Her Summer Cowboy
Her Summer Cowboy is free today and I thought I’d share my thoughts on country fairs, country music and my inspiration for HER SUMMER COWBOY.
Family is at the heart of my life. I grew up on a sprawling ranch in Central Florida where my parents raised three daughters alongside their Valencia orange crop. We listened to country music, especially John Denver, George Straight and Waylon Jennings. I’m not embarrassed to admit I cried the day I heard that Waylon died.
When I think of country fairs to be they are associated with all those wonderful foods that aren’t good for me…funnel cakes, sausage and peppers and anything deep-fat fried, but also country music. We lived a modest life in Central Florida so the only time we really got to see an artist performing live was at the fair.
My parents would get up there early, not a burden since we were used to getting up at the crack of dawn, and we’d wait to make sure we got good seats for the shows. The concerts when they started fed my imaginations with the songs of real emotions and the difficulties that I could hear in their voices.
From this place came the first inkling of an idea for HER SUMMER COWBOY. I wanted my heroine to be born of country royalty but rooted also in the heartache and problems that come from having been born dirt poor and gaining fame too rapidly. Emma Jean Wells shows up to say goodbye to her grandfather for the summer as he goes on his annual tour of summer fairs. Only this year she’s met by a sexy cowboy who says he’s her Gramps’ bodyguard and she’s like say, what? From that moment nothing goes to Emma’s plan. She ends up agreeing to perform with her grandfather (she used to be one of his back-up singers on tour) and finds herself writing music. The one thing she thought she’d never do again. She also finds herself fallen for Hudson Scott.
They’ve agreed on a summer affair once it becomes clear the attraction between them won’t be denied. It makes the most sense because their lives are in different parts of the country and they are both searching and not ready to settle down. But their hearts have a different agenda.
HER SUMMER COWBOY is part of my Scotts of Montana series that features hard-head, hard working men and feisty women.
I hope you will check out HER SUMMER COWBOY!
Happy reading,
