Andrea Downing's Blog

I’m happy to announce the forthcoming release on August 31 of Shot Through the Heart, now in pre-order. There’s a cover reveal and excerpt over at http://cowboykisses.blogspot.com/2020/08/cover-reveal-and-pre-release-of-shot.html  But I’ll give you a peek at the cover right here. Shot Through the Heart will be available at

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Shot-Through-Heart-Andrea-Downing-ebook/dp/B08DHV8VQ5/

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shot-through-the-heart-andrea-downing/1137387142?ean=9781509232345

iBooks on app

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54751926-shot-through-the-heart

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/shot-through-the-heart-by-andrea-downing

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[image error]1972 – Vietnam, the pill, upheaval, hippies.

Wyoming rancher Cooper Byrnes, deeply attached to the land and his way of life, surprises everyone when he falls for vagabond hippie Cassie Halliday. Fascinated and baffled, he cannot comprehend his attraction—or say the words she wants to hear.

Cassie finds Coop intriguingly different. As she keeps house for him and warms his bed at night, she admits to herself she loves him but she misinterprets Coop’s inability to express his feelings.

Parted, each continues to think of the other, but how can either of them reach out to say, “You were ‘always on my mind’?”

https://www.amazon.com/Always-My-Mind-Andrea-Downing-ebook/dp/B082S8TQD1/

Pages: 252

Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press

This month’s post is a short history of The Old Faithful Inn, a National Historic Landmark.  Please join me at http://cowboykisses.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-old-faithful-inn-national-historic.html

[image error]Hey, Peeps. Here’s a chance to win  a 10″ Kindle Fire, and (2) $25 Amazon eGift Cards ($200 value) from The No. 1 Site for #Reader Giveaways~~The Kindle Book Review. Just click the link and enter (everyday if you want). It’s easy & fun. If you love #reading, enter now; giveaway ends Sept 27, 2019. Click here for details ~>  https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/enter-our-september-meet-greet/  And my book, City Boy, Country Heart  is part of the action!  Go on and get some![image error]

This month is Black History Month and at Cowboy Kisses I’m taking a look at the oft-neglected African Americans who were so much a part of the Old West. Please head on over to http://cowboykisses.blogspot.com/2019/02/black-history-monthafrican-american.html and join the discussion.

I’m currently posting the third Weds. of every month at http://cowboykisses.blogspot.com/ discussing everything from the cross-country ride of Nan Aspinwall to Pres. Theodore Roosevelt. If you like western history, you’ll find me knee deep in the Old West. Please join me.

[image error]The weather is cold, the atmosphere is festive, and the cowboys are hot. How do you keep a cowboy at Christmas?

Don’t miss this holiday collection of modern-day cowboys and the women they love, featuring the same USA Today, Amazon Bestselling, and Award-Winning authors from “A Cowboy to Keep,” which garnered 55 reviews with an average rating of 4.5 stars.

CHRISTMAS, LIBERTY, AND THE THREE MINUTE MAN by Carra Copelin

Nashville event planner, Liberty Ann Hart, has come to Mistletoe, Texas, to set up and promote a Christmas fundraiser for country music star Lilah Canfield. She tries not to fall for the local carpenter building the outdoor stage, but his cowboy charisma is hard to ignore.

Daniel Dylan Layman is happy to live his life in obscurity in Mistletoe, until a sassy, headstrong woman removes her shoe and beats an ATM machine for eating her debit card. From that moment, he’s determined to show her a Texas country life away from the glitz and glamour of Nashville.

A CHRISTMAS CAROLE by Andrea Downing

When single mom Carrie Matheson inherits a Wyoming ranch and moves out of NYC, her six-year-old son is not happy. Trying to help Tim settle into life out west isn’t easy, especially when his pleas to Santa receive replies from a mysterious correspondent. Is it the crotchety ranch foreman upon whom she relies so much? Somehow, she doesn’t think so….

Tate Schrugge is amused by his new neighbor when she jogs over with some mis-delivered mail. But Tate has just finished with a long-term relationship, and the lithe blonde in front of him has just called him Scrooge.

If these two can get together, it might be the Dickens of a romance.

