Spotlight & Giveaway: The Cowboy Says I Do by Sinclair Jayne

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sinclair Jayne to HJ!

Hi Sinclair and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Cowboy Says I Do!

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

The Cowboy Says I Do is a secret baby/unexpected pregnancy story as well as a high school sweethearts reunion. The secret baby or unplanned pregnancy is embarrassing to admit, still one of my favorite tropes for so long (even with me with kids in college), and while I do enjoy branching out and challenging myself, I often hope to play with a baby theme in at least one book in a series. It’s also a story that is deeply rooted in place—Three Tree Ranch in Marietta, Montana and family—the Ballantynes. It’s a story of Beck Ballantyne, a professional rodeo star who comes home to Montana with his long-term girlfriend to visit with his grandfather and participate in the local rodeo along with two cousins. The three of them learn that their grandfather is thinking of selling his legacy ranch, which shocks them. They think he’s joking—the Ballantynes are notorious game players and constantly challenge themselves and each other, but then their three moms show up and start sprucing up the ranch, and they worry he might be serious.

Each hero worries something’s wrong, related to a worry in their own lives—money problems, outside pressure/manipulation, or ill health. They ban together to figure out what’s wrong and how to help their grandfather—coming up with a Rodeo Bride game—figuring that if one or all of them gets fake engaged by the end of the rodeo, it will buy them some time and their grandfather some peace of mind. Because Beck is the only one with a long-time girlfriend that he’s hesitated to propose to because of his mother’s turbulent marital history and he’s not ready to quit the rodeo until his cousins also retire, it seems he’d easily win the game. But the night he arrives in Montana and the secret scheme is launched, Ashni dumps Beck. He’s determined to win her back, but when she discovers she’s expecting, she’s even more determined to resist Beck in full suitor mode. But Beck thrives on challenges, and he finds himself falling in love with Ashni all over again. But can he convince her he’s serious and not in some crazy competition with his cousins?
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

Quote 1. “No thanks,” Bodhi said, pushing his chair back to saunter to the stove to fix a plate of seconds. “I don’t even know why they’re coming. Especially during the rodeo. The moms are allergic to all things ranch, and my mama hasn’t seen me ride a bull or rope since my junior rodeo days. Said it made her feel faint and doubt my sanity.”
“Heck, me too.” Granddad laughed. “But I do like to watch you boys test fate and wrestle the beasts. Does the Ballantyne name proud.” (Even though the hero in book 3 is talking, I like this because it shows the relationship between the Ballantyne 3 generations)

Quote 2. Bodhi slapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “Who’s in?”
“Me.”
“Me.”
Beck and Bowen spoke in unison.
Bodhi’s eyes glinted with a wicked light.
“What’s the game?” Beck and Bowen both demanded.
“Marriage,” Bodhi said flatly.
“Marriage isn’t a game,” Beck objected.
“It can be.” Bodhi jangled with unleashed tension. “We can all play. We’ll call it the Rodeo Brides Game.”
“You were just hand to God-ing it that you would never, ever get married,” Beck reminded him, although that pronouncement alone should doom Bodhi to getting hitched by the end of the Copper Mountain Rodeo. (I choose this because it shows the 3 heroes together and sets up the game but also takes place in one of my favorite Marietta MT settings, Grey’s Saloon).

What inspired this book?

I love writing cowboy heroes. For me a cowboy is such an American icon embodying the spirit of the west, love of the land, personal challenge and resilience. I was chatting with author and Tule publisher, Jane Porter, about how I wanted to write a new cowboy series, and I wanted it to be fun—with heroes who were really tight-knit with a lot of swagger and competitive to their bones. I wanted a feeling of a game—always one-upping each other in a loving, but masculine way. I’ve always been fascinated with how some men are just so wild and fierce and bursting with masculine swagger—fearless and competitive to their bones. I wanted to know what that felt like, wrap my head around it. I fleshed out the first story and the series with my friend Rusty Keller, who writes as Kasey Lane when we had a short writing retreat, March 2020, right before Oregon and the rest of the world shut down.
 

