Forever Romance’s Cowboy of the Month is…. Mateo Torres from True-Blue Cowboy by Sara Richardson! Please click HERE to find out more about this rugged yet tender bronc rider!
Please welcome Sara Richardson to Book Reviews & More by Kathy. Thank you so much for chatting with us today.
Kathy: Can you tell us a little about your new release, True-Blue Cowboy?
Ms. Richardson: Hi Kathy! Thanks for inviting me! I’m so excited for True-Blue to finally be on shelves. This is the fourth book in my Rocky Mountain Riders series, and it’s a rivals-to-lovers story with a little bit of everything—suspense, heartbreak, humor, and of course a swoon-worthy happily ever after.
Kathy: Mateo Torres and Everly Brooks are the lead characters in True-Blue Cowboy. Which one of them did you find the easiest to develop? What is each characters best and worst traits?
Ms. Richardson: Great question! In this case, I think I found it easiest to develop Mateo’s character because of his rough backstory. While Everly definitely had some pain in her past, she was already further along in dealing with it than Mateo, so I didn’t have quite as much to work with in giving her a solid character arc. It made me dig a little deeper to understand what areas of growth she needed to experience in order to finally be ready to embrace love again. While writing, I did find that I really connected with both characters though. Everly is compassionate and open and hardworking, though in her rush to help others she is sometimes too naïve and quick to get too emotionally involved. Mateo is charming and funny on the surface but also unwaveringly loyal, which sometimes causes him to be too rigid in his thoughts and actions.
Kathy: What inspired your Rocky Mountain series? What do you think draws readers to Western romances?
Ms. Richardson: I think a large part of what attracts people to western romance is the setting, which is also what inspired me to write this series. I grew up in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, and there is something so wild and beautiful about the landscape. It’s inspiring but can also be dangerous, which adds a whole new dimension to the story. There is also such a fun culture to explore in small mountain towns. When people are living in more extreme conditions, they tend to band together in close-knit communities where everyone helps everyone else (and they all know each other’s business!). I think that community-centered story draws readers in because we all desire those connections.
Kathy: What was your biggest challenge while True-Blue Cowboy? What was your greatest pleasure and/or reward?
Ms. Richardson: Oh boy, I had a lot of challenges writing this story! 🙂 Originally when I had plotted it out, I had planned on Everly and Mateo being put in a position where they would have to fake a marriage for the benefit of his family. Partway through the story, it just wasn’t working. Neither character was having it. They were both so genuine and as I got to know them more I couldn’t see either one of them lying, even for a good cause. So I went back to the drawing board and started over. Without an outline to guide me I felt my way through, but during the editing process, my wonderful editor pointed out some weaknesses in the tension and conflict, so I actually ended up cutting about a third of the book and rewriting it. It was definitely a more challenging book to write—mainly because I switched gears in the middle of it—but that is all a part of the process. I had to work at it until I got to the heart of the conflict in the story. My greatest reward was reading the stellar review from Publisher’s Weekly calling it a “well-plotted and expertly characterized” story. If only they knew what I had to go through to get it there!
Kathy: Do you work from an outline while writing your novels? How closely do the finished novels fit your original vision of the characters and storyline before you begin writing?
Ms. Richardson: I definitely use an outline, but I like to call myself a flexible plotter. Having a blueprint for the story helps me to orchestrate all of the most important elements in the plot and character arcs, and gives me a clear vision of where the story needs to go. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever written a complete manuscript without changing the outline as I go. True-Blue is probably the most extreme example of changing the outline, but it is amazing how things change as you get to know the characters while you’re writing. Before starting a new project, I do a lot of work trying to get to know the character—the physical description, backstory, characteristics, etc. But I truly think you only get to know them on a deeper level once you’re actually writing them in scenes. My characters always surprise me.
Kathy: What project(s) are you currently working on?
Ms. Richardson: I just turned in a fun Rocky Mountain Riders Christmas novella that will come out in November and I’ve started plotting the final installment of the Rocky Mountain Riders series—A Cowboy for Christmas, which will come out in October of 2019. I also have a women’s fiction project in the works and a proposal for a new cowboy series. There’s never a dull moment in my world. 🙂
Kathy: I have mixed emotions about A Cowboy for Christmas-happy because I’m eager love the characters but sad because I’ll miss the Rocky Mountain Riders series.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions!
Title: True-Blue Cowboy by Sara Richardson
Rocky Mountain Riders Series Book Four
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 448 pages
Summary:
TWO STORIES IN ONE: AN ALL-NEW SARA RICHARDSON NOVEL PLUS SAVED BY THE COWBOY BY A.J. PINE…
Can this cowboy be tamed?
Everly Brooks is finally living her dream. Renting a farm in Topaz Falls, Colorado, is the perfect antidote to her high-stress life back in San Francisco. It’s the ideal place to raise chickens, grow veggies, and run her farm-to-table restaurant. There’s just one problem: her new landlord. Mateo Torres is a handsome-as-hell bronc rider who oozes charm, melts hearts-and plans to kick Everly off the farm . . .
Mateo has dreams, too. He’d bought that land as an investment, so he could take care of his mom and sisters, which means Everly has to go. Unfortunately for him, this former big-city girl is just as stubborn as the broncs he rides. When his trailer floods and forces him to move into Everly’s farmhouse, things between them really start to heat up. Sure, living under the same roof might not be the best way to settle their dispute over the land. But when two rivals share everything-from heated words to scorching kisses-it’s definitely the hottest.
Read my review HERE.
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Author Bio
Sara Richardson grew up chasing adventure in Colorado’s rugged mountains. She’s climbed to the top of a 14,000 foot peak at midnight, swum through Class IV rapids, completed her wilderness first-aid certification, and spent seven days at a time tromping through the wilderness with a thirty-pound backpack strapped to her shoulders.
Eventually Sara did the responsible thing and got an education in writing and journalism. After a brief stint in the corporate writing world, she stopped ignoring the voices in her head and started writing fiction. Now she uses her experience as a mountain adventure guide to write stories that incorporate adventure with romance. Still indulging her adventurous spirit, Sara lives and plays in Colorado with her saint of a husband and two young sons.
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Great interview