I waved at Marcus, who had already changed out of his dark suit and was wearing a T-shirt with the bar’s logo on the back, and slid into an empty stool. He and his brother had been two of Daddy’s pallbearers, but you wouldn’t have known it if you hadn’t been there. He looked as if today was just another day.
“Well, I do believe I have my passport ready,” he hollered. I knew that he was trying to lift my spirits.
“You may see London and you may see France, but you’ll never see my underpants.” I retorted, and I caught the beer he slid me down the well-worn pine top bar.
I was used to all the comments and jokes about my name, had to be. When you were raised with two sisters and you all had names of fancy destinations, people expected you to be well...fancy. They were always shocked to realize that the only thing fancy about the Kelly girls were their names. The fancy one had been our mama, which was why she ran off with the first guy who promised to show her the world when I was ten years old. She’d wanted more than farm life. But not me, I could spend my days running the fields on Madam Mim, my horse.
I downed my first beer, slammed the bottle onto the counter a bit too hard, and smiled when I realized that Marcus had been anticipating my mood and had the second one waiting. I started drinking as I scanned the room. The place was a cross between a dive bar and a honky-tonk. The walls were crowded with memorabilia from locals who had made it big or famous people who had visited. There were several photos from the movie The Waterboy with Adam Sandler since the bonfire party was actually filmed right here in Geneva, Florida. They also filmed a few episodes of ER with George Clooney here. That was when I was young and boys were still yucky, but I remembered all the moms and teachers going crazy.
M.J. Tucker, a guy I went to high school with, was sitting at one of the corner booths, and I shook my head. I seriously considered calling his wife since he was hitting on Etta Hill. She knew—hell, everyone knew that M.J. was married. Then again, we also knew that Etta’s last name suited her perfectly, she was still the easiest hill to climb. Some things never changed, no matter how long it had been since high school.
“Another one, please.” I turned to face Marcus to make sure that he’d heard me. He was standing behind the counter, lost in space.
I took a long swig, I hadn’t realized how thirsty I’d been, two beers in ten minutes was fast even for me. Shaking my head at my realization, I followed the direction of Marcus’s gaze and saw a couple of women wearing denim miniskirts and crop tops. I fought back my urge to laugh at their shiny new cowboy boots. They were wannabes. Wannabe cowgirls, wannabe older than they were, and wannabe someone’s one-night stand.
Rolling my eyes, I waved a hand in front of Marcus’s face to get his attention. The man always lost his shit around booty and breasts. Once again, some things never changed.
I cleared my throat and waited with a giant grin on my face.
Keep reading—London, Is Falling
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Suggested Reading Order
Iron Orchids, Books 1 through 7
Take a group of wild crazy females and mix them with some very sexy hot guys and you have yourself a great series in the making.
Ariel, Always Enough - Book 1
Sophie, Almost Mine - Book 2
Katy, My Impact - Book 3
Leo, Kiss Often - Book 4
Stella, Until You - Book 5
Vivian, Midnight Call Girl - Book 6
Ringo, Slippery Banana - Book 7
Iron Badges, Books 1 through 5
You met some of them in the Iron Orchids. Now these women motorcycle officers will ride into your heart.
White Knight - Book 1
Good Knight - Book 2
Knight Rider - Book 3
Knight Watch - Book 4
First Knight - Book 5
Blood Roses
A group of women who are bound by their belief for doing what’s right. They’re the Black-Hat side of the Badges but they take care of business just the same. Discover what happened to each of these women that united them as a gang of vigilantes.
Kobe, Bad Blood - Book 1 (Coming April 13, 2021)
India, Cold Blood (TBA)
Astrid, Blood Money (TBA)
Iron Ladies, Books 1 through 4
“Here, take this, you need it.”
It was the sacred code of a whisper network of women.
The wives of controlling husbands.
The partners of cheating men.
Women who'd been helped by The Iron Ladies.
