As the clock strikes midnight and we bid farewell to the year gone by, let us embrace the new year with open hearts and renewed hopes. May this year bring you the courage to chase your dreams, the strength to overcome obstacles, and the wisdom to make every moment count. May your path be illuminated with love, success, and happiness. Wishing you a joyous and prosperous New Year!
Hello, everyone! What a treat to be here with y’all for my very first Cowboys & Mistletoe promotion! As you all know by now, I’m just beginning the cowboy/Western romance journey with Tule Publishing’s Montana Born imprint, so I don’t have a cowboy holiday romance yet, but I have one coming out in November 2026. I do have Christmas romance for you, though! I actually have five sweet, small-town romances that happen in my little fictional town of River’s Edge, Indiana, so it was hard to pick one favorite. But if I had to choose, I think I’d pick Becker Lange and Harley Cole’s story, The Fireman’s Christmas Wish. Becker’s grumpy and Harley’s sunshine just seemed to work for this book, and there’s a little bit of my own story in Beck’s relationship with his father. I hope you enjoy The Fireman’s Christmas Wish. Happy holidays to you and thanks for joining us in this P&P celebration!
The Fireman’s Christmas Wish by Nan Reinhardt
Her heart is wide open, but he’s nailed his shut.
Preschool teacher Harley Cole has always viewed life through rose-colored glasses. With a career she loves, friends she enjoys, and a home that is her haven, there’s only one thing missing—finding her soul mate. As the holidays approach, Harley is inspired to help her former high school crush rediscover his holiday joy. It’s just a good deed…until the feelings she thought were gone come rushing back.
Fire Chief Becker Lange returns home to River’s Edge with a heavy heart. His divorce has emotionally ravaged him, leaving him more confused than ever about what women want. So to protect himself from another failure, he closes his heart. And then Harley Cole makes him a flirty dare that she can help him overcome the holiday blues. Beck’s not sure he wants to, but Harley’s a hard woman to tell no.
Can the magic of Christmas and a sweet stray kitten bring these two lonely souls together?
The Great Western Christmas Celebration
Time for a rally! Our whole town, or certain intrepid individuals, pull together to overcome the catastrophe.
So how do wed do it – how do we overcome this knotty situation we landed on? Let’s get creative on this one!
Everyone who leaves a response by Saturday 12/13 will get their name entered in the random drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.
Every entry will also be eligible for our oh-so-beautiful Grand Prize – a gorgeous quilt hand made by our very own Jo-Ann Roberts
NOTE: ALL winners will be announced on Sunday 12/14.
Exactly 18 years ago today, we launched our first blog, and we’ve been celebrating Cowboys and Books ever since!
We think that deserves a party. Even better, you’ll get the gifts!
Read about our experiences when we turned 18 and took that first step into adulthood.
Then tell us about yours, and you’ll be eligible to win a book-themed prize of your choice!
(Click on the links to learn more on Amazon)
20 Oz. Stainless Steel Travel Mug
Canvas Tote Bag and Cosmetic Bag
and our
Grand Prize!
All of us fillies have stepped back in time and delved into our memories to share with you that important milestone from that important age . . .
When I turned 18 . . .
I got my ears pierced because my dad wouldn’t let me do it any sooner with parental consent. I just went and did it (a rare act of defiance, let me tell you!) and he never said a word because I was legally old enough. Ha! Also, I got engaged when I was 18, to marry when I was 19.
Birthdays were always very lowkey when I was growing up. For my 18th birthday, I had the day off of work and spent it doing just what I wanted to do! And that was spending the entire day drinking iced tea and reading books and relaxing! Since my birthday is in May, the weather was perfect, and I had birds singing and a nice breeze through my bedroom window.
The thing I remember most about turning 18 was that I got a job as a telephone operator at Bell Telephone in our town. I worked the night shift and I absolutely loved it. I felt so grown up talking to customers who wanted to call long distance then connecting them to the right party. It was so much fun, and in a way, it felt more like I was playing instead of working. I grew up with a vivid imagination and years of playing paper dolls with my little sister. The feeling was kind of like that. I finally had my own money and was free to do some things. So my dad helped me buy a car. It was a 1966 Chevrolet Corvair. I felt as though I won the lottery. But that job at Bell Telephone made it all possible.
When I was 18, I left my home in California and headed to the great state of Texas for college. I knew no one there, so I was terrified but also excited to be on my own. What an adventure! Little did I know that I would meet and later marry a cowboy disguised as a computer nerd and make this great state my permanent home. No wonder all of my books are set in Texas. I fell in love with the land and people here while I was busy ropin’ my personal Texas hero.
