The Home of the Romance Novel
I’d like to thank everyone who who entered this giveaway! This is one of the most popular giveaways that I’ve held for a single book! I hope the winners enjoy their free copy and those that didn’t get a free copy will go out an buy one 🙂
The winners are:
JoAnna B from Book Love
Emma S.
Both winners have been contacted and will be receiving their books from the publisher shortly!
Today is a review of Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown AND a Giveaway! That’s right – I’m giving away 2 copies to Canadian and US residents!! To enter the giveaway, just fill out the form at the bottom of this post. If you leave a question or comment for Carolyn, I’ll give you 5 extra entries!
When I started to research for this post, I found this promo for Carolyn’s trilogy, which apparently has turned into quite a series of books. Since I posted the blurb on yesterday’s post, I thought I’d post this instead of a blurb – I think it is great!
A hot new cowboy trilogy from award winning author, Carolyn Brown! Saddled with an inherited watermelon farm, Austin Lanier wants to sell the place, slip on her stilettos and run back to corporate America. Until drop dead sexy neighbor cowboy Rye O’Donnell shows up and tempts Austin to trade her heels for cowboy boots…
Carolyn Brown’s new series, Spikes & Spurs, is chock full of her signature wit, down home appeal and feel good love stories. Taking city girls who trade in their stiletto high heels for cowboy boots, they find love in the most unexpected places, and with the most unexpected, but sizzling hot cowboys!
Hold on to your cowboy hats and settle in for a spicy story about a rodeo cowboy turned rancher and a city-girl turned farmer and the spirit of a matchmaking granny!
Love Drunk Cowboy starts out with Austin Lanier, a dyed in the wool, big-city business woman coming out to the country to scatter her granny’s ashes in the Red River. Her granny had had a long life, but it makes for an emotional day. Following a pre-arranged schedule of events, Austin and her granny’s best friend, Pearlita head to the Peach Orchard for lunch. There she meets sexy Rye O’Donnell, her granny’s neighbour whom she thought was the same age as her granny. She and Rye have chatted on the phone every Thursday night for quite some time. It gives Austin the opportunity to keep tabs on her aging granny. She’s completely smitten at the sight of Rye, and Rye is immediately taken with Austin. This is the beginning of a story that entertains and pulls on the heart strings.
Austin is an only child of a career women. Her mother is determined that she NOT stay and run the watermelon farm, but come back to the city to resume her promising career. The longer she stays, the more she doesn’t want to go back to the city. It seems that granny is controlling events from beyond the grave. She scheduled events to put Austin on the farm just as planting is starting, realizing that Austin is too soft-hearted to send the Mexican workers home without any work for the year. It seems that everything and everybody conspires to keep Austin at the farm – including Rye. Austin likes his large rambunctious family – they and granny’s friends make her feel like she belongs.
The characters of this story are many and varied. Rye and Austin and well suited and incredibly well written. The chemistry and rapport between them is outstanding! There are many secondary characters of note. Granny’s friends, Molly and Greta are a riot! Their addition of humor, caring and small town gossip is a great addition to this book. Rye’s extended family is also great. I’m hoping that future books involve some of these characters. There are several that I’d like to read more about! The ever-present spirit of Granny was written in such a way as to add humor to the story, but also show how much Austin was loved by this indomitable woman. Lastly, the various women in Austin’s family, her mother, aunt and grandmother I absolutely loved. They were a force of nature and it was fabulous to see Austin face down this force!
Carolyn Brown’s writing style allows the reader to picture the scene. Here’s an example of what I mean. Austin is walking into her first rodeo:
The excitement was a living breathing entity that wrapped itself around Austin’s shoulders like a mink coat on a bitter cold day. From the moment she walked through the gates and up into the stands surrounding the arena her heart raced. The smell of dirt, horses, and bulls and the noise of the crowd surrounding her all mixed together to stir her emotions even before she looked up to see Rye coming across the arena with his tall Texas swagger that made her blood boil.
This book was an interesting read. It took me a few chapters to become involved in the story. Once captured, I thoroughly enjoyed the weaving of the story! This is a romance, but it isn’t a “drop the laundry and get busy” kind of romance. Don’t get me wrong, there is tons of chemistry between Austin and Rye and they certainly steam up the sheets, but this is more of a classic love story. The focus is on the development of the relationship between them and their journey along the road toward being a couple than the intimacy between them. It was an enjoyable read, and one I would recommend!
I’m giving away two copies of Love Drunk Cowboy to Canadian and US residents. If you want 5 extra entries, just leave a question or comment for Carolyn! You need to fill out the form, however, to enter!
This giveaway is over – thanks for entering!
Today we are welcoming Carolyn Brown, author of Love Drunk Cowboy. I’ve read this book and will be posting a review tomorrow! I’ll also be announcing a giveaway of some copies of this book! Drop back by to read what I thought of this book with the cool red cowboy boots on the cover (gotta love those boots!).
