cowboy

Roped Into Paradise

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Sometimes the idea for a story catches me completely by surprise.

Such was the case for my wholesome rom-com that releases next week.

Last February, I was sitting at my desk, looking outside at the cold, wintery day, and wondering why we don’t plan vacations to sunny locales during the coldest months of the year, when an email popped into my inbox from my dad’s cousin, J/J.

J/J loves to go on cruises. In fact, at the time, he was on a multi-week, back-to-back series of cruises in the Caribbean.

When I saw an email from him, I thought, “Oh, fun! More news from someplace where it is warm and sunny and you don’t have to put on wool socks just to go get the mail.”

The email read:

“Is there any chance in the future I might see a book about romance on the high seas where a cowboy takes a cruise to some exotic location?”

After reading that question, I couldn’t help myself. My imagination shifted into high gear and I began brainstorming story ideas.

What if there was a cowboy from someplace cold, going to spend time with his grandmother who lived someplace warm, and the grandma—being an eccentric ol’ gal—drags him onto a cruise without giving him any warning or opinions on the matter? From there, the ideas kept rolling.

I’ve never been on a cruise, but, thankfully, J/J was so kind to answer my many questions and share day-to-day cruising details with me. For a week, I almost felt like I was right there on the cruise ship. J/J was also kind enough to save a bunch of information he received on the cruise, like their daily planners, and mail them to me when he returned home. There was so much great information that he shared, and I tried to work in as much as I could into the story.

A cowboy, a cruise, and a meddling grandma—what could go wrong?

JJ McKade expected to spend two weeks with his grandmother at her condo in sunny Florida, celebrating her birthday. Instead, he got shanghaied by his mischievous grandma on a Caribbean cruise—complete with hot pink luggage, a gaggle of giggling octogenarians, and a humiliating childhood nickname haunting his every move.

Between meddling matchmakers, unexpected friendships, and the endless chaos of cruise life, JJ can’t help being drawn to Kinsley Kline, the ship’s enchanting horticulturist. There’s just one catch: crew fraternizing with passengers is strictly forbidden.

With only a few months left in her contract aboard The Affinity, Kinsley can’t let anything rock her boat or derail her plans. Then the arrival of a hunky cowboy on the ship makes her question if some rules are meant to be broken, and a little boat rocking is a good thing.

From sun-drenched beaches to moonlit strolls, JJ and Kinsley must decide if an onboard romance can last on land, and if love is worth risking their hearts.

Packed with laughter, longing, and a grandmother who refuses to play by the rules, Roped Into Paradise is a heartwarming and wholesome romantic comedy about family, hope, and finding love where you least expect it. Perfect for fans of witty banter, unexpected romance, and cruise ship escapades that sweep you off your feet.

Here’s a little excerpt from the book:

JJ tugged on the only pair of clean jeans he’d packed in his bag and unrolled a green plaid western shirt, fastening the snaps with one hand while using the other to finger-comb his hair. In the adjoining bathroom, he splashed his face with cold water and brushed his teeth, then he moseyed into the kitchen, lured by the scent of coffee.

“Here,” Grams said, shoving a travel mug into his hand. “You can drink that on the way.”

“On the way to where?” he asked, taking a long, bracing sip of coffee so strong and black, he could feel it peeling away layers of tissue as it traveled down his throat.

“The store, JJ. Do try to keep up,” Grams said, snagging her car keys off a hook by the door that led into her garage. She gave him a look that clearly conveyed her thoughts that he was hopeless as he stumbled over the step into the garage. “I’ll drive.”

He thought about arguing, but refrained. Until the caffeine kicked in, he wasn’t sure he could find his way out to the end of the driveway.

Ten minutes later, Grams pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of a superstore that sold everything from fried chicken to pontoon boats. Hungry as he was, the fried chicken didn’t sound all that bad, even if it was a grease-soaked remnant from yesterday’s offerings.

Confused as to why they were at the store before most of the population was even awake, JJ took another long drink of coffee and then set the mug in the cupholder of the SUV.

“Why on earth are we here?” he asked as he got out of the vehicle and walked with his grandmother to the door.

“We can’t go on the boat ride until you are properly outfitted.”

