Spotlight & Giveaway: The Cowboy Next Door by R.C. Ryan

Posted February 26th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 36 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author R.C. Ryan to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi R.C. Ryan and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Cowboy Next Door!

 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

I love throwing together very opposite personalities and watching them react to each other. In The Cowboy Next Door, it was was such fun tossing Penny, the serious, Type A, nose-to-grindstone, following-all-the-rules girl into the arms of Sam, a tease and jokester, who lives to break the rules.
 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • I’m Penny. I admit it! Always serious, smart, and definitely driven. I married a teasing, always-funny Sam, and it was the best decision I ever made. My life is never bland or ordinary because of him.
  • Someone asked me if there was a common theme in my books, and that question caused me to realize that, without conscious effort, all my books are about family. The lonely are seeking a place to belong and to be loved. I love the Monroe family because they don’t fit any mold, and yet these wonderful characters are family in the very best sense of the word.
  • I love my cowboys. They work hard, play hard, live hard. They’re real.And they can be tough as nails. But they are the very definition of a gentleman when around a woman. Courtly, caring. Funny. And when a woman they love is in danger, they become a fierce warrior.
  • My readers tell me they love the food mentioned in my books. Penny had to learn to feed three little brothers. She’s in her comfort zone in the kitchen. And the fact that she’s cooking for mostly men who love to eat makes it so satisfying. But on the Monroe ranch, there is another tradition. Clean-up after a meal becomes a party when these three cowboys take over. I love the silly things they do when the pressure of the day is over and they’ve just enjoyed a good meal.
  • I love turning an awkward situation into something more. For Penny, such a situation is finding herself stuck up in the hills with the wranglers during a storm, and having to spend the night with a bunch of strangers in the bunkhouse. Can you imagine being the only female in close quarters with bewhiskered, snoring cowboys during roundup?

 

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Excerpt from that scene:

Penny dug the keys out of her pocket and opened the driver’s side door. Before she could climb inside, Sam stopped her with a hand to her arm.
She turned with an arched look. “Did I forget something?”
He motioned over his shoulder to where Mac stood in the shelter of the porch. “Dad and I were talking. We don’t like the look of this storm.”
“I’m sure, once I get down from the hills, it won’t be so bad.”
“You’re right. It won’t. But it’s getting there that worries us. It’s already too dark to see the trail. One slip and you could find yourself buried in a ravine.”
“I’ll be fine, Sam.” She made a move to climb in and his hand tightened on her arm.
“There’s nobody at the ranch to help if you’re in trouble. Finn and Zachariah are in town, more than an hour away.”
“I have my phone.”
“Service is bad enough in good weather. With a storm like this you’d never be able to reach anyone.”
She gave a sigh of exasperation. “What do you want me to do? Snap my fingers and stop the snow?”
“We think you should stay here tonight.”
She blinked. “Stay here? You want me to sleep in there, with all the wranglers?”
“I know it isn’t the most comfortable place to spend the night. But at least you’ll be safe, not to mention warm and dry.”
“And forced to listen to men snoring.”
He bit back a smile. “But you’ll be safe, Penny, and that’s what matters. You can leave first thing in the morning if the trail is passable. But for tonight, we just can’t let you go.”
“Let me…?” She sucked in a breath. “I’ve been taking care of myself for years, Sam.”
“But now you work for us. We’re responsible for your safety.”
She looked beyond him, to where Mac stood waiting and watching with a worried frown. With a sigh of resignation she slammed the truck door and moved along beside Sam.
When they reached the porch Mac put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Penny. I know this isn’t the most comfortable situation, but it’s just for tonight.” He handed her a steaming mug of coffee. “If you’d like, you can sit out here for a while and relax. I know a lot of the wranglers are wandering around in long johns while their clothes dry by the fire. Sam can let you know when the men are all asleep. Then you and he can fight over who gets the top bunk and who gets the lower one.” He studied her face. “Think you can handle it?”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine, Mac. Remember, I raised three brothers.”
“Good.” Mac turned away and walked inside.
Sam couldn’t help teasing. “I call the bottom bunk.”
She shot him a withering look. “Why?”
He gave a negligent shrug. “I think it’ll be fun watching you climb the ladder to the top, and knowing you’re sleeping just above me.”
She gave a huff of annoyance and turned away to stare morosely into the falling snow.
He tugged on a lock of her hair. “Look at it this way. Spending the night up in the hills with a bunch of smelly wranglers ought to prove to be a real experience.”
“So is getting sprayed by a skunk. But it isn’t something you’d ever want to repeat.”
He gave a shake of his head, all the while laughing. “I’m betting this will be a step above running into a skunk.”
She joined in his laughter. “Okay. Maybe. But just barely.”
Relieved that she’d found her sense of humor, he touched a big rough palm to her cheek. “Finish your coffee and I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come inside.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

