Cupcakes and Vodka Book Blog: Maverick by Irish Winters

Irish Winters is an award-winning author who dabbles in poetry, grandchildren, and rarely (as in extremely rarely) the kitchen. More prone to be outdoors than in, she grew up the quintessential tomboy on a farm in rural Wisconsin, spent her teenage years in the Pacific Northwest, but calls the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah home. For now.

The wife of one handsome husband and mother of three perfect sons, Irish divides her time between writing at home, and travelling the country with her man while – writing. (Seriously, what else?)

She believes in making every day count for something, and follows the wise admonition of her mother to, “Look out the window and see something!”

To learn more about Irish and her books, please visit www.IrishWinters.com

He’s heartsick and battle-weary.

Maverick Carson returned home from war with too much pain and not enough honor. Searching for a way to forgive and forget, he quits The TEAM and starts to walk. He's walked all the way to Wyoming when the sight of a pretty girl riding a massive draft horse steals his breath—until the hillside gives way beneath the horse. Rushing to her aid, he runs straight into the world of China Wolf, the headstrong owner of the Wild Wolf Ranch and the owner of the finest Percherons in the country.

She doesn’t need a man in her life.
Never has. Never will. China Wolf has responsibility enough between the rowdy horses she loves, the wayward sister she tolerates, and the precocious niece she adores. Besides, Maverick’s made it clear he’d rather hit the road than hang around her ranch. Why should she care? She doesn’t—not until she glimpses the cowboy in his eyes. Maybe she needs a man after all.

Just. This. One.

Purchase this book here: http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-In-Company-Snipers-Volume/dp/1942895151

Author Top Ten List

Top Ten - Random things no one knows about me

1. I almost became a nun. Really. Even wrote to the Maryknoll Convent in New York for information as to how to become a novitiate. They turned me down. Told me I need to go out into the world and live first. So I did.

2. I nearly died in February 2011 when I went to the emergency room with AFib. They gave me medicine to slow my heart rate. Funny thing. It stopped it instead. I woke up to a crash cart in my tiny cubicle and the oddest sensation that I’d seen a big black dog in the emergency room. Maybe it was Whisper? I like to think so.

3. I’ve never had writer’s block.

4. I hate it when anyone stands behind me. Why do people do that? It’s not like I have eyes in the back of my head. Can you say cr-e-e-e-e-py?

5. My mother almost named me Joan. It’s on my birth certificate with a line through it. Whew! I like Irish so much better!

6. I walked home from school, 5 miles in rural Wisconsin, when I was just 6 years old. My mother sure was surprised.

7. I love to fish, and yes, I can bait my own hook, thank you very much.

8. I love to drive fast, but I’ve never had a speeding ticket. (Knock on wood.)

9. I believe in ghosts, guardian angels, and the power of the mind.

10. When I go to Washington D. C. or Alexandria, Virginia, I feel like I’m home.

Ten Facts About the In The Company Of Snipers Series

1. As of today, July 24, 2015, there are 15 books in the series, In the Company of Snipers: Alex, Mark, Zack, Harley, Connor, Rory, Taylor, Gabe, Maverick, Cassidy, Adam, Lee, Hunter, Jake, and Eric.

2. The series begins with a returned war hero, USMC Staff Sergeant Alex Stewart, and his need to continue to serve his country. He starts a covert surveillance company, simply called The TEAM, in Alexandria, Virginia, close to the federal agencies he hopes will need his particular services.

3. Alex hires ex-military snipers returning home from the war because he understands how difficult civilian life is for men like him. Already trained covert operators, his men and women make the perfect undercover agents when the State Department needs a specific enemy or ally overseas watched. Or when the FBI needs an assist extracting an agent who was never supposed to be inside enemy territory in the first place. Or when a child has been abducted out of the country by a non-custodial parent.

4. Alex Stewart never intended to build a family, but in the process of hiring patriotic men and women of integrity and honor; warriors who’ve stood fast in the face of brutality and war, who understand the need to defend the innocent and weak—he has.

5. Alex lives by a code of honor. He does not hire men or women who enjoy killing. His business is not a company of mercenaries for hire.

6. I write about ex-military snipers because I want a real hero who has proven he or she isn’t afraid to take on the world.

7. I write about strong women because my heroes deserved an equal who isn’t afraid to stand toe to toe these alpha males, love the daylights out of them, but also remind them of who they really are.

8. I never intended to write a series, but these guys kept showing up in my dreams, needing their stories told. What else could I do?

9. I had one signed contract with a traditional publisher and two other offers from traditional publishers on my desk when I decided to go indie. After I published my 3rd book, Zack, I received another offer for the series from another publisher. Unfortunately, they couldn’t offer anything substantial that I didn’t already have. Guess I’ll stay self-pubbed, pick my own cover art, set my own schedules, and work with people I choose.

10. The series is completely fiction.

Character Casting:

The Author is sending Character Descriptions and would love it if you could like to choose your own Casting for your blog post!

Maverick was one of Alex Stewart's junior agents before he got fed up with life and walked away from The TEAM. Recently returned from Afghanistan, he's a Marine who loves his country, but he still hasn't come to grips with the death of his younger brother. Dark-haired, scruffy and brooding, he's looking for something when he ends up in Wyoming. He just doesn't know what.

China Wolf is the determined owner of the Wild Wolf horse ranch in Wyoming. Long, black hair and deep blue eyes, she manages her 'kids,' a couple dozen Percheron draft horses, as well as a couple hundred head of cattle. Except for the help of two ranch hands, she does everything pretty much by herself and she's okay with that arrangement. She loves her life. The hard work. The Wild Wolf. Her kids. All of it.

Leezel, China's sister, is one big party waiting to happen, and not in a good way. She's been running from responsibility since the day she was born. A mean-spirited woman, she's raising her daughter, Kyrie, on her own, not that that's a good thing. Leezel has chopped, chopped reddish-brown hair, dresses inappropriately, would rather be drunk than not, and chases men. Maverick included.

Kyrie is a five year old, skinny little girl. She looks just like her Aunt China whom she adores and calls Andy China. She has a speech impediment, not that Leezel would notice. Kyrie loves the stray cats that hang around China's barn, but mostly, she craves China's love and affection.