For me, Cowboy Desire is the best BVS anthology yet—the stories are all compelling and very different. Damn good writing!
Of course I didn’t review my own story in the anthology (paranormal Bird That Sings) but I do hope you’ll read and enjoy it!
Wild Thunder—Zia Westfield
Loved this old-fashioned cowboy type story. It starts with Gabe and Emmaline waking up next to each other. Emmaline wonders how she got there, in (she assumes) Gabe’s hotel room when suddenly a flashbulb startles them. The resulting photo gets Em fired and Gabe in hot water in a custody battle for his nephew. How the animosity and ager are settled is all about Em’s effect on two families and a large black horse. I loved the role Colton’s nephew played in the story. Zia, a really fine story, ma’am. (Tipping hat)
Ava—Callie Carmen
In this short story sequel to Callie’s romance novel Joshua (another 5-star!), she features Ava, the artist who lost Joshua, her childhood friend and first love. Now she’s back home in Kentucky and seriously focusing on her art—and Colton Maples, a successful rodeo cowboy who’s taking time out to help his dad in his art gallery. Colton has a reputation and sponsors to keep up, so even though he’s helping out at home, his mind is on the circuit. And speaking of reputations, rodeo cowboys have them in spades. Can Ava trust Colton to remain hers when he’s surrounded by rowdy colleagues and Buckle Bunnies? They discover in a strange and sweet way that love is met with Thunder and Lightning. Two great characters in a great story!
Orion—Virginia Wallace
What a great ad unexpected story! I don’t want to give too much away here because I want you to discover the story for yourself, but I’ll say that Daisy is a rancher’s daughter who’s trying hard to keep their ranch going when her father can no longer carry on as he used to. One night, while out riding, a strange light brightens on the horizon and then disappears. The next day, from nowhere and just when they’re desperate, a man arrives to help. Who is this Orion fellow? No one she knows. But he’s hired on anyway and soon proves to be their salvation. More than that, he seems to read Daisy’s mind…and her heart. They fall in love. Daisy expects Orion might ask her to marry him when he vanishes. Uh-oh. Virginia’s storytelling excited me when I read her story in Desire Me Again. In Orion she’s shown another wonderful example of appealing characters with an unusual take.
The Long Paddock—Jan Selbourne
This is one of my favorite stories in the book. Jan delivers a real taste of Australia and wonderful romance! Shelley and David—ex husband and wife—meet accidentally on a storied sheep and cattle trail/road known as the Long Paddock two years after their divorce. David had a drinking problem and Shelley finally gave up on his ever working on their marriage rather than spending hours at the pub with his friends. Now she’s dating someone and taking a much-needed time away to see her oldest friend. Traffic is held up by sheep being driven south and David is one of the herders. As fate would have it, they run into each other a couple more times and Shelley senses a difference in David. He claims to have changed. He claims never to have stopped loving her. He claims he’s ready to make a life. But is any of that true? How can she trust him, ever again? But as I mentioned, there is that pesky thing called Fate… This is a remarkable love story!
Space Cowboy Blues—Alice Renaud
Even a universe isn’t wide enough to keep love at bay! When Melynas escorts Jack, a cowboy from Earth who travels from planet to planet studying local “farm animals” for scientific reports, she longs to get close to him. But her planet and even her touch is deadly to him. Jack is a true gentleman and he shows that by acting respectfully toward Melynas, something other humans don’t do. Only when Jack is embroiled in a fight to protect Melynas do the two discover something fantastic. Alice usually captures us with her writings of Mer-people. This futuristic space romp is new from her but I hope it won’t be the end of her explorations—this story is worthy of a trip across the universe. I loved it!
Loving Jack—Estelle Pettersen
What a cool story! Olivia Bertrand married Angus Wilson directly after high school graduation. They had been going together but in no small part because her very best friend, Jack McCullen was already dating someone seriously. On their wedding night, Liv discovered Angus with another woman. What??! Furious, Jack beat Angus up and then screamed at Liv that she should have married him. That’s a fine time to tell her. After a quick escape from her marriage Liv goes off to London to work and stays away five years. When she finally returns home, she finds Jack is single—he never married. Is there any hope for the two of them, or has it been too long with too many misunderstandings? I really enjoyed this story of second-chance love.
Mail Order Mate—Eileen Troemel
Jack (short for Jackleen) and her niece are all that’s left of a family of nine after a pandemic sweeps across her planet. In an effort to solve two problems at once, the local government brings in human-like aliens from an over-crowded planet to form new family units and keep the planet’s agricultural base from total collapse. Jack agrees to accept a male (Ido) and his brother and wife to their station where they raise jumbos—kinda sheep on steroids. Jack missed the sounds and comfort of having people around, but will these aliens ever fill that void? And will she ever come to love Ido as a wife should? I was charmed by this story of family, no matter who or what makes up that group. Eileen makes you feel you’re there on the planet Loved it!
The Wyoming Way—Nancy Golinski
Spencer Campbell runs a ranch in Wyoming with his brother Paul. He’s married to a woman from Boston, a social butterfly named Charlotte. They have two daughters in college, so they’re living in that stage of life where empty-nesters struggle to find common ground after the kids have left home. Trouble is, Charlotte always seems to make it clear that she’s unhappy in Wyoming. The adjacent ranch is owned by Joey and his sister Jess—who left years ago for veterinary school and never returned. Joey has PTSD issues and really can’t maintain the ranch as it should be. Now Jess is returning home to pursue her career and help get the ranch back into shape. It’s so easy to be with Jess again. Spence has someone to talk to, someone who understands him and what he does. When they’re trapped away from home in a blizzard, they found they had more than common interests between them—know what I mean? What Charlotte does next sets off changes in both their lives. Complications in love are never good things. Can Spence and Jess find their way through them? What a great story, and unusual, too. I know you’ll love it as I did.