THE PEPPERMINT TREE by Kristy McCaffrey

Skye Mallory has always aspired to leave her family’s ranch, and she takes pride in having achieved her dream of becoming a lawyer. But when an unexpected inheritance draws her home for the Christmas holidays, she’s surprised by a longing to set down roots in the wide-open meadows and woodlands of southwestern Colorado. Only one thing stands in her way—a cowboy who broke her heart nine years ago.

In high school, Joe Carrigan admired Skye for her spirit and intellect, but he knew she was destined for a life beyond ranching. Turning down her romantic overture was the best course of action for them both. But now, he’s returned to their hometown, and it’s inevitable he’ll come face-to-face with his one regret in life—Skye Mallory. This time, however, he won’t be so chivalrous.

THE DEVIL’S CHRISTMAS KISS by Devon McKay

Kristen Kelly is returning home with a new attitude. No longer the shy, awkward girl of her past, she’s determined to show the small town what she’s made of. Especially Cole Lawson. When she’s challenged by Cole at a holiday kissing booth, she finds the wicked cowboy hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still the most frustrating, infuriating, and tempting man she has ever come across.

The minute he sees Kristen again, Cole Lawson can’t believe his eyes. She’s the one girl he’s never forgotten but convincing her they belong together will take more than a Christmas kiss. Kristen doesn’t trust him but, this time, he’s determined to not let her go.

SLAY BELLS by Hildie McQueen

Big-city girl Carmen Dias is prepared for the worst when she accepts a writing assignment in rural Montana, but she’s pleasantly surprised by the jubilant atmosphere and warm welcome of the townspeople. Unfortunately, as she begins working on an article about their small-town Christmas festival, she discovers a dead body, putting her face-to-face with a local—and hunky—detective.

Weary from his all-work and no-play schedule, Detective Jared Bowden braces for a busy time helping at his family’s Christmas festival. When a beautiful writer arrives in town, his holiday season immediately takes a turn for the better. But a murder investigation, possible charges against him, and a pesky ex-girlfriend don’t exactly spell romance.

Can Carmen and Jared find love amidst the mayhem and sleigh bells?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS by Hebby Roman

Sofia Rossi travels to Texas to re-connect with her estranged teenage son, Aaron, who’s at a ranch rehab-center. An immigrant from Argentina, she has managed to thrive in the tough New York world of modeling. And she’s a survivor of an ill-advised liaison with a wealthy, married member of New York society. When her ex-lover manipulates their son into living with him, Aaron gets into trouble. Sofia is determined to reclaim her son at any cost.

Gar McCulloch, after losing his wife to her high school sweetheart and his daughter to a drug overdose, believes his life is over. He dedicates himself to turning a dude ranch into a juvenile drug rehab-center. Selfless and with twenty years of juvenile counseling experience, Gar is a wizard at reforming other people’s kids, but he can’t forgive himself for his one failure… his own daughter.

Sofia and Gar cooperate to save Sofia’s son, but neither believe they’re entitled to romance or happiness. Their mutual attraction and admiration come as a surprise and an unexpected joy, making this their best Christmas… ever.

COUNTING DOWN TO CHRISTMAS by Patti Sherry-Crews

Melody Evans grew up as the only child of a single mother, never putting down roots. Instead, they carried family traditions from home to home, none more precious than those surrounding Christmas. Romance? Melody has put a wall around her wounded heart and turned a cynical eye to the concept of happily ever after, despite making a living as a wedding planner.

Veterinarian Leland Jennings IV has roots long and deep at his family’s ranch in South Dakota. What he lacks, according to his meddlesome sister, is someone to settle down with. But he holds on to the unwavering belief that there is only one woman out there for him. Christmas? It’s a holiday for children, not a bachelor living alone.

Once Melody and Leland get over their initial animosity, they come together like two pieces of a puzzle, sparking emotions and nostalgic memories that bring magic to the holiday season. But when tragedy strikes, will their budding romance become a case of the right person at the wrong time, or will they forge a new path together?

