Greetings Fillies! Thanks for having me! I’m thrilled to be here chatting with you about one of my first western romances, which is where I got my start as a romance writer.
My debut novel, PRAIRIE BRIDE was set in a sod house on the Kansas prairies. It was a Harlequin Historicals release in the year 2000. But even before that – back in 1995 – I wrote a time-travel romance where a contemporary heroine gets caught in a lightning storm and is transported back to the Old West. Not long after she arrives, she falls for the ruggedly handsome gunslinging sheriff, who quickly becomes her hero and protector against a band of dangerous outlaws.
I gave it the title JUNEBUG JESS. It won some writing contests and garnered a few requests for the complete manuscript from publishers who read the proposal, but by the time I was shopping it around, time travels were no longer considered marketable, so it never sold. And hey, I was a newbie unpublished author, and it was tough to break in. I didn’t give up, however. I wrote five novels over a period of six years before I finally sold PRAIRIE BRIDE to Harlequin.
Now here we are, seventeen novels later, and authors have the option of publishing independently. Last summer I had a short break while my agent was negotiating a new contract with my publisher, so I decided to dig JUNEBUG JESS out of my old rejection pile and take a look at it. Would it still hold up? Would the writing be atrocious? To my utter delight, the plot line was fresh and fun, the characters were interesting, and the writing was… well, not too bad.
I could see that the prose needed some polish, so I began an intensive rewrite to bring it up to speed to match my voice today. Also, cell phones and laptops were not part of daily life when I originally wrote it, so the technology needed an upgrade. The heroine’s outfit was more than a little outdated, so all that had to be changed.
I gave it a sexier title, TAKEN BY THE COWBOY, and a splashy cover inspired by the Cowboys and Aliens movie poster (scroll down for a peek at it), and now I’m wildly happy to see it out there at last for readers to enjoy! This one was a long time coming .
Now here’s the good news and the fun part.
For those of you who are reading the blog today Feb 4 – the ebook edition of TAKEN BY THE COWBOY is on sale at Amazon for 99 cents for a limited time. Hurry and grab it for your Kindle and please share the link with your Facebook and Twitter friends!
Lastly – I’m going to give away a $25 gift card to Amazon or B&N (winner’s choice) to one commenter. All you have to do is tell me the name of your favorite western romance novel of all time (or the top 3 if you can’t narrow it down).
HERO AND PROTECTOR
Former bounty hunter, expert gunslinger, and the toughest sheriff Dodge City has ever known, Truman Wade is a real man from the tip of his black Stetson right down to his spurs and leather boots. He’s never met his match in a gunfight, but he’s never met a gorgeous, gutsy woman from the twenty-first century either…
TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Newly single after a rocky breakup with her self-absorbed fiancé, newspaper columnist Jessica Delaney crashes her car in a lightning storm and soon finds herself dodging bullets in the Wild West. Before the night is out, she’s tossed in jail for a murder she didn’t commit, and if things don’t seem complicated enough, the impossibly handsome sheriff in charge of her arrest has danger written all over him – and a sexy swagger to die for. Jessica knows she needs to get home, but when Sheriff Wade’s enticing touch sets her passions on fire, she begins to wonder if fate has other plans for her, and soon she must choose between the life she longs for in the future… and the greatest love she’s ever known.
I love spending time here at Petticoats and Pistols with the fillies and all their fantastic fans! I’m grateful to have my fifth book, An Inconvenient Match, Love Inspired Historical, on the shelves this month. The release of a new book is always exciting!
In past visits I’ve shared tidbits of history I discovered while researching such topics as orphan trains, medicinal herbs and Victorian houses. Today I want to chat about romance. First let me give you a peek at my story.
THE BEST OF ENEMIES
His family destroyed hers. But Matthew Cummings’s job offer—to care for his recuperating father—is impossible to decline.
Schoolteacher Abigail Wilson can swallow her pride for the sake of a summer paycheck that will help her sister. And when Abigail’s employment ends, old loyalties will separate the feuding families once more.
If there’s anyone in town stubborn enough to deal with Matthew’s cantankerous father, it’s Abigail. It’s just a business arrangement—and a temporary one, at that. Her good opinion shouldn’t matter a lick to Matt. Yet their different backgrounds belie a surprising kinship. Perhaps unexpected love will be their reward for the summer’s inconvenient match.
As the story unfolds, the hero and heroine struggle to reconcile loyalty to family with their growing romantic feelings for one
another. To see if they overcome the obstacles between them is one reason I love to read romance novels. Another reason is romance novels guarantee a happy ending. Still, getting to the “happily ever after” isn’t easy. Bottom line, conflict is story. No conflict, no story.
