Gambling on a Cowboy

A FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MEMORY AND A GIVEAWAY–by CHERYL PIERSON

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Hi everyone! I’m kicking off our week of Book Scootin’ Holiday Favorites with a giveaway and a great recipe to go along with my favorite holiday memory! Hope you enjoy hearing about how my cousin and I “run into some trouble” when we were kids, and why it’s my favorite holiday memory now. I’m giving away a copy of GAMBLING ON A COWBOY to a lucky commenter, and there is a wonderful recipe for Milky Way Cake coming up in this post as well, so please read on, and be sure to leave a comment!

When I was a little girl, I begged my parents for a sister—or even a BROTHER—just someone that I could have to play with. My sisters were 12 and 10 when I was born, so by the time I was in first grade, my oldest sister was off to college, and two years later, my middle sister followed. I had a lot of friends, but it wasn’t the same as having a little sister or brother—and that was what I wanted.

 

Mom was the eldest of eleven children in her family. I think she was really tired by the time I came along—she was 35 when I was born and had two older daughters entering new phases of their lives that were so different than mine. When I mentioned a younger sibling (which was very often!) she’d say, “You have a lot of cousins! You have a lot of friends! I just don’t know about a little brother or sister, Cheryl.”

This is my 12th birthday. I was surrounded by friends as we celebrated, ate, and just had a wonderful time. But I still wanted my own little brother or sister! Yep, there’s my cousin Julia sitting to my left!

I had to be content with my friends and cousins as the younger sibling never materialized. Even after I asked SANTA for one, I still didn’t get one, or a pony, either.

But Mom was right about my cousins and friends. I had many, many cousins that were about my age and always saw one another on the big holidays, Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving.

Here are just SOME of my cousins! I’m not in this picture, but my cousin Julia is–she’s front and center, 5th from the left-hand side. My middle sister, Karen, is 2nd from the left.

Those were the holidays when ALL my cousins and aunts and uncles gathered, and to me, that was almost as wonderful as getting up on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought.

My favorite Christmas memory happened one Christmas Day when we’d all gathered at my grandparents’ house for Christmas dinner. We’d driven down there after getting up early to open gifts, packing the car, and excitedly getting on the road. I was beyond thrilled, because my cousin Julia was going to be there. With her belonging to a military family, they weren’t always able to make to these  gatherings, but this year, they would be there! And though we usually managed to spend a week at each other’s houses in the summer, that had been so long—especially for a 10-year-old lonely little girl!

Julia was a few months older than I, and we were always “partners in crime” when we were able to get together. When she happened to spot an entire package of Milky Way candy bars in the refrigerator and whispered to me “There are SIX of them!” I knew we had to get those candy bars and have them all to ourselves. But how? Julia had three younger siblings at the time, and of course, there were MANY other cousins  there. It had to just be the two of us, or we might be discovered.

We made our plan, got into the kitchen, and slipped that bag of Milky Ways out of the refrigerator and under Julia’s coat. Then, out we went through the backdoor. There were some marvelous woods behind Granny and Granddad’s house…if we could just get out there and get hidden before some of the younger kids tried to follow us! We ran—oh, how we ran in that cold air, so joyous to be together again, and even more thrilled to be doing something we just KNEW we’d get away with! No one had seen us take those candy bars, we were certain of it. We had also had the good fortune of getting out into the woods without hearing one of our mothers call to us, or even being saddled with younger cousins! How had we managed to do it all? The stars were aligned!

We found a good place to sit, and broke open that bag of candy bars. Let me tell you, no first bite of candy before or since had ever tasted so wonderful. Why? Because we’d gotten away with it! And we were sharing it together. We sat and giggled and caught up with “girl talk”, and we ate three candy bars each. By the time we got to Milky Way #3 for each of us, we were not nearly as enthusiastic about eating them as we’d been in the beginning, but what could we do? We couldn’t leave evidence. We couldn’t take them back. We couldn’t bear to just throw them away!

So we ate them. Then, we started back to Granny and Granddad’s house very slowly. Things were not so wonderful anymore. We both were feeling rather green around the gills, and…what if we HADN’T gotten away with it after all?

We had started to feel awfully guilty.

We knew each other well enough to know that was what was wrong with both of us, aside from the fact that we had eaten way too much chocolate and caramel.

When we came in the back door, we realized immediately that we’d been discovered. Our Aunt Joyce was livid. She’d brought those Milky Way bars to make her wonderful Milky Way Cake. Now, dessert was ruined for everyone because we had been so selfish. And back then, there was no way to replace them—nothing was open on Christmas Day.