I was 18 when I graduated high School. At the end of the school year, a group of us went on a school-sponsored senior trip. We took a chartered bus from New Orleans to New York City. Along the way we stopped at Luray Caverns in Virginia, toured George Washington’s home in Mt. Vernon, and visited several monuments in Washington DC. But the highlight was the full week we spent in NYC where we saw Broadway plays and did lots of other touristy stuff. We capped the trip off by flying home – my very first plane trip! I felt so grown up…
My 18th birthday arrived about six weeks after I started my freshman year of college. For me, it meant driving 30+ miles one way to school every day, but I loved it. I loved being able to drive, and the sense of freedom and independence I experienced. My grandmother lived in the same town as the college, so I spent many lunch breaks with her. I’m so grateful I had that time with her, getting to know her as I stepped into adulthood.
The year I turned 18 was a big one for me, I guess for everyone, which is why we thought of these posts, huh? 🙂 It means our blog is an adult, too.
I graduated from high school. I went to college. I was already dating My Cowboy who is now my husband of nearly 49 years. What a launch year. I went home of course, but I’d never live with my parents again. The summer of my 18th year I got a job at a factory about twenty miles from my home called Wilson Trailer Company which made the trailers for Semi-Trucks. It was a hard, hot, greasy job but it was the most money I’d ever had in my life. The memory that jumps out is, I was just there for the summer, so I filled in on the line for people on vacation, so I did everything. And I mowed the lawn and painted, just whatever needed doing. I was tasked with ‘redecorating’ the lunch room. I painted it, cement block walls so not fancy. And I had to take down the styrofoam ceiling tiles, paint them, then put them back up. EXCEPT there was pink insulation in the ceiling and all wound up in that insulation……..dead mice. They must’ve put poison out or something? So I’d lift those tiles out and DEAD MICE WOULD RAIN DOWN ON MY HEAD. I cannot fully convey to you my horror of mice. Also it REALLY impressed upon me the notion that going to college was a fine idea so I didn’t have to do that for the rest of my life.
When I turned eighteen, I wasn’t thinking about parties or prom. I graduated early and took a job on the backside of a racetrack. I slept on a cot in a 7×7 tack room, mucked stalls, groomed racehorses, and saved for college. That summer, we followed the fair circuit from Oregon to California, working races at county fairs. It was dusty, demanding, and filled with colorful characters (some of whom had to be run off by the trainers), but it taught me grit, independence, and how to work hard for what I wanted.
It was six months into college when I turned 18. College was, to me, similar to going to a summer camp, except longer. But, although I’d never worked at a job, shortly after I turned 18, I applied for and got a job as a waitress in a drug store that had a diner. My mother was not happy with me, but I was glad to have the extra cash on hand to buy the things I felt I needed for college.
I turned 18 in 1969, a month before my high school graduation, got my first real paying summer job, saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon, and watched 400,000 people profess love and peace at Woodstock…all respective milestones to be sure. But I had more milestones ahead of me…going to college in Boston and meeting the boy who would become my husband four years later!
I turned 18 when I was away at college in Minnesota, and it was the first time I celebrated my birthday alone. I went to the movies and saw Dances with Wolves by myself. I felt very grown-up–and I had a big bucket of popcorn and a large Coke!
Shortly after I turned 18, my mom, an 18 year-old friend and I drover the Al-Can (Alaska Canada) highway from Idaho to Fairbanks, then flew to the artic to visit my dad who was working in a mining camp there. We camped the entire way. The highway was gravel at the time and loaded with pipeline trucks (yes, it was the 1970s) so we ended up with a cracked windshield and only one headlight. It was such an adventurous way to start my adult years.
My dad got transferred to West Virginia from Oklahoma when I was 17, the summer of 1974 BEFORE MY SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL! Well! I felt so put upon to have to pack up and leave THEN, of all times in my life! I’d gone to school there since 1st grade, after all. But, move, we did, and I graduated in May, 1975, with my 18th birthday just around the corner in July. I made all kinds of dire promises of packing up my car and leaving for Oklahoma as soon as I could do it, and I did just that, but my parents wanted me to caravan back with them for a vacation. Once there, my plans fell apart quickly–there were about 5 of us girlfriends from my Oklahoma days who planned to move in together in Oklahoma City and work and “make it on our own”…I ended up living with my sister and her family and going to college, and working. “Adulting”, yes, but not like I had planned to do!
