How to Handle a Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy – Review, Interview and Giveaway

How To Handle A Cowboy
Cowboys of Decker Ranch #1
by Joanne Kennedy
Release Date: April 1, 2014

Links to order How to Handle a Cowboy:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository

Description:
Sidelined by a career-ending injury, rodeo cowboy Ridge Cooper is desperate to find an outlet for the energy he devoted to his sport. He decides to teach rodeo skills to the kids at the Phoenix House, a local group home for foster children. Here he falls for a big-city girl who just might make him the perfect wife.

Inner-city social worker Sierra Dunn has been exiled to a last-chance home for foster kids in a remote Wyoming town for blowing the whistle on her boss. Her only goal is to prove herself and move back to the city, but the town’s rodeo hero is going after her heart.


Review:

There’s just something about a cowboy that gets my blood pumping, so when asked to read and review How to Handle a Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy, I wasn’t passing up the chance.  I’m very happy that I read this one and hope there will be more stories to come regarding the cowboys of Decker Ranch.  We get to meet the Decker cowboys in this one, but the story focuses solely on Ridge Cooper, a recently retired rodeo cowboy due to a career ending injury, and Sierra Dunn, social worker from the city of Denver.  These two are pretty much opposites, but as they say opposites attract, and boy do these two ever have that combustible kind of attraction for one another.  From their first scene together their mutual attraction for one another is palpable and the story just flows from there.  Ridge and Sierra run away with this story and take us on am emotional journey of finding what it really means to find that special someone that you can call home with.

As I said I was very happy to have read this one.  Ms. Kennedy has a way with words and sets up the story just so. I was hooked from the first chapter and knew I needed to learn more about our battered cowboy and social worker from the city.  Ms. Kennedy sets a nice easy going pace to her story and never rushes anything.  We get to learn who Ridge and Sierria were before they met, who they are now, and who they’ve become because of meeting one another. I really enjoyed getting to meet both Ridge and Sierra and see them as two separate entities but missing that one key ingredient, that special someone who brings out the best in you and makes you feel like you’ve finally come home.  Even though they are opposites, for some reason they bring out the best in the other, and it feels right, like it was meant to be.  However, they are both very stubborn and proud personalities and due to their pasts, have a hard time just letting go, and letting someone else in.  If it wasn’t for Sierra’s foster kids, and Ridge teaching them the ins and outs of ranch life, who knew if these two lonely souls would ever have met. Thanks to her foster kids, Sierra and Ridge both discover a different side to themselves and start to think that maybe, just maybe they can have everything they ever dreamed of.  The romance between Ridge and Sierra is sweet and unrushed. I enjoyed watching these two come together and realize they are better together then apart.  

As I said I’m a sucker for a good cowboy read and this really hit the spot for me.  For some reason I’ve always loved a book with a hero who feels he’s broken and doesn’t deserve the life he’s always wanted.  I got this and more with Ridge Cooper. My heart broke for him and his brothers and what they went through as kids, and now dealing with a career ending rodeo injury.  At first he thinks rodeo is all he ever had to live for, but once Sierra and her band of misfits enter the picture, he sees a side of himself that can relate to those kids and knows he can make a difference in their lives, just like the Deckers did for him and his brothers.  I really enjoyed watching Ridge transform from a sullen and bitter cowboy, to one who feels with all his heart and wants to make a difference in the lives of a group of foster kids and win his lady’s heart. For anyone who is a fan of cowboys, then this one is a must, and I only hope Ms. Kennedy will have stories to tell for Ridges’ brother’s Shane and Brady.  Having met them in this story and learning a little about them, I’m rather captivated by these other cowboys and want to learn more about them.  Here’s to hoping for more wonderful cowboy reads from Ms. Kennedy. 

Until next time, Happy Reading pardners, Yee Haw!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

TRC: Hi Joanne and welcome to The Reading Café.

We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Joanne: I’m actually an Easterner who fell in love with the West on a vacation to Yellowstone National Park when I was eight years old. I loved the fact that the chipmunks ate out of your hands and I thought jackalopes were real, so vowed I would move West someday. Twenty years ago, I did just that, running away from home to Montana, then Colorado, and finally Wyoming. I was a little disillusioned about the jackalopes, but otherwise the West has exceeded all my expectations.