Our Aunt Joyce during her years of service during WWII.

There was no need for punishment. We were suffering enough as it was, since everyone knew what we’d done. And you certainly did not want to disappoint Aunt Joyce—which we had done in spades. Oh, there were other desserts (not that we wanted anything to eat for a very long time, and certainly nothing sweet!) but no Milky Way Cake that year.

That night as we laid on a pallet on the floor, Julia said quietly, “Can you believe we ate SIX Milky Way bars? And we didn’t throw up?”

I still laugh when I think about that. It was quite an accomplishment! Though it wasn’t funny at the time, that’s become my favorite Christmas memory!

Here’s the recipe for that scrumptious Milky Way Cake that’s close to the one our Aunt Joyce WOULD have made that year if we hadn’t eaten her candy bars!   

 

MILKY WAY CAKE RECIPE (and above image of cake!) from CookItEasy.net

  • sugar – 2 c
  • eggs – 4 item
  • vanilla – 1 tsp
  • chopped nuts – 1 c
  • flour
  • stick margarine – 1 item
  • semi-sweet chocolate chips – 6 oz
  • evaporated milk – 1 c
  • soda – 1/2 tsp
  • sticks margarine – 2 item
  • buttermilk
  • marshmallow cream – 1 c
  • Milky Way candy bars – 8 item

How to make milky way cake:

Frosting:

2 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. evaporated milk

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. marshmallow cream

1 stick margarine

Dissolve soda in buttermilk.

Melt 1 stick margarine and all 8 candy bars in double boiler. Set aside.

Cream sugar, 1 stick margarine, and eggs. Beat well. Add alternately the flour and buttermilk with soda. Always begin and end with flour. Add vanilla, nuts, and candy bar mixture. In a tube pan, bake at 325° for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Frosting: Cook sugar, milk and margarine to soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips, vanilla and marshmallow cream. Stir well. Cool slightly and spread on cooled cake.

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

I’m offering a giveaway today of the GAMBLING ON A COWBOY boxed set from Prairie Rose Publications, a collection of SIX book-length novels from Kaye Spencer, Agnes Alexander, Patti Sherry-Crews, Tracy Garrett, Becky Lower, and yours truly. Just share a comment about a favorite Christmas memory and I will enter you in the drawing! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday with lots of fun, laughter, and love–and be sure to join us here at P&P every day for more Boot-Scootin’ Favorites to come!

 

 

GET GAMBLING ON A COWBOY HERE!

https://tinyurl.com/swrgj4o

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gambling-Cowboy-Full-Length-Historical-Western-ebook/dp/B08MHTQTJV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Gambling+on+a+Cowboy&qid=1608412374&sr=8-1&tag=pettpist-20

“SOMETHING THEY WANT…” BY CHERYL PIERSON — AND A GIVEAWAY!

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Here’s something I learned recently that I sure could have used in Christmases past when my kids were younger! Searching for the perfect gifts, the ones that “everyone” would be getting, made for a stressful time—not the relaxed, easy-going holidays we always imagined in our minds. You know, the Norman Rockwell scenes we all believed our Christmas holidays should look like—but that was before Playstation, X-Box, iPad…the list goes on.

A couple of years ago, I read something that really opened my eyes and made me wish for this bit of wisdom much earlier in my life. A simple Christmas list like this would have surely made life easier and less stressful—what do you think?

 

“Something they want

Something they need;

Something to wear,

Something to read.”

Problem solved! FOUR GIFTS! No, I’m shaking my head. I know I couldn’t have limited it to four gifts—not “back then”, anyway. Now that my kids are 34 and 31, this is a lot easier to follow and keep to! “Toys” are more expensive—as is everything. Clothing, wants, needs – yes, even books!

Maybe that’s why we enjoy writing and reading historical western romance—those were simpler times and the expectations were not so great. My parents grew up during the Great Depression in the Dustbowl days of Oklahoma’s history. Their families were so poor—and, coming from the same small town, Mom and Dad knew each other—and everyone else in that area—from the time they were born.

Mom talked about how sparse the Christmases were, but how happy they managed to be, in spite of it all. I imagine, with her being the eldest of eleven kids, her Christmas was especially small. She mentioned that the girls got a doll and a pair of shoes. If times were “good”, they got ribbon candy and an orange in their stockings.

When I was growing up in the 60’s-70’s, Mom kept up that tradition of always getting me a doll. When I got too old for baby dolls, she switched to the Madame Alexander collectible dolls. By that time/age, I was on to other things—blacklights, posters, incense, record albums, and of course, bell bottom jeans and “smock tops” to wear! Did I mention crayons? There was nothing more wonderful than getting the HUGE box of crayons and new coloring books—I don’t think I ever outgrew those. I would still sit down today and take joy in coloring!