“Boat ride? Outfitted?” JJ thought maybe he’d dreamed the part about Grams mentioning a boat ride last night. Did he really need new attire for a ride around the lake? Usually, they took a fishing charter cruise around the lake at some point during his visit. Cargo shorts, a T-shirt, and an old pair of sneakers would work just fine for that. “What are you talking about, Grams?”

“I told you I booked a boat ride, JJ. Aren’t you listening?” Grams asked as though he were five and incapable of paying attention.

He watched as his grandmother snagged a shopping cart from the row of them outside the door, set her purse inside, and grabbed his arm in one seemingly smooth motion as she marched inside the store.

“What kind of boat ride requires getting up this early in the morning to come shopping here, of all places, so I can be properly outfitted? Last I checked, you and Mom would both develop acute hives if you had to purchase your wardrobe here.”

Grams smiled at the greeter standing near the door and made a beeline for the men’s clothing. JJ hoped he could still move with as much agility as his grandmother had when he was her age. Then again, she attended a yoga class three times a week and took pride in walking at least a mile every day.

“It means, JJ, that we are boarding a cruise ship at half past ten this morning and setting sail for the Caribbean. You need clothes for an eleven-day trip. From the pathetic contents of your duffel bag, you’ll be forced to wash your undies in the bathroom sink every other day. You should have listened when your mother suggested you pack a suitcase with plenty of clothes, baby. Now, stop dawdling and get to shopping.” Grams pointed to a rack of cargo shorts.

Releasing January 29!

If you could snap your fingers and be on a dream vacation today, where would you go and what would you see?

Post your answer for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card!

I’m Just an Okie from Muskogee

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Welcome Tina Radcliffe, Author of Claiming Her Cowboy! 

 

 

 

Book Description

Attorney Jackson Harris regularly goes toe-to-toe with the world’s toughest lawyers—but none of them compare to Lucy Maxwell. The feisty director of Oklahoma’s Big Heart Ranch for orphans is as stubborn as she is pretty. But Jack must stay focused; he’s only there to evaluate the ranch’s funding. Falling for Lucy and the sweet children she protects is out of the question. Though Lucy is determined to keep the ranch, she’s not about to give control to a city slicker—even a devastatingly good-looking one. But as they bump heads, Jack and Lucy gradually nudge open their hearts. Could a temporary cowboy become a permanent part of Lucy’s life?

 

 

 

A big 2018 HELLO, to the Fillies of Petticoats & Pistols!

One of my very favorite places to set a story is in Oklahoma. I’m partial to the state after living there more than seventeen years. To me, there’s nothing sweeter than an Oklahoma drawl.

My blog title comes from the Merle Haggard song, and I apologize if you now have that tune in your head all day. The song is nearly fifty years old and while the lyrics may be a tad bit dated, the sentiment is not.

It parallels the philosophy of the Oklahoma cowboy. There are cowboys and ranches in all fifty states, there’s something special about an Oklahoma cowboy, especially the way he thinks and the way he talks. He’s hard-working, loyal, an all-American patriot who loves Okie football, and when he opens his mouth to speak I’m swooning a little.

Oklahoma dialect is unique although depending on where you’re from in the state it can overlap with Texas and Arkansas speech patterns. This is why you’ll hear terms like“y’all and “fixin’ to,” across borders. With the mobility we see today in the job market, much original Okie dialect is watered down. It’s also watered down or erased by Oklahomans purposely to avoid the stereotype that confuses language with culture.

When writing the Oklahoma cowboy for my new series from Love Inspired, Big Heart Ranch, I let a secondary character, old wrangler named Dutch Stevens, spin the Oklahoma dialect most of the time with some help from five-year-old named Dub Lewis, because too much dialect from primary characters can take away from the reading enjoyment.

There’s a charm and music to speaking Okie and nothing makes me happier than overhearing a conversation where the speaker says “I’m fixing to get some chicken fried steak, but first I’m going to stop at the QT for some pop.”

Speech patterns for true Oklahoma dialect are slow, methodical, and often with pauses if the sentence is more than a few words. Oklahoma-speak can often be pinpointed by the identification of certain terminology and there is an entire lingo that is unique to the state.