So expect trouble.
Abby and Wade have plenty. The feud between the Wilsons and Cummings isn’t their only problem. Wade hurt Abby when they
were courting in high school. She’s not forgiven him. Ah, the heartache of young romance.
Anyone relate? I do.
My first boyfriend dumped me. That hurt. Not that I was in love, but I liked him. I was fifteen. He was sixteen, tall, dark, handsome and a driver. :-) We met at 4-H camp and dated that summer. He was the first boy I kissed. Unless you count the silly kiss that followed the spin of a milk bottle. Toward summer’s end we had plans to attend the county fair. He never showed up. Even then I had a creative imagination and visualized an accident or at the very least, car trouble. Surely he was hurt or stranded somewhere. I called his house. First dumb move. His mother answered and said he’d gone to the fair with friends. Friends? I’d been stood up. I’m sure he had a lot in common with Danny, John Travolta’s character in “Grease.” Danny dumped Sandy, Olivia Newton-John’s character, no doubt running from a summer romance that wouldn’t make him look cool to the guys in school. Sadly, I was not cool. I went from hurt to mad. What a coward he’d been not to tell me face to face. When school started, I never spoke to him again. Second dumb move. We were both pretty childish. But, the experience proved to me that Abby’s refusal to talk or eat with Wade could happen.
I dated a few more nice guys before I went steady in my junior year. That boy broke up with me. See a pattern here? He had the
guts to do it in person, probably because he wanted his class ring back. What a waste of angora and pillows of tape painted with different colors of nail polish to match my skirts and sweaters. Does anyone remember the creative ways to make a boy’s ring fit your finger?
I persevered in the romance department until I met my husband in college. I’m grateful I waited for Mr. Right and got my happily ever after. But wait, I’m ignoring poor Abby and Wade. The feud and heartache over the breakup wasn’t all that stood between them. They clashed over a student of Abby’s. Like most of us, they saw the situation from the bias of their past experiences. Thankfully, they matured and changed. Thanks to me. Yes, romance isn’t easy. But, Wade and Abby got their happy ending.
Can anyone relate to romance woes? Have a breakup story to share? Are you grateful you broke up? Does it hurt still? No full names, please.
For a chance to win a signed copy of An Inconvenient Match, please leave a comment.
I trust that Santa brought you lots of goodies and that you had a safe and happy New Year’s.
Now that we have the holidays out of the way I’m proud and happy to share that our sixth anthology, BE MY TEXAS VALENTINE, with Phyliss Miranda, Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, and myself hits bookstores this week. Already we’ve gotten some great reviews.
My story is called CUPID’S ARROW. Rue Ann Spencer, the daughter of a high-powered Texas senator, has come home from a ladies finishing school. She’s busy planning her wedding to Theodore Greeley, her father’s hand-picked groom for her. The last person she wants to run into is rancher Logan Cutter. But as the fickle hand of fate would have it, that’s exactly who she plows into as she’s leaving the dressmaker’s shop.
Logan Spencer never knew why Rue Ann suddenly up and left town. One minute they’re planning their life together and the next he’s left high and dry with no explanation. He thought he had her out of his system….until he finds her unexpectedly in his arms. Looking into her beautiful green eyes he knows he’ll never be content with anyone else, not even if he lives to be a hundred.
Two matchmaking spinster sisters, a stray dog that’s looking for someone to love, and a sudden storm that traps Rue Ann and Logan gives Cupid a little extra help and gets everyone sorted out and with the ones they’re supposed to be with.
I hope all four of these stories reminds you how special Valentine’s Day is when you’re with the one you love.
Now here’s a short excerpt:
Rue Ann Spencer stepped from Mrs. Fitzhugh’s Dress Shop where she was being fitted for her wedding gown into the blinding afternoon sunlight.
She quickly raised her hand to shield her eyes but it wasn’t soon enough to keep her from plowing into the solid wall of a man’s body.
His quick grasp kept her on her feet.
“Pardon me. I didn’t see….” She stared up into the liquid brown eyes of none other than Logan Cutter. Her words trailed as she suddenly lost the ability to form coherent thought. Her blood chilled. Why did she have to run into the one person who still had the ability to drive a knife straight into her heart?
That’s why she’d stayed far away from Texas and Shiloh for three years. She’d never forgive him for what he’d done.
“I heard you were back in town, Rue Ann.” Logan’s deep growl indicated he wasn’t thrilled with the encounter either. “And I also hear congratulations are in order on your upcoming nuptials.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cutter,” she replied stiffly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a million things to do to prepare for my wedding. Valentine’s Day will be here-”
“In exactly two weeks and five days,” he finished for her.