I’ve worked in the book trade all my life, as the owner of a used and rare bookstore, the manager of an independent, and the manager of a Barnes & Noble. I’d always wanted to write a book, and finally, at 45, I decided it was time. My first published book was “Cowboy Trouble,” and I’ve written about cowboys and the West ever since.

TRC: HOW TO HANDLE A COWBOY is the first installment in your new Cowboys of Decker Ranch series. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Joanne: My new series centers on three cowboys who were all foster kids until they were taken in as teenagers by rancher Bill Decker, who taught them to ride and rope and schooled them in the Code of the West.

In the nearby town of Wynott, the elderly residents are struggling to keep their community alive. When an old Victorian mansion is turned into a foster home for boys, the cowboys see a chance to pay it forward and give the kids there a chance to learn the cowboy way.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the Cowboys of Decker Ranch series?

Joanne: I’m planning on three books, so I can tell the story of all three Decker Ranch cowboys: Ridge Cooper, Brady Caine, and Shane Lockhart. But there are a lot of stories in Wynott, Wyoming that want to be told, so there may be a spin-off in the future.

TRC: Will each storyline have a different male and female lead? And will the previous storyline characters play any significant role in future storylines?

Joanne: Yes. Each book will feature one of the brothers and the woman who is his destiny. I just finished book two, which is Brady’s story, and although the book stands on its own (that’s very important to me!), there are lots of fun connections to the previous story. For example, Tornado, the bucking bronc who ended Ridge’s rodeo career, continues to pose a challenge to the cowboys. And Isaiah, one of the kids from the foster home, brightens up the heroine’s lonely life after Brady accidentally injures her in a roping accident.

TRC: If you could virtually cast the leading characters in this storyline, which models or actors best represents your ideal image?

Joanne: Sourcebooks really got it right this time. Ridge looks like Wade Russell, whoever he is. He’s listed on the copyright page as the model for the cover, and he looks very much like I pictured Ridge. Just picture him saying, “Howdy, Ma’am” in a Sam Elliott growl and then not saying another word, and you’ve got Ridge.

But I hesitate to define characters in that much detail. I try to tell just enough about a character so they can create their own image, and I hope it’s as strong as the image in my head. It doesn’t have to match; it just has to be real to the reader. I think books are a collaboration between the reader and the writer, where the writer brings a story to life and the reader creates the pictures in her head that make it real. I hope that makes sense to people!

TRC: Most, if not all, of your books focus on cowboys and western romances. What or who was the driving factor behind your foray into this particular genre?

Joanne: I’m not sure when my fascination with cowboys started. Partly it was from watching The History Channel years ago. I got interested in Western history, and of course cowboys are a huge part of that. Then, when I moved West, I was fascinated by how different Western culture is. It was like going to another country. And once I met a few cowboys, I discovered that no matter what their age, they had certain traits in common: old-fashioned values, a deep connection to the land, and a reverence for home and family as well as tradition. That makes them perfect romantic heroes for me.

TRC: Have you ever ridden a horse?;)

Joanne: Yes! But have I ever ridden a horse well? No! I’m not any kind of athlete, and that extends to horseback riding. I love horses and had one of my own years ago. At the time, I could afford the horse, the feed, and the vet bills, but that didn’t leave anything left over for a saddle. So I rode bareback most of the time, and fell off a lot. My horse was a wise old Arabian mare who would respond to the slightest movement from her rider. It felt like she could read my mind; I’d just think about where I wanted to go, and she’d go there. She was wonderful and taught me so much.

TRC: How do you keep the plot unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?

Joanne: It’s hard, because all romances are predictable to some degree. You know the hero and heroine are going to end up together; the trick is to make the reader forget that fact. I believe that if you set a story in a believable enough world, the reader will forget she’s reading a romance. Hopefully, she’ll forget she’s reading at all, and be swept away by the story as if it’s real life. So the content itself is the key to believability. You need characters that seem real, events that mirror real life, and a setting that draws you in and makes you feel the story with all your senses.

TRC: Are you a plotter or a panster (write by the ‘seat of your pants’)?