If you want to get a real taste for Oklahoma cowboy in particular, take a look at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum website. Check out the Cowboy page and the videos here. The museum is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

There’s no definitive dictionary of Okie terms because Oklahoma is diverse and culture and environment play into the mix. But I can tell you that my arrival in Tulsa from New York was a culture shock.

People shut off the light instead of turning it off. They put groceries in sacks instead of bags. They ate salary instead of celery too. Fish and chips meant catfish and fries. Football fell into two categories Sooners or Cowboys. Liquor stores were closed on Sunday and there was a church on every corner.

Then there were those strange words like:

Mere – Mirror

Skeeter – Mosquito

Soda – Pop

Agg – Egg

QT – Quick Trip Convenience Store (Home of Lamar)

Chicken Fried Steak – See to Understand

Chigger – Mites

OKC – Oklahoma City

T-Town – Tulsa

Tony Lama – Western boots

PeeKahn – Pecan

My Ideal Oklahoma Cowboy

To create my ideal Oklahoma cowboy I take my favorite Oklahoma terminology and culture and then sprinkle in Western speak and lingo. If you’re a city slicker, you can find some fun and helpful Western speak here and here.

GIVEAWAY!

Have you got any Okie-isms of your own? Do you speak Okie or Cowboy Okie?

Leave a comment today and I’ll be sending a print copy or digital copy of Claiming Her Cowboy to three commenters along with a fun Western surprise. If you’ve already read the book, I’ll send a thank you and a fun Western surprise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally from Western, N.Y., Tina Radcliffe left home for a tour of duty with the Army Security Agency stationed in Augsburg, Germany and ended up in Tulsa Oklahoma. While living in Tulsa she spent ten years as a Certified Oncology R.N. Her move to Colorado led to a career as a library cataloger. A 2014 ACFW Carol Award winner, she has won first place in over twenty RWA chapter affiliated contests in her career and she is on the RWA Honor Roll. Tina is also a short story writer and has sold over two dozen short stories to Woman’s World Magazine. She currently resides in Arizona where she writes fun, heartwarming romance.

Stay up to date on all her releases and fun giveaways by signing up for her newsletter here. Visit her on the web at http://www.tinaradcliffe.com Facebook Twitter

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Fall Into Romance by Shanna Hatfield

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Like many of you, I love the autumn season. In our little corner of the world, we have four very distinct seasons and in the last few weeks it has definitely transitioned into fall.

The leaves have set aside their verdant shades of green and seemingly overnight slipped on the jeweled hues of crimson, gold, amber, and tangerine.

The air smells spicy and rich, laced with a hint of wood smoke from the neighbor’s fireplace. It’s cool enough to dig out my sweaters and scarves, to unearth my warm lap blanket I like to curl up under in the evenings when the early dusk brings nose-nipping temperatures.

Then there are the glorious, wondrous flavors of fall… pumpkin and caramel and apple. Yum. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

In an effort to capture some of the sweetest, most wonderful aspects of fall, a group of sweet romance authors got together and wrote ten brand-new novellas all centered around a Fall Festival that raises funds for an animal shelter while finding homes for pets. The stories are bundled together in a boxed set.

The stories all take place in the fictional town of Romance, Oregon. If it really existed, visitors would find it about an hour south of Portland, where autumn is particularly beautiful and the sights, sounds, and scents of fall weave around the romance lingering in the air.

My contribution to the boxed set is Blown Into Romance, the story of a free-spirited artist and a feet-firmly-on-the-ground rancher.  And piglets! Five of them, to be exact, all named after characters from a favorite children’s book. Winnie, the mama pig, and her four babies (Roo, Tigger, Eeyore, and Robin) need a home and Brooke needs a little company in her newly-opened blown glass shop.

(See the disaster coming… five pigs in a blown glass shop?)

I wanted Brooke to adopt something other than a dog or a cat. How much crazier could she get than five pigs?

Luckily for her, Blayne Grundy knows about pigs as well as cattle and horses. He offers her a hand when she needs it most and soon realizes she’s stolen his heart.

Blurb —

Artist Brooke Roberts spent her life without roots, wandering from town to town. When she seeks refuge from a freak storm in the town of Romance, she decides to stay and open a blown glass studio. Determined to immerse herself in the community, she adopts a family of pigs. Brooke is unprepared for the chaos and comfort they bring to her world, or the dashing cowboy who rescues her heart.