Shocked that he knew to the day how long before she’d become someone else’s wife, she gathered her shredded composure and turned in the direction of Whipple’s Dry Goods. Refusing to give Cutter the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he’d affected her, she moved on, keeping her gaze glued to the sidewalk, never once glancing back.
Trembling, Rue Ann opened the door of the dry goods store and hurried inside. Thankfully, Mr. Whipple had his hands full with the spinster Barlow sisters.
Rue Ann headed for a dark corner and, there sagging against a shelf of men’s hats, she blinked back sudden tears and gave herself a stern talking to.
She would not shed one more tear on that man. Logan Cutter wasn’t worth it.
*********
This is going to be our last anthology for a while. We’ve decided to work on our own individual projects.
Do you have a favorite Valentine memory you’d like to share? I’m giving away a copy of the book to two people who leave a comment.
I love New Year’s Eve. When I was younger, I was pretty much a wallflower who sat home year after year. I would watch the glass ball going down in Times Square and wish I was there. As an adult I’ve tried to make up for all those lost New Year’s Eves and rarely miss going out on the town.
I love to dress up in black sequins and high heels, and am fortunate that my husband is a knockout in a tuxedo. One of my favorite New Year’s parties was in Beverly Hills. I was invited to a function that was the height of elegance and even had celebrities in attendance. I remember seeing Hugh O’Brien, who used to be Wyatt Earp on TV, a really gorgeous guy back then, and Faye Dunaway, who was class personified.
For me New Year’s Eve is champagne and romance, and being a romance writer, why wouldn’t I adore it?
This year, besides going out on the town, I’ll be celebrating the re-release of one of my all time favorite books–HOT RAIN. The hero, Jake Dawson, would look gorgeous in a tux–or better yet, nothing at all. Allie Parker is blond and sexy, and the chemistry between them burns. Jake’s an undercover agent working to catch a gang of drug smugglers. Unfortunately, Allie Parker believes he’s one of the thugs who have taken her prison and stashed her on the yacht they are taking to Mexico.
Jake has a helluva time keeping Allie safe and at the same time playing the roll of her captor. There’s a lot of humor in this one, which is why my readers chose it back when it first came out as their all-time favorite.
The book has been out of print for nearly ten years, so I’m hoping readers who haven’t had a chance to read it will give it a try. It’s got a fabulous new cover and will be out in e-book format for the first time ever.
I hope you’ll try HOT RAIN and that you enjoy. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Very best wishes,
Kat
Kat’s giving away a kindle copy of HOT RAIN to one lucky commenter!
Hidy, fillies! Thanks for inviting me in for a visit today. P&P is always such a fun group.
If you could live in the Old West, whereabouts would you choose and what would your occupation be?
Wow. That’s a hard one. Although I love the beauty and wildlife of the mountains, it would be hard trying to eek out an existence there with the short growing seasons, killer winters, isolation, and no malls or internet. And as much as I love mountains, I’d rather LOOK at them, than LIVE in them. Same with oceans. The flatlands are good because you can see a cloud coming for days and get ready for it, but all that flatness might get a little boring after a while. Plus, tornadoes give me a bad case of the heebie jeebies. The South is out because even though the people are a hoot, I don’t like cockroaches and humidity and being sweaty for no good reason. And I’ve already been through my share of hurricanes, thank you very much. So I guess I’d like to be where I am right now—on a hilltop looking at mountains and valleys, watching cockroach-free wildlife wander by, no humidity, lots of sunshine, and tapping away on my computer. I already had a bear on my deck a few months ago—that’s as close to nature as I need to be. It’s a great life.
What intrigues you the most about writing westerns?
The code. Honor, integrity, pride, independence, self-sufficiency, pitching in when needed, and of course, guys in tight jeans. There was no moral ambiguity back then. Just right and wrong. I feel of late we’ve lost sight of those basics. Baggy jeans hanging off a city-slicker’s tattooed butt just doesn’t do it for me. But a fine-looking man on a fine-looking horse, well… Plus, there were fewer politicians back then to mess up everything, which is always appealing.
What interesting places have you visited while doing research for your stories?
I’ve pretty much covered the West, so I don’t have to go anywhere to envision it. All I have to do is remember it. But I’ve traveled a lot on the cyber highway and have come across many interesting facts—some of which might even be true. Plus I’m a great people-watcher and brain-picker. If you’re a doctor, nurse, psychologist, historian, horse trainer, rancher, botanist, bird watcher, hiker, camper, outdoor survivalist, wildlife biologist, or anyone with a kind face—I’ll be on you like a hen on a June bug. Everyone I meet has something to offer.
Do you normally start with storyline or with character or with some combination of the two?
