Welcome to “At First Sight Saturday.” Today’s guest is author, Andrea Downing who gives us a ‘first sight’ scene from her book Shot through the Heart and introduces us to hero, Shiloh Coltrane and heroine, Dr. Sydney Cantrell. Be sure to leave a comment to let Andrea know your thoughts about the scene.

“Dr. Cantrell’s pretty stern. You better be ill,” he said.

“What?” Shiloh felt his brows meet as he peered inside the storeroom. “Holy cow,” he mumbled. “Holy cow.”

His vision from the saloon. Brown-gold hair with lights of red, a color he couldn’t remember ever having seen before, and blue eyes like a Wyoming sky, almost violet. Her skin was pale, pure and unblemished, like satin he imagined. He was tongue-tied.

Dr. Cantrell had her arms crossed against her chest as if she were protecting herself but she breathed out a weary sigh. She studied his face.

“I’m Sydney Cantrell,” she murmured at last. “Looks like you’re lucky not to have lost your eye.”

“My eye?” He started to bring his hand up but noticed he was dripping blood from a cut.

“You better sit down. If you can.”

He looked around and there was one wooden chair that looked as if it had been brought in from someone’s dining room, the shopkeeper’s most like, and a sturdy long table, which may have served as a dining table once. Her doctor’s bag sat in a corner, open with several medicines and whatnot sticking out. He started to lower himself onto the chair but let out a yelp that would have awakened the dead.

“Here.” She took his arm and guided him to the table. “Let me see.”

Embarrassed in a way he’d never thought possible, he stood to consider whether to make a dash for the door and deal with things himself.

“Look,” he said. “I think I better go. I thought….”

“You thought I was a male doctor. Everyone does.”

“Until they see you.”

“Hang your hat on the back of that chair and let me get to work.”

She crouched behind him, unable to stop the thought her patient’s physique was a prime example of why a female shouldn’t be a doctor, according to her last professor. Oh, yes—we wouldn’t be able to treat men without thinking of marriage. Ha! She shook her head to banish the thought, now supplanted by admiration for the curve of his buttocks, and stood up. Put on her professional tone. Looked into eyes the color of a storm-brewing sky and felt a rush of desire to run her hands though the shaggy blond hair.

Never. Never ever.

She breathed out, pulled herself back to the moment.

“You’re covered in glass.”

“What else is new?”

“Are you in pain?”

“Some. It can wait. Not enough to concern me.”

“You’re going to have to take off your pants and lie on your stomach so I can examine you.”

He didn’t take his eyes off her as he said, “Well then you’re going to have to help. My hands….” He held out his hands, palms up, for her to see.

She realized he was right but resented her own huff of annoyance as he lifted his arms away from his sides. She reached for the buckle on his gun belt first.

Blurb: Gunslinger Shiloh Coltrane has returned home to work the family’s Wyoming ranch, only to find there’s still violence ahead. His sister and nephew have been murdered, and the killers are at large. Dr. Sydney Cantrell has come west to start her medical practice, aiming to treat the people of a small town. As she tries to help and heal, she finds disapproval and cruelty the payment in kind. When the two meet, it’s an attraction of opposites. As Shiloh seeks revenge, Sydney seeks to do what’s right. Each wants a new life, but will trouble or love find them first?

Available in both eBook and Paper at all good booksellers: Goodreads 

About Andrea Downing: A native New Yorker, Andrea Downing divides her time between the canyons of city streets and the wide-open spaces of Wyoming. Her background in publishing and English Language teaching has transferred into fiction writing, and her love of horses, ranches, rodeo, and anything else western, is reflected in her award-winning western romances. She has twice been a finalist for the RONE Awards, winner of the Favorite Hero along with several Honorable Mentions in the Maple Leaf Awards, and winner of the Golden Quill for best novella for Dearest Darling. She currently resides on the East End of Long Island.

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