Solid, dependable Blayne Grundy runs a busy ranch, volunteers on various committees, and takes in stray animals too large to stay at the local animal rescue. Then a chance encounter with a beautiful, beguiling woman leaves him so befuddled, he can barely remember his own name. His predictable organized life is about to be blown away by free-spirited Brooke.

A sweet, lighthearted novella, Blown Into Romance highlights the mighty power of love and letting go.

 

Excerpt —

She arched an eyebrow. “Did you adopt a new pet, too?”

“I’m actually more of a temporary home before a permanent place can be found. Brent had a donkey and a bunch of chickens that needed a place to go. Grams handled the chickens, but I’m in charge of the donkey.”

“A donkey, huh?” Brooke grinned again. “That might be incentive to visit your ranch.”

“Kong would like to think it is.”

A laugh spilled out of her. “You named the donkey Kong? Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. That was his name before Brent took him in. I’m not sure if Donkey Kong or King Kong would have been worse.”

“Okay, you win. I have to meet this donkey. I have a project I need to finish and it has to be shipped Thursday morning. If it works with your schedule, I could come out that evening.” Brooke walked Blayne over to his pickup.

“That will work great. In case you think about changing your mind, I could probably come up with a more compelling reason for you to come.” He looked at her with an intense light glowing in his eyes.

Rather than back away from him, as he feared, she stood her ground. “What reason might that be cowboy?”

“Just this one.” Blayne stepped close to her, holding her gaze. He wrapped one hand around her waist and slid the other into her messy hair. Before she could protest or pull away, his lips skimmed across hers in a light, tentative kiss. When she moved closer to him, he kissed her again. The long, lingering kiss erupted an explosion of fireworks behind his eyes while her body turned limp in his arms.

When he lifted his head, he kissed her cheek and slowly released his hold on her, making sure she was steady on her feet before backing away. “I’ll let you consider if that’s a compelling reason. If not, let me know. I can come back later and do a better job.”

Giveaway —

If you could adopt ANY pet, what would it be? Post your answer for a chance to win a digital copy of Fall Into Romance. Three lucky winners will be chosen!

Fall Into Romance is available for a limited time for just 99 cents at these online retailers:

Kobo

A ma zon

iBooks

Google Play

B&N

 

Let ‘Er Buck

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Today kicks off a 107-year-old tradition — the Pendleton Round-Up.

This rodeo, held in the western town of Pendleton, Oregon, began when a group of community and area leaders developed the idea of an annual event. It all started, really, with a successful 4th of July celebration in 1909 that included bronc riding, horse races, Indian dances, foot races and fireworks.

The Pendleton Round-Up was incorporated as a non-profit organization at the end of July in 1910. The legal name was the “Northwestern Frontier Exhibition Association.” The group decided to stage the event in September to allow the grain farmers time to complete their harvest and the ranchers time to make a late summer check-up on their grazing cattle.

Image from the East Oregonian

The first Pendleton Round-Up was to be a frontier exhibition that brought the old west back to life and offered the crowd entertaining Indian, cowboy, and military spectacles, held in conjunction with the Eastern Oregon District Fair.

Image from the East Oregonian

People responded so enthusiastically to the idea, special trains ran from Portland to Pendleton to make sure the “city crowd” could witness the event.

The stores in town closed for the first performance. In fact, so many people showed up at that first performance, workers jumped in after the rodeo and added an additional 3,000 seats to accommodate the crowds the next day.  More than 7,000 people attended the first event (which far exceeded the number of people living in town at the time).

In just a few short years, the wooden grandstand and surrounding bleachers were completed, offering seating to more than 20,000 spectators.

Before women received the right to vote in Oregon, the Pendleton Round-Up gave them a chance to compete in a variety of events. In 1914, Bertha Blanchett came within a dozen points of winning the all-around title, right alongside the men.

Many famous names competed in the Round-Up arena including people like Slim Pickens, Hoot Gibson, Jackson Sundown, and Yakima Canutt (a stuntman who doubled for Clark Gable and John Wayne, to name a few).

