Kaylie Newell: It’s Rodeo Time!

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For our last guest of the month, we have romance writer Kaylie Newell. Yippee! Get ready to talk about cowboys! She has an exciting new book plus a giveaway so leave a comment to enter the drawing. Please make her welcome!

 

Hello, everyone- It’s such a pleasure to be here at Petticoats & Pistols talking about my new release, Betting on the Bull Rider!  This cowboy romance was so much fun to write, mostly because the characters took the reins (literally and figuratively!), and told me exactly where they wanted to go.

My hero, Jake Elliott, is a bull rider, so researching was especially fun.  The Wild Rogue Pro-Rodeo is our local rodeo here in Southern Oregon, and my husband and I take our girls every year.  Drawing on those experiences, as well as time spent with our ranching friends, helped me write this story, and give it what I hope is texture and life.  There’s nothing like the sweet smell of a horse up close, or the feel of an old saddle creaking underneath you.  But most importantly, there’s nothing like that feeling of loving someone who holds your heart in their hands.

I’d love to hear from you all about your own rodeo experiences.  Do you go?  What’s your favorite event? (Mine’s the cowboy watching, of course.) I’ll be giving away a signed paperback copy, so be sure to comment!

Thank you again for reading!  Xo

Here’s an excerpt from Betting on the Bull Rider, which is the second book in my Elliotts of Montana series…..

 

Jake looked around. The stands were packed. The Copper Mountain Rodeo always brought in a good crowd, but today was especially perfect, with the sun coming out for the first time in days, and the temperature rising into the sixties—a rarity for this late in September.

The sharp smell of sawdust and animals filled his senses. The sound of the music, of the crowd cheering, of hooves thundering over the arena floor, made him anticipate what was coming. He’d drawn a bull named Tequila Sunrise, who was small and wiry, and who had a habit of spinning like an absolute thing of beauty. But it was his name that Jake kept coming back to. Even now as he stretched his arm over his chest and felt the muscles and tendons there pull with a distinct tightness.

Tequila… Tequila, or more specifically tequila shots, and the night at the Wolf Den kept trying to work their way past his frontal lobe. But out of a need for pure survival, Jake had pushed it to the furthest, darkest corners of his mind these last few weeks. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about Alice, to wonder what she was doing, or who she might be doing it with. And when he had gone there in a moment of weakness, he’d climbed onto his motorcycle and headed to the fairgrounds, a place where he’d always felt the most in control, to scrub his mind clean of her. So there were only thoughts of rodeo, of getting back into the game, and the money, where he belonged.

Still, his heart had a way of betraying him. At the weirdest times, when he should’ve been one hundred percent invested in climbing on the back of a bull and thinking only of staying the hell on. She always came back to him. Her face, her scent, the way she’d felt in his arms just that once. But it’d only taken one time to show him a glimpse of a life he didn’t feel like he deserved, or that he’d be any good at. What if he failed? What if he failed her? In the end, the night they’d slept together had been a fork in Jake’s country road—embark on a journey he wasn’t altogether sure he’d finish, or take the easy route, the route that was tried and true, and had never caused him any heartache. Not once.

So, here he was. A coward in the simplest terms. He pulled his Stetson low over his eyes and rolled his head from one shoulder to the other. It didn’t matter. He was back on the circuit. And hell, maybe it wouldn’t last much longer, but wasn’t that what he’d told himself he’d wanted? To rodeo until he couldn’t anymore? And he’d continue telling himself that, right along with the fact that he didn’t need Alice.

He didn’t need anyone…

* * * * * * *

Kaylie writes romances, romantic suspense, and women’s fiction and won numerous awards along the way. She was a finalist in the Romance of America’s RITA contest for Christmas at the Graf.

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48 thoughts on “Kaylie Newell: It’s Rodeo Time!”

  2. I’ve seen the corral for the rodeo at Cowtown and at our local fair, but I haven’t watched the rodeo.

    • Hey, Denise! We started going when our girls were little because they were horse crazy, and it became a tradition. I love the energy at a rodeo. So fun 🙂

  3. Welcome and good morning Kaylie- I grew up in the rodeo world. My dad was a calf roper, which, of course, is my favorite event. In high school and college I competed in the breakaway roping. I’m from Stephenville, Texas but I’ve lived in Southwest Kansas for the past 26 years due to my job. I still go back home to Texas often as I can, all my family still resides in Stephenville.
    Your book sounds amazing and fun. I laughed at your “cowboy watching” as your favorite event. They’re for sure, some great sights to let your eyes roam.
    Thanks for visiting us here and congrats on your new book.

    • Hi, Tonya! I’m so happy to meet you! I lived in Oklahoma for about seven years, not too far from your stomping grounds. How exciting about your rodeo history! I bet you’ve got some family stories to tell 🙂

  4. I have never been to a rodeo. The only little rodeo experience I have comes from TV and the movies.

    • Diana, movies are a great way to experience the rodeo. And from the comfort of your own couch. 😉

  5. It’s been a while since I went to one. I prefer them out doors and around here they only do them indoors. I love watching the bull riding.

    • The bull riding is so fun to watch! But most of the time I have to watch through my fingers. I can’t handle the suspense!

  6. Welcome. I would give anything to go to the rodeo. I was watching it on TV but the company took the channel off. I love bull riding, bronc riding. Thank you for sharing your time with us all.