[image error]I’m pleased to have with me this month both fellow author of The Wild Rose Press, and fellow member of Women Writing the West, CJ Fosdick. CJ was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wis. but has lived her adult life in Rochester, MN. where her writing career escalated from local and nationally published award-winning stories, articles, and anthologies to her first novel. The Accidental Wife began life as a short story that won a Laura Award from Women Writing the West in 2013. The debut novel was a top ten P & E winner for Best New Romance and Author and like the sequel that followed, a Golden Quill Finalist. For 15 years, she trained horses and children who rode them on her hilltop acreage called Mt. Pegasus, occasionally venturing down to research her next writing project. One of her stories is available on audio, and the most recent published in Distant Echoes, a British anthology of historical stories by award-winning international authors.

Vacations for writers are always rewarding when combined with research. The family vacation in 1977 that ignited my love of the historic west was mapped on poster board that had us following a route from Rochester, Minnesota through several states. Forts and battle sites were dots on our trail, along with wagon ruts, Register Cliff and Chimney Rock, but Ft. Laramie was the starring interest. I didn’t know it then, but the celebrated fort would invade several of my books.

Original buildings including the cavalry barracks, Old Bedlam, and the Burt

Old Burt House

house would become specific sets in my historical fiction and time travel suspense.

For much of the 19th century, the strategically-located garrison was a fueling station and protectorate for pioneers heading west. By mid century alone, over 50,000 emigrants stopped at the oasis. The railroad began to cork the wagon flow in 1869 but the fort flourished for 20 more years until it closed in 1890. Our 1977 counterpart of a pioneer conestoga was an orange Volkwagen camper with a tiny frige and seat cushions that converted to beds for two adults, two young children and a Schnauzer. Armed with cameras, notebooks and tape recorder, I was a kid in a candy store. A writer with a book in gestation. A gestation that would last decades. (A long story-involving moves, more children, horses, and a manuscript stored in a freezer.)

Hubby and I returned to Ft. Laramie after our nest…and barn emptied in 2014. The Ft. Laramie National Monument had improved greatly between visits. An 1876 bunkroom re-created in the Cavalry Quarters became a key site in Book two, The Accidental Stranger. Was it also coincidental that our tour guide was a distant cousin of one of my neighbors back home? By this time I was deep into Ft. Laramie history, intrigued by documentation of a young female ghost that appeared at the post every seven years, riding a black horse. The story is included in The Accidental Wife.

I was also corresponding with the great grandson of one of the post commanders and Sandra Lowry, the long-time fort archivist and librarian. I finally met Sandy in person during my second tour, before she took a medical leave that would end sadly. Happily, I had already dedicated The Accidental Wife to her, providing her a bit of immortality with a minor character in both books named Stella Lowry. She was amused by the coincidence since her mother in law’s name was Stella Lowry.

Historic locations always make me feel I am walking lockstep with ghostly figures who lived centuries ago. The “coincidences” associated with Old Ft.

1954 photo of Burt House

Laramie weren’t lost on me. After my stepmom died two years ago, I found old photos of her and my late father taken at Ft. Laramie on their 1954 honeymoon. I recognized one of them was taken in front of the old Burt House where the heroine of my novel series slips back in time at a re-created tea party. My stepmom loved The Accidental Wife, but never mentioned that she had actually been to Ft. Laramie as a new bride. Yet another coincidence…or ghostly sanction to finally give birth to a story that had to be told?

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[image error]THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE   

When Jessica Brewster inherits a mysterious teacup, she finds rubbing it transports her back to 1886, trading places with her look-alike great grandmother—wife to Mitch, her ancestor’s magnetic first husband and mother to his charming young daughter. True love, a gypsy, and her ancestor’s troubled brother amp up the charade she plays until she can find a portal back. But is her future in the past? Her life hangs in the balance.

 THE ACCIDENTAL STRANGER

Jessica Brewster is being watched…and things go missing from the remote Wyoming home she shares with her toddler. In a freak accident, she shoots the bearded thief stalking her before she recognizes the mesmerizing green eyes that belong to the only man she ever loved.

Has Mitch bridged time to find her? In a race to save his life and change hers forever, she takes him into her home and heart. But his memory loss and puzzling clues curry doubt and expose mystery and danger. Is he truly her son’s father or an irresistible stranger in her arms?

