Blog Tour: Once Upon A Cowboy by Maggie McGinnis (Excerpt, Review, Giveaway and Buy Links)
Once Upon A Cowboy
Book Three
285 Pages
Release Date: 06/30/2015
PUBLISHER/IMPRINT: RANDOM HOUSE LOVESWEPT
GENRE: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | SERIES: WHISPER CREEK
HEAT LEVEL: SWEET & MILD
In this sexy Whisper Creek romance for readers of Kristan Higgins, Susan Mallery, and Molly O’Keefe, a red-hot cowboy uses some Montana magic to give a reclusive beauty her happily ever after.
Yoga instructor Jessalyn Alcott radiates peace, calm, and serenity—on the outside. Inside, she still feels like the broken, desperate girl from the trailer park. She’s got dark secrets she can’t share, which is why she never lets her relationships go beyond the third date. But when she travels to the Whisper Creek dude ranch for a friend’s wedding, Jess is enchanted by a cowboy whose deep blue eyes, dimpled smile, and rock-hard body make it tough to remember why she keeps running scared.
Cole Driscoll has struggled to find his place on a family ranch where he’s always played second fiddle. His future might be uncertain, but he’s sure of one thing: He wants Jess by his side. Easier said than done. When it comes to getting close, she’s full of excuses, and he longs to fix the hurt he sees in her eyes. Now that she’s at Whisper Creek, there’s nothing he wants more than to break down the walls around her heart and heal her pain with the power of love.
“Sexy, charming, and perfectly heartwarming, Once Upon a Cowboy is the ultimate pick-me-up. Everything about this book made me smile. Maggie McGinnis just keeps getting better and better!”
USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne
Keep on reading for a book excerpt, review and rating, giveaway details, author information, and buy links.
From Once Upon A Cowboy by Maggie McGinnis:
“Okay, look to your left.” Kyla pointed toward the stable as she adjusted her camera later that afternoon. “And stop growling at me. Grumpy cowboys do not sell calendars, Cole.”
“Don’t they have models who do this kind of thing?”
“Yes, but they’re not authentic. You guys are the real deal.”
Cole raised his eyebrows. “The real deal is sweat and dirt and stink.”
“We’re going for pseudo real deal, then. Dirt and stink don’t sell calendars, either.” She motioned at him again. “Lift the brim of your hat up a little, okay? Your eyes are in shadow.”
“Kyla.”
“No growling.”
He raised his hat the obligatory half-inch, and of course as he did, Decker strolled out of the barn.
“Lookin’ good, Cole. Gonna get a little scratchy with those buttons undone, though, don’t you think?”
“Shut up, Decker. Don’t get any horse shit on those fancy shoes.” He looked toward Kyla. “Are we done here yet?”
“I was actually hoping to get a few more in the—”
“Sorry. Union rules. I can only be photographed for an hour a day.”
“Just a few more?”
Cole started doing up his buttons. “I have work to do, Kyla. Go play shutterbug with
somebody else for a while, wouldja?”
Christ. Stupid calendar. Real cowboys didn’t run around with their shirts open, aiming for the best light so their eyes wouldn’t be in—shadow. He shivered. At least she hadn’t suggested waxing.
“You could do worse, you know.” Decker grinned as he watched Kyla walk back up to the main lodge. “Maybe she can post those pics online or something. Might help you get a date for Daniel and Hayley’s wedding.”
Cole executed a middle-finger salute, then leaned down to pick up a rope Kyla’d insisted on using for a prop. “Don’t need a date. We have any early guests coming in today so I can be very, very busy next time she comes around with that damn camera?”
“Just Jess.”
Cole stopped coiling the rope. “Oh. Right.”
“Trying to make like you forgot? I’ll pretend I haven’t seen you check your watch about eighty times today.” Decker laughed. “Gonna get up the nerve to actually take her out while she’s here this time?”
“I’ve got plenty of nerve.”
“Right. She’s been out here three times now, and every single time, you’re like a parched man looking at a desert mirage, but—”
“Shut up. I’m hardly—parched.”
Decker eyed him in that way he had, the look that stripped the lies right off your face and made you tell the truth whether you wanted to or not. “I don’t know. Word in the bunkhouse is that your rep in town is getting a little rusty.”
“I’m not—rusty. And we don’t have a damn bunkhouse.”
