Are you READY for the McCulloughs?!?
This post contains a LOT of
McCullough News!!!
We have so Much to Celebrate this August!
SAVE THE DATES!
Monday, August 10
Hold Me Fast Release!
Virtual Release Party on Facebook!
Saturday, August 15
Join Lydia & Friends at
The Irish Rover Station House
for a signing & celebration!
More Details Below!
Readers are asking “who” is Hold Me Fast about?
HOLD ME FAST goes back to the beginning and tells how it all began with Frank & Maureen McCullough, but that’s not all! The book has two parts and Part II is a final goodbye, as readers get a present-day epilogue including all the McCulloughs they know and love! There is also a special note at the end of the book for all of the lovely readers that inspired me & the McCulloughs along the way. Please take the time to read it…your name might be mentioned!
The Parties…
We are having 2 parties to celebrate the RELEASE of Hold Me Fast and the conclusion of The McCullough Mountain Series. One will be a virtual event on Facebook & the other will be a physical event at an Irish Pub in Langhorne, Pennsylvania (Both are FREE to attend!)
The “Physical” Party…
Lydia Michaels!
DJ & Dancing 9:30pm-2:00am
KILTED Model & Photographer
Lydia Michaels T-shirts
Signature McCullough Drinks
*Chance to WIN an Android Tablet! (*purchase necessary)
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!More details on Facebook. Click here!
Several HOTELS within 3 miles!
The Irish Rover is located directly across from the
SEPTA Langhorne, PA Train Station
Print this coupon!
The “Virtual” Party…
A copy of every McCullough Mountain book 1-7 will be given away, along with several guest appearances and giveaways from some AMAZING authors!
Mark your calendars and invite your friends as Frank & Maureen McCullough take us back to the beginning and show us how the story ends ♥
You’re all invited as they renew their wedding vows and celebrate 40 incredible years!
GET YOUR IRISH ON!!!
Take me to the Virtual Release page on Facebook!
Teasers & Trailers!
Hold Me Fast {McCullough Mountain 7}
August 10, 2015
Maureen O’Leahey has always hoped for a family to love, but with so many men returning from a lost war, she finds life to be a bit less romantic than expected—until she stares in to the blue eyes of Frank McCullough. Though the odds are against them, Frank and Maureen can’t seem to keep their distance. Against her father’s wishes, Maureen falls for the boy trying so hard to make it as a man and Frank fights to keep every promise made to the fiery red head that’s captured his heart.
During difficult times, they find solace in each other. As Frank struggles to do right by his young bride and Maureen aches to be a good wife, they are taught the true value of patience and shown the strength of unconditional love in this memorable story of a devoted Irishman and an untamable woman with a remarkable spirit.
Excerpt
“When’s that birthday of yours, love?”
She frowned. “July twenty-fifth. Why?” Was he planning on getting her a present?
He nodded, making a masculine sound in his throat. “I’d like to get my lips on you before then, lassie.”
Appalled, she turned and scowled at him. “And that is how you ask? I’d like a lot of things, Frank, mostly, to meet a man who knows how to ask a woman for favors. And if that is why you’re waitin’ for my birthday you can just forget it. I’m saving myself for marriage.”
Every trace of cockiness fled his face as her words sank in. Oh Christ. She wasn’t necessarily saving shit, but it pissed her off that he’d assume the calendar was all that was holding him up from gettin’ into her knickers.
“I wasn’t… I hadn’t meant to insinuate—”
“Don’t try backtracking now. I know what you meant.” It was like her mouth had disconnected from her brain and there was no stopping her words.
Like a runaway train, she’d unleashed on him. “You think I have nothin’ better to do than wait around so you can legally take my virginity? You can think again, Mr. McCullough. I have standards and they aren’t the sort that crumble for some blue eyed, silver-tongued Irishman wantin’ to put his lips on me. I’ll be expectin’ a gentleman, next time I see you, if your lips will be getting’ anywhere near me—”
His mouth was suddenly crushing hers as he pulled her halfway across the seat and cut off her words. She’d never been kissed before, at least not like that. His hand cupped the back of her head as his mouth slanted and his tongue pressed deep, teasing and awakening parts of her she’d rather ignore. Her eyes held wide as his other hand fit around her thigh and massaged through the fabric of her skirt.