Excerpt from The Accidental Stranger:

I screamed as the heavy revolver exploded in my hand and fell to the ground. The bear moving toward Scout dropped, and I raced to scoop up my son before he toppled into the cold black stream. The dog shoved something wet against my leg and began to bark, running from me to the Beaverwoods, now cautiously circling the bear. The boys were armed with pieces of thick deadwood and Chuck picked up my smoking gun, cocked the trigger and ordered his sons to stand back. He aimed the gun to finish the animal off, then suddenly dropped his arm and knelt beside the still lump of fur.

Tommy grasped the growling dog by its collar, and in the sudden silence, I could hear a collective gasp. Someone uttered “Jeesus” like an invocation. Still cradling my son, exhausted by fear, I ventured closer and could see at once that it was no bear I shot. A man in a bearskin poncho lay on his side. Chuck rolled him over and pulled off the man’s hood. A mass of dark matted hair covered the part of his face that wasn’t blooming with blood, pooling into his left ear, running down his cheek and into his thick beard. “Is he, is he dead?” I whispered. Chuck took off his glove and wiped the man’s neck with it, then fumbled for a pulse. We all started when the man groaned and his eyes fluttered open. Green! His eyes were green, the rarest of all eye color. The fear in them more than the color registered with me as he searched our faces…stopping at mine.

Oh God, did I shoot the only man I ever loved?

TO BUY NOW, CLICK HERE:

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Or to get both books, go to https://amzn.to/2IdLXFh

To find out more about CJ, find her at: http://www.cjfosdick.com  or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.cjfosdick.com/newsletters

[image error]Native Coloradoan Kaye Spencer writes historical, paranormal-lite, and contemporary romances from her basement utopia in a small, rural town located in the heart of the infamous Dust Bowl area of the 1930s. Kaye grew up on a cattle ranch in northeastern Colorado, where she spent hours reading Louis L’Amour’s westerns, listening to Marty Robbins’ gunfighter ballads, and watching the old (now classic) television westerns and western movies. Kaye is retired from a career in education, which included teaching, administration, and psychology. She enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. She and her husband share their home with a menagerie of pets.

I’m delighted to have her visit here.

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Madonna of the Trail – Lamar, Colorado – west side

Fifty miles from where I live is a statue of a woman. She is called the Madonna of the Trail. She is one of twelve identical statues along the National Old Trails Road, which is, generally speaking, U.S. Hwy 40. These statues have historical inscriptions specific to each statue’s location. The National Old Trails Road was the route pioneers of the covered wagons era often traversed in their journey toward the promise of a new life in an untamed land—The West.

The Madonna of the Trail project began in 1911 when the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) established the National Old Roads Committee. The goal of this committee was to memorialize the Old Roads Trail and have it renamed the National Memorial Highway. By 1912, plans were underway to further commemorate another important aspect of this road, which was to acknowledge the role that women played in westward expansion. The concept of these statues evolved with the plan to erect one statue in each of the twelve states connected by the National Old Roads Trail.

Madonna of the Trail – Lamar, Colorado – east side

World War I put a temporary hold on the “Pioneer Mother Movement”, but the committee chairwoman, Arlene B. Nichols Moss of St. Louis, persevered. Her vision of the madonna was inspired by the Sacagawea statue in Oregon. Standing firmly alongside Mrs. Moss in her determination to see her statue project to fruition was the president of the National Old Trails Road Association—a not-so-well-known Missouri justice of the peace named Harry Truman. He believed strongly in this project, and he helped get it through Congress at a cost of $1,000 for each statue.

1927 arrived with an approved design by the artist and sculptor August Leimbach. The statues were made using poured algonite stone, which is a mixture of substances. The primary ingredient is Missouri granite.

Originally, all the statues faced generally west, but many years later, a few were

Map with locations

repositioned to accommodate specific site’s situations. The west and east sides of each statue’s base carry the same inscriptions, and the north and south sides bear local information.

south side

Each statue is eighteen feet tall and weighs about five tons. The base is ten feet high and the madonna is eight feet tall. The stone is a warm pinkish-brown. The mother wears the ubiquitous pioneer woman’s long dress, bonnet, and sturdy lace-up boots. She holds a rifle in one hand, an infant in her other arm, and her little boy clutches her skirts.