I think of a place I’d like to write about—then the time period—then the kind of people who might live there then. It’s the old “what if” scenario. What if there was this beautiful ranch in a mountain valley in New Mexico, and this guy and his brothers lived there…three really hot, lonely brothers…hmmm. Then I start posing questions: What haunts him? What does he fear? What does he want more than anything in the world and how can I keep him from getting it until he’s earned his “happily-ever-after”? It sort of snowballs from there.
Please tell us about your current projects. (Brief overview including any tidbits about your inspiration or interesting behind-the-scenes notes you care to share)
I just finished the third Runaway Brides book, BRIDE OF THE HIGH COUNTRY, which comes out next June, so I’m taking a short break. Instead of writing, I’ll be promoting the newly released mass market editions of the Blood Rose Trilogy (PIECES OF SKY, OPEN COUNTRY, and CHASING THE SUN), as well as the trade release of COLORADO DAWN, which comes out on January 3rd. These brides books have been a lot of fun—four women who head West to start new lives and get more than they bargained for when they’re stranded in a dying Colorado mining town. Fun stuff. Meanwhile, I’ll be busy with a huge giveaway on my blog (www.kakiwarner.wordpress.com). Throughout the month of December, I’m giving away twenty three-book mass market sets of the Blood Rose Trilogy, plus fifteen early copies of Colorado Dawn. Be sure to drop by.
As for current projects…there are always ideas bouncing around in my head…a Christmas Novella, a tie-in to the grooms of the bride series, a re-visit to the Wilkins ranch…lots of things I’d like to do. So we’ll see.
What was the inspiration behind Colorado Dawn?
Maddie (the heroine) had already appeared in HEARTBREAK CREEK, the first brides book, so I pretty much knew what she was about. But since she’s an English photographer and somewhat unconventional, I decided to pair her with a duty-bound, titled Scottish soldier who is so involved running around doing military things he doesn’t realize his wife has given up on him until he returned to find her gone. Then the chase is on. Ah…a Scotsman in the West. Two of my favorite things. My grandfather was Scottish and I still hear his brogue in my memory. He always seemed a boisterous, bigger-than-life character, so I suppose in many ways Angus Wallace came about because of him.
What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?
That I’ve been married for forty-five years (and to the same man, no less—give me a freaking medal), and I sold the first book I wrote the same year I went on Medicare. How’s that for being a late bloomer baby bloomer? Plus, put me up in front of a crowd and watch the hives pop out. I’m pathetic. But I’ve learned to cover my pathological shyness with inappropriate remarks and out-of-control giggling, so at least onlookers aren’t bored.
Since you told me to ask–Why don’t you write sex scenes in your stories?
(You weren’t supposed to tell). But since you did…actually I do write sex scenes, just not graphic ones. I figure most of my readers already have an idea of what goes where, so I don’t need to spell it out in detail. There are manuals that do that a lot better than I could. Admittedly, sex is a vital and necessary part of the human condition, but I think overly graphic sex scenes desensitize readers and often trivialize what should be a moving, romantic, physical and spiritual joining. (I know. I’m a hopeless romantic). So I focus on the romance of it, not the mechanics. I don’t want readers flipping through my books to get to the spicy parts, nor do I want them skimming over the sex scenes to get back to the story. It’s a choice every writer has to make. Sure, I’ve gotten dinged for my “fade to black” sex scenes (I use a lot of cuss words, so that should help some, right?). But I’ve gotten many, many more e-mails and comments from readers who appreciate not having to suffer through yet another blow-by-blow (oops, did I say that?) account of two people getting it on. Rent a movie.
Am I wrong, readers? Is graphic better? Or fade to black? What do you prefer in your romances and why?
What were your favorite books as a child?
Favorite book? Where do I start. Every Christmas my parents gave me the current Newberry Prize winner and it was always a treasured gift. But the book I carried around
with me as a little kid was Petunia the Silly Goose. From there I went through Uncle Remus, The Secret Garden, any horse book, the Nancy Drew mysteries, Thomas Costain’s books. I even read
bad poetry. In fact, one Christmas I delighted my entire family and guests (I was seven) with a surprise reading of “The Old Bastard Is Dead”which was snatched out of my hands before I could finish (I didn’t know what a bastard was back then. Maybe that was my first step toward romances…you think?)
Thanks for coming by today and letting me spout off. And in the spirit of the season, I’m giving away a three-book set of the mass market editions of the Blood Rose Trilogy and an advance copy of COLORADO DAWN to two lucky commenters. Ho Ho Ho!
With all the online dating sites these days, it might seem that cyber romance is the wave of the future. But as King Solomon so wisely said, there is nothing new under the sun.
