Amazon bestselling author, Maddie James
Good morning! My last featured book in the UNFORGETTABLE HEROES boxed set is, well, mine! Rawhide and Roses, a contemporary western novel, is one of my best sellers. If you download the set, I hope you enjoy! Here is the book description:
Rawhide and Roses—She’s roses, he’s rough-and-ready rawhide.
Kim Martin is hardly equipped for a Colorado camping trip, especially when her
mountain guide is a rough-edged cowboy who is as untamed as the wilderness.
Thad Winchester’s patience for city women is wearing as thin as the seat of his
jeans. But there is something about Kim that puts his hard-and-fast don’t-touch
rule to the test.
And the opening scene:
This all boils down to one thing—cowboy
lust, pure and simple.
Kim Martin
squinted, staring ahead at the string of horses leading up the mountain. She
didn’t see the pines, or the azure sky, the big white puffy clouds, or the
snow-topped Rockies in the background. No, all
she saw in front of her was a bunch of horse’s asses—and cowboys. Which may, or
may not, be one and the same.
“Of all the
things I thought I’d be doing this summer,” she muttered, “spending two hours
staring at a horse’s butt certainly wasn’t on the list.”
She leaned down
to pat her mount on the neck, hoping that if she was nice to the old nag, she
would be nice to her. She grimaced and cooed encouraging words to the huge roan
mare—
Or were they to
herself?
“Just keep your
sweet nose in that horse’s tail, honey, and everything will be just fine.”
“What?”
Kim glanced one
horse up to her best friend Jillie, and tossed her a fake smile. “Just talking
to good ol’ Rosie here. We’re becoming fast friends.”
“Good.”
Jillie smiled
and turned to face the string of horses. “See, I told you it would be easy,”
she threw over her shoulder. “They’re like robots. Nose-to-tail, down the
trail.”
Kim made a
face. Jillie was an accomplished horsewoman; she’d learned from her father who
exercised thoroughbreds back in Kentucky .
Kim didn’t know diddly-squat about horses. She was more accustomed to betting
on thoroughbreds at Keeneland, or handing out trophies at the Junior League
horse show, than sitting on the back of one of the beasts and actually riding.
How did she get talked into this?
How in the
world had they gone from high school teachers to cowgirl wannabes all in the
same afternoon?
The teacher’s
conference. The reason they’d come to Colorado .
Where they should be right now. But Jillie had this thing for horses, not to
mention cowboys....
Kim couldn’t
care less about any old cowboy. She was a born-and-bred city girl. One used to
the finer points in life. And she liked her men the same way. Civilized.
She sucked in a
cleansing breath. She’d made it this far, certainly the rest couldn’t be that
bad. Glancing at her watch, she realized the corral was only fifteen minutes
behind them. But the ride was two hours long! Two long, insufferable hours on
the back of this piece of smelly horseflesh. She sneered at Jillie, who was totally
at home on her horse’s back.
Kim felt
ridiculously out of place.
Her chin length
blonde bob fluttered about her face. Risking letting go of the tight grip she
had on the reins, she tucked each side behind an ear.
How did I get into this? Bribery, pure and
simple. And cowboy lust.
Kim loved
Jillie dearly. In short, she’d do just about anything for her. Jillie had
whined the entire evening before about a trail ride and Kim? Well, she’d caved.
Big time.
Rosie lifted
her head and impatiently shook it back and forth. A burst of adrenaline shot
through her. Muffin, Jillie’s horse, had picked up a little speed and put
several feet between them. Rosie’s sonar kicked in and she loped toward Muffin’s
tail. Kim bounced nervously in the saddle and tightened her grip on the reins
as Rosie sped forward.
She wished she
hadn’t lied about having ridden a horse before.
“Speak of the
devil,” she mumbled as the cowboy she’d lied to rode closer. Kim hoped he wasn’t
the one who’d put a hand to her rear, helping her into the saddle as she
struggled to get a foothold in the stirrup. She’d nearly sailed over to the
other side. Jillie had laughed hysterically. Kim’s cheeks grew hot at the
memory.
She really hadn’t
thought it funny.
The cowboy
tipped his hat to Jillie, then glanced back at Kim. “Everything all right back
here, ladies?”
