Author Spotlight: Author Kadee McDonald Is Here with Fun and a Giveaway

Congratulations to BN–you are Kadee’s winner! She’ll be in touch with you. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and joined in the conversation! 

I’m happy to spotlight sweet romance writer Kadee McDonald today. Kadee enjoys writing sweet contemporary romance, where love triumphs over the busy lives and the multitude of problems her characters face every day. The first five titles in the PAWS for Romance series are available now wherever eBooks are sold, along with an eBook box set of the first four books. Also available exclusively on Amazon (and in KU) are the first two novellas in a new series, Second Chance at Christmas. Look for them whenever you’re in the mood for a sweet, second-chance holiday romance. Kadee hopes you’ll enjoy reading these stories as much as she did researching and writing them. You’ll find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, or visit her website for updates.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Threads

Hi, Nan. Thanks for having me today!

Back in 2019, I was wondering what to write next. That was when I decided to try my hand at a series of sweet, small-town, contemporary romances. I remembered the oft-repeated advice to “Write what you know,” so, as a native Texan, that was when the idea for my PAWS for Romance series set in the beautiful Texas Hill Country took root.

I have had pets most of my adult life…dogs, cats, budgies, and even tropical fish. I even once pet-sat a gecko. So it was a no-brainer that whatever series I wrote would have to have pets in it. Then, I decided I needed to focus the series around a family who, like me, were all about the little ones with fur, feathers, or gills.

What better way to do that than a family who ran a rescue group for stray and abandoned pets? That eventually evolved into a family who also ran a B&B, whose ancestors founded the small town in the Hill Country they live in, with each story telling the way in which one of the adult children would find true love.

Also, I figured that such an endeavor would require a larger family, so I settled on seven adult children as a good (and, hopefully, lucky number.) That first book became Rescuing the Single Dad, where the director of the PAWS rescue group, Erin, meets Jason and his adorable little daughter, Maddie.

The first book, Rescuing the Single Dad, is free to download right now so that readers can meet the entire Pearson family and see if they might enjoy spending time with them as much as I have over the last five years.

Giveaway! Kadee has a $10 gift card from Amazon for one lucky commenter. Just tell her in the comments below if you’ve ever owned a rescue or if not, tell her about your pet–past or present.  We’ll draw a winner on Saturday morning. 

Rescuing the Single Dad

Will Erin and Jason find their ‘forever homes’ in each other’s hearts?

As the director of PAWS, Erin Pearson stays busy helping stray and surrendered pets find their forever homes. The private shelter was the life’s work of her beloved grandmother, but when a huge donation to a new building project is embezzled, Erin fears the scandal will be the end of PAWS.

The drive from San Antonio up to the beautiful Texas Hill Country to adopt a dog for his daughter is nothing more than an inconvenience for single dad, Jason Blaine. That is, until he meets the lovely director of PAWS. When Erin later asks for his help in tracking down the consultant who made off with the donation, Jason couldn’t say no even if he wanted to. Erin is sweet and down-to-earth … everything his late wife wasn’t. But he also knows his wealthy in-laws won’t hesitate to sue for custody of their granddaughter if he starts dating again and not devoting every spare minute to being a dad.

Can Jason and the Pearsons track down the missing money in time to save PAWS? Caught between the fear of losing his little girl and the hope of a promising new romance, will Jason allow Erin to rescue him, too, even though he only has two legs instead of four?

Amazon | Apple Books | B&N Nook | Kobo | Smashwords 

Excerpt

Erin Pearson brushed a forelock of gray hair away from Grady’s dark, soulful eyes and leaned forward, capturing his undivided attention. “Grady, old boy…I think you must be the most loyal and affectionate male in all of the Texas Hill Country.”

Grady responded to Erin’s praise with a deep, grumbling growl, a nuzzle from his cold, wet nose, and an affectionate lick across her chin.

“Oh, you agree, don’t you?” She smiled as she scratched the English sheepdog’s ears, her fingers threading through his soft fur. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t matter if I ran right into a single, two-legged male with your best qualities in the next five minutes, now would it? I don’t have time for such things.”

Grady woofed and shook his head. He apparently agreed she was far too busy already to be bothered with something as unnecessary as a human boyfriend.

“Excuse me…?”

Surprised by the sound of a man’s puzzled voice, Erin straightened and turned around in the chair at the front desk of ‘PAWS,’ the Pearson Animal Welfare Society shelter. It had been a quiet Monday and the shelter would close in ten minutes. Except for the vet techs handling the end-of-day cleanup in the Snippity Do Dah Spay & Neuter Clinic at the back of the warehouse-style building, Erin had thought she was alone in the large facility. Her younger sister, Brianna, ‘Bree’ for short, handled the phones and front desk at PAWS, but she’d left early that day for a doctor’s appointment, so Erin was covering for her. The last of the daytime volunteers had come and gone earlier and none of the evening crew had arrived yet.

