The Texas Cowboy Release Party by Linda Nightingale
Give a warm welcome to Linda Nightingale and her new release The Texas Cowboy, book One, Return to Folly Series. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Linda and The Texas Cowboy!
Tena asked me about the inspiration for this story, Like my other books, I began with one character: Ash, the hero. The entire book is told from his point of view. In the Prologue, Ash is twelve years old and is leaving his home for an unknown and unwanted fate. His mother has divorced his father and is taking him to her native England. He’s leaving behind his horse as well as half his family.
When I started thinking about the story, I knew I wanted the hero to be Texan by birth but raised in England. The fact that he was British and Texan made a contrast that I wanted to explore and made for conflict, both internal and external. When he inherits Marathon Ranch, he must leave his mother and his horses in England and take a big step in relocating. His father has just died, and he feels guilty about staying away so long. Before he arrives, the ranch hands have already starting calling him the English Cowboy. He has to face the preconceived idea that he is a foreigner even though he was born on the ranch in Texas.
What would it be like to suddenly be thrust into managing a large cattle and horse breeding operation in the small Old West town of Folly, Texas? There’d be cultural adjustments for sure, and lots of getting up to speed on a totally different businesses. While Ash is adjusting to a whole new way of life, he meets the heroine—a pert, pretty, and sassy ranch hand with the preconceived idea that he is the enemy. Trish is fiercely devoted to her beloved Quarter horses, and she thinks Ash will jettison them and start breeding the thoroughbreds he raced in England. I don’t know if anyone other than another horse person will understand what a big conflict this is. It’s huge, very emotionally charged and a definite barrier against any affection between the two.
But I digress. The question was about inspiration. I suppose all those old western movies I watched with my dad when I was young resurfaced from memory and are the inspiration for this western series. I’m dating myself now, but I was very familiar with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, but was much more interested in their horses the palomino Trigger and her buckskin Buttermilk. I’ve always loved horses, and they appear in some form in most of my books. Even in the android books in the Tomorrow’s Angels series, the escaped androids go riding in Jamaica.
So, maybe part of the inspiration for The Texas Cowboy is my love of horses. I appreciate almost all breeds, but my favorite is the magnificent Andalusian, the bull fighting horse of Spain. They are noble, kind, and gentle, and absolutely beautiful. The colt in the picture with me is an Andalusian. Oops, I’m starting on a subject I adore and must say happy trails, cowgirls and cowboys.
So tell us a little about The Texas Cowboy:
When Ash Colter was twelve, his mother divorced his cattle baron father and whisked him away to raise in her native England. Sixteen years later, when his father dies, he inherits Marathon Ranch. Running a 1,000-acre spread famous for the best Black Angus cattle in the great state of Texas is the biggest challenge he’s ever faced…until he meets a pert, pretty, and sassy ranch hand who seems to have her own agenda for his ranch. Unfortunately, she makes his spurs go jingle-jangle-jingle like no one else ever has!
Trish Owens is a real cowgirl, a loner, and, though she’d never admit it, a little lonely. When the “English Cowboy” appears on the scene, her entire way of life is threatened, not only her job, but her beloved Quarter horses. She’s sure he plans to import his thoroughbreds from England. Worse of all is the chemistry sizzling between them. He makes feelings she thought long dead awaken.
Can these two unwilling allies set aside their differences to put Marathon Ranch in the Winner’s Circle…and to fall in love?
A sneak peek between the pages of The Texas Cowboy:
Rejoneador mounting a horse in a bullring
Squinting in the sudden sunlight, Ash sized up a woman about his age. In jeans with a burgundy Marathon tee, she was slender but curvy. Her blonde hair looked as if it had been hurriedly ponytailed. Wayward strands dangling everywhere framed her face. On closer examination, he decided she wasn’t hard on the eyes. In a non-fancy way. But then he was accustomed to Dorothy—High maintenance with a capital High Maintenance.
The girl tilted an odd look at him. Then she suffered a wardrobe malfunction. The band holding her ponytail broke. Blonde silk gushed over her big, chocolate brown eyes. A graceful hand, stained black by hoof polish, swiped the thick mess back from a pretty face. Her unsmiling mouth was generous and wide. Feed her and clean her up, and she’d be a presentable…opponent. The chill in what should have been melting brown eyes was as unwelcoming as Deanne’s steely green gaze.
He snapped a smart salute, imitating her stance. “I’ll do that, ma’am. I’m Ash Colter. You are?”
“Trish.” One word. No introduction. More or less bugger off.
He stuck out his hand. “My pleasure, Trish. I assume you work with the horses.”
“Right assumption.” Gazing intently into his eyes, she accepted his handshake. “How could you tell?” she asked, her voice dripping sarcasm.
“The hoof polish was a big clue.”
She glanced down at her stained hand. Her handshake was firm, confident, another person he felt he could trust. The color of her eyes was quite rare with her blonde hair. Very striking, but at the moment, they challenged him to measure up to her standards. Oh but no, he refused to have two bitches to contend with. This one was no problem. Employees could be towed into line. Or dismissed.
