Harlequin’s Ultimate Western Blog Tour featuring twelve of their awesome western romance writers has been underway since August 1, and my stop today features the fantastic author Roz Denny Fox. Read on as she shares her favorite romance heroes, and don’t forget to enter the Ultimate Ranch Getaway at the bottom.
Ranchers & Cowboys: My Favorite Romance Heroes
A Guest Post by Author Roz Denny Fox
Cowboys and ranchers make great romance heroes. Readers like them because they can picture them as realistic. Men who choose the ranch life are not only big and tough, but also gallant and at times not afraid to show a tender side. They’re lean and rugged with a walk that defies a single word to describe it. And most of the cowboys I’ve ever met love to dance. That makes them almost perfect.
I grew up reading books by Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Louis L Amour. They were prolific American storytellers who brought to life cowboys, ranchers and frontier lawmen. While I loved their heroes, it seemed to me that too often the men rode off into the sunset on their favorite horse, but left behind a love interest. Then I found a Western Romance. I was so happy to discover there were stories by writers who added lasting love to the lives of those rugged cowboys. And I knew I wanted to tell some of those same kind of stories. And so I’ve been fortunate to craft stories of people from all types of careers since I sold my first book to Harlequin in 1989. Many are stories set in the west like my July 2016 book, A Maverick’s Heart. Book two in the Snowy Owl Ranchers series set in Montana, this maverick starts out a dedicated gem hunter who grew up in the east, but after falling for a Montana woman, plants his boots firmly on her B & B ranch.
Lila Jenkins’s roots in her small Montana ranching community run deep. A widow with a young son, she’s not usually enamored of her many boarders who come to rodeo or fish. Seth Maxwell who arrives for his twin brother’s wedding to Lila’s best friend, seems different. But he’s a wanderer, not a rancher. Also worrisome is that Lila’s son thinks Seth is the hero he needs to teach him how to play baseball, a skill his mom never has time to help him learn. In spite of ups and downs centered around Seth’s footloose career, and in spite of concerns about venturing her heart again, if love strikes and feels perfect, maybe it is.
A Maverick’s Heart follows His Ranch or Hers, book 1 in a trilogy that began in the Harlequin American Line, and will end in November with A Montana Christmas Reunion for the new Harlequin Western Romance line. I hope to create more stories that will fit what readers of western romance want to read.
About A Maverick’s Heart:
Lila Jenkins’s Montana ranching town roots run deep. So why does the widowed B and B owner feel so connected to her latest boarder? Seth Maxwell might know his way around horses, but he’s a wanderer, not a rancher. Lila’s son thinks Seth’s the hero he’s been waiting for. And—heaven help her—so does Lila.
Seth loves hunting for rare gems in remote areas, but maybe it’s time to make a change. The footloose adventurer is tempted by rumors of sapphires in a nearby mine, but it’s Lila and her boy who make Snowy Owl Crossing and the idea of a ranch to share feel like home…
Find A Maverick’s Heart: Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes and Noble
About the author:
Roz Denny Fox has been writing for Harlequin Books since 1989. She writes for various Harlequin lines and in several special projects. She has written articles and online serials for Harlequin.com. Roz’s books have been nominated for awards like the Holt Medallion, the Golden Quill and Smoky Mountain Published Laurie. Her second book was a finalist in the Romance Writers’ of America’s RITA contest. Her stories are warm, home and family love stories. Roz has been a member of Romance Writers’ of America since 1987, and is currently a member of Tucson’s, Saguaro Romance Writers’ where she has received The Barbara Award for Outstanding chapter service. She belongs to Desert Rose RWA chapter in Phoenix, Midwest Fiction Writers’ of Minneapolis, San Angelo, Texas Writers’, and Novelist’s Inc.
Find Roz Denny Fox: Goodreads | Twitter | Amazon
The Ultimate Ranch Getaway – click the image above or here for your chance to win an all expense paid getaway for you and three friends!
Western Blog Tour TOUR STOPS:
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Congratulations on your latest release, Roz. I look forward to reading A MAVERICK’S HEART!
Best wishes,
Kate
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Roz, I love your phrase about “a walk that defies a single word to describe it” — that might be the very best thing about cowboys!
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Roz, what a nice piece! Now I understand all those childhood rodeos led to your fascination 39th cowboys. I look forward to your next book.
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Thanks for being a part of the tour!
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