Back in 1879, a female telegraph operator from Boston by the name of Ella Cheever Thayer published a romance novel entitled Wired Love. I ran across this wonderful little book while doing some research into telegraph operators. Apparently many operators were women and could often be identified as such by the delicacy of their “sounding” on the wires. The hero in Miss Thayer’s novel, Clem Stanwood, knows right away that the operator at the “B m” station is female.
Nattie Rogers is intrigued by the mysterious “C” at the “X n” station and seeks out converations that soon turn flirtatious. These two telegraph operators fall in love over the wire without ever laying eyes on one another. I haven’t read the entire novel, but the few chapters I did read were full of delightful humor and banter.
There is one scene about halfway through that was priceless. A case of mistaken identity had scared Nattie off, but Mr. Stanwood arranges a visit to her boarding house and while sitting amongst others in the parlor, he begins tapping out code with his pencil against a marble table top. Nattie recognizes her call name and, taking up a pair of scissors, drums out her own answer. They carry on an entire conversation this way with no one else in the parlor suspecting their action were anything more than idle tapping. Until, that is, Mr. Stanwood reveals himself to be the real “C”.
Nattie jumps to her feet and exclaims aloud, “What do you mean? It cannot be possible!”
Don’t you love it? Hysterical!
Of course everyone else in the room thinks she’s lost her mind except the hero who crosses the room to take her hand. Ahhh…
Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes was a best selling book for over 10 years. And why not? The story is timeless. Remember You’ve Got Mail, which was adapted to e-mail from The Shop Around the Corner where Jimmy Stewart did his courting through letters? Very similar premise. And there are so many parrallels to dating in today’s “wired” world. Can you trust that she looks like her description? Is he a gentleman or a stalker? How about the awkwardness of the first face-to-face meet? And with all the abbreviations used on the telegraph lines, it reminded me of the text speak our kids use today. It is really rather eerie how easily Ella Thayer’s story translates to our contemporary society 130 years after it was written.
Wired Love is in the public domain and can be downloaded for free from Amazon or you can read it on Google Books. Those who love research will find a treasure trove of details concerning how a telegraph was run. Those who love to travel back in time will enjoy delving into authentic 19th century life. And those who love a clean love story with a healthy dose of chuckles along the way will find a great read. You might want to give it a try.
I started setting books in my fictional town of Larch Valley a while ago – in fact, it was the first book I did with my current editor after my first editor at Harlequin got promoted. I wrote the end of it with a cast on my arm, a glass of wine at my elbow and a husband gone to Hawaii in the middle of a brutally cold January. The book was called The Rancher’s Runaway Princess.
Despite the adjustments that happened during the writing of that book, I went on to write a duet set there – One Dance With the Cowboy and Her Lone Cowboy. I loved bringing back characters from the first book and introducing a few new ones. One character I loved writing – even though his role was small – was Clay Gregory. Even with his walk-on role he was a big ol’ sexy cowboy and I knew I wanted to write his story.
But I couldn’t find him the right heroine. I had a few proposals but none of them really flew. I wrote three more books for the Romance line before I finally figured it out. The woman he was supposed to be with was Megan Briggs – his best friend’s little sister.
It was fantastic going back to Larch Valley. Each time I do, past characters show up and a few new ones get introduced. Megan had been mentioned in One Dance With The Cowboy but never on screen; now she’s front and centre after disappearing for cancer treatment. I wrote the opening of this book something like four times (which is not unusual, this happens in nearly every book until I hit upon the right time and place to really start it). In the end, what worked was Meg trying desperately to get her life back to normal. She’s shoveling you know what. And in struts Clay with his boots and heavy jacket and all around sexiness.
It was both difficult and easy to write Meg’s character. Easy because as a cancer survivor, there’s automatically some internal conflict and a lot of emotion built in. Difficult because I feel a great responsibility for getting it RIGHT – all the hopes and dreams and worries and fears that Meg still has.
It really came down to one particular scene for me. One that I thought my editor might read and that she might tell me was too risky. But she never breathed a word about taking it out, and I was thrilled. I cried buckets writing it!
Romantic Times gave it four stars, but what I really liked was the quote that went with it: Great characters bring life to this beautifully written story that explores trust, friendship and hope.
Trust, friendship, and hope. Yes, that just about nails it.
I’m giving a copy away today to one commenter! And please – don’t forget to do your self exam or get a mammogram if you’re over 40.
My parents moved to Southern California when I was 3. I grew up in the shadows of Hollywood at a time when westerns were popular on TV and in the movies. My idea of a cowboy was based on their fictionalized portrayal. I saw the hero as larger than life, a man who overcame the odds and sticky situations even though he was wounded both physically and emotionally. But what about the reality of the Old West?
