RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET WITH HEARTS ABLAZE!

This month I'm taking a small break from bringing you history and legends of the Old West to announce a fun project I'm excited to be a part of for Autumn! My story RIDIN FOR A FALL will be a part of the boxed set HEARTS ABLAZE!

Coming October 18th! Eight best-selling authors bring you eight sizzling tales from the Old West! There is something for everyone in this collections to fire up those chilly Autumn nights!  So without further commentary let me introduce you to the authors and the stories. 

Also, just to get the fire started, leave a comment for a chance to win an ARC Kindle copy of HEARTS ABLAZE! 

Hold onto the reins and let's go!

In Whispered Love, bestselling author Kathleen Ball takes you to the wild Pacific Northwest, a land bristling with handsome, well-muscled lumberjacks. Foreman Samuel Pearse has only one rule; no women allowed. Until he finds one asleep in his bathtub—Pat Clarke, the company cook. With her secret revealed and her virtue at stake, Pat turns to the only man who can help her…the one man who can set fire to her heart.









Kathleen Ball brings you...

Sexy Cowboys and the Women Who Love Them...
Finalist in the 2012 and 2015 RONE Awards.
Top Pick, Five Star Series from the Romance Review.
Kathleen Ball writes contemporary and historical western romance with great emotion and
memorable characters. Her books are award winners and have appeared on best sellers lists
including:
Amazon's Best Sellers List, All Romance Ebooks, Bookstrand, Desert Breeze Publishing and
Secret Cravings Publishing Best Sellers list. She is the recipient of eight Editor's Choice
Awards, and The Readers' Choice Award for Ryelee's Cowboy.
Winner of the Lear diamond award Best Historical Novel- Cinders' Bride
There's something about a cowboy....

 See more from Kathleen at:
 Website: www.kathleenballromance.com
 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathleenballwesternromance/?pnref=ihc

In Kate’s Outlaw, award-winning author E.E. Burke spins a suspenseful yarn about a half-breed desperado who abducts—and then rescues—a railroad heiress. On the run from danger, with enemies on both sides, Jake and Kate seek solace in each other’s arms…and ignite a love as powerful as it is forbidden.
 









E.E. Burke is an award-winning author of sexy and heartwarming historical romance featuring emotionally complex characters in settings rich with historical detail. Her latest series of sweet romances, The Bride Train, features a cast of unusual characters thrown together through a misguided bride lottery. Steam! Romance and Rails is a sexy series that follows the lives of dangerous men and daring women caught up in a cutthroat railroad competition. Think "Hell On Wheels"...with happier endings.

Her novella, Victoria, Bride of Kansas, is part of the unprecedented American Mail-Order Brides Series penned by forty-five top Western romance authors. Victoria, Bride of Kansas reached #1 in Victorian and Western Romance and Historical Romance on Amazon's top sellers lists.

E.E., also known as Elisabeth, has earned accolades in regional and national contests, including the RWA's prestigious Golden Heart®. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a journalist and an advertising executive, before finally getting around to living the dream--writing stories readers can get lost in.

You can visit E.E. Burke at: 

www.eeburke.com

www.facebook.com/AuthorEEBurke

www.twitter.com/author_eeburke

www.goodreads.com/EEBurke

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/e-e-burke

https://www.amazon.com/E.E.-Burke/e/B00EDYK9AU

The Officer and the Bostoner, from USA Today bestselling author Rose Gordon, follows the adventures of a well-to-do lady traveling cross-country to meet her intended. Instead, she finds herself stranded at a military fort and forced into an unwanted marriage. Can a hot-blooded officer spark love in his wife’s cold heart?

USA Today Bestselling and Award Winning Author of more than a dozen unusually unusual historical romances that have been known to include scarred heroes, feisty heroines, marriage-producing scandals, far too much scheming, naughty literature and always a sweet happily-ever-after.

When not escaping to another world via reading or writing a book, she spends her time chasing two young boys around the house, being hunted by wild animals, or sitting on the swing in the backyard where she has to use her arms as shields to deflect projectiles AKA: balls, water balloons, sticks, pinecones, and anything else one of them picks up to hurl at his brother who just happens to be hiding behind her.