Pendleton is home to the Umatilla Reservation and from that very first show in 1910, many Indians have participated in the event. There are Indian races at the rodeo, the special Happy Canyon pageant, and the Indian Village that is one of the largest in North America with more than 300 teepees set up annually.

Tribal members also ride into the arena before the Indian dancing at the rodeo (right before the bull riding) and wow spectators with their beautiful regalia, some that dates back more than a century.

There are unique facets to the Pendleton Round-Up that make it different from many rodeos. For one thing, the rodeo arena’s grass floor is one-of-a-kind in the world of rodeo, adding a unique challenge for competitors. It provides the largest barrel racing pattern on the professional rodeo circuit, too.

Also, the Pendleton Round-Up was the first rodeo to have rodeo royalty, beginning in 1910. Today, the queen and her court race into the arena, jumping over the fence surrounding the grassy expanse not once, but twice.

The first year of the rodeo also saw the introduction of the Westward Ho Parade, one of the longest non-motorized parades in the country.  The parade tradition carries on today with entries from all around the region.

Since 1910, the Pendleton Round-Up has been a popular event. Other than two years it was not held during World War II, it has run continuously each September. Today, more than 50,000 attendees fill the bleachers to watch the four-day long event.

And on their lips, you’ll hear them shout the slogan that was first used in 1910…

Let’ Er Buck!

***

 Dally  (Pendleton Petticoats, Book 8) is a sweet romance that encompasses the first year of the Pendleton Round-Up. In fact, the girl on the cover is one of the 2017 rodeo court.

I’m going to give three lucky winners a digital copy of  Dally .

To enter for a chance to win, all you have to do is answer this question:

What’s your favorite rodeo event or thing to see in a parade? 

 

 

Touring the American Old West

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Dear readers

I invite you to come along as I share my travels through the American old west. I’m thrilled to be one of the new fillies here at Petticoats & Pistols and I can’t wait to share my love of the Old West with you.

About me: Along with writing contemporary western romances I also write contemporary romantic women’s fiction.  You’ll find that all of my books are set in small towns and usually include a few quirky characters. My stories incorporate the themes of home, family and redemption. This September I will publish my 40th project for Harlequin Books and my current series is called, Cowboys of Stampede, Texas. I also write small-town romances for Tule Publishing’s Montana Born line and Sweet Home Cowboy is my latest release.

 

 

 

 

 

And I’m a member of the Tall Poppy Writers. You  can find out more about my small-town romantic women’s fiction novels as well as my western books on my Website.

 

If you follow me on social media then you know I love junk. My friends call me vintage Marin because I love flea markets so much. If you haven’t heard of Junk in the Trunk you should check it out!

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been comfortable around old stuff. I find ideas for my stories and characters when I browse through people’s castoffs. My love of antiques goes right along with my love of history and the old west. One of my hobbies is researching ghost tours and haunted old west towns. Sadly I’ve never experienced an encounter with a ghost but I love taking tours that share the history of the haunted locations.  Hubby and I currently live in Phoenix and we’re recent empty nesters so we’re using our newfound freedom to travel the beautiful Grande Canyon State.

This past July my husband and I ventured out on Route 66 in northern Arizona. You can find all of my travel photos on my Instagram page.

 

Winslow, Arizona

Route 66 Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona has been on my bucket list for years.

For those of you who are confused this video Take it Easy by the Eagles band will explain it and reveal my age, lol!

Drift Inn Saloon

After Winslow we got off Route 66 and stopped at the copper mining town of Globe, Arizona and had lunch at the haunted Drift Inn Saloon—one of oldest continuously operating saloons in the state, opening its doors in 1902. The Drift Inn Saloon has been named one of the top five biker-destination bars in the state by the Arizona Republic newspaper and one of the “Magnificent 7” saloons by Arizona Highways Magazine. The second floor was originally opened as a boarding house for miners then turned into a brothel a few years later.

  

The bar is a living icon of the Old West, with its original tin ceiling. A Frank Olsen mural of Monument Valley is painted along one wall and hanging above the image are vintage portraits of soiled doves, which pay homage to the ladies who once worked in the brothel above the bar.

When I learned the bartender Eileen, was one of the owners of the bar, I bombarded her with questions about the history of the building. She and her partner had lived on the second floor for several years while they renovated the bar. She claimed the building was haunted and then asked if I’d like to go upstairs and look around. Of course I said YES!

