The winner of the blog hop and a print copy of Love Me Once, Love Me Twice (Montana Cowboys 1) and Before the Night is Over (Montana Cowboys 2) is...........


Savannah Chase!

Email off to you to get your snail mail address.

Congrats!

~ Sandy

Valentine's Day Blog Hop!

Good morning!

Today starts the Valentine's Day Blog Hop and you'll need to comment on this thread to be eligible to win.

I'm not much of one for Valentine's Day. My hubby doesn't do a lot and neither do I. It's just kind of another day. When you've got a new relationship you tend to do more, I think anyway. I guess you should never let that die, but life gets in the way and next thing you know, the day has come and gone.

Some days I wish my husband was more romantic. He does okay most of the time. We go out to dinner by ourselves usually once a week or so, but he's not the kind to bring me flowers for no reason or things like that. Too bad really. I love flowers.

So a question - What is the most romantic thing your significant other has done for you or you've had done for you in the past?

Sandy

It's blog hop time! Yep, it's my turn to put up a post for Secret Cravings Publishing 1 year anniversary blog hop tour. We all know I write about cowboys. Gotta love 'em. Anyway, my blog is about a rodeo I went to and let me tell you, it was a very exciting and insightful experience. Let me tell you.

A lot of you may not know this, but the one I went to was technically my first real, sit down and watch, rodeo. I've seen tons on television, but I haven't been to a live one to simply watch the events. The whole experience was amazing.

The smell of livestock permeated the air. Dust clung to the seats, and floor. And the cowboys? All I can say is WOW!

I don't think I've seen that many cowboy butts in tight Wranglers, cowboy hats, dusty boots and sexy men in my life in one place. Well, maybe in Vegas during NFR (National Finals Rodeo). Vegas comes alive with cowboys during the huge event every December.

Anyway, the rodeo the other night started with a game for the kids. They came out of the woodwork to do what they called, "Gold Rush." I'm not really sure what it entailed except for a pile of hay on the ground and dozens of kids scrambling for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Then came the main events and of course, they held the bull riding to the end. The whole time I watched, I was mesmerized by the way the cowboys sat in the saddle—their concentration never broken by the crowd around them. Calf roping or bull dogging had to be one of my favorite events. Unfortunately, for my concentration, I now have a calf roping cowboy sitting on the edge of my desk, tapping his spur against the side, waiting for me to write his story. By the way, he already has a name. Corey Middleton and he's twenty-six, dark-haired, dark-eyed, nice chest, six-pack abs… um where was I?

I did enjoy the bull riding though, too. I just didn't get a close up look at the event since we sat too far away. Next time, I'm gonna be on the rail. I had a serious temptation to ask a couple of those cowboys to unbutton their shirt, let it hang and give me a sexy look while I took their picture. Alas, my twenty-year-old daughter, refused to let me.

I did learn about a new event for the ladies other than barrel riding. Breakaway calf roping is one of the newer events. The ladies have to rope the calf, just like the men do, but when the rope goes taut, it breaks away from the saddle, thus the name. I had to look it up and I'm sure one of my heroines will be using it. *cheeky grin*

Well, that's it for my blog post. I am giving away something special for one lucky commentee to my blog post. Not only will your name be in the running for the Kindle Fire, but one person will be drawn to receive...............

One month subscription to the Cravings Club. If you don't know what that is, it's a new ebook club with Secret Cravings Publishing. You can find out more at http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=10. It's a $10 value and if you decide not to continue the club after your free month, all you have to do is cancel.

Be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win and thank you for stopping by my blog on the tour.

~ Sandy

Get my brand new cowboy cougar story, Taming the Cougar absolutely free when you join the Cravings Club at Secret Cravings Publishing.

See more information at: Secret Cravings Publishing Cravings Club

~ Sandy

John Wayne and the ultimate hero!

I know many of you out there absolutely loved the old westerns. John Wayne, Matt Dillion and so many more gave us hours and hours of entertainment. Shoot 'em up type westerns, the hero saves the heroine, saves the ranch, saves the town--you know what I mean. I loved watching the old westerns on Sunday afternoon with my dad. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. The Durango Kid. Gene Autry. Those were the real men. They loved the ladies, their horse and their piece of land and not necessarily in that order. Crafting the perfect cowboy hero is my goal.

One of my favorite places to visit when I lived in Colorado many years ago, was an old ghost town they transported building by building to a new location. It was so cool to be able to look at the small shack and imagine myself as the heroine and a sexy, rugged, cowboy would ride in and save me from my life of dispair because my parents had died and left me alone. (Yes, I have a good imagination. It's important since I write romance and mostly cowboy romance.) Or being a dance hall girl so misunderstood. I might have had to work in the saloon for one reason or another, but always dreamed of being taken from that life by a handsome cowboy.

Our modern day lives leave us very little time to drift away into the land of day dreams so we must grasp onto those small times when we can lose ourselves in a story crafted by an author with a special gift. The special gift is being able to weave a story so involved and so good, we have to keep reading and keep reading until the book is finished no matter what time of the night it is.

A wonderful hero has to be sexy, good-hearted, loyal, can only love the one special woman in his life and a great lover. The heroine must be gorgeous (at least in the eyes of the hero), kind, loving, understanding and loves the hero unconditionally. With divorce rates at all time highs, we need to find a little bit of our hero or heroine in the person we've chosen to live our lives with. Take the time to explore new things together whether it be a new television show, a new landmark you've found or even a new way to stroke or touch your special person.

Take a moment to drift into a daydream whether it be your lunch break, right after dinner or right before bed. We all need to dream.

~ Sandy

I'll be heading to Ohio on Thursday for Lori Foster's Get Together in West Chester. If you live in the area or will be around there, stop in and say hi! Saturday's bookfair is open to the public.

~ Sandy

Get your copy today! Before The Night Is Over (Montana Cowboys 2) is now available! Find yours at Secret Cravings Publishing, Amazon, B&N, Bookstrand and ARe.

~ Sandy