 

This is BABY FIRST STEP–I got her when I was about 9 or so–she really walked (with the help of 2 “C” batteries!) I named my Baby First Step “Christy” — which was the most beautiful name I’d ever heard and I wished so much my parents had named me that at the time! 

A woman with no home. A rancher with no heart.
Can holiday magic bring The Devil and Miss Julia Jackson together?

In my story, THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON, the heroine has fled her home in Georgia to get away from a distant family member. Filled with a sense of propriety, she scarcely knows what to ask for when the hero, rancher Devlin Campbell, asks her what she might like for Christmas. Even though they’ve made the hasty decision to marry to avoid the scandalous talk that might otherwise surround them, they don’t know one another very well yet—certainly not well enough for Julia to mention anything personal she might want or need—even though she has arrived in Indian Territory with not much more than the clothes on her back. What does she ask for? Take a look…

EXCERPT FROM THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON:

Something had changed. Julia felt it. His touch was more…possessive. The bitterness seemed to have disappeared, only to be replaced by lines of weariness, instead. What had happened in the short space of time since he’d left?

“Got anything left to make for breakfast?”

Before she could respond, he went on. “We’ll head for town here in a bit. Gotta take the prisoners in.”

“I have my list…it’s long.”

He laughed. “Good thing there are so many of us going. Still too treacherous for a wagon, but maybe we can pack what you need back on the horses.”

She brightened. “That will be wonderful, Dev. Thank you.” What a relief to hear him offer, with no complaint. She breathed deep, knowing this Christmas was going to be special for everyone. But it was especially important for the children.

“And…what would you like for Christmas, Julie?”

His voice was rich, low, and somehow, his question was reassuring. It had been so long since she’d thought of wanting anything for herself—even necessities—that she struggled to think of how she should respond.

“I—maybe some new pan grips for the kitchen—”

Dev stood looking at her in shock. “Pan grips—you mean pot holders?”

She nodded, and he laughed in disbelief. “Well, I tell you what, Miss Julia Jackson. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a man who buys his betrothed pan grips for Christmas.” He leveled a narrow look at her. “You better think of something other than…pan grips.” Shaking his head, he started for the door. “I’ll go gather eggs. At least, we’ll have those for breakfast if nothing else.” He grabbed his coat from the wall peg and shrugged into it. Just before he closed the door behind him, Julia heard him mutter, “Pan grips.”

Asking for any kind of personal gift would mean…reciprocating. And she had nothing to give him. If only he knew how she’d had to scrimp, even with the money he’d sent her—to get here! She had a blessed five dollars left, saved back in case she and Lauralee hadn’t been able to make it to the Flying C and had to stay in town.

How could she tell her soon-to-be husband that she needed—everything? She had bought one dress for herself and one for Lauralee. The first new dress Julia had had in over two years. And in those past two years, she’d embarrassingly filled out in certain places. And even grown taller. She was an excellent seamstress and had done all she could. The older dresses she possessed were tight, and shorter than was decent. But Julia supposed a man would take no notice of that. Dev would probably not realize that it wasn’t the fact that her clothing was woefully out of fashion, but that it was bordering indecency, that embarrassed her.

What were your childhood Christmases like? I miss those days! As soon as it was a “borderline” decent hour on Christmas morning, my best friend, Jane, who lived down the street, would call—or I would call her—and we’d excitedly talk about what we got and when we might get together to play. Those were simple joys—just sharing our new gifts with one another and enjoying each other’s company.

Here’s a picture of me with Jane playing in the sandbox one cool day when I was 7 and Jane was 8. Jane is gone now, but I will never forget the wonderful friend she was and the memories we made together.

Please leave a comment to be entered in my drawing for a digital copy of THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON! If you can’t wait to see if you won, you can snap up your copy at Amazon—and it’s also available in paperback.

GET IT HERE!

http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Miss-Julia-Jackson-ebook/dp/B075SJX8SL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512283314&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Devil+and+Miss+Julia+Jackson&tag=pettpist-20

ALSO, The Devil and Miss Julia Jackson recently was included as part of a wonderful digital boxed set from Prairie Rose Publications, GAMBLING ON A COWBOY, now available for only .99! Other authors in the set include Kaye Spencer, Agnes Alexander, Patti Sherry-Crews, Tracy Garrett, and Becky Lower!  