The Cowboy’s Heritage—Patricia Elliott
Magic strikes in this sci-fi story. On their island ranch, Reid McCloud goes searching for a lost lamb. It’s a prize-winner and Reid’s folks will kill him if the lamb is lost for good—or worse—when they return from their cruise. He chases a trail down a narrow, rocky path to the beach where he discovers not a lamb but (can he believe his eyes?) a mermaid. Before his eyes she shimmered and changed into a woman. Had he seen her correctly? Couldn’t have! Everyone knew there were no such things as mermaids. Regardless, she was injured. With the help of his friend, he got her back to the house. When she comes to, she tells Reid to call her Nerina. Meanwhile, far under the sea, a young mermaid who was caught up in s storm while trying to escape an unwanted marriage, is being searched for. Could she and Nerina be one and the same? And while she and Reid begin to fall in love, what will they do when she is found, as she inevitably will be? This is a very different love story with a surprise ending, and I loved it!
Craving Her Cowboys—R.M. Olivia
At the beginning of this ménage tale, Riva is a woman in a very bad situation, living with an abusive man. She making her escape as he returns home, and just in the nick of time…she’s free. Taking the back roads to Dallas so as not to be tracked easily, she breaks down not all that far down the road. Fortunately for her, she is stopped in the parking lot of a repair shop run by two brothers. Unfortunately, her car troubles are even worse than her personal ones. It will be days before she can get underway again. With no money and no where to stay, she reluctantly accepts the offer of the brothers for her to stay with them. They might not be able to fix her car right away but she has their engines roaring! The next day they take her home to pick up all the things she had to leave, and also give her worthless boyfriend what-for. Is it any wonder she doesn’t resist their offer to stay longer? Another hot tale from R.M. Oliver! Air conditioning required.
E-mail Ordered Groom—Starla Kaye
Gwenie (Gwendolyn) was a farrier—a most unusual career for a woman but she was damn good at it—and part owner of her family’s ranch. Her brother Thad has a surprise for her, something he says is the answer to her dreams. Who should climb out of a black SUV just arrived, but Drake Walters, her brother’s best friend, her old, secret crush, and a former football player. A serious injury spelled his exit from the NFL, and now he’s there, on her ranch, talking to his brother like they’re still the best friends they had been fourteen years ago. To Gwenie’s shame, Thad reveals that he’d emailed Drake that he worried about her. She was too much woman (meaning capable, stubborn, and not terribly feminine) for the men in their area, but that he knew she wanted a home and babies. Oh, and a husband, and that she’d been scribbling Drake’s name in the margins of the ranch’s records, over and over. Drake wanted to discuss a business question with Thad, so he came home to see about both issues. But once he’d seen Gwenie, could he remember that when he left she’d been just his friend’s kid sister? Did he want to? What a great story with two very likeable, engaging characters!
Pearl, Ben and REO—Alan Souter
This is perhaps my favorite story in the book. It’s so different, so sweet, so unexpected. Ben, a rodeo champion in 1909 Wyoming, and his Sioux Indian wife, Pearl, live on a little farm. When Ben arrives home after winning another calf roping event, the love between the two is so evident. “I’ve been thinkin’,” he said. “Every time I’ve heard that our lives have made a big swing from the well-traveled road.” And what Ben’s been thinking is that he’s getting a mite too old to rodeo for many more years. His horse is getting a hair slower and deserves a more fitting life. What he has in mind is indeed a big swing from the life they’re used to. The change is…REO, a brand new automobile. Pearl is not quite ready to jump on board with whatever this new change means. The thing takes two people to start, and then breaks down fairly often. They live in Wyoming, where the primary mode of transportation is a horse, not horsepower. But she sees Ben’s dilemma and never doubts that he needs this change but only if they can move forward together The question is how. Once you read this story you’ll treasure it as much as I do. It’s true love in under 10,000 words!
Bullets and Bustles—Suzanne Smith
Emma Tombs is a bounty hunter, and one of the very best. But she’s not happy doing it, not anymore. She confesses as such to the local sheriff when he pays the bounty for the latest man she’s gunned down. He tells her that the man she wants the worst, Johnny Romma, is in the area. She wants Johnny so badly because he killed her husband. Her husband had been no prize but killing him left her penniless and at a loss for a way to support herself except with a gun. Reluctantly, she gives up the chance to bring him in—dead or alive—and leaves town, her old life, and her reputation behind. She sets up a café in a distant part of the state. She’s a pretty women, which is the only reason the café hasn’t closed because she’s a horrible cook. One day, a gorgeous man wonders in for breakfast. They chat. He comes back and they chat some more. JD he says his name is. Emma is completely taken with him. He says he invested in a ranch outside town, though, he admits with a grin, he knows as much about ranching as she does about cooking. Says he’ll read a book to find out what to do. It’s practically love at first sight for the two—until Emma discovers JD’s secret. Suzanne’s skill at storytelling is on full-on display. This is a wonderful story of two unlikely lovers that leaves you feeling happy!
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