When
a bull-headed city girl meets a bull-riding Wyoming cowboy, hooves are gonna
fly.
That’s my tag line for
Ride
for a Bride in Wyoming. This was a fun book to write. It started out as one
thing though and changed to something else after I’d done some research on the
location, Sheridan, Wyoming.
I knew my heroine, Annora Lee Bostwick of New York, was a
member of the newly established American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, and that the hero, Buffalo Birch Struthers, was a rancher
participating in the beginnings of the rodeo.
Rodeos had been
held in the South—Mexico, New Mexico, Texas, etc, for decades on Spanish
ranches going back to the 1700s. Ranch hands from different ranches gathered
together to compete and see who was the best bull rider, bull roper, bronc
buster and so forth.
Following
the
Texas Revolution and the
U.S. Mexican
War, contests eventually appeared at race tracks, fairgrounds, and
festivals. William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) created the first major rodeo and
Wild West show in North Platte, Nebraska in 1882. Women joined the Wild West
and contest rodeo circuits in the 1890s and their participation grew as the
activities spread geographically. Animal welfare groups began targeting rodeos
from the earliest times and have continued their efforts with varying degrees
of success ever since.
The
first official rodeo held in Sheridan, Wyoming took place in 1909. Reading up
on this
changed my story. Once I’d learned that the 1909 rodeo included a “ride
for a bride” race, and the winner truly did wed the bride, I knew this had to
become part of my book.
Another
piece of research that went into my book was Buffalo Birch Struthers racing a
buffalo to win his bride. I found an article about a man who won almost every
race he ran on his trained buffalo against thoroughbred horses. In a sprint, a
buffalo can beat a horse any time.
Blurb:
Marriage was the last thing
on Annora Lee Bostwick’s mind when she moved to Wyoming to start a new
branch of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Her
focus was centered solely on saving animals…until blackmail and deceit force
her to reconsider.
Buffalo Birch Struthers had no desire to marry, but must if
he wanted to keep his father’s ranch, and time was running out. His only option
was a new event scheduled for the upcoming yearly ranch competition called the
Ride for a Bride Race.
Can two strangers who find themselves in an unwanted but
unavoidable situation set anger and obstinacy aside long enough to fall in
love?
Here is an excerpt from Ride for a Bride in Wyoming, Book 4 of Rocky
Mountain Romances.
She had light red hair.
Not strawberry blond, or the usual carrot red. Birch
never would've thought of a color like red as being mellow or calm, but that's
how he saw it.
She had freckles to go
with the hair, and intense, green eyes with a hint of stubbornness as if she wouldn't give an inch even if you set her
skirts on fire. That glimpse of obstinacy matched the tilt of her chin and the
stiff way she held herself. An uppity New York spinster no doubt hoping to snag
what she'd failed to catch back home—a husband.
"She's my
cousin," Lissette told the mayor, an arm around Miss Bostwick's waist.
"And my
bride-to-be," Jenks asserted.
"That is
impossible," Miss Bostwick stated with emphasis.
Great thunder! Even her voice sounded pretty, like a meadowlark
at dusk.
"I'm afraid this
is my fault," Lissette said. "You see, Annora's mother wrote, asking
me to help Annora find a husband. She gave me to understand that is why Annora
decided to relocate here. When I saw the notice about the race, it seemed the
perfect answer."
"Why didn't you
ask me if I considered it perfect?" Miss Bostwick pulled the cat from her
shoulder. "I've no need for a husband. I like being a spinster."
Birch swallowed a laugh
at that.
"Oh, but, Annora,
I... I only want to see you happy." Looking stricken, Lissette glanced
around at their audience. "Please, can we discuss this later?"
"Good idea,"
Mayor Sythes said. "I think we've strayed from the topic, folks."
"Yes. Remove my
name as the Ride for a Bride bride," Miss Bostwick told him.
Lissette's face paled.
"Annora, you can't."
"I'd like to know
why not."
"Ladies.
Ladies." Sythes tried to get the situation under control.
Birch felt he ought to
be rooting for one of the women, but didn't know which. Miss Bostwick had a
right to be angry at her cousin for putting her in such an awkward situation.
"But, Mayor,"
Jenks whined, "I have a right to
take my bride over to the church and get hitched. I won the race."
Lissette's skirts
rustled as she whirled to face him. "No one expected that to happen. Birch
and Hezzie always win."
"That doesn't
change the fact that I won this time," he retorted.
"Which means
nothing to me," Miss Bostwick said.
Birch raised his hands.
"Hold on. Can I get a word in here?"
"Go ahead,"
Mayor Sythes gestured him forward. "Speak up, Birch."
"First, I had no
knowledge about Miss Westbrook coming here—"
"Bostwick,"
the redhead corrected, preventing the calico kitten from climbing to her
shoulder again.
"—or being the
designated bride for the race. In fact, I
didn't think any bride had volunteered yet."
"I can verify when
the race is to take place." Mayor Sythes pulled a paper out of his vest
pocket. "I have the competition rules and schedule with me." Putting
on his spectacles, he read, "The Ride for a Bride Race shall commence on
the day following the conclusion of the ranch competition. That means the race
is to be held July 30."
"Let me see
that." Jenks snatched the paper away.
Lissette clapped her
hands in delight. "This means you still have a chance to win Annora's
hand, Birch. Isn't that marvelous?"
He wanted to puke.
Leave a comment below
and you might win a copy of the book.
Charlene Raddon’s love
affair with the Old West began as a child. She still has the six-gun from the
cowboy outfit she wore when she was seven. In 1980, she woke from a vivid dream
and decided it needed to be in a book, so she dragged out an old typewriter and
began writing. She’s still at it.
First published by
Kensington Books, Charlene is now an Indie author. When she isn’t writing, she
loves communicating with readers and other writers. She also creates book
covers at her site, http://silversagebookcovers.com.