 

AVAILABLE HERE:

https://smile.amazon.com/Gambling-Cowboy-Full-Length-Historical-Western-ebook/dp/B08MHTQTJV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Gambling+on+a+Cowboy&qid=1607722476&sr=8-1%3C%2Fp%3E&tag=pettpist-20

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

NEW BOXED SET RELEASE AND A GIVEAWAY by CHERYL PIERSON

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Hi everyone!  I’m on “Cloud Nine” (as my mom used to say!) right now with the release of a brand new boxed set, GAMBLING ON A COWBOY, with six full-length WHR stories that includes my THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON! The best thing is, this entire set is only .99! 

It’s been a while since I’ve had a full-length story out and so I’m really happy to have this one from three years ago included with five other excellent authors, including one of our former fillies, Tracy Garrett, as well as Kaye Spencer, Agnes Alexander, Becky Lower, and Patti Sherry-Crews. 

The theme of this set is taking a chance, or gambling on something in life–and y’all know, that means it’s always something BIG that can cause a change for good or bad. Sometimes, there’s no choice but to take a chance and see what comes of it. 

What’s the biggest “life gamble” you’ve ever taken? How did it turn out–as you expected, or not? Mine was probably having to move to West Virginia from Oklahoma the summer just before my senior year in high school. I was not a happy camper–but look what came of it! I met my husband there in West Virginia–and that would never have happened if my dad hadn’t been transferred right then. So although it was a “forced” chance, it was one I made the best of, and learned from, and eventually enjoyed even thought I missed my Oklahoma home and friends. What’s the biggest gamble YOU ever took? I’ll be picking two lucky commenters today to WIN GAMBLING ON A COWBOY, but if you can’t wait to see if you won, I’m including the link at the bottom of this post.

MEANWHILE, here’s the deets about the stories in the collection!

 

What’s better than a love story? SIX love stories—all in one wonderful boxed set! GAMBLING ON A COWBOY is a fabulous collection of six full book-length tales of the most dangerous game of all—gambling on love! These exciting, romantic books are sure to capture your imagination as you are carried away to the old west. Handsome marshals, riverboat gamblers, gunslingers, and wealthy landowners meet their matches with the daring and unusual women they happen to fall in love with, and you won’t want to put this boxed set down until you’ve read the very last story!

Authors Kaye Spencer, Cheryl Pierson, Patti Sherry-Crews, Agnes Alexander, Tracy Garrett,  and Becky Lower spin six incredible novel-length love stories filled with danger, excitement, and romance that will keep you turning page after incredible page until the very end. Gamble on these handsome western heroes and their women for some excellent reading! GAMBLING ON A COWBOY is one sure bet!

 

Gambling With Love by Kaye Spencer—The ghosts of the past are no match for The Lady of the Cards when her future is at stake. With U.S. Deputy Marshal Nick Foster hot on her trail, Lainie Conrad can’t afford to lose when she’s GAMBLING WITH LOVE…

 

The Devil and Miss Julia Jackson by Cheryl Pierson—In the depths of rancher Dev Campbell’s boundless sorrow and anger, can he afford to take a chance on a new relationship as Christmas approaches? Can Julia convince him that love is the cure for a broken heart, and hope is the only recipe for a new beginning between THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON…

 

Den of Thieves by Patti Sherry-Crews—Lucy House is still paying for the day she strayed away from decency. Now the handsome outlaw she ran away with has lost his appeal, and she longs to get away from this life. As the danger mounts, can the outlaw’s twin brother defy the odds and help Lucy escape this DEN OF THIEVES?

 

Drina’s Choice by Agnes Alexander—Drina Hamilton has no choice but to flee to Arizona to become the wife of rancher Aaron Wilcox. But as Drina and Aaron struggle to play the cards they’ve been dealt in this situation, they slowly become aware of a sinister plot to murder Aaron and force the sale of the huge ranch. Win or lose, the stakes belong to DRINA’S CHOICE…

 

Wild Texas Hearts by Tracy Garrett—Lizzie Sutter hasn’t a feminine thing about her, yet she calls to something deep inside loner Wolf Richards. Being a woman has always left Lizzie feeling lacking, until they take a gamble on one another—and Wolf shows her their WILD TEXAS HEARTS belong together…

 

Gambling on Forever by Becky Lower—Beautiful Elise Lafontaine stands at the biggest crossroads of her life—will she go her own way, fiercely independent and alone? Or will she wager everything on a riverboat gambler, James Garnett—the man who holds her heart—GAMBLING ON FOREVER?

AMAZON LINK: https://amzn.to/36tQkGi

I hope you enjoy!