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

I think about my characters so much before I write them. I play with ideas when I walk my dog, garden, drive, cook. They live in my head and evolve and chat. I delve into their personality and backstory and ask a lot of why questions. Writing is like a puzzle. I pick up pieces, try them out, discard and try another piece. Sometimes I’ll find a cool piece, and it won’t fit, but I put it off to the side because I know I’ll use it one day. The Cowboy Says I Do was challenging because I couldn’t write Beck and Ashni in a vacuum. Beck is such an integral character with his cousins. I had to create all three of my heroes, give them a backstory as a family, deeply differentiate their personalities and create a reason why they are so competitive that they will instantly seize up a dare and run with it no matter how hard or goofy. I am not a particularly dare oriented person, nor am I hyper competitive, but as I wrote the book and the series, I realized that I do run with challenges, they are just usually issued by me.

The hardest character for me was Ashni. Beck adores her, but he’s starting to take her for granted. She loves Beck and has put her life somewhat on hold to be with him, and yet she is so brilliant, and she shines so that she has created a lovely career and life for them on the road even though it’s a different life than she planned. I wanted her to be all in with him, but not too passive and her dreams not completely unrealized. She needed to be a fascinating woman readers would love and root for. But then I had to make Beck hold back from proposing without looking like a self-absorbed idiot (even though he does need a serious wake up call). And how could she break up with him and stick to her guns, unplanned baby on the way, without seeming manipulative? That’s backstory and internal conflict, and I finessed and finessed book one and battled my doubts, and I had a lot of fun writing this book. Book 2 and 3 in the series were a ton of fun to write because I’d found my groove.

What was your favorite scene to write?

The scene early in the book when Ashni was at her cousin’s wedding was my favorite because I lifted some of the experiences and visuals straight from my niece’s wedding so I felt like it was a tribute to my niece and sister-in-law who planned and executed such a gorgeous spectacle. But it was also a hard scene to write because the emotion in the book is so different from my niece’s actual wedding. It’s a beautiful and heartfelt day, and Ashni wants her cousin, who’s her best friend to have the perfect wedding of her dreams, but Ashni is also realizing that she is alone—Beck is competing at a rodeo, and at the wedding as they dance to welcome the groom, Ashni is starting to accept that she and Beck are stuck and they only way for her to move forward might be to leave him behind.

Scene (end of prologue)

“Let’s dance,” Ashni sang out in her best David Bowie impersonation. She linked arms with Reeva and pulled her into the center of the vibrantly colorful women—family and friends—as they spilled out into the beautiful, sun-drenched Denver afternoon.
As Ashni spun in a circle, she easily incorporated a few of the popular moves in the newer Bollywood movies into some of the traditional dances she and so many of her cousins had studied growing up in their Shastriya Devesh weekend dance school. She twirled and sang and reached her arms up gracefully—her fingers, dance moves, and facial expressions told the story of love. She watched the flare of the saffron skirt of her lehenga as she danced to celebrate Reeva and love and Reeva and John’s sparkling future.
And she hated that even surrounded by so much joy and family and friends, she’d never felt more alone.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

One of the harder scenes to write was when Ashni breaks up with Beck. He knows something’s wrong but not what. He’s not a particularly analytical person, whereas Ashni is. She’s been stewing for a couple of days on this information—the wedding was one of the last supports to break off the bridge between them. But really, a few things have been bothering Ashni for the past year. They’ve been drifting, but she’s been too passive and conflict adverse to address their problems. She’s still not sure what she wants—to break up temporarily? Forever? But she really wants Beck to say something to magically make everything okay between them again. Only the more he talks, the deeper he digs the hole.

