Love books set in Texas? With Texas-sized heroes? There are three out this month (August) that I just loved.
First up, Lori Wilde's The Cowboy and the Princess . I'm not sure when it happened, but Lori has quickly become one of the authors whom I absolutely have one-hundred percent faith in. There will never be a clunker, ever. Her books always are winsome and romantic, with rough-around-the-edges heroes whose hearts are made of solid gold. Her heroines usually have some sort of neurotic quality, and the stories are always told with humor and a light touch.
This book - I read it in a day! It was just good, ol'fashioned comfort food for the reading soul. Princess Annabella of the (fictional) country Monesta has taken herself a Roman Holiday: while at the wedding of the US President's daughter in Texas, she flies the coop, taking her little dog with her. Annie - as she calls herself while enjoying her freedom - has always been infatuated with tales of the American Southwest. She wants to have an adventure before her impending marriage to a forty-year-old European royal.
Enter Brady Talmadge, cowboy you just want to curl up with! He's a vagabond horse whisperer with no family and a complicated personal moral code. (One of his rules is Never eat chili at at truck stop.) He breaks another rule (Stay away from damsels in distress) when he sees Annie at the side of the road in need of a ride. And then....magic! This romance is just so much fun!
Another winner from Lori Wilde - this is the year of her Jubilee, Texas trio. The Cowboy Takes a Bride is out now, and A Cowboy for Christmas will be available in October.
Q&A with LORI WILDE!!!
Q: You're a Texan born and raised. Are there any real cowboys/girls in your family?
A: On both sides, my family members were farmers so in that regard everyone is familiar with cows and horses and other farm "critters". We favor boots and blue jeans and we've been known to wear cowboy hats. I was raised on chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. But as far as "real" cowboys go, that's my sister's husband who was involved with team roping, worked as a farrier and still raises horses even though he's also a high school history teacher. My husband's mother was a "real" cowgirl woho could do handstands on the back of a horse and had her own pet bull. She was raised on the King Ranch in South, Teaxas, and still fills my ears with colorful stories of her girlhood.
Q: The fictional town of Juliee, Texas, is billed as "the horse cutting capital of the world." Is there such a place?
A: Yep, it's my hometown, but I changed the name to protect the guilty.
Q: You make small town Texas seem like an amazing place to live. The whole town welcomed Mariah (from The Cowboy Takes a Bride ) as family, whether she wanted it or not. Is Texas really that friendly? Would you ever consider moving somewhere else?
A: Texas is a friendly place. My sister-in-law moved here from California seventeen years ago and still comments on what a friendly place this is. Texas can be a harsh land. We have tornadoes and hailstorms, sizzling summer temperatures that regularly shoot over 100 degrees, frequent droughts and grass fires, grassburs, briars, thorns and sting bull nettles, rattlesnakes and snapping turtles. My theory is that folks are so welcoming here because the land is not. My roots run deep in Texas soil. I'm fifth generation Texan. So I haven't ever really thouhght about moving away from home. Plus, we don't have a state income tax.
Q: Joe Daniel's (also from The Cowboy Takes a Bride ) horse Miracle is inured after a car accident. Miracle is physically healed, but our new leading cowboy, Brady Talmadge is a "horse whisperer" brought in to heal him mentally. What exactly is a horse whisperer? Is this a real occupation?
A: Yes, poor Miracle goes through quite a trauma. Horse Whisperer is a real occupation. Although "horse listener" might be a better term. Horse whisperers are people who instinctively know how to observe horse behavior and draw conclusions from it. They speak the language of horses and because of this talent they are able to heal psychologically damaged horses where others cannot. Two famous horse whisperers are Monty Roberts and Buck Brannaman.
Q: What do you think makes cowboys so appealing as heroes in romance?
A: Cowboys are strong, stalwart, and possess a code of honor. While they are loners, by and large, they are also natural caretakers and protectors. What's not to love?
Q: Princess Annabella's favorite movie is Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn playing Princess Anne who escapes for a brief interlude of common life. Did you draw inspiration from any other classic stories, or fairy tales?
A: Every fairy tale ever told! I cut my teeth on Grimm's fairy tales and what little girl doesn't dream of being a princess? I do turn the princess mystique on its head a bit with Annabella, as she dreams of being an ordinary girl.
Q: Next up for Jubilee, Texas, is a A Cowboy for Christmas . Can you give us an insider's sneak peak at who's falling in love next?
A: After the death of her husband in Afghanistan, Lissette gets an unexpected second chance at love.
Jodi Thomas's Whispering Mountain Series is American-set historical. Wild Texas Rose is the story of Rose McMurray and her adopted "cousin" Duncan; they were both taken in as children by the McMurrays and raised together.The third Texas-set book I read this week is....
drumroll...
True Blue by Diana Palmer. This Harlequin edition came out at the end of last year, and it's been sitting on my desk along with a growing collection of Palmer titles. I was so wrapped up in Texas that I finally picked one up - a book that was billed as part of the "Long, Tall Texans" series was just what I was looking for!
Set in San Antonio, this is the story of Detective Rick Marquez, who has many friendships with women but hasn't been able to find the right one. There's one woman who catches his eye, Detective Gwen Cassaway, but they work together, and, to Rick, that means hands off.
Of course, you know, it's a romance. Hands off doesn't last very long. However, this is what you'd call a sweet book. Rick and Gwen's courtship is pure and romantic, and if you like a story where the sensuality level is on the light side, then this one is for you.
I enjoyed it. I wish all the men in Connecticut look the way they do in romance-land Texas.