The summer after I graduated high school, I went on a trip to Europe, much to my mother’s distress (this was not the days of cell phones and internet – I sent her a postcard every week to let her know I was alive and well). I even got to celebrate my 18th birthday in small town in Greece. Now, don’t be thinking I “went abroad to study”. This was a bare bones budget trip with other college students. We stayed in dumpy dorm rooms, ate in subpar cafeterias and dragged our duffle bags from place to place. But I had the time of my life and cherish the memories.
And now it’s your turn! Tell us what adult-like thing you did when you turned 18, and you’ll be eligible for your choice of one of our fun prizes.
Winners announced on Sunday, August 17.
Happy Birthday to us !
US Winners Only
Yep! We’ve been celebrating Cowboys and Books for almost 18 years now, and we think that’s worthy of a party, don’t you?
An 18th Birthday Party!
Join us as the fillies share what turning 18 has meant to us as we took the leap into adulthood.
We have prizes, too, of course.
You can’t win if you’re not there!
Save the Date!
Join us as we celebrate our 18th Birthday
When: Wednesday, August 13th
With: Lots of Prizes!
We’re going to make it easy for you to win!
Hoping you have a wonderful day celebrating in a way that brings you joy and contentment. May you be surrounded by love and loved ones and food you love. May you eat too much, laugh too much, hug too much, and just plain have too much fun. Take a moment to count your blessings and share a smile. Go to bed contented and at peace.
The holidays are upon us! I had barely dropped bags of Halloween candy into my shopping cart when I turned into the next aisle and was bombarded by a full-blown display of Christmas. The retail community had completely overlooked the day set aside for gratitude and giving thanks.
This revelation gave me pause, as I wondered how the celebration of Thanksgiving came about. Was it suggested by a group of civic-minded people or just one person? How was it decided to celebrate the day on the fourth Thursday in November?
So, like much of my research, down the rabbit hole I went. To my delight, I discovered once again it was a woman who led the campaign, giving us a day set to give thanks for the blessings and freedoms we enjoy today.
Suddenly finding herself a widow and single mother with children to support–including a brand-new baby–Sarah wrote a book, Northwood. Its success led to a job offer for the “editorship” of a new “ladies” magazine, turning Godey’s into one of the most important periodicals in 19th century America. Though it is now remembered primarily for its fashion plates, crafts, and household tidbits, it covered social issues as well.
Year after year, Godey’s Lady’s Book published the same plea. Each year the campaign brought new success. By 1851, 29 out of 31 states celebrated a day of Thanksgiving. However, not on the same day so she continued to insist the holiday be celebrated on the exact same day.
Despite her claims, she had not achieved the ultimate endorsement; a proclamation from the President. In 1861, with civil war looming, she focused on national unity as her strongest selling point.
Finally, under these conditions and the stress of considerable loss of life, a devastated Southern economy, and public support for the holiday, President Abraham Lincoln endorsed and proclaimed, “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelt in the heavens.” Furthermore, he stated, Americans should “fervently implore” blessings from the Almighty to “heal the wounds of the nations, and to restore it…to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.”
Successive presidents continued the tradition and proclaimed a yearly Thanksgiving at the end of every November. Still not satisfied, Hale’s magazine urged Congress to recognize the holiday. Unfortunately, she didn’t live to see the Congressional Proclamation of the Thanksgiving story (which finally took place in 1941), but by the 1870’s Thanksgiving was already a part of America’s culture.
The national holiday has become just what Sarah Josepha Hale envisioned: a celebration of home and hearth and the blessings for which we are grateful.
Two lucky winners will each receive an e-book edition of my upcoming release, “Ivy” Christmas Quilt Brides. Just leave a comment below telling me how you celebrate Thanksgiving in your home.
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He was the town bully.
She was his target.
Has anything changed?
Years ago, Ivy Sutton was drawn to the new orphan boy in town. Unfortunately, she soon became the focus of Grady Walsh’s mischievous deeds in school.
Ivy is back home in Harmony, Kansas for good but is she willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable?
Grady Walsh lost his heart to the sweet girl the day she gave him a quilt. Now, as a well-liked and respected tradesman in Harmony, can he make up for the reckless actions of his youth? Or will another steal er away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might heal the pain from the past?
You probably know from many of my blog posts, my books, and author takeovers I’ve done, that quilts are my favorite things…and they are, most definitely!