“You talk entirely too much, Maureen O’Leahey,” he whispered against her lips. “I’m thinkin’ it’s high time a man shut you up in a way you found acceptable.”
He kissed her again and her chest lifted, her nipples tightening as heat pulled in her stomach and a strange pressure set her insides on fire.
“No,” she mumbled as his hand slowly rubbed higher on her thigh. Pulling back as that hand steadily crept to a place she strongly considered off limits to others, she did the first thing she could manage and smacked him across the jaw.
The sharp slap left the car in dark silence. Quietly, he chuckled. “You really are something.”
“I told you,” she said, out of breath. “You’ll need to be a gentleman to get your lips on me. Buyin’ me dinner doesn’t prove shit.”
The side of his mouth kicked up in a half-smirk. “You sure got a mouth on you, woman.”
She liked being called woman, considering she was only seventeen. “And wouldn’t you like to see all the things it can do.”
His half-smirk turned into a full smile as he laughed. “Well, look at you. You’re tongues as sharp as mine is silver. You better be gettin’ home before real trouble finds you. Tomorrow’s a big day.”
That was right. Tomorrow she was graduating. Funny how such a monumental achievement paled in comparison to being kissed by Frank McCullough.
“Good night, love,” he said, cracking open the door.
“Frank?” He stilled and she took a second to process her sudden insecurities.
He paused, still facing the door. “Yes, Maureen?”
“The kiss… did I do it okay?”
His head tilted as he again faced her. “Have you not been kissed before?”
“Never like that,” she whispered, her fingers tracing where his mouth had been.
He slid back inside the car and turned to the windshield, pulling his lower lip in for a taste. A quiet chuckle escaped, but he didn’t seem amused. “You’re that innocent then?”
“Never mind,” she immediately said, wishing she’d never opened her mouth—for anything.
“No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have assumed…” he shook his head. “A gentleman indeed.” He laughed. “I’m sorry I came on so strong, love, but when I’m around you, I lose sight of right and wrong and all I can tell is that I want you.”
Her eyes widened as she choked on her words. “Me?” That couldn’t be right.
His gaze turned on her, his eyes appearing almost pained. “Aye, you. I think you’re bonny, smart, funny, and I think about you naked every day.”
“Frank!”
“Sorry, but it’s true. Your curves enchant me.”
Was that how men and women spoke to one another? “I’ve never been naked in front of anyone but my mum and my sisters.”
A smirk pulled the corner of his mouth tight. “We could remedy that.”
She smacked his arm. “Don’t be a pig.”
“I have a healthy appetite for beautiful women, love. There’s nothin’ wrong with that.”
“Aye, well if your wantin’ this woman you’ll lose your taste for all others, do you understand?”
“Aye.”
They were silent for several minutes. She fidgeted as she waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Finally, she broke the silence. “What does this mean, Frank? People will talk if they see us together.”
“It means I like you.”
“Like me? Why?”
He shrugged and pointed to his chest. “It’s here, in the way my chest gets tight at just the sight of you and I want to hold you fast, but never feel like we have enough time.”
“Oh.” That was rather sweet and more poetic than she’d expected. “Are you saying we’re…”
“I want you to be mine for more than a minute.”
Lots of things were longer than minutes but still quite short. “Are you askin’ to date me? I’m not trying to be thick headed, but I’ve never much dated and…”
“Aye. I’m wantin’ you to be mine, Maureen O’Leahy. Mine and only mine.”
Liquid heat swirled in her belly as her veins pulsed with excitement. “I can’t let my parents know.”
“It’s no one’s business.”
Insecurity made it difficult to look in his direction. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and sound foolish. “I…I never much dated,” she repeated.
“Me neither.”
She laughed, still finding that hard to believe. A thought occurred to her and she frowned. “I’ll not have you hitting on other girls if you want to be with me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
His gentle tone retrieved a bit of her courage. “And I’m not easy. I’m not promising you a thing, if you get what I mean.”
“Aye. It’ll keep.”
Shooting him a sidelong glance, she snickered. “You seem certain I’m keepin’ it for you.”
“You are,” he said with palpable cockiness.
Her mouth gaped at his surety. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“To be sure, but I speak the truth. I’ll have you, Maureen O’Leahey, make no mistake of that. I’ll be a gentleman for you, as you’re deserving of such, but make no mistake, I’m a man and I will not deny what I want no matter how long you deny me from gettin’ it.”