It was no surprise that the first historical romances I’d written were all westerns. My heroes had all of the above qualities—good and bad. Their physical scars told a grim story; their emotional scars were deep-rooted. After all the research, I realized that in my books, reality and fiction met in the middle. Life wasn’t easy for the real-life cowboy in the 19th century. While not a pretty picture, I planted my cowboy hero in the middle of the era, hardships and all. I drifted toward the dark, brooding hero, a reflection of my state of mind. The combination came across as a strong, conflicted hero who fought against change but overcame the odds because of the love of his woman (heroine).
More than that, I love horses. I see an undeniable bond between a man and his horse, both powerful animals. There’s something majestic in watching a horse in motion and the rough-cut man who rode him as if they were one. Like the heroes in my stories, their horses have quirks, too. Sometimes, they seem human.
The American West has always appealed to my senses. “Modern” conveniences began to play a part at this time in history, yet there weren’t so many that their lives were made easier than the 20th century cowboy. And it isn’t far-fetched to create a heroine who is strong-willed or ahead of her time. In order to keep up and maintain my hero, she can’t back down, but she knows when to back off while standing her ground.
To date, I’ve had 2 westerns published. (The other 10 are gathering dust on a shelf in my office.) I set the first one, Rebel Heart, in Santa Fe. I didn’t pick the location; it picked me. I had felt a strange attraction to the town. When I wrote the story, I found myself writing about aspects of Santa Fe as if I’d been there before, even though I hadn’t. What I knew—or sensed—I had yet to research. The La Fonda hotel was very familiar to me. Oddly, I instinctively knew things about it that I didn’t come across until later on in my research. In this book, the hero, Beau Hamilton, is as flawed as they come, maybe even more so. The chip on his shoulder seems impossible to knock off. That’s the reason I wrote the heroine, Courtney Danning, as willful yet not against becoming emotional—enough to melt the hero’s heart and break through his sense of aloneness.
My second western romance, Love’s Sweet Wager, (released in July 2011) takes the reader on a journey along the California Trail. Although my hero, Reno Hunter, isn’t a cowboy, he’s a force to be reckoned with as well as a die-hard gambler accused of murder. Disguising him as a priest and making him blend in with the folks on the wagon train was completely against his character. When he sees Rachel Garrett with one of the families, he cannot contain his animal instinct and begins doing things priests are not supposed to do. Little does he know she’s hiding a huge secret herself.
Are my heroes typical of the western male? Probably not. Seeing their “macho” side give way to their compassionate one does something to my heart. And that’s the reason I fall in love with them time and again.
Leave a comment today for a chance to win an electronic copy of Love’s Sweet Wager.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my new western historical romance, TEXAS TWILIGHT, with your readers. It’s book two in The McCutcheon Family series, and was a joy to write. I think it’s because I got so attached to the family in MONTANA DAWN, I was eager to learn more about them, create a little havoc in their lives, and feel the joy of them falling in love.
John Jake McCutcheon, the fourth brother, was only mentioned twice in book one. Now, he’s out of medical school and starting a new practice in Rio Wells, Texas, the town where his extended family reside. All goes well until Dustin, the oldest Texas cousin, takes a shine to Lily Anthony, the pretty young woman who has traveled in the same Wells Fargo coach with John to Rio Wells. Sparks fly as the two McCutcheon men, so different yet also alike, square off.
For all you cowboy lovers, here is a short excerpt;
* * *
Chapter one
Texas Badlands, 1886
The stagecoach lurched. John Jake McCutcheon opened his eyes and saw the young woman next to him grasp the leather loop that hung from the coach’s ceiling to keep from being tossed around. She tipped precariously to the right, then left, bumping forcefully into his shoulder. With an apologetic glance she moved away, then dabbed at her brow with a folded handkerchief. She looked at her elderly aunt.
“Tante Harriet? Are you all right?” she asked in a soft German accent. She opened the fan she held and swished it back and forth in front of the tiny woman. “Your face is extremely red.”
“Of course, Lily,” Harriet Schmidt said in a raspy voice laced with exhaustion. The old woman’s hair was swept up atop her head and fastened in a bun, but after the miles and miles traveled on the dusty, sun-baked road, it looked more like a weather blown tumbleweed after a storm. She patted her niece on the knee. “Thank heavens we’re almost there. Just one more day and we’ll be out of this oven.”
John glanced away, not wanting to seem impolite. He’d met both Harriet Schmidt and her niece, Lily Anthony, when they’d boarded the stage together in Concepción. He’d seen them on the train from Boston, too, but they’d kept to themselves, never speaking with anyone else.
