Spotlight & Giveaway: Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle

Posted October 26th, 2018 by in Blog, Spotlight / 46 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Katie Ruggle to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Katie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas!

 

PPlease share your favorite scene from Katie Ruggle

Thank you for having me!
 
This is one of my favorite bits of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas, the first book in my Rocky Mountain Cowboys series.
 
I love that it highlights what generous and kind people Steve and Camille are—and how adorably awkward they are together at first. Enjoy!
 

Steve was silent. When she managed to get up the nerve to peek at his face, he didn’t look amused or offended or even baffled. Instead, he seemed…thoughtful. “Actually, I could use your help right now.”
Taken off guard, she blinked. “My…help? Now? Here? At the grocery store?”
His mouth pulled down in a grimace as he waved a hand at the products lining the shelves. Dragging her gaze off him, Camille actually noticed what he’d been examining so intently.
“You need my help with…feminine hygiene products?” She wasn’t sure why she’d used the technical term, but it was such an odd situation. Steve had reappeared out of the blue after sixteen years. He’d saved her from what could’ve been a horribly humiliating event in the woods, and he was now standing in front of the tampon display. She was just happy she was capable of talking at all.
“If you don’t mind.” He gave her a slight smile, not wide enough to create the charming creases in his cheeks she so vividly remembered. “This is an area I… Well, I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
“Okay.” She cautiously moved closer, drawn by him as she’d always been, even as a gawky fourteen-year-old. “What kind of help do you need? Is this for your wife?” She remembered when she’d heard about his marriage, just two years after he’d left town after graduating from high school. Even though she and Steve had only exchanged a handful of words, Camille had still felt a painful twist in her chest at the news.
“No.” He focused on the boxes as he tipped his head from side to side, the motion drawing Camille’s attention to the way the rounded muscles of his shoulder angled to meet his neck. In his time away, Steve had not slacked off in the working-out department. “She died eight years ago.”
“Oh.” Jerking her attention off his body, she stared at the familiar line of boxes, not knowing the right response, as usual. “I’m so sorry.”
He accepted her words with a tight nod.
Camille mentally scrambled to think of something to say. What could possibly follow “My wife’s dead?” Camille hadn’t known her, so she couldn’t say something like, “She was a wonderful woman,” since she had no idea what his wife had been like. She didn’t even know her name. Anything unrelated to his wife’s death, on the other hand, felt so silly and blasé, as if she was blowing off what had happened to him as something small and casual and not the hugely devastating event it surely had been.
“So.” He cleared his throat. “This is for my daughter.”
“Right.” Of course Steve was the wonderful kind of dad who went to the store to get tampons for his kid. Camille was not surprised at all—impressed and even more smitten, but not surprised. “What does she usually use?”
He rubbed his neck—it was like he was trying to get her to focus on his excess of muscles—and twisted his shoulders in an uncomfortable shrug. “She doesn’t…not yet. I know it’s coming, though. Zoe’s almost twelve, and she’s living in a houseful of guys, except for her little sister, Maya, and I want her to have”—he waved at the tampon display—“whatever she needs on hand when the time comes. It’s been hard enough for her to grow up without her mom. The only thing I can do is to hopefully make things a little easier for her.”
With a frustrated grunt, he turned to face Camille. “Unless this is just going to make it worse? Should I bring her here and let her pick out what she’ll need instead?” Before she could answer, he groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve been a parent for fourteen years, and it didn’t used to be this hard. Now that they’re growing up, it feels like all the rules are changing, and I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
Camille’s mind went blank. She was horrible at thinking of the right words in the moment—at three the next morning while lying sleepless in bed, sure, but in the moment, never. As the silence stretched, Steve’s shoulders began to sag, and he looked so defeated that Camille couldn’t stand it.
“My grandma raised me,” she blurted out, horrified at the words that were leaving her mouth. Was she really going to tell Steve-freaking-Springfield this story, of all stories? What was she doing? Despite the impending humiliation, though, she kept talking while focusing on a box of panty liners. If she met Steve’s warm hazel eyes, she knew she’d stumble over her words and it’d all come out sounding even worse. “I’ve always been shy, so I didn’t have many friends.” Or any.
“When I got my period, I was eleven. I panicked. My grandma was long past having to use any of this, so there wasn’t anything in the house. Since I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know if tissues would be enough, so I used one of Grandma’s dish towels, emptied my piggy bank, and came here.”
She grimaced at the memory and at the fact that she was actually sharing this traumatizing story with anyone, much less Steve. Freaking. Springfield. “It wasn’t an early Sunday morning like this, though. It was Saturday afternoon, packed with everyone doing their weekly grocery shopping, including the prettiest and meanest girl in sixth grade, Hayden Larchmont.”
Her cheeks burned as red as they had two decades ago. “There I was, Grandma’s embroidered dish towel stuffed in my underwear, feeling like everyone could take one look at me and just know, lurking in the candy aisle as I waited for Hayden’s family to leave so I could grab what I needed and run. Finally, this lane was clear, and I hurried over—and I stood right here, in this very spot, staring at all this helplessly. I had no idea what to buy. Hayden and her mom came around the corner, and she stared at me standing in front of the tampon display and started to giggle, like she knew about the dish towel and everything, and I realized that soon everyone at school would know every humiliating detail, too. I was so flustered and embarrassed that I just grabbed a box at random and ran.”
Now that the story was out, her word vomit spewed all over poor Steve, she had no choice but to leave before she melted into a puddle of liquid humiliation. She plucked two types of tampons and a box of pads from the shelf and piled them into Steve’s arms. “Here. She can start with these. It might take some time for her to find out what works best for her, but one of these should get her through the first period.”
Steeling herself, she turned and met Steve’s wide eyes. His mouth was open slightly, but he didn’t say anything.
“And for the record, I think you are a very good dad.” Turning, she marched to the checkout counter, not looking back at him, even when he called out a thank-you. As Kacey rang up her chocolate stars, Camille stared at the debit card reader, trying very hard not to think about what she’d just done.
I told Steve Springfield the story of my first period.
There was no other option. Camille was going to have to move.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: Print copy of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas (Rocky Mountain Cowboys Book 1) by Katie Ruggle