Joanne: I try very hard to be a plotter, but my inner pantser refuses to let that happen. I once tried to slavishly follow an outline for a story, and a third of the way through the story up and died. Nothing seemed real, nothing was believable, and my characters felt like cardboard cutouts. I had to start over and loosen up a little, and then it became one of my favorite books (Cowboy Fever).

Now I write a very general outline that will keep the story on course, and then let my inner pantser loose. I rein her in once in a while, going back to the outline to make sure I haven’t lost the thread of the story, but I love to write intuitively.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Joanne: I create the characters and the situations they’ll have to deal with. Their reactions to those situations are what drives the story.

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writers fail in this endeavor?

Joanne: I think it’s essential for a writer to feel the characters’ emotions deeply and completely. You have to be able to put yourself into a character’s head and heart and live their life. Empathy is the most important skill a writer can possess, because it lets you feel the joy and pain others experience.

TRC: Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon. How do you handle the pressures and anxiety of writer’s block?

Joanne: Every writer has to discover what their block means. For me, it’s usually a sign that there’s something wrong with the story. The flaw, which can be subtle and hard to see, keeps me from enjoying the work and I suddenly don’t want to write. I have to step back and look at the story objectively to find the problem. Sometimes the issue is at the core of the story, and I have to do a lot of soul-searching and rewriting to straighten things out. Naturally, my mind resists this—and that’s writer’s block.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information with other authors or friends and family. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Joanne: My husband. I call him the “Plot Monkey.” (Although he bears no resemblance whatever to a monkey. Honest. Well, sometimes his personality…but not his looks! He looks like Sam Shepard. Lucky me!) Whenever I can’t figure out how to get a character out of a jam, he can figure out a way. This might have something to do with the fact that he was a fighter pilot. Those guys get in a lot of trouble, and always manage to find a way out of it. Trust me – it’s still happening!

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Joanne: I just finished the second book in the Cowboys of Decker Ranch series, How to Wrangle a Cowboy. It’s the story of Brady, the youngest of the Decker Ranch cowboys, and what happens when he causes an accident that puts a barrel racer out of commission for the rodeo season. Brady might seem like a guy who’s just out for a good time, but he’s determined to take care of Suze Carlyle until she’s back in the saddle again. The fact that she doesn’t want him around since their disastrous one-night stand a few months earlier doesn’t faze him at all.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Joanne: Just a huge thank you to you in particular and bloggers like you in general. You are the connection between authors and their readers, and add a wonderful new dimension to the reading and writing experience by bringing us together and letting us get to know each other. Thank you for all your hard work.

And, of course, thank you to my readers for caring about my characters and their stories.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food
Roast chicken.

Favorite Dessert
Bread pudding.

Favorite TV Show
NCIS, on the rare occasions when I watch TV. I also love Storage Wars, because I used to go to a lot of auctions and buy box lots, which is a similar experience.

Last Movie You Saw
Twelve Years a Slave. I loved it. Lupita Nyong’o was incredible.

Dark or Milk Chocolate
Dark. Especially Dark Chocolate Kit Kats!

Secret Celebrity Crush
Sam Shepard. Handsome and smart. And the young Clint Eastwood. I love a tough guy:)

Last Vacation Destination
Polebridge, Montana for my son’s wedding. This tiny town consists of a Mercantile and a saloon. My daughter-in-law’s family has a homestead there, and it’s as close to heaven as you’ll get – partly because of the Mercantile’s incredible Huckleberry Bear Claws.

Wait. Can I change my answer on favorite dessert? Is it too late? Because it’s Huckleberry Bear Claws! They’re also my favorite food. Rewrite!

Pet Peeve
When my husband blames me for stuff I didn’t do! Every time he loses something, he is convinced that I took it, moved it, or hid it for some nefarious reason of my own. Why would I take his dirty old chainsaw-sharpening thing-a-majig? I don’t even know what it’s called! I didn’t take it!

TRC: Thank you Joanne for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the new release and new series.

Joanne: Thank you. I loved this interview – it really made me think! Thanks also to all my readers for bringing my stories to life. I hope everyone will feel free to join this conversation and ask their own questions in the comments.

Sourcebooks and Joanne are offering a paper copy of HOW TO HANDLE A COWBOY and a ‘cowboy themed’ gift to one (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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5. Giveaway open to USA and Canada only.

6. Giveaway runs from April 10 to April 14, 2014