John gazed out the window, thinking. He was finally finished with his medical training and heading to West Texas. Anticipation coursed though him.
Rio Wells was a long way from his family ranch in Montana, but he’d get used to it. His plan to return to Y Knot after graduation hadn’t panned out. His hometown already supported two full-time physicians. If he really wanted to make a difference in people’s lives as a doctor and surgeon, he had to strike out in a place where the townsfolk were in need. At least he wouldn’t be a complete stranger in Rio Wells. Uncle Winston and his family were there. And his fiancée, Emmeline Jordan, would be joining him this fall.
John closed his eyes, recalling Emmeline’s elegant profile and dark, alluring eyes. In his mind’s eye, her mouth drew down into a seductive little pout, a manipulation he knew all too well, but one that, all the same, fueled his blood. She was like a beautiful, exotic bird, needing care and affection.
“Oh, just to take this corset off,” Harriett said to no one in particular, then chortled softly at her niece’s shocked expression at her bluntness. “It pinches horribly. I think I’ll throw it away for good.” She paused, thinking. “No…” Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Actually, I’ll burn it.”
Cyrus and Jeremiah Post and Abigail Smith, the other passengers cramped uncomfortably on the opposite seat, just smiled, now used to the old woman’s antics. Miss Smith, a teacher, had been hired by the same town council that had hired John, and he felt a small kinship with her.
“You know, Doctor McCutcheon,” Harriett Schmidt went on, trying to catch his eye, “my Lily doesn’t need a corset. Her waist is eighteen inches without one.”
“Tante Harriett. Please.”
John chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. He’d tried not to notice something like that, but it had been difficult, if not impossible. The girl had practically been snuggled to his side for several days.
Without warning, the driver called out sharply to the horses and the coach picked up speed. The two guards riding on top of the stage scuffled around and one shouted something unintelligible. John glanced out the window.
A shot rang out. One second later, one of the guards fell from the top of the stage, past the window, landing with a thunk as the stage rolled on. Lily gasped and threw her arms protectively around her aunt. Abigail screamed and then fainted, flopping over onto Cyrus’s shoulder.
The driver bellowed to the horses again and the stagecoach heaved forward as the six-horse team was propelled instantly into an all-out gallop. Three more shots were fired, and the sound of horses’ hooves thundered from behind.
John looked back through the dust to see a number of riders racing toward the stagecoach, eating up the distance between the two. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He was a doctor. He’d taken the Hippocratic Oath to heal not three weeks before. His job was taking bullets out, not putting them in. But then, he’d also been raised on a rugged Montana ranch, where the unwavering reality was hard. Sometimes staying alive meant killing someone else. Besides, everyone’s lives were on the line, not just his. It would be especially bad for the women aboard. These hills were a common hiding place for Comancheros. They used women in the worst ways and then sold them into prostitution in Mexico. As pretty as she was, Lily Anthony would fetch top price. Hell, they’d sell the skinny teacher and the old woman, too.
Smoke and dust filled the coach. Pop. Pop. Pop. Lily covered her ears. Her elderly aunt coughed as she struggled to hang on. Abigail, now fully awake again, filled the small space with one shrill scream after the other, never even pausing to take a breath. John reached for his satchel under the seat, withdrew a Colt 45, and strapped on his holster. Carrying his guns was a habit he hadn’t been able to break even after his years at school. With hands nimble from experience, he loaded and fired several shots out the window. Two riders fell.
“You have another gun?”
John was surprised to see old Harriet Schmidt eyeing him expectantly. One hand was outstretched while the other grasped the windowsill as the coach careened down the road, jerking violently this way and that. “I’m not letting those filthy dogs take my Lily!”
“Can you shoot?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I couldn’t. My derringer’s not worth diddly.”
John squeezed off three more shots, then pulled another gun from his bag, handing it to Harriet. He pushed the bag toward Lily. “Bullets.”
Cyrus Post fired out the other side of the coach just as a bullet hit Cyrus’s brother in the chest, slamming Jeremiah violently against the back of the seat. Jeremiah gasped several times as he tried to hold back a rush of crimson that spurted through his splayed fingers, soaking his clothes. With just a glance, John could see he wasn’t long for this world. Abigail’s eyes grew round as she took in the blood. With a gasp, she fainted again, blessedly putting an end to her screams.
“Son of a bitch! “ Cyrus cried out. “There’s too many. Prepare to meet your maker.”
“Hush your mouth, you old coot,” Harriet shouted as she hefted the heavy gun and shot out the window. “I have more faith in God than that.”