“Love is not enough anymore.” If she kept saying it, he’d agree, right? “I need move on and be responsible for my happiness.”
“And getting married will magically make you happy?” he demanded. “You think marriage will suddenly validate our love and commitment?”
His voice rang out—angry, frustrated. His eyes glittered like topaz jewels embedded in rock. She’d never seen his jaw so clenched, his body so tense.
“Marriage isn’t everything,” he gritted out. “It doesn’t mean a damn thing. It’s a piece of paper. It doesn’t prove anything. Doesn’t keep men from cheating. Or hitting. Or make them take care of their family. Marriage is a tax deduction. A manipulation. A mirage to prove something to somebody else. It doesn’t prove what’s in my heart, and you, Ash, you—” he banged hard on his chest “—you are in my heart deep and forever. Seared there sure as a brand on my granddad’s cattle. I don’t need a marriage certificate to prove my feelings for you. And you shouldn’t need that either.”
He was angry. So angry. Ash stared, fascinated. He had strung together more words than she could remember at any time. Beck wasn’t broody like Bowen, but it was Bodhi who would hold court and entertain her, debating and dissecting any topic with her. Beck listened and joined in. This, this emotional and eloquent man was a fascinating stranger.
“My mom was married four times. Four. That’s insane. My dad twice. He ditched two wives and two sets of kids. Walked away. Never looked back. Marriage is no guarantee of anything, especially happiness. Marriage is meaningless.”
“Not to me.”
She faced him squarely, strangely calm and yet exhilarated. This was it. The first step into her new life.
“You want to get married.” His voice was flat. His expression unreadable.
He made marriage to her sound like a really unpleasant chore—like picking up three weeks of dog poop in the backyard in the middle of July.
She laughed. Free. Finally.
“That’s just it, Beck. I don’t. Not to you. Not anymore.”

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I think The Cowboy Says I Do typifies my writing style. I have been lucky enough to write two other cowboy stories set at the Copper Mountain as well as two Cowboy series, one set in Marietta Montana and the other in Last Stand, Texas. I lean in to the family dramas and the intense, slightly broody cowboys—unless they are flirting and swaggering, but even then that’s for show.

What was really hard about this book was that all three books took place in the same town during the same week, and they are all staying at their ranch. So I would have a few scenes that would be in each book—such as Grey’s Saloon when the challenge is thrown down—and I would have to show the same scene from the different POV of the three cousins—Beck, Bowen and Bodhi. I didn’t want to repeat, but I couldn’t veer too far off course or have a fresh inspiration/brainstorm (my modis operandi) for book 3 because book 1 was already in production. So I had to be judicious about what scenes I let over lap and have the cowboys woo their fake fiancés away from the others.

It was also hard to ensure that the heroes and heroines in books 1 and 2 had their HEA without revealing the ultimate ending in book 3, which has a three-layer, end of series reveal.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I loved writing The Cowboy Says I Do because it was an ode to the love of family—Beck was still crazy in love with his high school sweetheart. He loved his grandfather. He loved his cousins like brothers and beyond. It was a testament to how much he loved.

Also for me, writing this story was personally exciting, and I felt even more invested because Ashni Singh is my first Indian American heroine. Twenty five years ago, I met my husband Deepak and fell in love at first sight (which I had Beck do in the book in a flashback). My husband immigrated from India when he was ten, and while I have written twenty books, I had never branched out to write a mixed race romance, incorporating a few pieces of my husband’s culture. My children are bi-racial and my husband’s side of the family is large and fun and engaging so I had lots of inspiration and advice. It was lovely to include a little piece of my husband, children and now my culture.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

The Cowboy Says I Do is the first in a three book series about Beck, Bowen and Bodhi Ballantyne, called Montana Rodeo Brides. All the books take place in the same week of the rodeo in Marietta, Montana and the final book in the series reveals how the challenge works out and how every character was playing a game within a game.

I enjoyed writing the Ashni’s love story so much that I am currently writing a new series Misguided Masala Matchmaker that follows a tight knit family of Indian heritage as they find their perfect love match as they are attempting to dodge the efforts of their family, friends and hired matchmaker.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: An ebook copy of The Cowboy Says I Do & 3 Tule ebooks

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: I have only written two books that featured a hero and heroine who were a couple at the start of a book and then had a break up early on and the rest of the story features how they came together again to fall back in love even more deeply than before (The Cowboy Says I Do is the 2nd) Have you read a book or seen a movie where the break up between the couple was particularly epic and memorable in some way? What is the book/movie, and why does that break up stand out?