Without further ado – here’s what Carolyn has to say:
Howdy everyone! It’s great to be here today. I’ve been busy since the first of the month telling everyone who’ll stand still and listen about Love Drunk Cowboy! It hit the book shelves the first day of May and we haven’t slowed down since. It’s the first book in the Spikes & Spurs series, which started off as a trilogy and has grown into a seven book series. Red’s Hot Cowboy will be out in September and Darn Good Cowboy Christmas in October; with four more coming after that that are still waiting patiently for titles.
Love Drunk Cowboy is about Rye O’Donnell, a cowboy who thought that love-at-first-sight stuff was for song writers and wimps; and he was absolutely positive that it did not happen in real life. Until he laid eyes on Austin Lanier! Then he was bitten! But she was a big city girl who would never be content in his dusty corner of the world or with a rough old cowboy in scuffed up boots and a sweaty cowboy hat.
Austin Lanier had spent her life climbing up the corporate ladder of success…in her high heels and power suits. She just wanted to settle up her grandmother’s estate, get into her little sports car and go back to her big city life. Until she say Rye O’Donnell and found the watermelon wine cellar. Then the struggle was on.
When I was invited to your site to sit a spell and visit with you folks, someone asked me to talk about what my biggest inspiration has been during my writing career?
I’ve had to think about that for a while because there have been many during the past fourteen years. My first sale was for two books on the same day and since then I’ve sold sixty three books and to name one single biggest inspiration is not easy.
First of all there are my editors that continue to buy my works. That’s a really big inspiration! If an editor is excited about the next book or the next trilogy or series, then that’ll sure enough spur an author right on to write more and better! And I’ve had fabulous editors!
Then there’s seeing the books in print, right up there on the bookshelves in the book stores for all the world to see. That’s an inspiration that makes my heart float right up to the book store ceiling and hang there like a helium balloon.
And all my other author friends who squeal and dance jigs with me every time I sell another book or series, who pat me on the back when I get good reviews and awards! Inspiration, deluxe!
Reviews have to be in the list. Bad ones inspire us to do better. Good ones, well, there’s nothing like knowing someone really enjoyed the book.
Authors that we read when we aren’t writing are a really big boost: like LaVyrle Spencer, Nora Roberts, Joanne Kennedy, C.H. Admirand and a whole host of others. They show us how it’s done and prove that the sky is the limit!
But when it comes right down to the biggest inspiration? That would have to be the three F’s!
Family: My husband married a woman who tailor made his three piece suits, put three meals on the table and kept a spotless house. He now wears sale clothes right off the rack, eats take out more than home cooked and has learned to listen to bedtimes stories by the dust bunnies under the bed while I finish one more chapter. And he keeps a smile and encourages me to keep writing. Then there are aunts, cousins, sisters, brothers and kids who vie for the next book so they can be the first to read it and lord it over the rest of the family. Now, that’s inspiration.
Friends: Those wonderful folks who tell me that they knew I could get this far and keep asking if it’s time to say, “I knew her when…” Inspiration, again!
And fans: Who continue to buy and read my work. Who tell their friends about the books over lunch dates; who brag up my newest book to the neighbor over the backyard fence; who donate their used copies to the library! And who take time to write notes to me when they finish my books. Some times a fan letter gives me just that little extra boost to make it a six thousand word day rather than my normal five thousand word day.
The three F’s! Those folks are the true wind beneath my wings, and darlin’ some days it takes all them to keep me afloat.
I’d love to hear who and what has been your inspiration in your career or life. Come on in to Sugarbeat’s and sit a spell. Ask questions. Comment. I’d love to hear from you.
LOVE DRUNK COWBOY BY CAROLYN BROWN – IN STORES MAY 2011
She’s a Self-Made City Girl…
High-powered career woman Austin Lanier suddenly finds herself saddled with an inherited watermelon farm deep in the countryside. She’s determined to sell the farm, until her new, drop-dead sexy neighbor Rye O’Donnell shows up…He’s as Intoxicating as Can Be…
Rancher Rye O’Donnell thinks he’s going to get a good deal on his dream property—until he meets the fiery new owner. Rye is knocked sideways when he realizes that not only is Granny Lanier’s city-slicker granddaughter a savvy businesswoman, she’s also sexy as hell…Suddenly Rye is a whole lost less interested in real estate and a whole lot more focused on getting Austin to set aside her stiletto heels…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carolyn Brown is an award-winning author who has published 36 bestselling romances for the library market. She now writes bestselling single title cowboy and country music mass market romances. Born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma, Carolyn and her husband now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma. Carolyn’s next book, Red’s Hot Cowboy will be in stores in August 2011, followed by Darn Good Cowboy Christmas in October 2011. For more information, please visit www.carolynlbrown.com and www.sourcebookscasablanca.com.
I’d like to thank Carolyn for dropping by! As I said before I’ll be giving away some copies of this book, but you’ll find the form with tomorrow’s post 🙂 Give you a reason to drop back by to visit! Here’s a hint, however, if you leave Carolyn a question, I’ll be handing out extra entries 🙂 See you tomorrow!