She eyed him
curiously as Jillie struck up conversation. Casual, friendly, familiar
conversation… Jillie laughed out loud, shaking Kim out of a momentary trance. She
looked into her friend’s face.
Something’s fishy, here.
“What?” Jillie
must have asked her a question, for it seemed she was expecting an answer.
The cowboy
chuckled.
“Oh, nothing,” her
friend returned. “I was just sharing with Mack here your equine-phobia.”
Mack?
Kim tightened
her grip on Rosie’s reins and straightened her back. “Oh, and I suppose you
think that’s funny?” She risked letting go of the reins a second while reaching
to rub Rosie’s neck. See, she wasn’t afraid.
Jillie shook
her head. “No, not that. He was telling me about a man they had here last week.
Tumbled right off his horse and rolled down the mountain a few feet. I told him
I hoped that didn’t happen to you.”
Kim gave her a
saccharin-sweet smile.” Thank you very much, but I fail to see the humor.”
Mack pulled his
mount closer. “Don’t worry, I’m watching the back of the trail. Lean forward
when we go uphill, lean back in the saddle when we go down. Let Rosie guide
you. She knows what to do.” He started to turn away. “Oh, and keep her right behind
Muffin and don’t let her stop to eat. We lost the last rider who did that.”
A wry grin
broke his face, then he glanced back at Jillie who flashed him a healthy smile.
He tipped his hat to Kim before he turned his horse around and started toward
the middle of the string. Kim turned her gaze on her so-called friend.
What’s going on here?
She kept the
thought to herself. “Cute, Jillie. Now everyone will know I’m a novice.”
“Honey,
everyone knew you were a novice the moment you put your little Skecher-clad
foot in the stirrup.”
“Ha, ha.” Kim
let her gaze fall from Jillie’s face to the pack of horses in front of her. She
couldn’t help it if she didn’t own a pair of riding boots, could she? Her
Skechers were as close to sporty as she owned.
“Isn’t he cute?”
Jillie tossed over her shoulder, her gaze riveted to the cowboy.
“What? Who?”
“Mack.”
Mack? And when
did you make this intimate acquaintance, my friend?
“Oh. Yeah. I
guess.” For a cowboy. She huffed out an exasperated breath. Cowboys, in her
limited experience, were not cute. They were scruffy and dirty and rude and
ill-mannered.
“The other one’s
cute too, don’t you think?”
Other one? “Who?” She was beginning to
sound like an owl.
“You know. Thad
Winchester. The cowboy way up there in the front, leading us up into the
mountain.”
She glanced to
the lead horse. Ah, yes. Thad Winchester. The owner of the ranch and their
leader extraordinaire. He’d certainly left a lasting impression before they’d
started out. To say the least, she wasn’t impressed. He was about as cute as a
porcupine and as gruff as an old grizzly. Too business-like. The way he’d
shouted instructions before they’d started the trail ride, you’d have thought
they were getting ready to head into battle, or something.
“So what do you
think of him?” Jillie asked.
“I don’t think
about him.”
“C’mon, Kim,
you know what I mean.”
Rolling her
eyes, she returned, “I imagine he’s about as tough as an old armadillo,” she
muttered. “Cute just doesn’t jump into my mind when I look at him.”
Jillie ignored
her. “Mack says their good friends. Maybe after the trail ride, the four of us
could—”
Kim risked
lifting her right hand into the air. “Whoa. You’re not doing this to me,
Jillie. When we get out of here I’ve got a date with a hot bubble bath and a
pint of Double Fudge Ripple. You’re not setting me up with half of the
cowboy-stud-twosome from Durango .”
Jillie turned
in her saddle.” But they’re cowboys, Kim. Honest to God cowboys.”
“Forget it.”
Kim didn’t give
two hoots about any old cowboy. She’d take a suit and tie and wing tips any
day. She liked a man to smell of after-shave, new leather, and squeaky clean
soap. She liked a man to drive a sleek sports car, shiny and smooth, not
straddle the back of an animal.
Kim required
polish. Sophistication. A glimmering diamond. Preferably one who came bearing
roses.
Thad Winchester
just didn’t fit the bill.
UNFORGETTABLE HEROES features 8 fabulous contemporary romance novels from 8 talented authors. Get yours at any one of these retailers (iBooks coming soon!)