I am very excited to have Pamela Thibodeaux on Wednesday Words! She's brought along her most recent release, TEMPERED TRUTH, which is book 5 in her TEMPERED SERIES. Let's hear more from Pamela....

Do you have a favorite part of the book?

My favorite parts of this particular book is the sweet interaction with the two little girls both under 4 who happen to be aunt and niece and are less than 1 yr. apart in age.

Oh, goodness! Only a year apart? And I love it when children are in a scene. They always bring such "realness" to a book. Can you share an excerpt?

“Mi’ter Mike, Mi’ter Mike!” Rikki’s exuberant greeting struck him in the heart as she flung herself in his arms.

“Hey, Princess.”

“Wexie gotta new baby.”

“So, I hear. You like him?”

Red-gold curls bounced off her shoulders when she nodded. “I wanna take him home.” Her little lips puckered. “But Mommy says we can’t.”

Mike chuckled. “That wouldn’t be very fair to Tamera Joy, now would it, to take her baby brother?”

A pout creased her pert lips and furrowed her tiny brow. “Not fair.”

What a little cutie! Is your book dedicated to anyone?

To my faithful Tempered fans new and old. Thank you for following this series from beginning to end. I pray you are blessed 100-fold for your continued love and support. I appreciate you more than words can say. 

TEMPERED TRUTH

Fate declared them neighbors. Scandal insisted they were brothers. The fact that they looked enough alike to be twins only added fuel to the rumors flying about their parentage.

For fifty-plus years Craig Harris and Scott Hensley have enjoyed a bond nothing can sever.

Not the insinuations that they share the same father.

Not the years of strife and grief and heartache.

Not even death.

Will the truth set them free, or will it destroy the friendship that has lasted a lifetime?

BIO: Pamela Thibodeaux

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story! 






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THE COWBOY'S EMBRACE came about because, when I introduced Deacon in book three of the series, I fell in love with him. He was strong, steady and smart. Really smart. Because he was the only one in book three who knew that trickery was afoot!
 
I had to give him a book. He deserved a true love. But what would his story be?
 
I have to say I took some time developing his match. She had to be someone righteous, honest and unafraid. She had to be able to stand next to Deacon and be her own person. Enter Lily Spero…the girl he abandoned in a park in Houston.
 
Now, before you get confused, he had his reasons for leaving her. So don’t hate him. Read his story and learn how these two triumph over a great evil. If you read it, know that my favorite part is how Lily steals the walking cane from the villain on the white horse and what happens after it.

THE COWBOY'S EMBRACE: AN EXCERPT

He would come back soon. He would. He wouldn’t leave her here.

Lily assessed the park with its strong oaks and maples and winding packed dirt paths. She bit her lip and worked hard not to cry. She was a big girl. She was eleven, and he’d asked her to be brave while he was gone.

As she hid in the shade, she sank down to the grass, huddled against a trunk and hoped no one noticed a frightened, stranded, black girl. Where was he? What was taking so long? He only went to find food for them.

Morning turned into noon. People came. Some to eat their lunches on blankets they spread on the ground. Others to walk the picturesque paths. She pulled her knees into her chest and buried her nose in her dirt-caked pinafore. It had been yellow once. A pretty color as bright as the sun.

As she rocked back and forth, she prayed. She repeated over and over the words her mother had taught her. With her eyes clamped shut and her lips moving without ceasing, she implored to Heaven for Deacon to return.
But hours passed. Faces swam before her, asking her questions, giving her food. She couldn’t answer the nice strangers. Just gazed down the path, hoping, waiting, her heart dying.

Where are you? Please come. Please come back.

She silently begged to see his familiar form, dressed in overalls and a threadbare work shirt, coming around the bend to carry her away. But he didn’t come. And the kind people didn’t leave. They took her home with them, and Lily didn’t argue, even though their pale skin struck uncertainty in her heart. She couldn’t think. Deacon, she grieved.

​And his name was the pained whisper on her lips every night, the perpetual cold ache in her heart…that could never be filled.

Math.....

Just that word makes me cringe with loathing and distaste. A vile concept. One meant to continually lower your self-worth and your intelligence. Math taunted me with its ridiculous reality. Exactly when would I be watching two trains meet at the same point? Would I ever be putting 53 watermelons in my trunk and then eating 15 on the same day?

I don't like watermelon that much. It's sticky and you have to spit out the seeds.

However, even more loathsome than the concept of Math...more vile...more distasteful...more terrifying and utterly excruciating was...
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Tutoring.

Tutoring for Math. Get a hammer and some nails and pound them into my eye sockets. I would prefer it. Maybe my teachers wouldn't want to come near me. Hmmm, this idea holds promise....

Of course, my mother didn't want to help with that AND she LOVED the idea of tutoring. "This will be perfect for you, Kara. This is exactly what you need. You're going to have so much fun!"

Was she insane? Did she understand what it was? Maybe I need to explain....