 
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Excerpt from The Cowboy Says I Do:

“There you are, cowboy,” his cousin Bodhi Ballantyne greeted him at the large sponsor tent where Beckett Ballantyne had been signing autographs and posing for pictures before the Panhandle Rodeo finals started. A few carnival-style games had been set up outside the tent along with a roping demonstration.
Beck waved at the family he’d been posing with and checked his watch. He’d stayed fifteen minutes past his volunteer slot, and since another couple of rodeo cowboys had arrived, he thanked the coordination volunteers and stepped over the low white picket fence with fake floral arrangements and hay bales that had been set up for the family photos with the cowboy of their choice.
“I raised nearly twenty-five hundred dollars for the children’s hospital in Boise,” Beck said happily.
“I raised nearly three thousand yesterday.” Bodhi didn’t miss a beat. He never did.
“Seriously?” Beck’s disappointment stabbed deep even as his competitive spirit flared. “My line was the longest they had today, and the volunteers asked if I could come back after my final events.”
“Won’t nobody be there…” Bodhi’s amused glance raked over him as they exited the tent “…seeing as everyone with a pulse will be watching me ride Victory to a truly devastating first place in the bull-riding finals. That one hundred percenter rank bull is gonna lose.”
“Bowen won’t let you squeak out another win over him that quick.” Beck laughed. “He drew Head Banger, who’s scored more performance points than Victory on his last four rides.”
“Exactly. You boys done discussing my superiority and ready to redeem yourselves?” Bowen Ballantyne, his cousin who was older by almost three years that had felt like a decade when Beck had been a kid trying to keep up, sauntered over, carnival game tickets dangling from his fingers. “Who’s willing to accept the challenge?”
Bodhi snatched the tickets. Beck immediately swiped them away.
“Ever heard of sharing?” Bowen produced another wad of tickets that he tossed at Bodhi and kept another bunch for himself.
“What’s the prize?” Beck and Bodhi asked at the same time.
“Pride, not prize. Half the proceeds from the carnival today go to the children’s hospital.” Bowen picked up a basketball and, still facing them, shot it backward over his shoulder, and even though the rim was angled to make it nearly impossible to drain a shot, the ball swooshed through the net.
“In or out?” Bowen challenged, his grayish-blue eyes narrowed even as his dark brows arched in a look that was so familiar Beck’s heart rate kicked up and his spirit soared. His oldest cousin had often laid down challenges for him and Bodhi. And the familiarity—being together, egging each other on—felt so right, when the past couple of months had felt so off for him.
Of course it was game on—basketball shots, darts at balloons, Skee-Ball. Between the three of them, they amassed quite a collection of colorful, fuzzy creatures that they handed out to young children arriving with their parents to try their luck before the rodeo finals.
They also drew more than their share of female attention—something Bodhi often took advantage of. But Beck, who’d had the same girl since high school who now worked on the pro rodeo staff even after receiving her MS in public health four years ago, had never once considered taking advantage of what Ashni had declared to be “one of his many superpowers—being way too easy on the eyes.”
He’d never even kissed another girl and had only once speculated about it a couple of months ago with his cousins in a bar one night after he’d bombed in the finals that evening and had been feeling particularly out of sorts.
He’d be lying if he hadn’t thought about it a few more times since, especially as he and Ash seemed out of sync. It was messing with his head and his performance. His wins and money were down, and the joy was gone. Riding and roping and bulldogging felt like a job he had to slog through instead of an adventure.
Ash always brought the light and magic, and lately he’d felt alone. Her taking two weeks for her cousin’s wedding couldn’t have come at a worse time for him, and he knew absolutely he was being unfair. He understood family and commitments. But he missed her and felt unsettled without her and watching Bodhi chat and flirt with various women including a busty blonde whom he handed a large blue bear to and autographed the bear’s white tummy, felt somehow dangerous. Beck had been privy to Bodhi’s sexy charm offensive since high school—watching him flirt women out of their panties and most everything else as effortlessly as he’d order a beer at a honky-tonk.
He knew he didn’t want that. Even as he wondered what it would be like to let the flirt unspool just a little, the idea made him feel dirty.
He had to get his head on straight before his events. Beck handed off his last fuzzy win to a child when a prize at another booth caught his eye.
“You don’t see that every day.” Bodhi laughed at the large plush horse rearing up, a paintbrush in its mouth and a rainbow of colors on a palette sewn onto one hoof. A red beret perched jauntily on its head.
“I want to win it for Ashni,” Beck declared. Ash had studied studio art along with epidemiology in college. When he and his cousins retired from the tour and moved to their granddad’s Montana ranch, he’d build her an art studio.
“It’s huge,” Bowen said, Mister Practical. “It will take up the back seat of your truck.”
“I’m going to win it.”
If he won the quirky-looking artist horse, maybe he wouldn’t feel so guilty. And Ashni would know that even when she was back home in Denver participating in her cousin’s elaborate three-day wedding, he’d been thinking of her. She’d also know that he still thought of her as the artist—the singer, studio artist, and science nerd—he’d first fallen in love with.
She was due back this afternoon. Maybe instead of heading straight to the ranch, they’d have a quiet dinner—just them. And a hotel. His blood and hope surged.
