Hey y’all! I’m BA Tortuga, resident redneck and shifter addict.
I’m so tickled to show off Brock and Connor, the heroes of What the Cat Dragged In, my new release from Dreamspinner Press. Brock is working undercover to stop a ring of bear poachers and Connor is, well, y’all should read and see. 😉
***
“Totally. First we need coffee. Then we can regroup.”
“Right.” He would take McCafé coffee. A MooLatte from DQ. Something. Anything. His head spun a little.
“You okay, Fuzzy? You need a cookie.”
“You have cookies too?”
“Mmm-hmm. And jerky and peanuts.” Connor grinned. “I didn’t get chocolate because it’s bad for dogs. The coyote said it was okay, but really, they eat anything.”
“You knew you were looking for me?”
“Sort of? It’s complicated. You just have to go with it.” Connor beat a little drum tattoo on the steering wheel, grooving.
“Huh.” He’d said that more in the last twelve hours than he’d said it in his whole life. Brock rummaged in the bag Connor indicated. “Salmon jerky?”
“There’s bison too. I knew this one Iriomote cat who would only eat tofu jerky.”
“Tofu…. That’s obscene, Ragbone.”
“I know.” Connor glanced sideways at him, eyebrows waggling. “Teriyaki.”
“You’re a sick, sick man.”
“You have no idea, Fuzzy. None.”
“What the heck is an Iriomote cat anyway?” Brock asked.
“They’re only on this little island off Japan. Iriomote. Tiny things. Which was hilarious. As a human, he was, like, six foot tall.”
“You went to Japan?” Brock felt stoned.
“He came to California. So did I.”
“But you’re from Texas.” He knew that accent deep down.
“I totally am. I wander a lot. I put in my mileage.”
“You sure seem to.”
They coasted into Ouray, and Brock looked around. The sign said The Switzerland of the United States. Cute. “There’s a place called Roast and Toast. Says they have good breakfast.”
“Put your boots on, and I’ll feed you.”
No. No, he would feed them for the ride, because that was fair. He did tug on the boots, though, surprised at how comfy they were. Nice.
Now all they needed to do was eat and find a place to stay for the night. He eyed Connor. Maybe with one king bed. Waking up pressed against that tight little ass was definitely a do again.
Connor parked easily, then offered him a quick, warm grin. “Coffee ahoy!”
“Thank God.” Coffee, nectar of the gods. He loved the stuff so much. And this place smelled great.
Ragbone bebopped in, just as easy as you please, and ordered Brock a steamed milk Americano with peanut butter. He opened his mouth to argue, but it sounded like heaven. The kit got a hazelnut latte with skim, double whip. They both ordered the amazing-looking breakfast burrito.
Then they sat, and he stared into…. “Your eyes are different colors.”
“Green and blue,” Connor agreed. “Yours are gray. I like that. I couldn’t tell last night. You know they say gray and green are the most unusual eye colors.”
Brock shook his head, not sure what it was about this guy that fascinated him so.
“I’m not like other kitties, but that’s okay. I’m cool with it.”
“I’ve never known a lot of cat shifters. I came from a huge pack.”
“My pack is pretty big.”
Wait. What? “You’re a cat.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You guys are supposed to be solitary.”
Connor’s lips quirked. “Are we?”
“Huge territories. Solitary unless you’re mating.”
“Well, I’m the gay one. And I have a pack in Nevada. Nineteen pups at last count, a panther, a coyote, and a bunch of wolves. They’re amazing.”
“A coyote?” He was from the Texas/Oklahoma border. Coyotes weren’t their best buds.
“He can’t shift anymore. He’s in love with Sam’s sister.”
“Sam?” Brock sipped his coffee. Oh, yum. Wow.
“Sam is Gus’s mate.”
“Uh. And who is Gus?” Somewhere he’d missed something.
“The Alpha. He’s a rockhound.”
“Alph….” More coffee. He needed more coffee.
“Yep. Of my pack.” Connor frowned at him. “Are you good with altitude? I think it’s making you cloudy.”
“I’m fine with altitude. I’ve been up here for years with no trouble.”
“Well, did they drug you?”
“No!” He glared at Kitty McVaguebook. “You’re just impossible to understand. Start at the beginning.”
“Which beginning? I was born to Mike and Starshine Ragbone. Me, my sister, and a set of conjoined twins who are on display in Dr. Darque’s Freak Show and Wonder Emporium, or were, a hundred years ago.”
***
Much love, y’all.
BA
Blurb:
A Sanctuary Novel
Don’t people know that cats and dogs don’t mix?
Connor Ragbone finds things. Sometimes it’s gold, sometimes jewels, sometimes people. Set in his hippie ways, he never thought he’d find a pack, but with Sam and Gus and their goofy shifter family, he fits right in. Then he finds Brock.
Shifter Brock Herman is undercover alone, working to break up a poaching ring. The last thing he needs is for Connor to wreck his sting. And now the crazy bobcat just won’t go away!
The poachers lead Brock and Connor on a merry chase all over Western Colorado, looking for shifter bears, but it’s a lost pup who brings them back to Nevada and the pack Sam and Gus are building. That’s when Brock has to decide whether he still travels alone or if Connor and his crazy family are where his heart belongs.
This follow-up to Just Like Cats and Dogs is a feel-good shifter romance novel where cats and dogs prove they can be way more than the enemies nature has made them.
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About BA Tortuga
Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head. Find her on the web at www.batortuga.com
I love the cover and the premise of the story…so I’ve got to say the excerpt sounded really good!