“Oh, sorry.” With a smile, she tugged down her sleeveless green-and-white-striped shirt, trying to look professional and more like the Director of the PAWS shelter again. “Hi, I’m Erin. May I help you?”

“I hope so. I’m here to adopt a dog for my daughter. Her name is Madison.”

He glanced over at Grady, who’d settled on the cool, clean vinyl floor next to Erin’s chair and spread himself out over at least ten square feet of space.

“I’d like to find one that’s smaller, um, much smaller than yours, housebroken and great with kids. One that’s about, oh, yea big.” He moved his hands up and apart, then sideways, measuring something just over a foot tall and about two feet long. “And it would be good if it didn’t shed very much. Do you have one like that? If so, I’d like to pay the adoption fee and take it home with me tonight.”

The handsome man was well dressed and looked to be in his early thirties. Erin studied him for a few seconds while deciding how to reply. He’d just described a pet he wanted to adopt as if he were ordering a cheeseburger and fries at a fast-food drive-thru.

Was he serious? His tailored navy-blue business suit, coordinated striped skinny tie, neatly trimmed brown hair, and unsmiling face made her believe he was.

“We do have a number of small dogs who are hoping to find good ‘forever’ homes, Mr.—?”

“Blaine…Jason Blaine.” He said it like Bond…James Bond. She pressed her lips together to keep from chuckling. Pompous much?

Instead, she stood and slid the So, You Want to Adopt a Dog packet across the front counter toward him. “This contains our application, as well as information to help you decide if you’re ready to take on the responsibility of caring for and loving a dog. Our website has pictures and details of all the animals we’ve cleared for adoption and that are available right now. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll be glad to introduce you to any of our rescues who might be the right addition to your family.”

He stared down at the folder for a second, then looked back up at her, one eyebrow raised. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Kidding? No. Which part of the process isn’t clear?”

“I guess that there’s a process at all. Like I said, I drove up here from San Antonio, expecting to pay your fee and take a dog home right away. Maddie’s been pestering me to get one ever since…well, for over two years now. She’s only six, and this should be a happy time for her, but…” He paused and sighed. “It just isn’t. I want to see her laugh again.”

“Of course you do.” Erin’s heart softened and she smiled. Jason Blaine seemed very formal when he introduced himself, but she caught the wistfulness in his voice. “May I ask why you haven’t gotten a dog for her before now?”

“Frankly, it’s a bribe. She didn’t adjust all that well to kindergarten last year and today she started first grade. I promised her that if she behaved herself and didn’t give her teacher any problems, then we’d definitely adopt a dog. She can be a bit headstrong at times, so I really didn’t think she’d manage it. But she surprised the heck out of me and apparently was a perfect angel all day.”

“I see.” Erin didn’t try to hold back her grin any longer. He seemed like the kind of dad who was wrapped around his daughter’s little finger. Her own father, Mike Pearson, had always been pretty much the same way with Erin and her three sisters, trying to grant their every wish if he could.

Jason Blaine smiled back, his shoulders dropping as he visibly relaxed. “So, that means we’re getting a dog, I guess. When I make a promise, I always do my best to keep it.”

“Good dads do that. But we’re a private rescue and adoption group, and we don’t think it’s very responsible to just hand you a dog and send you on your way. Your family and the animal have to be a good fit.”

“Of course.” He drummed his manicured fingernails on the counter for a few seconds, then finally nodded and picked up the packet. “Due diligence is always the best way to proceed. So I’ll take this home, read through everything, and we’ll check out your site. May we come back on Saturday?”

“Absolutely. We’re open for adoptions from nine to four every Saturday. We’d love to see you visit again, and please bring everyone with you who lives in your household and would help care for a new pet.”

“Thanks…Erin.” He stepped toward the door, then paused. “We do have a nanny, but she’s only there on weekdays while I’m at work. On the weekends, it’s just Madison and me.”

“Then we’ll look forward to seeing both of you on Saturday.”

After he left, Erin, out of habit, reached down to stroke Grady’s head. “Well, what did you think, boy? He seems like a pretty good dad, right?” The sheepdog pushed up against her hand and she absentmindedly scratched his ears again, causing him to issue little harrumphs of contentment. “And he certainly wasn’t bad looking, either, was he? I do like men with blue eyes.”

She glanced out the front window. Jason Blaine removed his suit jacket, his only concession it seemed to the sometimes stifling heat and humidity of August in the Hill Country of central Texas. He dropped the adoption packet onto the front passenger seat of a black, four-door Porsche and got in behind the wheel.

The sports car gave Erin a pang of envy. Her own sensible compact SUV, a college graduation gift from her mom and dad, was sturdy and reliable, and she was grateful for it, but it was six years old now and probably felt like rolling along in a golf cart compared to that Porsche.