There’s much more to this chapter. This awkward situation will lead to a tender scene with Sam’s father, Mac, and later that night, an unexpected rush of sexual tension between Sam and Penny, to be resolved later.
I love when that happens.

 

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: Print copy of The Cowboy Next Door (Montana Strong) by R. C. Ryan

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: When you find yourself in a really awkward situation, what is your first reaction?

  • Do you bite the bullet and soldier on?
  • Do you go inside your mind and mull the pro and con of things, trying to see the situation from every angle?
  • Do you see it as a teaching moment?
  • Do you try to find the humor in it?
  • Is there a right or wrong way to deal with awkward situations?

 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Book Info:

After weeks on the trail, Sam Monroe is looking forward to a hot bath, a home-cooked meal, and a real bed. In that order. But he’s greeted by something even better when he opens the door to his family’s ranch house. Seems the new housekeeper is a gorgeous young woman who cooks like an angel and wrangles his family like a pro. If only she didn’t dislike him so much…

Penny Cash is down on her luck, and the last thing she needs is a flirtation with a wild, carefree cowboy. Sure, he’s funny and sexy, but they’re as different as whiskey and tea. And she’ll be leaving town as soon as she finds a full-time teaching position. But when trouble comes calling, Penny will find out how serious Sam can be when it comes to protecting the woman he loves…

Buy: https://www.read-forever.com/titles/r-c-ryan/the-cowboy-next-door/9781538711163/
 
 

Meet the Author:

New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan has written more than ninety novels, both contemporary and historical. Quite an accomplishment for someone who, after her fifth child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a writer. For more on R.C. and her books, please visit ryanlangan.com.
 
 
 

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36 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Cowboy Next Door by R.C. Ryan”

  1. Mary Preston

    My first reaction is to remove myself from the situation as fast as possible. My second reaction is to actually do this.

  7. laurieg72

    First of all I’d think to myself, How in the world did I get stuck in this situation? I’d deal with it with grace and quickly leave the situation ASAP.

    I’m at the age where I have to let it go and not dwell on the negative and try to move forward and find people I know and like to escape the awkward moment.

  9. Jana Leah

    I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to deal with an awkward situation. If it’s an awkward conversation I usually try to change the subject as quickly as possible.

  17. Caro

    “Do you go inside your mind and mull the pro and con of things, trying to see the situation from every angle?”
    Yes! That’s me, lol. I’m an overthinker. 🙂

  22. Diane Sallans

    I try to stay quiet and not say anything stupid until I can figure things out.

  26. Kay Garrett

    I’m a mixture really. First you got to get a grip. learn from you mistakes and move forward because you don’t get anywhere looking back. Then try to figure out the best route for going forward. You can’t get to where you need to be without a road map of action. And the road is less bumpy if you can find some humor to make you smile – always look for the rainbow in the thunderstorm. 🙂
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  27. Glenda M

    Depends entirely on the situation and why it is awkward. Lots of times deal with it lots of times joke.

  29. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    First I mull over the pro and cons of things and the situation. Then try to find the humor in it.
    Thanks for the chance!

  31. Patricia Barraclough

    I have been in my share of awkward situations and just deal with it. I was in the Peace Corps and many situations came up. Each needed a different response. I am a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer and it is common with deployments to be put in a situation similar to Penny’s. Staff will stay in a shelter with a few hundred of their fellow volunteers. My cot is usually between two people I have never met. Last time it was two men. There is a lot of snoring going on in a group that large.

  32. Lynne Brigman

    First I’d wish I was anywhere else. Then I would try to figure things out look at the proud and cons

  33. Pamela Conway

    It depends really but would try to find some humor in it & hopefully learn something from it!

  34. Irma

    I’m Libra so it’s natural for me to go inside my mind and mull the pro and con of things, trying to see the situation from every angle. Thank you.