“Bet she kicks you out of bed in favor of the plush.” Bodhi grinned. “Let’s do it. I’ll help.”
Bodhi strode up to the booth. Ping-pong balls had to be tossed into small glass bowls with narrow lips and a goldfish swimming inside.
“I don’t need help.” Beck strode after him.
“You both need your heads examined.” Bowen followed them. “You’re going to end up with an aquarium of goldfish—not exactly conducive to a life on the road. Buy her a damn ring already. Be practical. You need the space.”
“Yeah. That’s why he should ball and chain it—a ring will save space in his truck.” Bodhi snorted.
Beck’s chest seized.
A ring. A diamond. Forever. He wanted forever with Ash. But not yet. He wasn’t ready. He still had a lot to prove. Money to earn. And he wasn’t leaving his cousins on the tour without him. They’d always had each other’s backs. Always. And then there was his mother’s marriage examples he couldn’t quite shake off.
“Plenty of time for a ring,” Beck said with more ease than he felt. “When we retire. All of us.” He looked at his cousins to ensure that they knew he was keeping the promise they’d made so long ago. Then he handed over the rest of his tickets and stepped to the line.
It took Bodhi’s help to win the grand prize, and he’d no more than headed out of the games area flanked by his cousins so he could go prepare for his three events in the finals—steer wrestling, calf roping and saddle bronc riding—when he saw a young girl clutching a box of crayons and the pro rodeo tour coloring book staring at him, her mouth wide open.
“You’re the cowboy on the cover.” She held up the book for him to see. The coloring books were free to kids. Ashni had amused herself sketching many of the cowboys last year on the tour, and she’d turned her line drawings into a coloring book. The tour paid the printing fees and gave out the books to kids at every rodeo event. Ashni had been so excited in her own quiet way. She’d shyly admitted that it had made her feel like she was still an artist, and it was a way to give back to the community.
“I am.” He smiled at the young girl, who looked to be maybe seven or eight. She was pale and frail. He saw a port peeking out of her loose-fitting pink T-shirt with a bucking horse in rhinestones that hung off her thin shoulders.
His heart broke a little each time he saw a kid battling a life-threatening disease, but he still went to the pediatric wards at a hospital in most of the cities he hit on the tour, Ashni by his side. She would draw with kids or sit and play her guitar and sing.
“I’m going to be an artist when I grow up,” she said. “It just takes practice, wanting it and expiration.” Her voice was thin, but her eyes glowed with determination. Her hair was wispy blonde on her head, just growing back.
“Inspiration,” her mother whispered, smiling at her daughter, her hand smoothing over her daughter’s narrow shoulders.
No man by her side and no ring, Beck noted, feeling more despair sweep through him. How could a man ever leave his child and the mother of his child, especially during an illness?
But men left. He knew it first-hand. His cousins knew it too.
“Well then—” he squatted down “—maybe this guy can help inspire you.” He handed her the artistic horse.
The girl’s eyes got huge. “Really? For me?” she whispered. The horse was nearly as large as she was.
Her mother blinked hard. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Bless you,” she whispered.
He stood. “My pleasure, ma’am.” He handed her two tickets that would get her in the VIP section for the finals.
“It’s too much,” she breathed. “The tour already gave the hospital tickets for many families.”
“Seats are more comfortable in this section, and the food and drink vendors come to you. Enjoy your day.”
“What’s the horse’s name?” the little girl asked, tugging on his hand while her other arm wrapped tightly around the animal.
He had no idea. It was her choice, wasn’t it?
“Absolution,” Bodhi answered. “The horse’s name is Absolution.”
What the heck? Beck opened his mouth to tell the girl his cousin was teasing, but she gazed at the plush animal’s comical expression with a steadfast devotion that broke his heart a little more.
“Hello, Abso…abso something. I’m Amanda.”
“Pleased to meet you, Amanda.” He touched her head softly and tipped his hat. “Ma’am.”
He and his cousins walked back to the arena.
“Smart move,” Bowen said. “You did a good deed and don’t have storage issues.”
“But you’re also out a mea culpa gift for Ashni,” Bodhi added. “Might I suggest a big, sparkly ring that will blind other drooling cowboys from across the bar and howl in a true Neanderthal style ‘this one’s taken, boys.’”
Beck increased his speed.
“Get her a ring or cut her loose. This is embarrassing,” Bodhi called out.
Beck peeled off to the dressing room so he could put on his chaps and wrap his ribs. He pulled off his tee, grabbed one of the many rolls of tape and began to wrap. When he competed, he wore a Kevlar vest, but the tape offered protection and stability for his often aching ribs.
“You’re in trouble, cuz. I can feel it.” Of course Bodhi couldn’t leave him alone.
Beck shoved in his mouth guard so he didn’t say something he’d later regret.
“If you love her…” Bodhi picked up the medical tape to wrap Beck’s shoulder even though he’d been pretty injury-free even this late in the season “…I don’t see why you’re cowering outside of the chute.”
Lovely image. Beck pulled out his mouth guard. “I don’t need relationship advice from a man whose relationships last an hour.”
Bodhi expertly finished the wrap and ripped off the tape with his teeth.
“I last way longer than that,” he taunted, flipping his wrist so the mouth guard jammed back in Beck’s mouth. “Maybe that’s the problem.”
Beck yanked out his mouth guard again.
But Bodhi beat him to the punch line. “You should have kept the horse. Least you’d have some company in bed.” Bodhi tipped his hat and was gone, leaving Beck to flip off empty space.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