“Maybe I’ll see you around the stables.” He popped the trunk, dismissing her as curtly as was polite but smiling inside. What a feisty filly.
“The funeral is day after tomorrow,” Trish said, loud enough to carry. Her native Texan accent was music to his ears, but he could scarcely believe what she’d said. “Mrs. Colter waited to give you time to get here.”
He froze with his hand on the hot trunk. Without turning, in a voice like ice, he spat, “Thank you for telling me, Deanne.”
“You didn’t know?” The amazed question burst from the gutsy Trish.
As a sharp pang of grief broke through his carefully erected walls, he visibly winced. He’d lost his father, and his stepmother had planned the funeral without consulting him. What else had she planned to cut him out of? Knowing her for what she was, still her cruelty shocked him. What if he’d been delayed? He’d have missed his final farewell to his father. Sick at heart, he swiped a hand across his burning eyes. He couldn’t trust himself to speak around the sudden lump in his throat. Gritting his teeth, he slammed the trunk. Shouldering his duffle, he faced a sea of surprised expressions. He could scarcely see them for the sheen of emotion clouding his vision.
Angry now, he tried but failed to modulate his voice. Dark emotion crept into his gruff tone. “No one saw fit to tell me.”
“Oh?” Trish’s eyebrows darted up, her wide eyes shifting to Deanne. “You’re kidding.” In unconcealed shock, and perhaps reproach, she gaped at her employer
Links to Linda’s books:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QP4C5NZ/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/linda-nightingale
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After 14 years in Texas, Linda returned home to her roots in the South Carolina red clay. She has eight published novels, four of which are available in audio from Audible.com. For many years, she bred, trained, and showed the magnificent Andalusian horses. So, she’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer. She won The Georgia Romance Writers’ Magnolia Award for Excellence, the Raven Award, and the SARA Merritt. In real life, she was a legal assistant. She loves to dress up, use the good china and crystal, and host formal dinner parties. She has a fondness for sports cars like her current ride, Zippy Z.
LINKS:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Nightingale/e/B005OSOJ0U
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LNightingale
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor
Web Site: http://www.lindanightingale.com
Blog: https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/ – Lots of interesting guests & prizes
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/
It’s been great having you with us today. Good luck with A Texas Cowboy, book One, Return to Folly Series !
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Contemporary Romance, cowboys, cowgirls, Horses, Linda Nightingale, ranching, Return to Folly Series, Texas, The Texas Cowboy, Western by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
Nobody Else But You Author Claire Marti’s Interview
Give a warm welcome to Claire Marti author of Nobody Else But You – Pacific Vista Ranch, Book one. Happy Release Day!
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Claire and Nobody Else but You.
What inspired you to write Nobody Else But You?
After I wrote my first contemporary romance series, Finding Forever in Laguna, I was in the mood to try something different. I had plans for a Regency series with three French sisters, a standalone novel in 1920’s Paris, and a standalone novel set in Paris and San Francisco. All of those books are in varying stages of completion, but a new idea sparked my interest and the Pacific Vista Ranch series was born first.
Let me give you a little background: I’m a yoga teacher and have private clients who live in an exclusive wealthy enclave called Rancho Santa Fe, California. This community is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Without giving you a geography lesson, it’s a ten mile area developed by a female architect, Lilian Rice, in 1921. Rancho Santa Fe is made up of a village center and several small horse ranches all connected with lush tree-lined winding roads, complete with horse and hiking trails throughout the properties. This private haven is only five miles from the Pacific Ocean.
My client’s daughter-in-law is a horse-breeding manager at a large quarter-horse breeding ranch in a neighboring town. I was intrigued to learn how she was one of a handful of women in a profession dominated by men. I love writing about strong, fiery heroines and once I met this young woman, I was inspired to write about a powerful woman excelling in this traditional profession. Once I visited the ranch where she controlled the large operation, I learned more than I ever anticipated about stallions, foals, and something called the phantom mare. You’ll have to read Nobody Else But You to learn more.
Inspired to create a series where family plays a major role, I created the McNeill clan, who were once upon a time Hollywood royalty. Chris McNeill, the patriarch, was a major movie director and producer. After a tragic accident devastates the family, he moves them from Los Angeles to Pacific Vista Ranch to start over. . Sam has a twin sister Dylan, who is an artist and an older sister Amanda, who is the equine vet.
Capitalizing on the Hollywood concept, and using the movie industry to build conflict, I created a hero who would rub Samantha McNeill the wrong way simply by existing. The moment he opens his mouth, Holt Ericsson, top Hollywood stuntman, infuriates Sam. Studying a few, okay a few hundred, photos of actor Charlie Hunnam inspired Holt’s looks and cocky, playful attitude.
Sam and Holt’s story is a classic enemies to lovers, opposites attract story. I had so much fun writing their heated exchanges, complete with eye rolls, smirks, and reluctant passion. Samantha McNeill is a modern heroine, who once she learns to open her heart, receives her happily-ever-after, on her own terms.
Next for the McNeills? Each sister will have her own story, coming out in October and November 2019. Their three stepbrothers stories will be out in 2020.