The coach rounded a corner dangerously fast and then slowed up a bit as it began an uphill climb. One side of the road dropped off, falling some forty feet to a bed of jagged rocks.
Seizing the moment, John holstered his gun and opened the narrow door. He climbed the side of the rocking coach using the window as a step, and grasping the luggage rack, pulled himself up. He flopped onto his stomach, facing the oncoming killers and picked up the fallen guard’s Winchester. He took aim.
* * *
Since the holidays are just around the corner I’d like to share the recipe for my sister’s Beer Bread, which she makes every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s not exactly a recipe from the 1800s, but it surely could’ve been—it’s that easy. Give it a try. You’ll be hooked, too;
3 cups Self Rising flour
3 Tlbs sugar
a 12 –oz can or bottle of beer (at room temperature)
1 cup chopped walnuts, 1 cup raisins
(OR ½ cup raisins and ½ cup cranberries—I use cherry flavored!)
a good shake of cinnamon.
Mix all ingredients together and put into a sprayed and floured bread pan.
Split the top with a knife.
Cover and set in a warm spot for 30 minutes so the dough can rise.
Cook in a 375-degree oven for 1hour and 15 minutes.
Watch at the end so it doesn’t become too brown.
Remove and while still hot, brush top with butter. ENJOY!!
I’m giving away an E-Book copy of TEXAS TWILIGHT, and also a paper copy of MONTANA DAWN to two different commenters. Share with us if you’ve ever been in competition with a friend or family member for the same sweetheart? Don’t be shy….
Available in E-Book online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
(Celia will be giving away a pdf. copy of Texas True today!)
The first Western Romance novel I read was This Calder Range by Janet Dailey. Before that, my adult reading material came in groups. One genre kept me busy for months or years, until I moved on to another.
First I read Science Fiction, dozens over a period of a year or so. But I cannot remember one author or one title. The plots and otherworldly creatures fascinated me at the time, but I soon selected something else. So many books—so little time!
I began Willa Cather’s books, and when I’d finished all those, I selected a new kind of novel I’d not seen—Women’s Fiction. Maeve Binchy, Rosamund Pilcher, Belva Plain. Each author received my undivided attention until I’d read all I could find.
Next, westerns. Plain old shoot-’em-ups, stories depicting cattle drives, rustlers, outlaws, and lawmen. Oh, I loved these novels, and Louis L’Amour became my favorite because he often had a little love story in there.
Romance? Didn’t read it. None, zip, nada. Too trite, I’d heard—the novels always ended the same way—happily-ever-after. Same plot, boy meets girl, they fall in love, have a falling-out, make-up, get married. I’d heard this from a cynical friend who only read literary works, and so I thought..surely there’s something better for reading as a pastime. The idea of involving myself in deep literary works didn’t especially thrill me, though–had enough of that in college.
In 1990, when I visited a used-book store and bought the paperback by Janet Dailey, I couldn’t put it down. Remember, I love Westerns, and this even had a HEA. I fell in love. I searched the used-book stores and eventually the library until I’d found and read all ten in the Calder series. Her latest, I believe, was released a couple of years ago.
From there, I discovered LaVyrle Spencer, a master of romance writing, who retired from writing in 1997–at just the time I discovered her books. Dorothy Garlock, Maggie Osborne, and Linda Lael Miller are favorites, plus many more. I still search for new authors who write exciting, satisfying Western Romance.
In 2004, I sat down and began to write a story. And yes, it was a Western romance—a historical. Probably I’ll never be in the same category with my favorite authors, but each one has been an inspiration and a benchmark for me. The title is Texas Blue, and it’s the beginning of a series about The Camerons of Texas.
Why do I write the West? I find it difficult to put into words.
The Final Frontier, perhaps? No, that’s the name for space exploration and Star Wars.
Romance in Sweeping Vistas with a love story set in a different time, perhaps? That’s how we describe novels set in early Scotland.
The Era of the Strong, Silent type who always gets the girl while he brings justice in full measure, perhaps? That’s how we describe Indiana Jones adventures.
See? I cannot exactly describe my feeling when I begin a new Western Historical novel, either reading one or writing one. Oh! Now I know Why I Write the West! It’s like falling in love.
The last book in the Texas series is probably the one I love the most–Texas True, the story of the younger sister, raised like a hothouse flower, but soon grew up and faced all the trials and tribulations of a woman in love…but not really loved back. I invite you to read the last in The Camerons of Texas series, TEXAS TRUE.
Find it at:
Amazon (Kindle), Desert Breeze Publishing, and B&N (Nook)
I will give a pdf to one person who comments. Please leave a message. Thank you for reading.
my start as a romance writer.
t a band of dangerous outlaws.
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