Eileen told stories about the building that the local old-timers had shared with her after she bought the place. Several mediums have walked through the building and confirmed that spirits inhabit the premises. One of the rooms is said to be full of trapped souls unable to escape. And room 18 is said to be a very dark, evil room. A young woman stands in the shower and watches people in the bathroom. And of course there’s the nasty spirit of a man who wanders the upstairs. The medium couldn’t tell the owners for sure who he was but they believe he may be either Joseph Ludwig, a local miner who was murdered in one of the upstairs rooms in 1906 or the man who murdered him.

 

As a writer we romanticize cowboys and the old west in our stories… because who wants to read about smelly, bowlegged men who bathe once a month and are missing half their teeth? But that afternoon in Globe as I walked past the twenty-five rooms on the second floor of the Drift Inn Saloon, I had to acknowledge that life in the old west could be cruel, harsh and deadly.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experience at the Drift Inn Saloon. I can’t wait to share with you the other Route66 places and towns in Arizona. And since this is my first blog as an official P&P filly, let’s do a giveaway!

 *Giveaway*

 

Tell me if you’ve ever had a paranormal experience or taken a ghost tour and your name will be entered into a drawing to receive a digital copy of my sweet western novella, The Bull Rider’s Pledge. I’ll reveal the winner’s name in the comment section of this blog post on Saturday August 12th.

Until next time…Happy Trails!

 

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P.S. Don’t forget to enter the giant birthday bash giveaway (separate from this daily giveaway). You can find all the details along with the entry form HERE.

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Jeannie Watt – Catch Me, Cowboy WINNER!

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watt-2016rodeo-300dpiAnd the winners are…Susan P., Teresa Fordice and Eliza! Please email me at jeanniewrites @ gmail .com (without the spaces, of course) to claim your prize. Eliza-I’ll send you a print copy of my latest Harlequin Western.

A big thank you to everyone who entered!

Jeannie Watt – Catch Me, Cowboy Excerpt and Give Away

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Jeannie Watt 2Hello and Happy Wednesday! Today I’m in Florida, attending a writing conference and hanging out with my fellow authors. My husband is home packing the house for our move to Montana, which earns him a Great Guy Award.

Today I’m posting an excerpt from Catch Me Cowboy — Book 1 of Tule Publishing’s 78th Copper Mountain Rodeo series. For a chance to win a digital copy, leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about western romances. My favorite thing is the challenges rural people face in the course of their everyday lives and how they overcome.

CATCH ME, COWBOY

watt-2016rodeo-300dpi

Shelby O’Connor heard gravel crunch under tires on the opposite side of the barn, but didn’t take her eyes off the horse circling her in the round pen. If she broke focus, so would the young gelding, and now that she’d made a small amount of headway in the respect department, she wasn’t stopping. She gently slapped the coils of rope she held against her thigh and waved a hand to urge the horse to trot faster. A truck door slammed and boots hit the ground.

Please be UPS.

If it wasn’t, she could handle it.

The round pen was set up behind the barn, to keep the horses from being distracted while Shelby worked them, but unfortunately that also kept her from seeing who’d just driven in to the Forty-Six Ranch. Just because she’d gotten a couple of heads up texts early that morning informing her Ty Harding was back in town, it didn’t mean he’d come to see her. Why would he? She’d made her feelings clear as glass when he’d left four years ago. Shelby raised her hand and the gelding flicked an ear and shot a look at her out of one eye as he trotted around the perimeter of the pen, a sign he was starting to focus on her instead of escape. Finally.

She slowly walked up to the horse, extending a hand and waiting until the horse bumped it with his nose. “You did good.”

She rubbed the gelding’s forehead before snapping the lead rope onto the halter and starting toward the gate, her heart thumping just a little harder as she crossed the sandy pen. Moment of reckoning. Who is our mystery guest today? Package delivery guy? Some lost soul looking for the nearly invisible turn-off to the River Road?

Or… Ty.

