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WHAT A COWGIRL’S GOTTA DO...
A wedding of convenience isn’t exactly cowgirl Olympia James’s dream—she wants the rodeo, not a husband. But marrying Arizona lawyer Spencer MacCormack will make a lot of other dreams come true. Spence needs a stable home to win custody of his little boy, and with Spence’s help, Olympia can send her sister to school.
But while the marriage is supposed to be just on paper, their chemistry is volatile...and the night they spent together weeks ago leads to a surprise: Olympia is pregnant. Soon the ranch is home to a baby, Spence’s sweet cowboy son, and feelings Olympia and Spence can’t deny. This fake relationship is quickly getting all too real. Maybe it’s more than just business.
Olympia knew better than most women that happily-ever-after and men sticking around to be a daddy just didn’t happen, except in fairy tales.
“I’ve dreamed about the rodeo, about leaving Arizona, since I was a little girl,” she insisted...to Spence...to herself. “I’ve faced down plenty of reality.”
“Oh, honey,” he said softly as she curled into his side, her face fitting perfectly against his shoulder. Those broad, strong shoulders could stand straight against anything. “You’re amazing, to have lived through all of that and come out not only a brave cowgirl but having raised your sisters, too.”
“Maybe the rodeo was just a little girl’s dream and now I’m a woman?”
“That you are,” he said, giving her butt a squeeze.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or moan, whether to be offended or excited. “Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping on the floor?”
“I will.” He didn’t move his hand.
His kisses and soft touches caused everything to fade away. She snuggled into him.
He whispered, “What do you need, cowgirl?”
“You.”
I’m back in Arizona revisiting the Leigh and MacCormack families in my second book about cowgirls and the men they love. This time attorney and father Spencer MacCormack gets tangled up with Olympia James, a footloose cowgirl from the wrong side of the trailer park. Next I mixed in a marriage of convenience, an unexpected pregnancy and a javelina (an Arizona-style pig), making The Convenient Cowboy just as much fun to write as my first book.
Most of my story ideas start with a scene that I see clearly in my head. For this book, it was Spence’s quickie wedding in Las Vegas (or Lost Wages, as my uncle called it). His bride took longer to see, then there she was. A young woman who’d vowed that she was going to be a rodeo star and no babies or husband were going to stand in her way. Boy, did that give them a few “challenges.” But no matter what I threw at them, they just couldn’t stay out of each other’s arms.
With the MacCormack brothers’ stories told, my brain (and my fingers) have been itching to write about the other two Leigh siblings...or maybe there’s another cowgirl out there who will show up in my imagination.
If you want to know more about my inspirations and musings or drop me a note, check out my website and blog at heidihormel.net, where you also can sign up for my newsletter; or connect with me at facebook.com/authorheidihormel, twitter.com/heidihormel or pinterest.com/hhormel.
Yee-haw,
Heidi Hormel
The
Convenient Cowboy
Heidi Hormel
With stints as an innkeeper, radio talk show host and craft store manager, HEIDI HORMEL settled into her true calling as a writer. She spent years as a reporter (covering the story of the rampaging elephants Debbie and Tina) and as a PR flunky (staying calm in the face of Cookiegate) before settling into penning romances with a wink and a wiggle.
A small-town girl from a place that’s been called the Snack Food Capital of the World, Heidi has trotted over a good portion of the globe, from Volcano National Park in Hawaii to Loch Ness in Scotland to the depths of Death Valley. She has also spent large chunks of time in Arizona, where she fell in love with the desert and fry bread, and in Great Britain, where she developed an unnatural obsession with jacket potatoes and toasties.
Heidi is on the web at heidihormel.net as well as socially out there at facebook.com/authorheidihormel, twitter.com/heidihormel and pinterest.com/hhormel.
For the unflagging support of my writing friends.
It has taken a village with virtual and in-person hand-holding to get another story out of my brain and onto the page. My sincerest thanks (until you’re better paid).
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