Guest Post and Giveaway: Cowboy Trouble by Joanne Kennedy

I am very excited to have a guest post today from Joanne Kennedy, the author of Cowboy Trouble. My review is here. When asked what I would like the topic of Ms. Kennedy's post to be I thought it would be fun for her to write about country vs. city living.

So without further ado, Ms. Joanne Kennedy....

Joanne Kennedy Guest Blog, author of Cowboy Trouble

The Broken Teepee; March 18, 2010

City vs. Country

When I first started the writing adventure that led to Cowboy Trouble, chick lit was in its heyday and the shelves at my local bookstore were filled with stories about hip, stylish city girls struggling to balance their careers and their personal lives.

I loved the lighthearted tone of these books, and I liked the heroines. They were always spunky girls who could laugh at themselves, and despite all the agonizing over their careers and their love lives, they were strong women who could stand on their own two feet.

But they were all city girls. They all had high-powered careers, and they dressed in designer fashions – or wanted to. I thought the world needed some stories about a different kind of women. Women who don’t give a hoot about high heels or hairstyles. Women whose idea of high fashion is wearing their Wranglers in “slim fit” instead of “cowboy cut.”

So I started writing rural romance.

I have to issue a disclaimer here. I’m biased—really biased—in favor of country and small-town living. To me, that’s real life. Living in the city surrounded by brick and concrete seems artificial and a little scary to me.

In the city, men’s lives usually revolve around a nine-to-five type job, and chances are his job takes place in an office, under fluorescent lights. Your city guy probably wears a suit to work, and whether he’s a cubicle dweller or a high-powered executive, he’s almost always indoors. If he has muscles, he probably got them from spending hours in the gym. He looks that way on purpose.

Country guys, on the other hand, live their lives according to the rhythms of nature. Their schedules are dictated by the needs of animals and crops, and they spend most of their time outdoors. They wear whatever’s comfortable—jeans and boots, a hat to ward off the sun, and, if you’re lucky, chaps. (I could write a whole ‘nother post on the virtues of chaps.) The sun tans their skin and hard work hones their muscles. That Wrangler butt isn’t something he consciously developed with hours of lunges and crunches; it’s just a happy accident.

A really, really happy accident.

Life is fast-paced and exciting in the city, but finding romance isn’t easy. The cost of living is high and jobs that support it are demanding, so there’s little free time. Speed-dating and internet matchmaking sites allow busy, career-minded city dwellers to find love if they’re lucky, but that’s not the most romantic way to meet your mate.

In the country it can be a challenge to meet the man of your dreams because the pool of candidates is smaller, but trust me, village matchmakers work on a (very enthusiastic) volunteer basis. You don’t even have to write your profile, because everyone already knows all about you and they’re more than willing to share. They’ll give you the goods on the guy, too. If there’s a skeleton in his closet, they’ll probably introduce you to it long before you even meet your prospective mate.

In the city, people date. You might go to a singles bar to meet someone, and then graduate to going out to dinner. There’s lots to do on a city date; you can go to the theatre or take in a concert. But how do you get to know a guy that way? You’re watching the play, or listening to the music. When do you talk?

A country date is different. Maybe he’ll take you to a rodeo, or a honky-tonk bar. Or you can go hiking, or horseback riding. In any case, chances are you’re a participant, not a spectator, and there’s plenty of time to talk—and to touch.

That’s why Libby, at the beginning of Cowboy Trouble, paraphrases Eva Gabor in Green Acres: “Take Atlanta, just give me that countryside.”  I’m sure a city girl could argue just as effectively in favor of urban life, but I love wide-open spaces and the comfort of small-town living, and I love me some cowboys.

I am very pleased to announce that Danielle at Sourcebooks is giving me 2 copies to give away. How cool is that? But first a couple of rules:

US and Canada only

No PO Boxes

How do you win? It's easy.

MANDATORY ENTRY:

And this one comes straight from our guest:

Are you a city girl or a country girl? And what kind of setting do you like to read about—urban, or rural?

Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publicly. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway(one per day) - @BrokenTeepee and Sourcebooks are giving away 2 copies of Cowboy Trouble @http://tinyurl.com/yj57h8z #giveaway
3. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee (this is good for 6 entries so leave 6 comments)
4. Follow my goat Pricilla's Blog publicly. If you already do, just say so. And thank you. 
5. Enter any of my other current giveaways. Good for one entry per...

6. Put me on your blogroll and leave a link where I can find it. ( Good for 5 entries so leave 5 comments)

7. Add my button to your blog and leave me a link where I can find it.
8. Join my networked blogs - the widget is off to the right.
9. Become my friend on facebook

All entries need to be in by 9PM MDT on April 1st (no foolin') when I will go to Random.org to choose the winners. They will have 48hrs to respond or I will choose new winners.

Good luck everyone!

 Cowboy Trouble is available at Amazon.com

COWBOY TROUBLE by JOANNE KENNEDY—IN STORES MARCH 2010

Fleeing her latest love life disaster, big city journalist Libby Brown's transition to rural living isn't going exactly as planned. Her childhood dream has always been to own a chicken farm—but without the constant help of her charming, sexy, cowboy neighbor; she'd never have made it through her first Wyoming season.

Handsome rancher Luke Rawlins is impressed by this sassy, independent city girl. But he yearns to do more than help Libby out with her ranch…he's ready for love, and he wants to go the distance. When the two get embroiled in their tiny town's one and only crime story, Libby discovers that their sizzling hot attraction is going to complicate her life in every way possible…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanne Kennedy has worked in bookstores all her life in positions ranging from bookseller to buyer. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and won first place in the Colorado Gold Writing Contest and second place in the Heart of the Rockies contest in 2007.  Joanne lives and writes in Cheyenne, Wyoming. For more information please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/.