Bull Riding for Fun and Profit
Hi. I’m Tara Lain and today I’m celebrating the release of my new contemporary romance, COWBOYS DON’T SAMBA. This is my second story I’ve ever written with a hero who’s a bull rider. In fact, my hero, Maury Garcia, in this new book was first seen as a secondary character in Cowboys Don’t Ride Unicorns. My hero in Unicorns was a sometime bull rider, but Maury is a world champion, so I really got to revisit the sport in this book. I’ve done a ton of research over the two novels, and here are a few facts I posted last year that bear repeating just to appreciate bull riding —
• Bull riders are required to wear a padded vest and leather chaps, plus spurs to help anchor the rider’s feet. The vest serves a protective purpose and prevents broken ribs. Interestingly, the chaps serve no real purpose and some riders hate wearing them. Speaking for the observers, however, chaps are way sexy!
• Some rider’s wear protective helmets and young riders are required to wear them. Other pro riders prefer their cowboy hats, which they feel give them extra balance.
• Riders exercise to get strong but not bulky since they have to lift their own body weight. Generally, bull riders aren’t extremely tall for the same reasons.
• Bull riding is called the “most dangerous 8 seconds in sport.” The reasons are simple. All riders suffer cuts, bruises and concussions – even broken bones. The possibility for paralysis is very real.
• While at one time bull riding was a lot of danger for little reward, today with the advent of the Professional Bull Riders, a successful rider can literally earn a million dollars in a year.
• Both the rider and the bull get a score. The higher a bull’s score, the greater the chance for the rider to earn high points by staying on his back for 8 seconds. So riders want hard-ro-ride bulls – but some are too hard as you’ll see in Cowboys Don’t Samba.
• All bulls don’t buck. Quite the contrary. Rodeo bulls are bred and selected for their bucking skill.
• Riders insist that the bulls love the experience as much as they do and are not hurt in the sport. Bulls are highly valued and well treated. As Maury says, “They’re worth more than the riders.”
• Rodeo clowns, today usually called bullfighters, work a very dangerous job, distracting the bulls from the riders and getting them back into the chutes. Their upside potential is substantially less than the bull riders.
I hope you enjoy my bull riders in COWBOYS DON’T SAMBA.
Title: Cowboys Don’t Samba by Tara Lain
Cowboys Don’t Series Book Three
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Gay, Romance
Length: 229 pages/Word Count: 75,016
Summary:
A Cowboys Don’t Story
Maury Garcia’s one of the greatest bull riders in the world—and one of the biggest liars. Can he turn forbidden love with a rodeo rookie into a lasting romance?
Ever since his brother was killed because he was gay, Maury’s worked to take his brother’s place as the bull rider, the provider, and the ideal of his family’s macho expectations. The only thing Maury’s ever done for himself is buy a secret ranch so he can get away from the responsibilities he’s chained himself to. Then he meets Tristão Silva, the younger brother of the one man who could rob Maury of his bull riding championship.
Tristão may be a world-class bull rider in his own right, but his kind, gentle nature and sexy samba hips make Maury long for something beyond his selfless, sexless life. The two men’s lives are worlds apart, even if they’re both buckling under family expectations. Will their future last beyond an eight-second ride?
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Series Info
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Excerpt
Breathing. Breathing would be good.
Maury watched Xesús Silva swagger in the door, but he wasn’t alone. Behind him came another guy. Young. Dark hair, pale skin. And probably the most gorgeous human Maury’d ever seen. Not that he noticed guys’ looks all that much, but hell. This dude set new records in plain beautiful. He also resembled Silva, who was, after all, a pretty handsome man if you didn’t count his soul.
Silva made a straight line to the table where the Brazilians were sitting. Some of the men definitely didn’t look thrilled, but a couple of other guys hailed him. People moved aside, and someone pulled over two chairs.
Silva straddled the chair in that hypermacho way of his. The other guy? Holy crap. Poetry. Loose-hipped and graceful, he slid into the open chair and crossed his legs. Most of the Brazilians were squeaky clean-cut, but this dude’s inky hair hung down to his neck and curved around his ears. He was a little taller than usual for a bull rider and lean rather than the more compact build of a lot of the PBRA competitors. Of course, he looked young, so that might explain the lanky body.
“That’s the younger brother I told you about.” Earl helped himself to a french fry. “Haven’t seen him ride, but I hear good things.”
“Let’s drink up and get out of here. I, uh, need some sleep.” Maury pushed back his chair with a scrape.
“Uh, boss, it’s five fifteen.” Earl grabbed for his wallet in his hip pocket. “Let me pay the check.”
Maury stood and started toward the door. Just need to get out before I meet the asshole again.
“I hear it’s your birthday, Wetback.” Usually Silva was subtler, but he yelled this halfway across the room. “No wonder the judges felt like they had to let you cheat to beat me.”
Maury plastered on a smile and turned. “No one has to cheat to beat you, Silva. Little kids can do it.” He said it like a joke, and a few people laughed, but the serious competitors, especially the Brazilians, looked uneasy.
Silva stood at his chair. “I’ve got the baby that can beat you, Garcia.” He reached down, took the young man—younger—by the arm, and pulled him to his feet. “This is Tristão, and he can ride the butt off any bull and defeat a herd of American cowboys. He’s a Silva.”
Maury gave the young guy a direct gaze. Almost too much for his eyes to take. Like looking straight into the sun. “Hey, Tris, good to meet you. Welcome to American cowboying. Good luck with that whole winning thing.”
Author Bio
Tara Lain believes in happy ever afters – and magic. Same thing. In fact, she says, she doesn’t believe, she knows. Tara shares this passion in her best-selling stories that star her unique, charismatic heroes — the beautiful boys of romance — and adventurous heroines. Quarterbacks and cops, werewolves and witches, blue collar or billionaires, Tara’s characters, readers say, love deeply, resolve seemingly insurmountable differences, and ultimately live their lives authentically. After many years living in southern California, Tara, her soulmate honey and her soulmate dog decided they wanted less cars and more trees, prompting a move to Ashland, Oregon where Tara’s creating new stories and loving living in a small town with big culture. Likely a Gryffindor but possessed of Parseltongue, Tara loves animals of all kinds, diversity, open minds, coconut crunch ice cream from Zoeys, and her readers. She also loves to hear from you.
Author Links: Website * Blog * Facebook * Facebook Reader Group * Twitter * BookBub * Amazon Author Page * Goodreads * Pinterest
Giveaway
Thank you so much for having me and the boys on the blog, Kathy! Hugs! : )
You’re very welcome! Hugs to you, too.
This will be a fun one!