You can find out more about Rose at:

Website: www.rosegordon.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rose-Gordon-historical-romance-author-178033968907233/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

In Fool’s Rush, from USA Today bestselling author Ciara Knight, a young woman, desperate for independence from all men, embarks on a crazy cross-country wagon train adventure disguised as a man. Rather than finding her independence, a bounty hunter captures her under the guise of horse thieving, a crime punishable by hanging. Will a man she’s lied to for months save her, or will he surrender her to a monster with a badge?
 

 

Ciara Knight is a USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author who writes 'A Little Edge and A Lot of Heart' that spans the heat scales.

You can visit Ciara at:

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/Ciaraknightwrites/

Website Link: www.ciaraknight.com

Ridin’ For A Fall by Kirsten Lynn immerses you in a fiery tale of forever love. When circumstances force best friends and Wild West Show performers Lena Boden and Kyle Allaway to marry and return to Wyoming, they must stand together against internal doubts and external forces seeking their destruction—or risk a fall that will knock them out of the saddle for good.






Kirsten Lynn is a Western and Military Historian. She worked six years with a Navy non-profit and continues to contract with the Marine Corps History Division for certain projects. Making her home where her roots were sewn in Wyoming, Kirsten also works as a local historian. She loves to use the history she has learned and add it to a great love story. She writes stories about men of uncommon valor…women with undaunted courage…love of unwavering devotion …and romance with unending sizzle. When she’s not writing, she finds inspiration in day trips through the Bighorn Mountains, binge reading and watching sappy old movies, or sappy new movies. Housework can always wait.

You can find Kirsten Lynn at:

Website:  www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KLynnAuthor/

 

A Warrior’s Heart, from best-selling author Amanda McIntyre, brings to life the passionate story of a bold Cherokee warrior and the brave white woman he rescues from certain death. Thrown together by circumstances not of their own making, they overcome betrayal and tragedy to find a love strong enough to bring nations together.

Amanda McIntyre’s storytelling is a natural offshoot of her artistic creativity. A visual writer, living in the rich tapestry of the American heartland, her passion is telling character-driven stories with a penchant (okay, some call it a wicked obsession) for placing ordinary people in extraordinary situations to see how they overcome the obstacles to their HEA.

     A bestselling author, her work is published internationally in Print, eBook, and Audio. She writes steamy contemporary and sizzling historical romance and truly believes, no matter what, love will always find a way. 

Find out more about Amanda’s books:

Website: http://www.amandamcintyresbooks.com/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/AmandaMcIntyreAuthorFanPage

Amazon Author USA: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-McIntyre/e/B002C1KH2Q

Newsletter: http://madmimi.com/signups/110714/join

The Rancher, by bestselling author Hildie McQueen, transports readers to 1870s Montana Territory and into a sensual encounter between an injured rancher and a woman running for her life. Sometimes love enters at the worst moment.









 


Amazon bestselling author Hildie McQueen loves action, love and unusual settings. Author of western historical, Highland historical, paranormal and contemporary romance, she writes something every reader can enjoy.

     Most days she can be found in her pajamas hiding from delivery men while drinking tea from her David Gandy coffee mug. In the afternoons she browses the Internet for semi-nude men to post on Facebook.
     Hildie's favorite past-times are romance conventions, traveling, shopping and reading.
She resides in beautiful small town Georgia with her super-hero husband Kurt and two unruly Chihuahuas Pepito and Lola, her assistant.

Visit Hildie at: 

Website:  www.hildiemcqueen.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HildieMcQueen

In The Drifter, bestselling author Elizabeth Rose takes you on an epic journey across the plains, as drifter Chase Masters shows up wounded at Nessa Pemberton's stagecoach relay station mistaken as the bandit who killed her husband. Can a single mother learn to love again and put her trust in a man who is nothing but a drifter?











Elizabeth Rose is the bestselling multi-published author of over 55 books. She writes medieval, small town contemporary, paranormal and western romance. Elizabeth is an Amazon All-Star and consistently in the top 100 of amazon’s most popular, bestselling historical romance authors. She is a resident of the suburbs of Chicago and loves to garden.

Catch up with Elizabeth Rose at:

Website: http://elizabethrosenovels.com

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Elizabeth-Rose-Author-515495781845391/

We'd love to have you join us for our Facebook Party on October 20th! There will be prizes, and all the virtual cowboys your heart can take!   

