W
oo-hoo! We have a lot of winners for autographed copies of Give Me a Cowboy.
Judy
Colleen
Karen W.
Robyn L.
Quilt Lady
Congratulations, ladies! Please contact me at lindabroday@live.com with your mailing address and I’ll get the book in the mail to you.
Thanks to everyone who came to share in this special day with me. You made it really great. Just wish I had a book for everyone of you. That would be nice.
….Where nothing beats hard muscle, soft eyes, and a Stetson when a lady’s heart needs winning. ~~Romantic Times
Yippee! Give Me a Cowboy is galloping straight into bookstores everywhere as we speak!
That’s right. The second anthology in this Give Me anthology series releases this week. Seems it was just a short while ago that Give Me a Texan came out. Time passes very quickly when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?
When I first started gathering ideas for Texas Tempest, my story in the Give Me a Cowboy anthology, I had this picture of a woman alone in a cemetery tending a row of graves. I knew they were her husbands and I knew she had a story to tell. But she needed a hero, someone to fight for her. Into my head popped McKenna Smith. I patterned McKenna after Paladin, the Richard Boone character in the TV western Have Gun Will Travel. Like Paladin, McKenna Smith is a gun-for-hire who’s gained a reputation of fighting for truth and justice, oftentimes in the face of overwhelming odds. Folks in Texas call him the Guardian of Justice because of his desire to uphold the law even when there’s little to be had.
McKenna rides into Kasota Springs, Texas (which is an actual old railhead 17 miles south of Amarillo) just as the town is readying for their Fourth of July Celebration and Rodeo.
Tempest LeDoux, a five time widow, gets into a heated argument with a man hanging a banner across the street. She orders him to take down the banner because it proclaims a “Cowboy Reunion.” Tempest insists that it read “Rodeo” instead. So that’s how McKenna comes to meet Tempest. He likes how she fights tooth and nail for something she believes in and it strikes a chord in him. That begins their attraction.
Tempest has McKenna pegged as husband number six from the moment the black clothed figure rides into town. She becomes obsessed with making sure he lives long enough for her to get him to the altar. She feels like fate is against her. She just wants one husband who won’t up and die on her before the ink dries on the wedding certificate. And with the rodeo about to begin, she sets out to prevent him from entering any events. What ensues are some hilarious scenes involve a little black magic, a secret potion, and lots of stubbornness.
Though McKenna is dead set against marrying her (he has lawless men to catch and justice to disperse) he can’t deny that she’s the kind of wife a man needs…if a man was looking for one. He doesn’t mind a little kissing and cuddling but lays down the law when it comes to doing it on a permanent basis.
But before he can say “Amen” twice the beautiful Texas Tempest has him in her crosshairs.
The only question is…will he climb on that 1200 pounds of angry muscle and hide in the wild bronc event?
And now for your viewing pleasure, here’s the book trailer.
Jodi Thomas, Phyliss Miranda, DeWanna Pace and I are pleased to bring this anthology to you for your reading pleasure. We hope everyone enjoys this collection of stories about the 1890 Fourth of July Celebration and Rodeo in Kasota Springs, Texas.
Rough and ready and aimin’ to please….Give Me a Cowboy!
Romantic Times says this about Give Me a Texan: “Four ladies who know what it means to be a Texan create a quartet of memorable novellas that bring the great state straight into your heart. The three-dimensional characters and unforgettable heroes, combined with splendid stories, are unmatched for fans of the Old West.”
Post a comment for a chance to win one of five autographed copies of this book.
And don’t forget our new Chance in a Million Contest and It’s Raining Cowboys!
Click on cover to order from Amazon!
Yippee! The names were shuffled and we have a winner!
Congratulations to…….
Anon1001
Please contact Phyliss at phylissmiranda@aol.com . Give her your mailing address and she’ll get the set of anthologies right to you.
Thanks to all who came and made Phyliss’s weekend one to be remembered. We had lots of fun.
History is being made today. Our country has elected the first black president and he takes office on this memorable day.
Barack Obama will become our 44th president of the United States. His name will forever be set in history books.