However, there is a very close runner-up…I love making Italian cookies! Baked and decorated mainly for the holidays, I have wonderfully fond memories of helping my mother, grandmothers, and aunts baking cookies for weddings, bridal and baby showers, and significant anniversaries.
About two weeks prior to the occasion, my mother and my aunts would gather in the evenings at Aunt Cel’s or Aunt Bonnie’s or Aunt Bea’s (that’s my mom!) home to begin the marathon. Soon the house would be filled with the sweet smells of sugar, lemon, orange, and vanilla extracts. Bowls of raisins, dates, and nuts waited to be added to the doughs. Bags of confectioner’s sugar mixed with water or milk were turned into frostings and glazes and waited to be topped with colored sprinkles.
Of course, a tasting ‘just to make sure they tasted right” was a highlight. And as luck would have it, there always seemed to be a handful of “oops” that somehow never quite made it into the trays.
Recently, I had the chance to indulge in this favorite activity when my grandson and his lovely fiancé got married in early August. Despite the downpours and the humidity, it was a lovely, intimate wedding with their immediate families and college friends.
In mid-July, I made several varieties of dough and froze them. Because I was on a deadline for “Olivia’s Odyssey” (Westward Homes and Hearts), I made one different cookie a night…I even drafted Papa Bob into helping! The morning before we left for the trip to Virginia, I made up the trays and found a cooler large enough to transport them.
It’s already the end of August. I’ve got two more books to write before the holiday baking season begins…wish me luck!!
Neapolitan Cookies Cherry Ricotta Cookies
Chocolate Mexican Wedding Bells Thumbprint Cookies (courtesy of Papa Bob)
Lemon Poppy Seed & Orange Cranberry Biscotti Russian Teacakes
Italian Cookies (Taralle) Fig Cookies Scandinavian Almond Cookies
Before the wrapping…In a traditional Italian Wedding Tray they would have used Jordan Almonds symbolizing how the newlyweds will share everything equally and remain undivided, and Jordan almonds are often given five at a time. Each almond represents a quality guests wish for the couple getting married: health, fertility, wealth, longevity and happiness. I had to substitute Hershey Kisses as my grandson doesn’t like almonds… I sure hope Hershey Kisses have the same effect!
Final Products!
I love me a parade. Always have, always will. From when I was a little girl, to the years when my daughters were small, and now more recently, attending with my granddarlings, I’m entranced with the marching bands, floats, noisy go-carts with overgrown men stuffed in the driver’s seat, the tossed candy . . . The whole thing is just full of good, old-fashioned fun.
Parades have been around for centuries. Perhaps the earliest depiction is one found from drawings in a Spanish cave, evidently celebrating a successful hunt. George Washington threw numerous parades to boost morale during the Revolutionary War. Imagine the euphoria from the impromptu parades all over the country in 1945–to celebrate the end of World War 2!
With the advent of television and time, the parades got bigger and more elaborate. Who hasn’t heard of the Mardi Gras Parade, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, the Rose Bowl Parade, 4th of July Parades, and on and on?
I’m not alone in my love for parades.
Recently, we attended the annual parade in the small town near our cabin at the lake. No need to arrive 60-90 minutes early to save a spot, but we did mark our claim with chairs about a half hour beforehand. Parking isn’t a problem at all. Shade, a bit more so. The parade is over before we can barely think of it – only 45 minutes long.
The granddarlings bring a blanket and games and wait excitedly for that first police car escort to appear, signaling the parade is going to begin. Of course, each of the kids bring sacks to keep their candy haul. The treats have been upgraded lately–popsicles, water bottles, t-shirts, swag, and of course, more candy than a kid could (or should!) eat.
Here’s a few pictures to show what I mean:
Remember those overgrown men stuffed into little go-carts? They were having a ball doing figure-eights in the street.
Who doesn’t love getting their picture taken with a couple of parade clowns?
A colorful (and patriotic!) train locomotive.
Best-laid plans sometimes go awry. This old-time trolley broke down and needed a little manpower to get it off the parade route.
He’s ready to make his move for the next round of candy-tossing. Note the loot already in his bag! 🙂
Afterward, we played bingo at the local park, had some free watermelon, came out to the cabin to roast hot dogs and s’mores, and then headed home.
It was a lovely day, one that fills my heart with happy memories.
Do you love a parade as much as I do?
Have you watched a parade recently from the comfort of your lawn chair?
Or do you prefer to watch on TV?
Let’s chat – and you can win a bag of parade candy!