He needs her to say I do…

When professional rodeo cowboy Beck Ballantyne returns home to Marietta, Montana, nothing goes as planned. His granddad, flanked by his three determined daughters, announces his plan to sell his legacy ranch after the rodeo. Hoping he’ll reconsider, Beck and his two cousins launch the Rodeo Bride Game. Beck initially has the advantage as he has a long-time girlfriend—except she’s just called it quits.

Ashni Singh has loved Beck since high school, but she’s done living out of a suitcase on the rodeo tour. She’s ready to put down roots and build her own career. Learning she’s unexpectedly expecting makes her even more determined to make a new life. So when Beck dutifully proposes, she does what any self-respecting, career-oriented, educated woman at the end of her patience would do. She says no.

The Rodeo Bride Game may have started as a fun challenge, but Beck has never been more serious about winning Ash’s heart and her hand.

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Meet the Author:

Sinclair Sawhney is a former journalist and middle school teacher who holds a BA in Political Science and K-8 teaching certificate from the University of California, Irvine and a MS in Education with an emphasis in teaching writing from the University of Washington. She has worked as Senior Editor with Tule Publishing for over seven years. Writing as Sinclair Jayne she’s published fifteen short contemporary romances with Tule Publishing with another four books being released in 2021. Married for over twenty-four years, she has two children, and when she isn’t writing or editing, she and her husband, Deepak, are hosting wine tastings of their pinot noir and pinot noir rose at their vineyard Roshni, which is a Hindi word for light-filled, located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Shaandaar!
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