Link to party: https://www.facebook.com/events/308674522845765/

 Kirsten Lynn is a Western and Military Historian. She worked six years with a Navy non-profit and continues to contract with the Marine Corps History Division for certain projects. Making her home where her roots were sewn in Wyoming, Kirsten also works as a local historian. She loves to use the history she has learned and add it to a great love story. She writes stories about men of uncommon valor…women with undaunted courage…love of unwavering devotion …and romance with unending sizzle. When she’s not writing, she finds inspiration in day trips through the Bighorn Mountains, binge reading and watching sappy old movies, or sappy new movies. Housework can always wait

 

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN! By Cheri Kay Clifton

Last month my blog was how famous western historical legends died and where they "rested in peace." When doing the research I also found myself reading with nostalgic interest about three 20th century legends.  All were born well before our time, but I know some of us western enthusiasts remember them with fondness from listening to their songs and seeing reruns of their movies & TV shows when we were children.

The Singing Cowboy, The King of the Cowboys & The Queen of the West: Can you guess who they were?

Yep, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. Do you remember their horses' names?  Champion, Trigger, Buttermilk & not to forget Roy's dog, Bullet!

Born in 1907 in Tioga, Texas, Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry became an actor, singer and major league baseball team owner. In 1928 he began singing for a local radio station and within three years had his own radio show and was making records. His movie films in the 30's & 40's defined the B-western movies, despite cars, airplanes and other modern devices in them.

In World War II, he served as an officer in the Army Air Corps as a pilot. After the war, he returned to making movies and during the 1950's had his own television show. He wrote over 200 songs, best known for his theme song, "Back in the Saddle Again." His rendition of the popular Christmas song, "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" was a favorite along with the song he wrote, "Here Comes Santa Claus."

Few are aware of Autry's longtime involvement in professional rodeo. He owned a company that provided livestock for most of the major rodeos in Texas, Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska. When the company was sold in 1968, he continued to be active in rodeo. For his work as a livestock contractor, Autry was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1997.

 A shrewd businessman, he retired from show business in the late 1950's, a self-made millionaire. In the late 1980's he built a museum to showcase his personal collection of authentic western memorabilia. He has five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording, Movies, Television, Radio and Live Theater.

Gene Autry died of cancer in Los Angeles, California in 1998 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA. Married twice, he had no children.

Born in 1911, Leonard Franklin Slye (Roy Rogers) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a musical family. At nineteen, he moved to California and formed a band which became known as the Sons of the Pioneers. Soon they were on the radio and sang their way to stardom. Their recording "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" became a number one hit on the charts.

Leonard began working as an extra at Republic Pictures and after winning a singing cowboy contest, the Republic Pictures staff suggested he use the stage name, Roy Rogers after Will Rogers and the shortening of Leroy. He teamed up with his Palomino horse, Trigger and under contract with Republic Pictures, became a "matinee idol" making a total of 37 movies. During World War II, Roy made numerous USO tours with Trigger, raising millions of dollars through the sale of War Bonds. 

He began making movies with Dale Evans (who also changed her name from her birth name, Francis Octavia Smith) which led to marriage in 1947 and a partnership which lasted the rest of the lives. The Roy Rogers TV Show lasted seven years while the song written by Dale, "Happy Trails" became a hit and the Rogers theme song. In 1988 Roy was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame and he also received three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for TV, Radio and movies.

The couple remained favorites through their connection with Christian programs and the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville, CA. Another popular song Dale wrote was "The Bible Tells Me So." They had five children and adopted four.

In 1998 Roy Rogers died at 86 in his home in Apple Valley, CA from heart failure. Fitting of an American legend, Roy's public funeral was held at the Church of the Valley with a western theme. Sons of the Pioneers sang his western songs while his body was conveyed in a glass enclosed 1898 hearse drawn by a single Clydesdale to his final resting place, many attendees wearing western style clothing. Dale Evans died three years later and was buried next to Roy at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley, CA.

Trigger who lived to be 33, Dale's horse, Buttermilk and even their dog, Bullet were mounted with places of honor in the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum. However, the history of the museum doesn't end there ….

The stuffed animals as well as the museum, with attendance dwindling, was moved from Victorville to Branson, Missouri in 2003. Then in 2010, a Nebraska cable TV network purchased the stuffed and mounted Trigger at an auction in New York City for $266,500. The network also purchased Bullet for $35,000 and both are on display at their main offices. Many other items and memorabilia were sold to people well above estimates.

Rogers' son Roy Jr. cried at the beginning of the sale as he spoke of the family's decision to auction Roy's belongings. "We hope you get a piece of Roy and Dale to take home and pass it on to your children."