“Want to know what I think?”
“No.”
“I think ever since you met Jess, you can’t help but compare everybody to her. And nobody quite measures up.”
Exactly. “Not true.”
“Well, true or not, she’ll be here by dinnertime. Kyla’s leaving for the airport in a while to get her.”
Cole rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he’d been counting the days or anything. Not like he’d gotten a haircut yesterday or had thoroughly checked out Jess’s cabin this morning to be sure it was shipshape and ready for her.
He shook his head, trying to get visions of Jess’s long dark hair and deep brown eyes out of his brain. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around Daniel and Hayley getting married in a week. I feel like we live and breathe weddings around here these days.”
“We’re gonna have a lot more if Kyla’s Bridal Bliss package thing works out.”
“I suppose that means we’d better finish the spa so she can start selling the packages.” Cole shook his head. How in the world had their working ranch become a wedding-slash-spa-slash- getaway place? “Your woman makes a hell of a lot of work for us, you know.”
Decker laughed. “She makes a hell of a lot of money for us, too. I think the only reason she’s not haranguing us to get the spa done is she’s hoping Jess will help with the design. I have a feeling she’s going to dangle it out as a carrot to get Jess to stay out here.”
“Out here out here? Like, for good?”
“Yep.” Decker nodded. “She’s been planting seeds for months. Getting Hayley to move to Montana got her all puffed up about her abilities. Now she’s turned her sights on Jess.”
“Poor Jess.” Cole shook his head.
“Pretty sure she can handle herself.” Decker tossed a beaten-up leather briefcase into the cab of his truck. “I gotta go charm the home buyers. Hold down the fort.”
As Decker headed out the driveway, Cole turned up the hill toward the new lodge, half of which was Whisper Creek’s new childcare facility and petting zoo. The other half was still rough-framed inside, but by fall was supposed to be ready for duty as a full-service spa.
He strolled toward the building, letting himself in the spa door. He inhaled, loving the scent of fresh lumber and drywall putty. Decker was the acknowledged brainiac of the family, working with his design software for half the night, but Cole preferred to be the guy with his hands right in the mud—literally.
Morning sun came through the east-facing windows and skylights, and he tried to picture what the spa would look like once it was finished. They had fifteen hundred square feet to work with, which might be an architect’s dream—if the architect was ever at the ranch long enough to figure out what to do with all this emptiness. Cole sure didn’t have a clue.
But then he pictured Jess in the warmly lit space, gliding around with one of her yoga outfits on, flashing her warm smile his way, tying up that long, long dark hair into a ponytail he’d just itch to take back down.
He shook his head, trying to erase the vision. Fantasizing about Jess before she even got here was only going to torture him more.
And her kind of torture was the kind that only left a man wanting what he could not have.
* ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review *
I loved this book! It’s fast-paced, expertly written, and the hero and heroine are so well-characterized I couldn’t help but love and root for them. The story has an almost flawless, effortless flow to it, which I loved because it truly felt like every word counted and meant something. It made for a dynamite romance read, with main characters I absolutely adored.
Once Upon A Cowboy is the third book in the Whisper Creek series by Maggie McGinnis, but the first I’ve read by the author. In the book, the heroine, Jess, is troubled by a past she can’t shake while the hero, Cole, is uncertain about his future, and the role his family’s ranch might play in it. But one thing he does know…he’s attracted to Jess, and determined to do something about it.
There were some great family dynamics in this book, and the interactions between all the characters was so easy to picture in my head, especially when it came Cole. He’s one of those larger than life characters that just seems to live and breathe all over the page. I loved him from the second he appeared, and I really loved that he’s so taken with Jess. She needed a good man who was worthy of breaking down her walls and giving her a safe place to land and Cole easily proved he was meant for that role. Which only served to make me love him even more.
If you’re like me and haven’t read Maggie McGinnis’ work before, do yourself a favor and pick up Once Upon A Cowboy now. It’s a fantastic, emotionally satisfying read, with two dynamic leads, and a wonderful, charismatic story chalk full of heart, humor, and an overall sense of confronting one’s biggest fears and then beating the odds to find the kind of happiness everyone dreams of and deserves.
Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher
Goodreads | Goodreads Series Link
Maggie McGinnis, USA Today Bestselling Author of Accidental Cowgirl and Driving Without a License, which was a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award is a former high school English teacher, an accomplished musician, and a certified black belt, who lives in New England with her family.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
This is a tour-wide giveaway by the Publishing for:
a Loveswept Mug, Flirt Mug and Select Ebook Bundle
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here!
Want to know more about the Whisper Creek series?
Check out the first two books on Goodreads by clicking the covers below.
This tour is being run by the fabulous:
Tour Schedule
June 22nd– Romancing the Readers- GP/P
(Stop 2) BJ’s Reviews– Int/Exc
(Stop 3) As You Wish Reviews– Rev/Exc
June 23rd– The Sassy Bookster– Rev/P
(Stop 2) Southern Yankee Book Reviews- Rev/P/Exc
(Stop 3) Twin Spin – Rev/P
(Stop 4) Ellesea Loves Reading – P/Exc
June 24th– The Lusty Literate– P/Exc
(Stop 2) Lush Book Reviews- Promo
(Stop 3) Ask a Bookworm – Rev/Exc
June 25th– Crystal Blogs Books– Rev/P
(Stop 2) All About A Book Reviews– Rev/P
June 26th– Mignon Mykel Reviews- Rev/Exc
(Stop 2) Cover to Cover Book Blog– Rev/P
June 27th – A Closet Full of Books – Rev/P
(Stop 2) Escape Into a Book– Rev/P
June 28th– Em and M Books– Rev/P
(Stop 2) Another Indie Book Promoter– Rev/P
(Stop 3) Leather and Lace Reviews- Rev/P/Exc
June 29th– Roberta’s Dreamworld – Rev/P
(Stop 2) – Romancing Rakes For the Love of Romance – P/Exc
June 30th– Manga Maniac Cafe– GP/P
(Stop 2) Nicole’s Book Musings – Rev/P
(Stop 3) Happily Ever Chapter – Rev/P
(Stop 4) Okie Dreams Book Reviews– Rev/P/Exc
July 1st– Paola’s Bookshelf- P/Exc
(Stop 2) Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews– Rev/P
(Stop 3) Margie’s Must Reads – Rev/Exc
July 2nd– Underneath the Covers– Rev/P/Exc
(Stop 2) Those Crazy Book Chicks– Rev/P/Exc
(Stop 3) What’s Beyond Forks?- Rev/Exc
July 3rd– Jen’s Reading Obsession– Rev/Exc
(Stop 2) Erin’s Choice – Rev/P
(Stop 3) Born to Reads Books – Promo
July 6th– Life with Two Boys– Rev/P
(Stop 2) Sassy Moms Say Read Romance- Rev/P/Exc
(Stop 3) T&L Book Reviews- Rev/P
(Stop 4) Wicked Reads- Rev/Exc
July 7th– Crazy Four Books– Rev/P
(Stop 2) My Book Addiction and More – Rev/Exc
(Stop 3) Home.Love.Book– Rev/P
July 8th– Crazii Bitches Book Blog– Rev/Exc
(Stop 2) Kaisy Daisy’s Corner – Rev/Exc
(Stop 3) Wendy Miller – Rev/Exc
July 9th– Romancing The Book– Int/Rev
(Stop 2) Tina, The Bookworm – Rev/P
(Stop 3) Travel’s n Reads- Rev/Exc
July 10th– Between the Lines- Rev/P
(Stop 2) It’s My Life Rev/P
(Stop 3) Bitches n Prose – Rev/P
July 13th– Books n Kisses– Rev/Exc
(Stop 2) Readers that Love Books – Rev/P
(Stop 3) Undercover Book Reviews– Promo
July 14th– Books & Spoons Blog– Rev/P
(Stop 2) The Phantom Paragrapher – Rev/P
(Stop 3) Cara’s Book Boudoir- Rev/P
July 15th– The Many Faces of Romance– Rev/P
(Stop 2) Christine’s Words– GP/P
(Stop 3) –Book Liason – Rev/Exc
July 16th– Musings and Ramblings– Int/Exc
(Stop 2) Karen’s Killer Book Bench– P/Exc
July 17th– Marebare’s Book Shelf– Rev/P/Exc
(Stop 2) Written Love Reviews- Rev/Exc
(Stop 3) The Book Review- Rev/P
Thank you for hosting ONCE UPON A COWBOY!