Over the course of time, there have been quite a few presidential firsts. Here are just a few:
The shortest speech (a mere 135 words) was delivered by George Washington at his second inauguration.
The longest speech (at 8,445 words) was by William Harrison in 1841. It lasted 2 hours and was given in freezing weather. Harrison wore no coat, hat, or gloves. He took ill shortly after with pneumonia and died a month later. His was the shortest presidency on record, by the way.
Ulysses S. Grant’s 1873 inaugural was the coldest on record when inauguration was held in March instead of January. The morning temperature was 4 degrees F. with a wind chill of -30 degrees F. The wind blew at 40 mph and froze band instruments. The temperature stands to this day as being the coldest on record for Washington D.C.
Ronald Reagan holds the distinction of being both the coldest for January and also the warmest. His 1981 inauguration was warmest at 55 degrees F. His 1985 inauguration was the coldest for January 20th at 7 degrees with a wind chill of -20 degrees F. It was so cold his public swearing in ceremony had to be moved indoors to the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and there was no customary march down Pennsylvania Avenue.
At George W. Bush’s 2001 inauguration, he asked to use the Masonic Bible that George Washington used. The Bible was transported under guard from New York to Washington D.C. but the rainy cold weather prevented him from using it. A family Bible was substituted instead.
Following the tradition of several other presidents, Barack Obama rode into Washington D.C. on a train. It’s said that he’s requested Abraham Lincoln’s Bible for the swearing-in ceremony. In fact, there have many comparisons to that great president. I think Obama does indeed share the humble spirit of Lincoln. The days ahead will show if he has the wisdom.
I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to be a part of this very historical occasion. I’m very proud of our country for stepping beyond the stigmas and racial discrimination that has long held us back. Since its creation, the country as a whole has grown by leaps and bounds. Years from now, I can look back and say that I witnessed this bit of history.
I do think this is one of our finest moments as a nation and a people.
The United States faces grim challenges and it’ll take an awfully strong president to get us on the right track. I put my faith and trust in President Obama. Each of us need to rally behind him because it’s going to take us all working together to fix the problems. I know we can do it. We can do anything we have to. All we have to do is roll up our sleeves and get to work on our little corner of the world. When we all pull together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. Unity is the key. Put aside our differences and help row this country across the rough water.
Not only is he our hope for a promising future, but I feel he’s the world’s hope as well.
What about you? Are you hopeful for changes that will improve this country? Or are you cynical and pessimistic?
<<–Click to order from Amazon
Ladies, we have a winner for the autographed copy of The Rancher’s Runaway Princess.
It’s…….
Laurie G
Congratulations, Laurie! I’ll contact you for your mailing info that I’ll forward on to Donna.
Thanks everyone for hanging out with Donna this weekend. We enjoyed it. Or at least I did.
Pat Potter is blogging tomorrow so check back to find out what her topic is. And I’m blogging Tuesday on Inaugural Day.
Did everyone have fun this weekend chatting with Elaine? I certainly hope so.
All the names were put in the fishbowl and we have two winners for special T-shirts designed with Elaine’s book cover on front……
Pearl
Sherry
Congratulations, ladies! If you’ll get your mailing addresses and T-shirt sizes to me at lindabroday@live.com I’ll forward the information on to Elaine. Also, don’t forget that if you send Elaine a photo of you in the T-shirt she’ll send you an autographed copy of Rachel and the Hired Gun!
Thanks to everyone who came by to show Elaine our famous hospitality! Woo-hoo! You ladies are the best!
And don’t forget to come back tomorrow to see what Kate Bridges is blogging about.
Sometimes I feel like I’m one of those windup dolls. In fact, just pretty often. I’m not one of those people who wake up raring to get at the world. Takes me a while to get going. I have a routine though and if I don’t follow it, I’m disjointed the rest of the day.
When I crawl out of bed, I stumble into the shower to wash the sleep out of my eyes and give me the jolt I need. A shower always helps to set the day to rights.
Then, it’s coffee time. A fresh, piping hot cup of coffee finishes the job the shower started at getting me going. The good old cup of java. Nothing fancy. The smell of ground coffee makes my taste buds sit up and take notice. I love my coffee and it doesn’t have to be Starbucks either although I do splurge on a cup from there occasionally. It’s a special treat.