The mother’s face is set in a determined and focused expression as if she can see her future and that of her children’s somewhere ahead in that far and distant land upon which she has set her hopes and dreams. There is a look in her eyes that says nothing will keep her from reaching her new home—wherever that home may be.

Truman personally dedicated each statue (1928-1929). At the Ohio dedication

north side

ceremony, he acknowledged* ‘the intrepid women’, which included his grandmothers ‘who endured the bone-wrenching weariness and difficult travel’. He went on to say, “They [the women] were just as brave, or braver, than their men because, in many cases, they went with sad hearts and trembling bodies. They went, however, and endured every hardship that befalls a pioneer.”

Wishing you Happy Trails,

Kaye Spencer

Writing through history one romance upon a time

For further reading:

The website, Pioneer Monuments in the American West, Madonna of the Trail, has detailed information about each statue: http://pioneermonuments.net/highlighted-monuments/madonna-of-the-trail/

Other References:

-Roadside America. Madonnas of the Trail. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/28991. May 2017.

-*Santa Fe Trails Scenic and Historic Byway. Madonna of the Trail. http://www.santafetrailscenicandhistoricbyway.org/madona.html. May 2017.

-Map. Madonna of the Trail. http://www.routefast.com/#. May 2017.

-Lamar Ledger. Discover Southeast Colorado. 2018 Travel and Tourism Guide for Southeast Colorado. Historic international trade route. Brochure/Magazine. Pg. 22. May 2018.

-August Leimbach, sculptor. Madonna of the Trail Monument. https://web.archive.org/web/20120415122741/http://www.kevinkarlstudio.com/AL/Madonna_of_the_Trail.html. May 2018.

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[image error]The Comanchero’s Bride by Kaye Spencer

Beautiful heiress Elizabeth White is exiled to Texas until she agrees to marry the prominent politico her parents have chosen for her—Grayson Beal. When Elizabeth is approached at a fiesta by dark-eyed, handsome Mingo Valderas, her heart will never be her own again. But Mingo has a reputation as a Comanchero—a man who is as fast with his knives as he is with his gun. Still, Elizabeth gives her trust to him, and their whirlwind courtship begins. Beal will stop at nothing to claim Elizabeth—and only one man can protect her. Elizabeth and Mingo stay one step ahead of Beal…but will that be enough?

EXCERPT:

At the livery, Mingo remained in the shadows where he could see both ways along the street. Opening the wagon doors just wide enough to allow him to pass through, he eased his way inside. Speaking in a low soothing tone to his horses, he packed and saddled them under the moonlight coming in from two windows. Opening half the double doors, he led the two riding horses out the back, tied them to a corral rail, and returned for the packhorse.

He no more than reached the packhorse when a cold voice in the shadows stopped him in his tracks.

“Don’t turn around, Valderas.”

Mingo froze. A few more steps and he would have been on the off side of the packhorse, but where he was, he had no protection.

“I’ve got a good bead right between your shoulders. I know about your fast draw and the price on your head. I’ve also heard stories about your throwing knives, so keep your hands where I can see them.”

“You know me. But who are you? What do you want?” Mingo didn’t care. He knew the challenge from the shadows was a bounty hunter. He needed the man to talk so he could pinpoint his location.

“I came out of El Paso. A man named Jack added to the price on your head—dead or alive—and some politician is offering a pretty penny on top of that to bring in the woman you have with you. He wants her alive.”

From the sound of the man’s voice, he hadn’t moved and was off to his right. Mingo fought the urge to whirl and fire, but shooting blindly was not his way. He wouldn’t risk wild shot that could injure a horse, and gunfire would bring others into the fray. Shadows were both his enemy and ally, depending upon how he used it.