Tell us a little about Nobody Else But You.
A smoking hot stuntman. A fiery horse breeder. And a 220-acre ranch too small for both of them.
She’s avoided Hollywood for years…
When an arrogant Hollywood stuntman struts into Samantha McNeill’s breeding barn, sparks fly. She doesn’t care how mouthwateringly gorgeous he is, not when he assumes Pacific Vista Ranch’s resident horse breeding manager must be a man. Not to mention his job threatens to pull her family back into the paparazzi filled world they escaped from over a decade ago.
Now it’s at her door––wearing faded jeans and a wicked grin.
Holt Ericsson can tell the beautiful redhead hates him on sight and the feeling is becoming mutual. But he will call in a favor and convince Sam’s legendary director father that Pacific Vista Ranch is the only suitable place left in California to film an epic Western. Holt’s invested all his savings in the movie and his entire career is riding on it. No way will he allow one irritating, sexy woman to stand in his way.
Sam intends to fight him at every turn…if only her heart didn’t race when they’re together. Holt does his best to steer clear of her…except all he wants to do is hold her close. The sizzling attraction between them is either going to burn up the sheets or burn down the ranch…
A sneak peek between the pages of Nobody Else But You:
Swallowing a flutter of nerves in her throat, she rapped on the door. She was simply going for business. Ranch business. Bringing him dinner was simply being polite, like her father had raised her to be. So why was her heart hammering against her ribcage?
“It’s unlocked.” A muffled voice called. So much for manners. Holt apparently didn’t seem to bother with them.
She hesitated a moment. She smoothed back an errant strand into the ballet bun she hadn’t bothered to unravel. Although she’d changed out of her dance gear into her favorite old pair of jeans and a super-soft t-shirt, she hadn’t been in the mood to mess with her hair. Briefly, she regretted not being more like her twin sister, talented with makeup and hair. But, nope, Dylan had received the lion’s share of feminine genes.
Whatever. She opened the door, and then froze. He was rubbing his hair dry with a white towel slung over one shoulder. The pristine white material emphasized his bronzed skin. Tiny beads of moisture clung to chiseled pecs and the light sprinkling of golden hair on his chest was the only thing preventing him from looking like a marble statue. Barely. Shredded eight-pack abs and sharp V-cuts of muscle converged at the waistband of a pair of jeans as faded as her own. Her mouth suddenly parched, she swallowed. Hard.
“Sorry, I got stuck on the phone.” He grinned and tossed the towel onto a nearby chair.
She jerked her gaze up to his face, which had to be safer, right? Her pulse thrummed in her temple and heat descended to her belly. Damn. His face was definitely not safer than his gorgeous body.
“How’d you get that scar?” She blurted out the words, desperate to distract herself from his pure physical presence. He really needed to put on a shirt. Pronto.
“Scar? Which one?” He laughed, seemingly oblivious to her reaction, thank goodness.
“Forehead. The one across your forehead.” A flaw. Weren’t scars flaws? Why did it make him look just a little dangerous? And it did save him from utter perfection. Didn’t it?
My Review of Nobody Else But You:
A smoking hot stuntman. A fiery horse breeder. And a 220-acre ranch too small for both of them sums up this book perfectly.
Years ago a tragic accident on a Hollywood set left the McNeil family broken and grief stricken. Chris McNeil the father left the bright lights and settled his three young girls, Samantha, Dylan and Amanda on a California ranch far removed from the scene of the accident and scandal.
The years have been good to them, Chris remarried and his girls are now an equine veterinarian, the ranch manager, and an artist when the unthinkable happens. Chris agrees to allow part of the ranch to be used at a set for a movie. Bringing the very thing to their doorstep they sought to escape, drudging up painful memories, and threat of a media invasion the women are furious.
First on the scene, stuntman, Holt Ericsson’s initial meeting with Samantha McNeil was didn’t go as planned. They were like oil and water from the very beginning. Yet the sizzling attraction between them won’t be denied.
I loved this book. Ms. Marti’s characters are bigger than life in a descriptive setting that makes you feel like you are right there with them in the thick of things, which is the way I like books. The twists and turns keep you turning the pages of this exciting romance until the very end. I have to admit, I was sorry to see it end. A satisfying read that I highly recommend.
Five well earned stars!
About the author:
Claire Marti started writing stories as soon as she was old enough to pick up pencil and paper. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in English Literature, Claire was sidetracked by other careers, including practicing law, selling software for legal publishers, and managing a non-profit animal rescue for a Hollywood actress.
Finally, Claire followed her heart and now focuses on two of her true passions: writing romance and teaching yoga.
Claire loves to hear from readers!
Reach out via email or sign up for her newsletter at www.clairemarti.com
Follow Claire:
Twitter @clairepmarti
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ClaireMartiAuthor/
Instagram at @clairepmarti
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8203678.Claire_Marti”>https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8203678.Claire_Marti
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Nobody Else But You!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged California, Claire Marti, DContemporary Romance, Horses, Nobody Else But You, Ranch by Tena Stetler with 1 comment.