I hope you buckaroos enjoyed reading about these three American legends.

 I'll end my post with "Happy trails to you, until we meet again," … I bet some of you can remember with fondness hearing Roy & Dale singing that song. I know I can!

For more information about Cheri Kay Clifton and her books, visit her web site at www.cherikayclifton.com    You can also find her on Facebook. 

Snowshoe Thompson

By Paisley Kirkpatrick

In 1855 mail service over the Sierra Mountains in the winter was simply uncertain.Things, indeed, looked bleak when, a strapping young Norwegian immigrant appeared on the scene. Within a short time, this young, blond Norseman would be celebrated throughout the Sierra Mountains — and become one of the most famous cross-country skiers of all time. His reputation and legend would grow by leaps, and, in time, the facts and fiction of his life would become so intermixed that it would become difficult, if not impossible, by modern historians to separate the two.

His name was John A. Thompson. To the admiring residents of the Sierras, however, he was known simply as Snowshoe Thompson. He emigrated with his family from Norway when he was 10 years old. In 1851, at the age of 24, Thompson arrived in California. It was just 3 years after gold had been discovered and the mountains were crawling with recent arrivals. Prospectors had spread out all over the Sierras and more strikes were being made, particularly in a lovely region of the Sierras to the west of Lake Tahoe. It was here in a swath of mountainous country between Sacramento and Reno — 60 miles to the north and south of present day Interstate 80 — that Thompson would make his mark.

The striking, blue-eyed Thompson had dabbled at mining in Placerville and farming near Sacramento, but, like many in those days, he was always on the look-out for other employment opportunities. Also, he had the constitution and inclinations of his Viking heritage, and a job with an adventurous slant would undoubtedly pique his interest. According to some writers, it was an ad in the Sacramento Union in 1855 that led him to the profession which would open to the door to fame: “People Lost to the World; Uncle Sam Needs a Mail Carrier.”

The mail route referred to in the Union’s ad was between Placerville, 50 miles to the east of Sacramento, to Mormon Station, 25 miles southwest to Carson City, Nevada. The total distance of the route: 90 miles, all the way, from one side of the Sierras to the other.

Thompson got the job. His first run would be in early January. He planned to use skis, a method of winter travel he had learned as a boy in Norway. The term skis, however had not come into usage yet. They were called Norwegian Skates by the Sacramento Union. What we now know as snowshoes were called webs, Indian Snowshoes, or Canadian Snowshoes.

Relying on his boyhood memory, Thompson constructed his first set of Norwegian skates out of a freshly cut, and very green, plank. As you can imagine, they were monstrosities. Thompson weighed them when he got to Placerville and they tipped the scales at 25 pounds. He eventually got the weight down on subsequent pairs, but, even so, the skis of the 1800’s were still formidable in size. In a newspaper article some years later, Thompson described the dimensions of his skis: 9 feet long, 4 inches wide at the tip and narrowing to 3 1/2 inches. Thickness: 1 1/2 inches.

The Sacramento Union announced that first famous trip: “Mr. John A. Thompson left Carson Valley on Tuesday morning and reached this city at noon yesterday. He was three days and a half in coming through from Carson Valley. On January 3, 1855, he left the settlement behind and disappeared into the mountains. A short while later, he was back. He had done it faster than anyone imagined. When he later arrived at Sacramento, his total return time from Carson Valley was an amazing three and half days. Snowshoe Thompson, a moniker that he would pick up over the next few years, had proven that skis were an efficient and suitable mode of winter transportation in the mountains.

He regularly made the journey twice a month through the rest of the winter. His pack, weighing from 60 to 80 pounds, included mail, newspapers, periodicals, ore samples, and medicines. UPS and FedEx can’t claim any originality when it comes to express service plans. Thompson long beat them to it, instituting 2-day and 3-day service. He could run the 90-mile Placerville to Carson Valley leg in 3 days and reverse journey in 2 days.

The Sacramento Union reported that during the winter of 1856-1857, most of his 31 crossings of the Sierras were on skis. That second winter appears to be the high water mark in Thompson’s trans-Sierra ski express. In 1858, he was again carrying the mail, but with improved wagon roads, he was now using horse-drawn sleighs. He continued, however, to use skis when the roads could not be used. For the next two decades of his life, he used Norwegian skates on and off for other shorter mail routes and for privately contracted express service.