Mate, where I’ll be taking pitch appointments and conducting a Marketplace event, along with my BFF and fellow Soul Mate Editor, Char Chaffin, who just happens to be the other half of CiCi Cordelia. It’s going to be a blast.
In August, I’ll be once again attending The Writers Police Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I’m a volunteer for this amazing event and track and assemble donated items into pretty baskets for auction night. It’s a lot of work, but so worth it.
Uncaged: Tell us something unique about you.
I was born at midnight, in the cusp, and they set me back three minutes, so my birthday falls on the May 19th, instead of the May 20th.
[symple_box color=”black” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]Cheryl Yeko is a multi-published award-winning author and Acquiring Editor with Soul Mate Publishing.
She writes Romantic Suspense and Sexy Contemporary. Website: http://www.cherylyeko.com/ Where Love Always Wins
She also co-writes Paranormal and Historical Western with fellow Soul Mate Publishing Editor and BFF, Char Chaffin, under the pen-name CiCi Cordelia. Website: https://ccromance.com/ Writing From The Heart[/symple_box]
The Substitute Wife
CiCi Cordelia
Historical Western
HARRISON . . .
Once his fortune in silver mining is secured, Harrison Carter finally sends back home for his fiancée. It’s been four years since he’s seen Jenny.
But it’s Retta Pierce, Jenny’s sister, who arrives by stagecoach with young daughter Adeline in tow. When this lovely, soiled dove brings devastating news and a written plea from Jenny to marry and care for Retta and little Addie, what’s a good man to do?
RETTA . . .
Fulfilling her dying sister’s request, Retta travels across dangerous territory to marry a man she barely remembers. But the hard miner who meets her at the stagecoach surely isn’t the same one her sister claimed was kind and honorable, a gentleman who’ll embrace her and her daughter as if they were his own. Has she made a mistake she’ll pay for, the rest of her life?
TWO PEOPLE . . .
Thrown together in shared sorrow, Harrison and Retta struggle to forge a life in the brand-new state of late-nineteenth-century Colorado.
Excerpt
Am I really going to marry her?
Did he even have a choice? In her letter, Jenny had pleaded with him to wed Retta. She’d called him a good man. An honorable man. A man she could trust to provide for her sister and niece so she could die peacefully, knowing they’d be well cared for. What kind of a man would he be if he threw them onto the streets?
A real bastard, that’s what.
Rounding the bend, Reverend Matias’s church came into view, ending Harrison’s internal conversation. “Let’s just get it done,” he muttered under his breath, tugging on Copper’s reins.
Hopping to the ground, he finally met Retta’s blue-eyed gaze, reminding him so much of Jenny’s. Which angered him all over again, and for a moment he couldn’t speak as he fought to reel his temper back in. But he was angry with everyone right now.
Jenny.
This girl and her child.
God.
Even the damned Reverend for what he was about to do, tying him to a woman not of his choosing.
Squaring his shoulders, Harrison walked to her side of the wagon and lifted his arms. “Give me the girl.” The words came out gruffer than he’d intended.
Retta lifted her chin in a defiant manner. Her clear blue eyes clouded with suspicion. “Why?”
He blinked. Her sharp response wasn’t what he’d expected. Retta’s timidity so far hadn’t been very inspiring, but now it was as if he saw her for the first time. The woman staring down at him appeared ready to do battle. Pink stained her pretty cheeks and her lush full lips pursed in annoyance. Long, pale curls escaped from her bonnet, framing a very appealing, sweet face.
His blood heated.
And that, too, angered him.
“We’re getting married.” Harrison didn’t even try to hide his annoyance when he spoke to her. “Now, give me the girl.”
For a moment, he thought she might refuse, and almost hoped she would, even if that meant letting Jenny down. But then Retta’s shoulders drooped, transforming her into the meek woman he’d met at the coach station. She nodded and handed down her daughter.
A sliver of guilt tamped his anger to a slow boil as he took the sleeping child and tucked her in the crook of one arm, holding his free hand up to help Retta from the wagon.
Twenty minutes later, he exited the church a married man. The Reverend hadn’t blinked an eye when Harrison showed up with a stranger to marry, though he must have wondered. But he didn’t so much as ask whose child Harrison held throughout the ceremony, while a tearful bride spoke her vows.
This book was rated 5 Stars from Uncaged Book Reviews. Click HERE for that review.