Her heart slammed against her ribs at the sight of the man who’d once been her whole world, leaning against his truck, the late morning sun behind him, looking every inch the cowboy he was. Dark hair escaped from beneath his Resistol and, even though the brim shaded his face, she could see his features were harder, more sculpted than before. Four years had changed him, but it had not dulled her reaction to him. Part of her wanted to rush into his arms, as she would have done before he’d so easily abandoned her, and another part wanted to smack him. Hard. Fortunately for both of them, the sane part of her prevailed, although it was a battle, and she kept her expression carefully distant as she crossed the drive.

“Shelby.”

“You’re back.”

She spoke on a flat note, as if her heart wasn’t beating a mile a minute— which it shouldn’t be. They’d tried to make a go of it once. Failed. If he was back to make nice so they could live together in the same community…fine. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but, hey…free country and all that.

“I am.” He shifted his weight, hooking a thumb in his belt, a sure sign he wasn’t as certain of himself as he appeared. But even when Ty wasn’t sure of himself, he was a formidable opponent. She knew from the confrontations they’d had when he’d asked her to come with him on the road. As if she could just leave grad school, her grandfather, and go. Right. It would have been easier for him to give up saddle bronc, or to ride only in the Montana Circuit instead of chasing the big titles. But no.

“And…?” Again she tried to sound polite, yet distant, as if he were an acquaintance who’d stopped by for an unknown reason. As if he hadn’t knocked her heart around, but good. He shrugged, those gray-blue eyes of his holding her, causing her to lift her chin as she came closer. Ty was tall for a bronc rider. Long and lean. Cowboy tough. And that had been the problem. He was cowboy tough and cowboy stubborn.

The gelding took a couple sideways steps when she came to a stop and Shelby automatically adjusted the lead, bringing the horse back to where he was supposed to be, standing with his head at her shoulder. She brought her attention back to the man in front of her… the man who wasn’t exactly bursting with explanations.

“Why are you here, Ty?”

“I’m back in Marietta for a while. I wanted to see you.” Direct. To the point. As Ty always was—when he talked about stuff. Good, because she was in no mood for polite games. She wanted him gone before her grandfather realized he was there.

“I see.”

“We have unfinished business, Shelby.”

The laugh burst out of her lips before she could stop it, startling the horse, who danced a few steps before stilling. “The business between us is long finished.”

Good luck! I’ll post the winner on Saturday, September 24th. Stay tuned.

Movies to Set the Cowboy Mood by Charlene Sands

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Newsletter banner June

 

The other night I was in the mood for something “country” and it was too late to pick up a book, so I found “Pure Country” on television and got cozy in my bed to watch it.  I mean, if you can’t take watching a young George Strait at 10 PM, then what good are you anyway, right?   Though, his acting isn’t up to par with his beautiful voice, I enjoyed seeing this movie again.  I like the old fashioned ideals of being true to yourself, no matter the cost.  And I liked the love story, but when it was over, I realized that dear George didn’t kiss the heroine once.  Not even at the end, which I replayed to make sure.

Don’t you wish there were more good romantic movies with a western theme on the horizon?

I mean no one loves a present day cowboy fantasy more than we do, right?913feoxm+CL._SL1500_

 

 

Here’s the synopsis for Pure Country:    One of the biggest stars in country music, Dusty Wyatt Chandler (George Strait) grows disillusioned with the hollow performances and overly produced arena shows he’s contractually obligated to play. In an effort to become grounded, Chandler walks away from the spotlight and goes back to the country town of his youth. After finding work at a ranch, he falls for the owner’s daughter, Lula Rogers (Lesley Ann Warren). However, his manager (Isabel Glasser) is determined to keep the show going.

Last month, I saw “The Longest Ride,” starring Scott Eastwood, Clint’s very handsome son who looks very much like his father did in the olden days, only more muscled, more broad.   (Am I painting an appealing picture?)   As my friend and I were driving out of town to catch the one cinema still playing the movie (I did need to see this for my rodeo story research) she turned to me to say, “You know, this only got a 2 star rating.”

Okay, I don’t bank much on movie ratings by highly cynical reviewers, so I went in with an open mind.  And I laughed a little, and cried a lot, and came away feeling emotionally satisfied with the story.  “And that only got 2 stars,” my friend said after the ending credits.  We both loved that story which was really a story within a story.   Two for the price of one!  You have to go see it to find out what I mean.  I actually want to read the book to see how author Nicholas Sparks, managed to do it in print.  Sometimes, I think it’s easier to SHOW the story than TELL the story, but that may only be me talking with my writer hat on.