But I also need my newspaper while I sip on my coffee.
I have to find out what’s happening and catch up on the news. I need to know the things that are taking place around me. And I don’t want to read it online. That seems really weird to me. No, I need the newspaper in my hand and be able to smell the ink. I read it all from start to finish, ending with working my puzzles. I do the Word Jumble first where you have to sort out the jumble of letters to form words that make sense. After that, I move to the crossword. I’ve even recently started working the Sudoku puzzle. And sometimes I do the Word Find. It depends on how much time I have to kill. Of course, if I’m in a hurry for some reason, I might skip the puzzles altogether. But I always read the newspaper articles. I want to be informed I guess.
Once I get the newspaper out of the way, I eat breakfast and then move to the computer.
I might start writing first or I might check email before I get into writing. After an hour or two of working on my story in progress (it depends on how deep I get into it; if I get deeply into it and the words flow, I keep typing away) I go to Petticoats and Pistols to read the post for the day and leave a comment.
That’s my routine for mornings.
Like I said, if something happens to disrupt my ritual, my day gets off to a rocky start. I think we’re all creatures of habit. We draw comfort in having a set schedule. We want to have our day lined up like so many dominos and knock them down one by one. That gives us a sense of accomplishment, no matter how the day ends.
The holidays really got my routine out of whack. Nothing like a houseful of company to get off kilter. But that’s behind me now and I’m relishing my old routine that fits like a pair of comfortable jeans.
How about you? Do you have a set routine that you follow every day? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Or even if you don’t.
click to order from Amazon
Woo-Hoo!
We’ve thrown all the hats up in the air and picked a winner of Linda Ford’s A Path to Her Heart.
It’s………..
Martha E.
Congratulations, Martha! We’re thrilled for you.
Please contact me at lindabroday@live.com and give me your mailing address so I can forward it to Linda Ford. She’ll get the book in the mail to you.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to leave a comment. It was a great weekend and you helped make it so.
Come back tomorrow for Pat Potter’s regular blog and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
Take care now!
Woo-hoo! We put all the names in a hat and drew out a winner for Jane Myers Perrine’s Second Chance Bride.
. . . . KAREN B.
Congratulations, Karen! If you’ll send me your mailing address at lindabroday@live.com Jane will get the book to you.
Thanks to everyone who took some time from their holiday to chat with Jane. She appreciated each one of your comments.
Come back tomorrow for another installment of Pat Potter’s western and get another sneak peek inside another Filly’s life. We hope you’re enjoying all this as much as we’re enjoying bringing it to you.
Nothing quite means Christmas like a warm fire in the fireplace and family gathered round. And for children, a fireplace symbolizes St. Nick since that’s his mode for sneaking into people’s houses.
For me though, a lit fireplace means safety and security. The warmth floods my soul and wraps around my heart. There’s nothing more relaxing or pleasurable than sitting in front of a fire with my feet propped up, a book in my hands, and the nice fragrance of hot coffee wafting in the air.
Ahhhhh, pure heaven!
This is a photo of the fireplace in my home and I’m happy to share this glimpse of me. Now imagine I’m sitting in front of it in my pajamas, sipping on a cup of hot mulled cider or hot chocolate, listening to Elvis singing Blue Christmas in the background. This is one of the ways I celebrate the holidays.
When I was growing up in a very small town in New Mexico, I didn’t know the enjoyment of a fireplace. We were poor as church mice and were lucky to have a roof over us. In fact, I lived in a tent for the first part of my life without running water or heat. Those were bad times but they taught me to be grateful for the things I had and not to waste time dreaming of foolish things. My most treasured possession was love for my family. My parents, my brother, and my sisters knew that wealth didn’t pertain solely to money. Our love sustained us during those trying times, through the deaths of my parents, and now when we’re so lucky to have each other.
And so, I give you my fireplace, all decorated and with a fire lit to dispel the cold that nips at my toes like a frisky puppy while I wait for jolly St. Nick to arrive in a few hours. I hope he visits your home too and leaves lots of goodies under the tree.
I wish each of you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