"It means I have to stay after school. For Math. You know what Math is, right?"

"Of course, I do Dear Heart."

I start wonder if my mom has it goin' on upstairs.

By now I have learned I can't fight my mom's big ideas. I must accept them, grit my teeth, and remember....this too, shall pass.

So, I went to tutoring with Ms. Harris. My Math teacher. She gave me cookies to ease the pain. They were chocolate chip, so it definitely helped. (I like snickerdoodle better, but I'm not gonna tell her that.)

The main characters in Fatal Evidence (Scott and Heather) had substantial parts in book 2, Running Target and I couldn’t wait to tell their story as they had such great chemistry together.

Running Target is a star-crossed lovers story about Jack and Callie.  In Fatal Evidence we see Scott, Jack’s cousin, and Heather, Callie’s best friend. These two had pretended for a few years to be together to help Jack and Callie with their conflict. Now that the problem has been resolved, Heather and Scott have an awkward connection when together, especially after having a one-night stand.

One of the best things about this book is that Heather and Scott just worked so well together. Their chemistry was explosive level, and I had to keep coming up with ways to stop them from having sex too early in the book. Since they’d already had a one-night stand, they knew exactly how amazing being with the other could be.  Now that they have to work together for this project, they think they need to be professional. But when they’re near each other, things just combust.

Oh! This story sounds quite steamy and filled with tension! Do you have a favorite part?

One of my favorite parts is when Heather goes to vent to her best friend, Callie, after Scott gets a little handsy with her and she hadn’t done anything about it. I love this part because it shows the very put-together Heather losing some of her well-honed control. 

Awesome! Some of my favorite characters are the always organized, always on time, always perfectly dressed people who have their world turned upside down. Can you share an excerpt?

“I cannot believe he did that.” Heather stormed through the back door into her best friend’s kitchen. Callie sat wiping what looked like peanut butter from the hands of her son, Jonathan.

“Did what? Who?”

Heather took a deep breath and kissed the little boy’s head. “And I simply stood there and let him. What the hell is wrong with me?”

After lifting the two-year-old down from his chair, Callie scooted him into the living room. “Play with your blocks. Tea?” She glanced at Heather.

Nodding, Heather sat and clenched her hands on the table. “I have no control when he’s around. I can’t be that stupid, can I?”

As her friend got cups and tea bags, Heather let her mind wander to this morning. How had she not punched Scott in his gorgeous face? You liked it. Admit it. No, she hadn’t. He was groping her. And you wanted him to continue. Oh, God, she had. It had taken all her control to tell him to stop.

Callie set two cups on the table, then sat next to her. “You want to tell me who has you all worked up?”

Okay, she might need to vent right now. If only so they’d tell her she needed psychiatric help.

“Give.”

It would be much easier if Callie wasn’t now married to the cousin of her problem. “Scott.”

“What about Scott? What did he do that you can’t believe, and what did you do that made you stupid?”

“This morning we were trying to get the building permit issued. We’ve had some problems. I may have…flirted a little to get it done quicker.”

A smile appeared on Callie’s face.

“He made some crude comment about it.”

“And that surprises you? Why? You’ve known Scott for a while now. Sarcasm is a second language to him.”

“It’s not the crude comment, but the crude action that followed it.”

“Crude? As in sexual?”

“Yes, up against the wall. Practically felt me up while I simply stood there.”

“You didn’t say anything?” Callie’s voice held confusion. “Or clock him one?”

Staring into space, Heather shook her head. “I couldn’t.”

An unladylike snort burst from her friend’s mouth. “Heather Silva, speechless. Oh, I wish I had seen that.”

“Laugh all you want. I’m still so damn frustrated.”

A grin split Callie’s face. “Sexually frustrated?”

Heat rushed to her face and she looked down.

“Oh, my God. Seriously? You’ve got a thing for Scott?”

Rolling her eyes, she tried to deny it. “No, not a thing.”

“You spent the last few years pretending to be together. Was any of that real? Have you done…you know…it?”

Her cheeks burned, and she kept her eyes averted.

“You did. When? Where? I want details.”

Damn, she couldn’t lie to Callie. They’d been best friends since their early teens.

“Right after Christmas in Vermont.”

“How did I not know this? I was there.”

“You were a bit busy with Jack.”

Sitting back, Callie patted the tiny bump on her belly. “Yeah, I guess I was a little preoccupied. You know stuff like that can lead to stuff like this. I’m guessing you remembered protection.”

“We remembered. It wasn’t my first barbecue, thanks.”

​Callie sipped her tea, hiding her grin behind her cup. “Have you and Scott had many of these barbecues?”

Bio: Kari Lemor

Kari Lemor is the award-winning author of the Love on the Line romantic suspense series as well as the small-town contemporary series, Storms of New England. She loves writing about characters who fight against the odds so they can be with the one they love.  She and her husband split their time between St. Augustine and beautiful New England. 

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