Harlequin has reissued 16 of my backlist titles in
ebook. Today I'm talking with Melanie
Winslow and Cody Chandler about COWBOY DREAMING, a Silhouette Desire originally
released in print and currently available as a Harlequin Desire in ebook.
Good morning, Melanie
and Cody. Thanks for joining us today.
Melanie: Thanks for
the invitation.
My first question is
for Cody.
Cody: (grins) Hit me with it.
As I understand it,
you're from the New England area with a background in international
finance. How did you end up as foreman of
a cattle ranch on the eastern slopes of the Rockies foothills in Colorado?
Cody: My family had
been involved in banking and finance for literally generations and that's what
they groomed me for…college degrees in business and finance including advanced
education in Europe, travel, and foreign languages. Bottom line—it wasn't what I wanted out of
life. So, defying family tradition, I
looked around for something I felt comfortable with. I knew I wanted to get away from the regimen
of board rooms, suits and ties, and big business. The great outdoors and ranching appealed to
me. And that's when I met Buck Winslow…a
day that changed my life and gave me the sense of fulfillment and
accomplishment I had been seeking.
What about you,
Melanie? You left home at eighteen and
established a successful career as a freelance photographer. The ranching life didn't appeal to you?
Melanie: (wrinkled
her forehead in a moment of contemplation)
It's not quite that cut and dried.
My father and I had a strained relationship at best…at least that's the
way I saw it at the time. Putting that
together with my mother's death when I was eighteen, all I wanted to do was get
away from what I felt was a painful place.
I had been interested in photography starting when I was about nine
years old and knew that's what I wanted as a career. Over the ensuing ten years after I left home,
I established a successful career which had me traveling all over the
world. During that time I didn't have
any communication with my father.
After a ten year
estrangement, what prompted you to return to the ranch where you grew up?
Melanie: That's
another question that's difficult for me to answer. For the last couple of years my thoughts had often
turned to the ranch and the fact that my father was getting older. However, my actually showing up at the ranch
was a truly spontaneous thing. I had
just wrapped up a photo assignment and decided to do it. I drove non-stop from Los Angeles to the
eastern foothills of the Rockies.
Cody: I'm a light
sleeper. It was the sound of someone
entering the house in the middle of the night that woke me. I immediately assumed it was a burglar
breaking in. You can imagine my
surprise…actually my shock at discovering the intruder I tackled and pinned to
the floor was a woman.
Melanie: (laughs)
Well, you can image my shock, too. I
don't think I've ever been as frightened as I was at that moment when Cody
threatened me with bodily harm if I dared to move.
Cody: In my defense,
that was before I realized the intruder was a woman.
I assume you got
everything straightened out as soon as you turned on the lights to see what was
going on?
Cody: Far from it!
Melanie: Not even
close. Instant animosity which got worse
as soon as I identified myself as Buck Winslow's daughter. He made it very clear that he had no use for
me and questioned why I had even bothered to return to the ranch at that
time. He was obviously very protective
of my father, but I didn't understand why until I found out my father was…that
he was dying.
With your father being
very ill and you and Cody at each other's throat, how did you work that out?
Cody: I suggested a
truce until I could assess the situation.
I know how much it had hurt Buck when his only child abruptly left home
without warning and he never heard from her again, how much he missed her. It was going to be enough of a shock for him
with his fragile health to have his long absent daughter suddenly show up
without the added stress of the two of us arguing. The last thing I wanted was for Buck to be
upset.
Melanie: I had no
idea that my father was ill. Cody said
he had tried to reach me a year earlier, mailed a letter to the magazine where
my photographs had just appeared, but I never got it. When he didn't get any response he assumed I
didn't care. After I realized what was
going on, I understood his attitude toward me—didn't like it, but understood
it. Over the next couple of days I
learned so much about my father that I never knew. He wasn't the cold unfeeling man I had always
thought him to be.
Cody: But then
another roadblock appeared. Mel decided
I was taking advantage of Buck. She
misinterpreted something she saw and thought I was embezzling.
That sounds like more
than just a wariness of each other. What
turned the two of you around? When and
how did you start seeing each other as something other than adversaries and
start developing trust?
Melanie: It's all in
the book.
Cody: (puts his arm
around Melanie's shoulders and draws her close to him, then offers a
mischievous grin) I can disclose that we
definitely did work out our differences and there's a happily ever after ending
to our story.
LOL…and on that note I
guess there's nothing left to say except thank you for being here with us today.
COWBOY DREAMING, a Silhouette Desire by Shawna Delacorte
reissued in ebook format. Available at http://ebooks.eharlequin.com (do a
search for author name Shawna Delacorte).
Also available from Amazon for Kindle and Barnes & Noble for Nook as
well as other online vendors.
Check out my website for more excerpts from COWBOY DREAMING as
well as information on my other Harlequin ebook reissues. www.shawnadelacorte.com
Blurb:
STRANDED
When Melanie Winslow returned to the Colorado ranch where
she was raised, she never expected to find herself stranded in a mountain cabin
with Cody Chandler. The rugged ranch manager was the answer to every daydream
Melanie had ever had about strong, sexy cowboys.
WITH A SEXY COWBOY
But this one was real, with a kiss that made Melanie's heart
beat faster, and a smile that hinted at the most intimate things. The trouble
was, the last thing Melanie intended to do was fall in love with an untamed
cowboy—no matter how perfect he seemed. If only her heart felt the same way….
Inside front cover
excerpt:
Melanie felt Cody's warm breath across her cheek, then his
lips on the side of her neck. His words tickled her ears. "We should
figure out the sleeping arrangements for tonight."
He rose suddenly and added a couple more logs to the blaze.
"There should be some sleeping bags in the cupboard," he said.
"And another cot…" It was almost a question.
All right, Ms.
I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-don't-need-anybody, what do you plan to do now?
This was not the time to panic, Melanie told herself. She
was a self-sufficient woman who would handle this logically and intelligently.
As she watched, Cody jabbed the burning logs, causing embers
to fly—like the hot sparks she felt every time he kissed her. The intensity in
his face and the captivating pull of his masculinity drew her to him. Her
insides melted into a simmering pool of desire.
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