“The way’s clear behind you, so back towards the open wagon door, and keep your hands away from your body. When I heard the talk of a Mexican man traveling with a white woman, and they were staying at the hotel, I fig-ured I’d hit pay dirt. I was just supposed to worry you into making a wrong move. Never thought I’d be the one to catch you.

“I’m taking the woman to El Paso. You, I’m locking up in the back room of the saloon for safe keeping…unless you give me an excuse to kill you right now, which I’ve a yearning to do. I can’t miss at this range. It wouldn’t do my reputation any damage to be the man who took down Mingo Valderas.”

Now, he knew who he was up against. Earl Johns was vicious and a killer, a back-shooting coward. Mingo inched backward, buying thinking time.

“Where’s the woman, Valderas?” “There is no wom—”

“She’s too close for your comfort.” Elizabeth’s voice cut through the night. The sound of a shotgun hammer pulling back was an angry, lethal sound that made the hairs on Mingo’s arms prickle.

BUY LINK:   The Comanchero’s Bride is available in print, for Kindle, and with KindleUnlimited.[image error]

The Comanchero’s Bride is also one of six full-length novels in the boxed set Under a Western Sky, available on Amazon[image error]

You can find Kaye at:

Website/Blog- https://www.kayespencer.com

Instagram – kayespencer

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/kayespencer

Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/kayespencer

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kayespencer23

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/author/kayespencer

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayespence

Prairie Rose Publications – http://prairierosepublications.com/

YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/kayespencer0203

[image error] Life as an author is not always what it’s cracked up to be. Nowadays, we’re told sitting for any length of time is as bad as a pack a day, our eyes need to refocus on something in the distance every twenty minutes, and carpal tunnel syndrome will be ours from moving that mouse around. To add insult to injury, many of us, myself included, get a spreading derriere and pack on the pounds from that lack of exercise. Since we are now bombarded about system diets on television and newspapers, with pop-ups popping at us all over the place, I decided to be a guinea pig rather than just a fat pig and try one. Oh, okay, so a looming bathing suit vacation had a little to do with it . . . .

The idea that meals were pre-made and would involve no cooking was one draw. I do love to cook, but I figured the time saved might be welcome for a couple of months and also offer choices I don’t normally eat. The plan of the diet is that you eat approximately every three hours starting within an hour of waking, and that you combine what they call power foods with non-starchy vegetables[image error] (as much as you want) and, on occasion, ‘super carbs’ such as fruit. You get a little booklet that keeps you reminded of what you can eat and when—breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and yet another snack. Note I make no mention of alcohol! And that, for me, was pretty difficult, since I do enjoy sitting down with a glass (or two) of wine in the evening.

The ads for this system promise you, you can eat chocolate, pizza, ice cream and all those good things you probably think you have to miss on a diet. And you can! In portions of a size made for a doll’s tea party. Pancakes? Waffles? Yup. The allowed tablespoon of maple syrup drowns these portions. Virtually everything—except the nut bars, of which there are many– gets microwaved to heat up, thereby rendering the pastry of a pizza into cardboard. Dried soups or rice dishes need added water, a blitz, a stir, and voila—you have glue! Uh, I mean dinner. And yes, cheese for the macaroni cheese dinner was a powder from a packet to be added to the water and zapped. My microwave is getting such a work-out, it should be the one losing weight. Before this, the only time I ever used it was to make oatmeal or reheat something gone cold. One thing I will say is that their ice cream is absolutely delicious. No joke—divine chocolate brownie sundae and super delicious orange cream pop. The power-shakes aren’t bad either.

So what’s the bottom line? Have I lost weight? In the first two weeks I had lost five pounds—which is exactly what I had lost the last time I gave up wine for two weeks. I’m hoping things will improve, or at least continue, so that by the time I get into my bathing suit and other tropical wear it all fits.

[image error]Last week I was away overnight. I packed up meals and snacks in plastic lunch bags with the exception of dinner, which I was having out. I was good to the diet on the jitney, denying the snacks that were passed around and sticking to my hard-boiled egg. I had lunch on arrival—a nut bar and carrots—and wasn’t hungry the whole day. And then evening came along and friends. I had three glasses of wine and veal limone with broccoli and roast potatoes.

Nothing ever tasted so good.