  7. The only rodeo I have been to was a prison rodeo and I was in high school at the time. I live about 5minutes from a big rodeo arena, but have never been. I would love to go one day if I had someone to go with. My husband isn’t interested in it and I only have a couple friends who live in the area and neither of them want to go.

    • Janine, I agree, it’s more fun to go with someone. But watching a rodeo movie is the next best thing! Do you have any favorites?

  8. I have been to the rodeo. I find it amazing that the cowboys can do what they do. I like the bullriding.

    • They’re so athletic! I’m always sitting there thinking, 30 seconds of that would kill me dead. ?

  9. When I was growing up(many ears ago) my family attended the Molalla Buckaroo Rodeo. My favorite event was saddle bronc riding.

  10. We don’t have many rodeo’s around here that I know of. We are more into the horse races. I may have seen a rodeo when I was a kid at the fair but that is about it. KY is more a horse racing state. I have never even been to the races.

    • I’ve always wanted to go to Kentucky! I grew up reading every Walter Farley book I could get my hands on. Watched the Kentucky Derby faithfully every single year, hoping to see the next Triple Crown winner, and then along came American Pharoah!

  12. Minnesota has a few rodeo events, Generally around holiday celebrations. I love going to rodeos. Whenever I can sniff a horse I take full advantage of the opportunity. We raised a few quarter horses when we were young. Loved those times. Your book excerpt was fun to read. Congratulations on your new release!

  14. Hi Kaylie! Welcome to the Junction where everything is cowboys! I hope you enjoy your visit. I love rodeos and we have a lot here in the Texas Panhandle. I love the bronc and bullriding. Gosh, my heart starts pumping a million miles an hour! And cowboys are everywhere. I a thrill out of watching them, and secretly wondering what they would be like away from the arena. My imagination goes into overdrive.

    Wishing you tons of success with your book! Great excerpt! 🙂

  15. I love rodeos! My favorite event is barrel racing.

    I love your comment about the cowboy watching. That is indeed a bonus!

  16. We have several PRCA rodeos in our area plus Northwest Pro Rodeo smaller rodeos. We attend at least one every year. I have never been to Pendleton and it is only two hours away.

    I laughed at your hero and heroin names…..my cowboy is Jake and I am Alice. My Jake was not a bull rider but in his younger years he helped his buddies get settled on broncs in the bucking chutes.

  17. Congratulations on your New release! Best Wishes. Your book sounds like a very good read, and the cover is Beautiful! I have not been to a Rodeo in years, but I love when they lasso the calves, it is very interesting, I think rodeos are fun, here in our town they usually have a big rodeo in January. Thank you for sharing about your book. Have a Great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.

  18. Our first rodeo experience was the Pike Peak Or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs, CO when our girls were in grade school. We had moved there from the Northeast and it was a totally different experience for us. I had been in 4-H and around farm animals most of my life, though we never owned any. To let you know how long ago that was, the show that night was a relatively new female country singer, Reba McEntire. Anyway, we attended the Little Britches Rodeo and the girls loved participating in some of the events. The main rodeo was a great experience. We have caught many since and even though we retired to NE TN, we have been able to attend rodeos here. The full rodeo stopped coming a few years ago, but the PBR events still come through. There are some small rodeos in the area but we have never attended.
    I don’t know if they still do it, but at the Little Britches Rodeo they had an event where they would put a square of duct tape on the side of an adult sheep and let it loose in a small arena. Kids were then let loose to try and catch the sheep and pull off the tape. With more luck than talent needed, it was exciting for our greenhorn girls to be able to participate. I will plead guilty to liking the bronc riding and bull riding. It is exciting, but I always worry about the rider or the bull getting hurt. It is the rider that usually gets hurt and we have seen a few serious injuries. There have been a couple of incidents where the bull got tangled in the fencing and one that was rather serious. Trying to get a thrashing, angry, scared, 1,500 pounds untangled and prevent him or any of the cowboys from being hurt took more people and much longer than I am sure anyone wanted.
    Thank you for the excerpt and the giveaway. Stay safe and healthy.

    • Patricia, I’m always worried somebody will get hurt, too. Or an animal will get injured. The athleticism amazes me.

    • I’ve never been to a real rodeo. Our county used to have county fairs when I was growing up and there would be a mini rodeo but….
      Thanks for sharing.

  19. I am sure that I went to a rodeo or two when I was little, but I have not gone as an adult. I think maybe I should. Happy New Release!

  20. Thanks so much for being our guest author! I enjoyed your post and your book sounds like one just up my line. I love the PBR and bullriding. Began researching it when Linda B., Jodi, along with the late DeWanna Pace, and I wrote “Give Me a Cowboy”. It was so much fun. Every year my wonderful son-in-law invites me up to Wichita Kansas to the PBR stop. It’s been cancelled for this weekend … cry! But rescheduled for August. He always calls and asks if I want to be his date, but we have to invite my daughter(his wife), as she’s the one who purchases the tickets for us. Just hope the August event will take place. Again, thank you for being one of our guest authors. May you have a blessed week. Hugs, Phyliss

  21. I like going to rodeos but have not been to one in years. I used to like watching the bull riding.

  22. I live in Arizona so I usually go to the Prescott Rodeo on July 4 weekend. It is the oldest continually held rodeo in America.
    I especially like seeing the rodeo clowns and how they are dressed and how they help the riders who are thrown off the bulls.

  23. The rodeos around me tend to be smaller, but they are exciting nonetheless. I also had a cousin who competed in rodeos — bull riding, no less. He rode for years before he retired.

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