Adeline, Getting Even - Book 1
Sunday, Sweet Vengeance - Book 2
Melanie, Delivering Karma - Book 3
Olivia, Striking Back - Book 4
Iron Horse, Books 1 through 3
Three sisters take charge of the family ranch after their father dies, eager to show the world that the strongest cowboys are women.
London, Is Falling - Book 1
Paris, In Love - Book 2
Holland, At War - Book 3
Stand Alones
Roads Traveled an ever growing collection of short stories and novellas from Danielle Norman.
Box Set Madness
Iron Orchids Collection
Tap the links to find each title
Iron Orchids, Box Set 1 - Ariel, Always Enough and Sophie, Almost Mine
Iron Orchids, Box Set 2 - Katy, My Impact and Leo, Kiss Often
Iron Orchids, Box Set 3 - Stella, Until You and Vivian, Midnight Call Girl
Iron Horse Collection
Iron Horse Box Set - London, Is Falling, Paris, In Love and Holland, At War
Give Me My Audio!
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Check Out Danielle’s Audio Store on Authors Direct!
Iron Orchids Collection
Tap the links to find each title
Iron Orchids Box Set 1 - Ariel, Always Enough and Sophie, Almost Mine
Nook Audio Books, Apple Audio Books, Chirp Audio Books, Google Audio Books, Kobo Audio Books
Iron Orchids Box Set 2 - Katy, My Impact and Leo, Kiss Often
Nook Audio Books, Apple Audio Books, Chirp Audio Books, Google Audio Books, Kobo Audio Books
Iron Orchids Box Set 3 - Stella, Until You and Vivian, Midnight Call Girl
Nook Audio Books, Apple Audio Books, Chirp Audio Books, Google Audio Books, Kobo Audio Books
Iron Horse Box Set - London, Is Falling, Paris, In Love and Holland, At War
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A Word From Danielle
Thank you for picking up my book. It doesn’t matter whether you have read one book of ten written by me, they all have some commonalities to them:
Strong women with attitude.
Alpha heroes who love them anyway.
And a strong bond of friendship that we all need in our lives.
The Iron Orchids, books 1 through 7, were my original series of romance novels. Each book can be read as a stand-alone. What connects the stories are the fact the same people appear and eventually each gets their own Happily Ever After.
So if you’ve read one then you are probably dying to read about the rest of the brothers and their missing cousin.
Read on to find sneak peeks from some of the books along with my suggested reading order.
Thank you again - Dani<
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Meet Danielle
Before becoming a romance writer, Danielle Norman was a body double for Heidi Klum and a backup singer for Adele. Now, she spends her days trying to play keep away from Theo James who won't stop calling her and asking her out.
All of this happens before she wakes up and faces reality where in fact she's a 50 something mom with grown kids, she's been married longer than Theo's been alive, and she now get her kicks riding a Harley.
Danielle describes her books as Hallmark with sex.
Also By Danielle
Books by Stella Lang
Stella Lang is the husband and wife writing duo of Rusty and Danielle Norman.
When reading books by Stella Lang you can always count on strong women, alpha men, hot sex (lots of hot sex), sarcasm, and a happily ever after that will curl your toes.
Stella Lang began as a sarcastic heroine in books by Danielle Norman.
Want a date with a hot doctor? Dive into the new series from Stella Lang beginning with Just Say Ahhh
Get your copy of Hard Blow, Book 1 of the Orlando Suns series for FREE in most stores.
Special Thanks
Thank you to all my unsung heroes that make me the author I am.
Thank you Peggy Monroe for being that extra set of eyes for me.
Editor: Ashley Williams, thank you for putting up with me.
Proofreaders: Julie Deaton and Emily Kirkpatrick, thank you for meeting my crazy timelines.
Cover Designer: Elle Christensen at Clover Book Designs, thank you for not giving me the boot for being high maintenance.
Autumn Gantz, Wordsmith Publicity for keeping my name out of drama.
And Anthony who tries to be my voice of reason.
Finally, to the ninja known as Abbie, you are da bomb.
Olivia, Striking Back (Iron Ladies Book 4) Page 12
