Blog Tour Stop, Interview & Giveaway: Joanne Kennedy’s How to Handle a Cowboy

For today’s stop on her How to Handle a Cowboy virtual tour, Joanne Kennedy answers a few “get to know you” questions for us.

Kathy: What book do you recommend everyone should read? Do you have a comfort read?

Joanne: I have lots of comfort reads! This time of year, I have a tradition of reading the first bit of Wind in the Willows so I can share Mole’s joy and he and Ratty celebrate spring. If you’ve never read this classic, do it now! It’s a perfect spring read. I’m not a big fan of Mr. Toad, but I had a heavy-duty crush on Ratty as a child.

As far as romance goes. I love, love, love Robin Wells’ Wild About You. It’s an older book and not readily available, but it’s my favorite cowboy-meets-crazy-city-girl romances. It’s funny and sweet and something about it sends me back to it again and again.

Kathy: What is your guilty pleasure?

Joanne: Lying on the sofa eating Quaker Big Chewy granola bars, drinking Coke Zero and reading trashy magazines. I am so ashamed… But to me, that’s the height of lazy, do-nothing luxury.

Kathy: Favorite meal?

Joanne: My fabulous yet super-simple baked chicken thighs (rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, bake on a rack over a pan of water at 450 for 30 minutes), steamed carrots, and chicken rice (use chicken stock instead of water, add a little lemon juice and some dried parsley, cook as directed). It’s everything food should be: simple, healthy, and yummy.

Kathy: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

Joanne: Sad. Very sad. And I would still write, even if nobody paid me. I’d probably never finish anything, though – I’d hop from story to story, going wherever my fancy took me.

But seriously, if I had to start over and choose a whole new career path, I think I’d want to go into social work. My heroine in How to Handle a Cowboy works with foster kids at a group home. I really admire people who dedicate their lives to helping others. There are so many kids out there who just need someone who cares about them and believes in them.

Kathy: If you could time travel, what time period would you visit?

Joanne: The frontier West of 1850-1890. I love visiting ghost towns and imagining what they were like when they were vibrant and alive. We take a lot of road trips around Wyoming, and often we’ll come upon the foundation of an old house, or a forgotten old schoolhouse in the middle of nowhere. My imagination is fired up by that kind of thing, and I love imagining the lives people led in those remote places. I would love to see the reality of the old West just once. I probably wouldn’t last a week living the dirty, difficult life women led back then, and I’d have a new appreciation for the present!

Kathy: Thank you for much for chatting with us today! I know that I’ll be trying out your chicken recipe (it sounds delicious!). And if time travel is ever possible, I’ll be your traveling partner 😉

Congratulations on the release of How to Handle a Cowboy and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

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Title: Review: How to Handle a Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy
Cowboys of Decker Ranch Book One
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Imprint: Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 416 pages

Summary:

His Rodeo Days May Be Over…

Sidelined by a career-ending injury, rodeo cowboy Ridge Cooper feels trapped at his family’s remote Wyoming ranch. Desperate to find an outlet for the passion he used to put into competing, he takes on the challenge of teaching his roping skills to five troubled ten-year-olds in a last-chance home for foster kids, and finds it’s their feisty supervisor who takes the most energy to wrangle.

But He’ll Still Wrangle Her Heart

When social worker Sierra Dunn seeks an activity for the rebellious kids at Phoenix House, she soon learns she’s not in Denver anymore. Sierra is eager to get back home to her inner-city work, and the plan doesn’t include forming an attachment in Wyoming—especially not to a ruggedly handsome and surprisingly gentle local rodeo hero.

Read my review HERE (oh, my goodness, I LOVED it!).

“Realistic and romantic… Kennedy’s forte is in making relationships genuine and heartfelt as she exposes vulnerabilities with tenderness and good humor.” —Booklist STARRED Review

“The sex scenes are juicy… Each character is essential to the storyline and the plot moves seamlessly.” —RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

Purchase Links: Amazon * B&N * Books-a-Million * Chapters/Indigo * IndieBound * iBooks * Sourcebooks

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Author Bio

Joanne Kennedy’s lifelong fascination with Wyoming’s unique blend of past and present inspires her to write contemporary Western romances with traditional ranch settings. Her books include Cowboy Tough, Tall, Dark and Cowboy, and the RITA-nominated One Fine Cowboy. At various times, she has dabbled in horse training, chicken farming, and bridezilla wrangling at a department store wedding registry. Her love of reading led to careers in bookselling and writing. She lives with two dogs and a fighter pilot in Cheyenne, Wyoming. For more information, please visit http://joannekennedybooks.com/.

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Giveaway

One PRINT copy of How to Handle a Cowboy AND a special surprise cowboy-themed gift from Joanne Kennedy (Contest is open to US & Canadian Addresses ONLY). To enter today’s contest:

You must Do TWO of the Following:

1. Sign up for e-mail updates (upper left corner). One email daily with the day’s posts.

OR:

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OR:

3. Follow me on Twitter (@BookReviewsMore)

Make sure you have filled out the contest entry form:

4. To be eligible to enter contests on Book Reviews and More by Kathy you MUST fill out the contest entry form (found HERE). This form only needs to be filled out ONCE. Your privacy is important to me, and I will not share your information.

And don’t forget to:

5. Fill out the form below by 5 PM Mountain Time Monday afternoon (April 7).

CONTEST OVER

*I am the only person who will have access to info that is submitted to me UNLESS a publisher or author has donated an eBook for the giveaway. For a prize donated by an author or publisher, I will forward your e-mail and format selection to the person responsible for distributing the eBook. In the event the contest form is not working, please leave your book selection in the comments below.*

It’s that easy! The winner will be selected using random.org. The publisher will mail the winner their prizes (Contest is open to US & Canadian Addresses ONLY). The winner will be posted HERE on Tuesday.