Here’s the synopsis for The Longest Ride:The Longest Ride

Former bull-riding champion Luke (Scott Eastwood) and college student Sophia (Britt Robertson) are in love, but conflicting paths and ideals threaten to tear them apart: Luke hopes to make a comeback on the rodeo circuit, and Sophia is about to embark on her dream job in New York’s art world. As the couple ponder their romantic future, they find inspiration in Ira (Alan Alda), an elderly man whose decades-long romance with his beloved wife withstood the test of time.

I’m in need of inspiration and love a good cowboy who gets the girl story.  So tell me, are there any really good present-day western themed romance stories out there that you’ve seen lately in the movies or on TV?bookmark

To celebrate the release of my 2nd Moonlight Beach Bachelors series, The Billionaire’s Daddy Test, I have a special prize today, one of these beautiful Brighton Bookmarks along with a copy of one of my backlist books goes to one blogger today.   

Also starting on June 14th and June 16th respectively check out The Billionaire’s Daddy Test as a Goodreads Giveaway and the .99 cent sale of The Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch!

Goodreads Giveaway

 

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A Prison for a Hero

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I’ve always had a macabre fascination with prisons, and when I was formulating the story for HANNAH’S VOW, I knew I wanted a bad one for my hero.  It took some digging, but with the help of a family friend who worked in a local university library, I found the perfect prison in which Quinn Landry would suffer.

You see, he shouldn’t have been in prison in the first place, but his older brother accused him of murder and did some conniving with the local law, and before Quinn could defend himself, he was whisked across Texas state lines and thrown into a notorious prison in New Mexico Territory.

This penitentiary was based on the Maine State Prison in the early 1830s.  The convicts were housed in underground cells and sounded just awful.  The dungeons were one story high with no way in or out except for a two feet square opening above them, secured with an iron grate.  The convicts descended into the pits by a ladder, which was removed, of course, once they were down.

The pits were eight feet long, four feet wide, and nine feet high.  Sometimes, the prisoner was in solitary, sometimes he shared the cell.   There was no lighting, and at the bottom of the pit, only a small hole, one and a half inch in diameter, which allowed heated air in from the penitentiary’s furnace.   No privies, either, but a tub was provided at night so they could do their business.

During the day, the convicts toiled in workshops as blacksmiths, wagon-makers, shoe-makers, wood-cutters and tailors.  Some of the hardest criminals worked in a stone quarry.  The female prisoners spent their time in wash-houses under the strict eye of a female officer.

In reality, this particular penitentiary sold the fruits of the convicts’ labors at full market price, and convicts were fed well.  Their daily rations of beef or pork, bread, potatoes, and mush and molasses (breakfast) were surprisingly generous, as was their allowance for tobacco.   They were allowed visitors and attended religious services on Sunday afternoons.  For their care, the prisoners rarely died and hardly got sick.

But in fiction, Quinn had it much worse.  He lives for revenge.  It’s the only thing keeping him alive.  When he learns of drug experiments on the prisoners, he knows he could die next.  To right the wrongs dealt against him, he must risk his life and escape.   And Hannah, of course, is there as his very unwilling ticket to freedom.

Drug experiments on the incarcerated is not a new practice, and there are distinct advantages, if you will.  In modern times, the inmates are in a controlled environment, are available and usually healthy.  In addition, they have a choice whether to volunteer.  They’re informed and often paid for their trouble.  The reasons they volunteer are varied, and while that could be fodder for a whole ‘nother blog, suffice to say, Quinn didn’t have a choice.  🙂  And doesn’t that make for much more interesting reading–especially when Hannah is there to stir up a little romance between them?

HANNAH’S VOW is now available as an e-book, and for a limited time, only 99 cents!

Click here to buy a copy for your Kindle!

Click here to buy a copy for your Nook!

So . . . have you ever visited a prison or jail before?  What were your impressions?

How do you feel about drug experiments on humans, incarcerated or otherwise?

Let’s talk!  I’ll draw a winner for a book of her choosing from my backlist!