Western Roundup Give@way -- 25 Participating Blogs!

Ah, Those Cowboys...

Do you love Western Historical Romance?  I read across the board, but Western Historical Romance has always been at the top of my favorites.  What red-blooded woman wouldn't swoon at the sight of a trail-hardened, buff cowboy?

You can win

a Kindle copy of all three books in the

♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ series!

Yes, the entire series! (See below)

Of course, those very same men have been known to cause a ruckus now and again.  After they've been out chasing cows for a while, they're ready for a little action of the rowdy kind.

This is from http://www.circlerchaps.com/chaphistory.cfm

(1) D. W. Wilder, Annals of Kansas (1882)

The typical cowboy wears a white hat, with a gilt cord and tassel, high-top boots, leather pants, a woolen shirt, a coat, and no vest. On his heels he wears a pair of jingling Mexican spurs, as large around as a teacup. When he feels well (and he always does when full of what he calls "Kansas sheep-dip"), the average cowboy is a bad man to handle. Armed to the teeth, well mounted, and full of their favorite beverage, the cowboys will dash through the principal streets of a town, yelling like Comanches. This they call "cleaning out a town."

What about those barroom brawls?  Gotta have one, right?  Here's one from Much Ado About Madams (♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ #2):

Cast:

Lucinda - heroine.  She's a suffragist schoolmarm whose students, to her surprise and dismay, are six soiled doves and their cook.

Reese - hero.  He never wanted a brothel but now that he inherited one, he has to make sure the ladies are protected.

Fannie - the madam.

Holly - one of the girls.

Midas and Titus - twins.  Reese's righthand men. 

Excerpt from Much Ado About Madams

Love for a dollar. But then, Lucinda had no love at all.

Shouts and a loud crash shattered her thoughts. The floor shuddered beneath her feet. She heard thuds and swearing. The piano music stopped.

Before she could think better of it, she ran out the door, peering over the stairway railing at the melee below. Men punched each other—others sailed over tables, only to pull themselves up and jump into the fight again. They brawled with no thought to messing up the place.

She flinched as one of the twins pulled a man off Holly and punched him in the midsection, then whapped him right in the jaw. He lifted her off the floor and gave her a hug as he pushed her into the storeroom. How sweet.

The big Swede waded back into the fray, and grabbed a lanky cowboy who was about to bash his brother on the back of his head with a beer mug. Much to her dismay, Lucinda realized she’d gone halfway down the stairs. Just as she turned to run back up, someone caught her from behind, dragging her down right in the middle of the fight.

She tripped on her skirts and fell to her hands and knees, heart racing. Something clunked her on the back of the head and fell to the floor beside her. She shook the stars out of her brain and grabbed the offending object—a broken chair leg. She had to get out of there! She came up swinging, trying to make her way to the storeroom to join Holly in relative safety.

Men fell like flies, some knocking her this way and that, some apologizing, all jumping into the fray again. Midas and Titus fought like animals, each taking on two men at a time. Fannie sat on the bar flailing a table leg at any noggin within reach. Felicia crouched at the end of the bar, kicking the feet from under all men who came near.

Lucinda had just made it to the storeroom when Reese burst through the front door, hollering for everyone to calm down, then jumping into the fracas himself. He picked out the biggest, meanest looking man in the room and punched him right in the nose. The bald, muscle-bound brute shook his head, then charged Reese.

He’ll kill Reese! Lucinda grabbed the rope coiled on the whiskey barrels. She’d seen cowhands rope steers, and the man Reese was fighting was a whole lot bigger.

She wound the end of the rope around her wrist a few times, then twirled the loop in circles over her head just like the cattlemen did. But the bar was in the way.

Reese grunted as he took a hard jab to his stomach and another to the chin. She had to do something! She hitched up her skirt, jumped onto a box, then onto the bar.

“What the hell are you doing here?” shouted Fannie.

“I’m going to rope that awful man!”

“Get to it, then, girl!” Fannie cracked another brawler who made the unfortunate mistake of falling within the reach of her flailing table leg.

Lucinda twirled the lasso over her head again, and again, waiting to get a clear shot.

Reese connected with another punch and dodged the hulk’s roundhouse right.

“Christ, woman, throw the damned rope!” Fannie demanded. “He ain’t gonna last long against that bull!”

She threw the rope for all she was worth. But it went up instead of out—falling onto the floor. With as much haste as she could muster, she re-coiled the rope and searched for a better vantage point. The stairs!

She jumped off the bar, ran up the stairs, and threw the loop.

Just then, Reese punched the burly monster in his jaw and both men fell to the floor.

The rope sailed through the air, hooked over the chandelier and fell to the floor again. Reese stepped into the loop and tripped.

“On, no!” She ran down the stairs to untangle him, but the rope tightened around her wrist and jerked her up in midair. The other end of the loop that had captured Reese’s foot jerked him upside-down, swinging next to her.

Much Ado About Madams is the second books in the series, and you could win all three!

♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥

#1 Much Ado About Marshals *

#2 Much Ado About Madams *

#3 Much Ado About Mavericks

To win all three books, just leave a comment--who's your favorite man in chaps?  Be sure to leave your email address to be eligible to win.  For another chance, comment on the Western Roundup post at Romancing The West. Good luck!

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Check out all 25 blogs for some fabulous prizes!!! Special thanks to M.K. McClintock for organizing it!