Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. Readers can jump from one author to another who share hooks from their current WIP (work in progress) or any previously published books.
For this week’s edition of Book Hooks, I give you a teaser from Born Like This, book two in the Maizemerized series, a time-travel, historical romance.
She went back in time to rescue him. She never counted on falling in love…
Alma Whitecrow prefers hunting and fishing with men, not romancing them. But hearing about the roguishly handsome coureur de bois, who saved her sister from the Dakota, haunts her thoughts and dreams. Well-versed in surviving the wilds, Alma resolves to travel to the mid-eighteenth century, as her sister once did, to save the man from impending death.
Charlot Baudelaire thumbs his nose at society’s expectations, content living as a loner, trading with people he calls the Saulters. If he needs a woman for the night, there is always a willing maiden. What he doesn’t expect is a spunky and stubborn female warrior to challenge him.
Charlot is not the man Alma dreamed about, and Alma is not the kind of woman Charlot pursues. But the longer they are together, the more drawn to each other they become, until Alma faces the biggest decision of her life. Stay with a man who may never reciprocate her love, or return to her Ojibway home and bland existence.
Genre(s): Time Travel, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, First Nations Romance, Paranormal Romance, Adult.
Heat Rating: Level 3
Publication Date: October 31, 2025
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Charlot puffed on the pipe while Arms Oneself cleaned up the campsite. Wherever she moved, the dog followed—a true faithful companion. He had to admit she intrigued him. She was nothing like Fire Woman, with the exception that they shared the same eyes. The brows were different, though. Fire Woman’s were slim with a beautiful arch. As for Arms Oneself, hers were thicker and more of a straight line. This gave her a serious look, especially when she frowned, making her brows slant downward.
He doubted she’d marry. A woman like Arms Oneself was too spirited, and too independent. He couldn’t see any husband tolerating her views when a man needed a woman to cook and clean.
Holy matrimony was a sacred sacrament to his people. There was even a priest at another fort far from here whom he’d met twice. He did receive Holy Communion during those times after confessing his sins. But he didn’t consider himself devoted to God or the Church. He was simply following how he’d been raised since his schooling came from the Jesuits back in Montréal. The same for his sisters, who’d received their teachings from the Congrégation de Notre-Dame at the stable school.
His father had wanted him to learn to read and write before succeeding him. He’d said knowledge was the key to success and to ensure nobody swindled his son. Knowledge also gave Charlot power over those who could not calculate figures through arithmetic.
“Did you also attend the stable school?”
Arms Oneself stopped cleaning the plates she scrubbed with damp moss. “I do not know what you mean.”
Hmm, she should know of the school if she were truly from the east.
“Someone must have taught you to read and write. I assume you know how.” He took his last puff of the tobacco. “You strike me as very intelligent.”
“My mother taught me.”
If not for the darkness, Charlot had a hunch he’d find her cheeks on the pink side. “Did your mother attend the school?”
“Yes.”
She’d answer rather quickly. Too quickly.
“You should rest now. The sooner you heal, the better off we will be for safety’s sake. The Sioux could still be patrolling.” She kept her head down, still scrubbing the plate.
“I will rest then. I do have one question before I sleep.” He pulled up the blanket.
“What is that?”
“The name of the school.” He hid his grin beneath the covering.
Her back was to him, but he didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath, followed by silence.
“Well?”
“I cannot recall.”
Liar.
He closed his eyes. Come morning, he’d get the truth. They would not continue to speak until he learned who the sisters truly were.
Maggie Blackbird 