HOW A LOVE OF HORSES LED TO A HERO-Andrea Downing, Guest

By Andrea Downing

When I was growing up I loved horses.  Many little girls do, but I daydreamed about them and it was my constant wish to just get on one and ride away—from New York! That love of horses in turn led to a love of westerns on t.v.  You name one, I watched it:  every one from Bonanza through The High Chaparral on to Alias Smith and Jones right up to…well, Hell on Wheels.  But it wasn’t until I had a daughter who also loved horses, that I was finally able to do something about this great love affair with The West.  We started vacationing on ranches.

     The idea of dude ranches came about as “needs must” after the desperate winter of 1886 when many ranches, for a time, could not support themselves.  Nowadays, dude ranches are as varied as the land upon which they sit.  They can be nothing short of luxury resorts, with well-appointed casitas and numerous facilities, to hard-riding, working cattle ranches where the guests help out.  To date, my daughter and I have clocked up about 18 different ranches.  There are a few to which we’ve returned, or would like to return, but the desire for a change of country and riding terrain hits us and we generally head for new vistas.

    

Photo:

SHALLOW CROSSING
OF THE SNAKE RIVER

 

Last May was the first time we stayed at a ranch in Nevada.  It was a working cattle ranch and we rode out to look for strays, helped a bit in the kitchen, and watched the cowboys at branding time.  One of the young cowboys was there only for the summer.  A student at a college in CA, his father had been a cowboy and he was, for a time, following in his dad’s footsteps.  He was a hard worker, caring and watchful when we rode out with him, and he sang like Jamey Johnson.  His name was Dylan J. Kane and, while he wouldn’t trade me his spurs as hard as I tried to convince him, I agreed with him that his name was perfect for a western hero. 

 It’s the name of my hero—the marshal—in Lawless Love.

(The real Dylan J. Kane in the photo on the right, the one with the beard.)

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Blurb:

Lacey Everhart has carved out a tough existence in the wilds of 1880s Wyoming, working hard to build a secure life for herself and her younger brother, Luke. She will stop at nothing to protect what’s hers and keep them safe. Even if it means keeping a secret that could destroy their lives.

Marshal Dylan J. Kane is a man who considers everything as black and white, right or wrong. He's never seen life any other way until he sets eyes on Lacey. Suddenly the straight and narrow that he's followed has a few twists and turns. Loving Lacey offers the home life for which he hankers...but can he really love a woman who seems to be plain lawless? 

 

Excerpt:

     Lacey thought of fluttering her eyelashes, but it was such a silly thing to do. How could women act like that? She just looked up at the marshal and waited, the possibilities turning over in her mind, flitting through her head but never settling.

 “You wanna tell me what really happened now so we can try to sort this matter? All I can do is promise I’ll do everything in my power to sort it for you, but I cain’t help you less’n you tell the truth. You tell me lies and make me look a dang fool, there’s nothin’ I can do. You understand that?”

Along with the tiniest nod, she clasped her hands together. She looked up at Dylan Kane and saw kindness in that face, a face she could so easily have loved had things been different. She could sense the heat radiating from his body and knew if she touched his chest, a strength would exist where his heart beat. If she ran her hand down his arms, she would find that same strength in his muscle. How she wanted those arms around her! All her life, it seemed, she had looked after herself, cared for her brother, struggled to make a home for the two of them. What would it have been like if Morgan had not...

 “Lacey?” Dylan’s soft voice brought her back from her reveries. “You ready to tell the truth?” With one gentle finger, he lifted her chin so their gazes met for a moment before they each stepped back from the brink of something neither could control. “Lacey?” he repeated.

“Yes, I’m ready.”
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In celebration of the forthcoming release of Lawless Love Andrea will send a copy to one lucky person who leaves a comment--to be randomly selected.  Happy Reading
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Links:   http://andreadowning.com
E:  andidowning@gmail.com
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/writerAndreaDowning
Twitter:  @andidowning

Lawless Love is currently only available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Lawless-Love-Lawmen-Outlaws-ebook/dp/B00D0TB0DO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375742464&sr=8-1&keywords=Lawless+Love--    

It will be published and available on all sites Sept. 4.
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Loveland, a finalist for the RONE Awards tab this Friday, is available at 
http://www.amazon.com/Loveland-Andrea-Downing/dp/1612173233/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375742568&sr=8-2&keywords=Loveland
AND 
http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=991