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What holiday tradition is your favorite?

 
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Book Info:

HE’S THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
In the heart of the Rockies
One white Christmas can change everything.

When firefighter and single dad Steve Springfield moved his four kids to a Colorado Christmas tree ranch, he intended for it to be a safe haven. But he never expected danger to follow them to his childhood home…

Or that he would come face-to-face with the one girl he could never forget.

Folk artist Camille Brandt lives a quiet life. As the town’s resident eccentric, she’s used to being lonely—until Steve freaking Springfield changes everything. Brave and kind, he’s always had a piece of her heart, and it doesn’t take long before she’s in danger of falling for him again. But as mysterious fires break out across the sleepy Colorado town, Steve and Camille will have to fight if they want their happy family to survive until Christmas…

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes |
 
 

Meet the Author:

A graduate of the Police Academy, Katie is a self-proclaimed forensics nerd. A fan of anything that makes her feel like a bad-ass, she has trained in Krav Maga, boxing, and gymnastics, has lived in an off-grid, solar- and wind-powered house in the Rocky Mountains, rides horses, trains her three dogs, and travels to warm places to scuba dive. She has received 4 Amazon Best Books of the Month and an Amazon Best Book of the Year. Run to Ground, the first book in her Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series, is a 2017 RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee. Connect with Katie at http://katieruggle.com/, https://www.facebook.com/katierugglebooks, or on Twitter and Instagram @KatieRuggle

 

 

 

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46 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle”

  2. Patricia B.

    We enjoy setting aside a day to put up the tree and decorate it. We try to do it on Thanksgiving weekend. Music and snacks play a big role.

  5. Tonya Lucas

    Eating our wonderful meals and then just setting around visiting and catching up. I live in KS and all my family lives in TX so it’s a treat to just visit. I love your books Katie!

  8. Natalija

    Cooking things that might not be the most delicious on the table simply because it’s not a Christmas/New Year without them.

  14. kermitsgirl

    My husband buys me a Christmas ornament that summarizes our year together every year. It’s a tradition his dad started with his mom and he continued with me. I love looking forward to what he chooses to capture as a memory.

  28. Ellen C.

    Baking cookies, decorating the tree, spending time with family and friends.

  30. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    Christmas Eve dinner with my family.
    We have food, dessert and Santa comes to take pictures and hand out presents.

  31. rkcjmomma

    My grandma and mom taught me and I looked forward to it every year! Now i do with my 3 daughters! We bake tons of cookies and candies some really old recipes some new while listening to christmas music and then we make trays for friends, family and neighbors as gifts!

  33. Kay Garrett

    My favorite past Christmas tradition was my Dad always arriving very early so he could go down the hall saying “Hohoho Santa’s been here!” and waking up my daughter to go see what was under the tree. It was a tradition that we all loved – including his granddaughter. When she had just turned a teenager, she actually woke up very early to get dressed and fixed up (you know teenagers when it comes to having their photos taken) and then crawled back into bed just so Pappaw could “wake her up” Christmas morning like he always did. I cherish these memories since both Dad and our daughter are together now having Christmas in heaven. <3

    My two favorite Christmas tradition now are putting up the Christmas tree with all the ornaments and remembering the fond memories they hold from the past and baking holiday goodies to share with loved ones.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  35. Kathleen Bylsma

    Decorating the tree while listening to a Christmas Carol….Alistair Cook version…

  36. Joanne B

    Driving around after Christmas Eve dinner looking at the lights, then coming home, putting on the Yule Log, and opening presents.

  38. isisthe12th

    On Christmas Eve my family takes turns reading The Night Before Christmas. Thank you

  40. Laurajj

    My favorite tradition is our Elf On The Shelf brings a box of individually wrapped books on December 1st with instruction he gets to open one book every night for our bedtime story. When they are gone..its Christmas! We have so much fun with this every year!

  46. Terrill R.

    After the tree is decorated, lights and all, I like turning off all the lights except for the tree and sitting next to it with my husband. Usually with a glass of wine. Very romantic.