Guest Post, Review and Giveaway ~Tame A Wild Heart by Cynthia Woolf

Tame A Wild Heart
by Cynthia Woolf
Paperback, 302 pages
Published September 16th 2011
ISBN: 0983937214 (ISBN13: 9780983937210)

review courtesy of Author 
He's not her brother, but Duncan thinks Catherine sure needs one. A woman has no business trying to run a ranch. Not in 1880s Creede, Colorado. Even though she's loved him forever, she swears she doesn't need his help, but in between stampedes, fires and a kidnapping, the ex-bounty hunter and gunslinger becomes determined to do more than protect the ranch. Working together to catch a dangerous outlaw might just be the best thing that ever happened to them both.
This story was filled with all those things that I love to find in a good western romance book: captivating plot, suspense, passion, strong family ties and tough as nails heroine and those tough, loyal and sexy cowboy!!

Duncan was perfect to take on the strong willed Cat. Duncan has had enough with being a bounty hunter and he is ready to go back to the only home he has known. Cat and Duncan have a past, but little was uncovered to let the reader know the intensity of the relationship. It was funny to read that Duncan, kept saying that Cat's father, James was his best friend.  It tend to make me think there was a huge age gap between Cat and Duncan, which wasn't the case.

The ranch has been dealing with mishaps, as the story unfolds we find there are two villians one after the ranch and one after Duncan. I was able to keep pace but there were a few times I had to go back and re-read some sections as there were some parts with sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions. Overall, I very impressed with the writing skills of Cynthia Woolf and the storyline overall.

I love the secondary characters, would like to see Cassie's story and that is the next book in the Wild Series, Tame A Wild Wind (Wild, #2).  If you love a good romance western with just enough spice and drama, pick this one up, you won't regret it.


Lost in the Wild West
by Cynthia Woolf

Settling the American West was neither glamorous or romantic for most of the people who came here. I live in Colorado. Part and parcel of the American West and this is where I’ve set my stories. For this blog I’m talking about the prairie in the areas East of the Rocky Mountains.

Imagine, if you will, traveling for months to get somewhere. Living in the wagon that you are traveling in for those months. The wagon carries everything you own. Your furniture, your clothes, your food. Kind of like a motor home without all the built in amenities, like running water and a bathroom.

Imagine having finally gotten to the piece of land that you bought. It’s vacant. No house. No well. Nothing but weeds, prairie dogs and if you got a really good piece lots of trees and a stream. You’re going to need them. You build your house, usually a one room house, made of logs with mud in between to try and keep out the dust and the cold.

Inside you have a kitchen with a stove and some shelves on one wall. There’s a fireplace in the center of the longest wall across from the door and the bed is opposite the kitchen. The children, if you have them and most likely you do, sleep on the floor on mats.

You have to gather buffalo chips to burn in the fireplace because there’s not enough trees to burn and build with. Buffalo chips are dung. Dried buffalo dung. You’re burning this to keep warm and to cook with. Can you imagine the smell in your house?

Imagine wash day. You take your beautiful, colorful clothes and go to the stream and beat them with a stick against the rocks until they are clean. This is hard on the material so it wears out and you patch it because it’s too expensive to get new material and make new clothes. Of course, if you’re lucky, you have tubs and you heat water on the stove until it’s boiling, add your clothes and chips of lye soap. Stir with a stick until it’s clean. Wring them out with your hands, the water still two hot, but your hands are so chapped that you hardly notice the pain any longer.

I’m just getting started. Life was hard and those people who chose that life were heroes. Without them our frontiers would still be wild and unsettled. But that’s not the stories that we like to read about. So we glamorize our western romances. Our heroes are always handsome, our heroines always beautiful and rarely do they have to get their hands dirty. I can’t imagine my heroine going out and gathering buffalo poop to burn in her fireplace.

I’ve set my stories in the mountains where there was enough timber for houses, barns and fires. I’ve given them just enough history to set the scenes without overwhelming with detail. The reason for this is because the detail isn’t romantic. Our imaginations are.

Cynthia loves to do giveaways... For this blog, she'll do two giveaways.  One winner will get a $5 Starbucks card and one winner will get a copy of any of my books, in any format they desire including paperback.  You heard her, two lucky winners this time.  

Let's make this easy, I will randomly pull two commenters who answer the question below... Remember to leave your email address.

What one 20th Century luxury/item would you miss if you lived in the Wild Wild West?


32 comments:

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks so much for having me here today and thank you for the review. I love reading comments and hope we get lots.

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

def. my internet and computer-- then i could enter great giveaways
neutkidz@gmail.com

Callie said... Best Blogger Tips

Hi Cynthia. Good post, and the book sounds great. Best of luck with it.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@lisa neutel
Yes, I would definitely miss my computer. I'm attached to it at the hip.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Callie Callie, Thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked the post.

Katherine said... Best Blogger Tips

Interesting post. Between books and movies, most of us probably don't realize what frontier life was really like.

I have a very sensitive stomach when it comes to scents so I can't imagine heating my home with buffalo chips. I'd constantly have to run outside to be sick. I would have made a terrible pioneer woman.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Katherine Katherine you and me both. I know I don't have the grit that those people did, even though I like to think I'd have been a great pioneer. NOT.

Sandy L. Rowland said... Best Blogger Tips

Great post! Yeah, that whole buffalo chips deal so I can fry up some grub in the morning chill. I'm glad I live now. LOL.
Great success to you!

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

Eeww, that just sounds so appetizing, NOT. I'm glad I live now too. We have it so lucky.

Alicia Dean said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow...you paint such a vivid picture. Nice post! I would miss SO many things, but my television is probably the main thing. I am HOOKED on my shows. :-) Sounds like a great book!

Alicia Dean said... Best Blogger Tips

@Alicia Dean

Forgot to leave my email address. :-) Aliciamdean@aol.com

Rose Anderson said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice post. This brings to mind the "soddies". Can you imagine living in a sod house? Best luck.

Rose

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

Alicia, I think I could get away from the TV, but I've got to have my computer. We lost the internet for 2 days a few weeks ago and I thought I'd lose my mind. Luckily for me, it was too late, I've already lost it. LOL

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

I'd hate living in a soddie. The bug would drive me crazy. I have a think about bugs. HATE them. And then there's the dirt, how do you keep anything clean when it's all made of dirt?

D'Ann said... Best Blogger Tips

Looks like a great read!
I'd love to win your book!
horses5@frontier.net

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

I'd miss the ready access to Z-packs, Zirtech, and skilled medical care the most.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Cindy, I'd miss my electric tea-kettle. It boils water much faster than the stove.

I really agree with your 'just enough detail.' Too much is what often keeps me from reading historicals. Yours sounds interesting and is in a time period I enjoy.

Kim Hornsby said... Best Blogger Tips

I often give thanks for running water. But I still fantasize about the wild west!

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Jo Grafford I hadn't even thought of medical care. Wow. How much I take for granted.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Sandra Kerns Ahh. Electricity. I'd miss that. My house except the heat is electric, but even the furnace has an electric switch. Where would I be without electricity?

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Kim
I didn't have running water when I was a kid. We got it when I was about five and didn't have indoor plumbing until I was ten. Plus I love camping, so I think I'd be okay without running water.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

I just finished Tame a Wild Bride last night and really enjoyed it. I am ready for Duncan and Cat's story. Rosie and Tom really tugged at my heart.

I think I would miss my phone. Being able to just call up someone is quite a luxury.

Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Mel Bourn I'm so glad that you liked Tame A Wild Bride. I hope that you like Tame A Wild Heart as much.

I forget sometimes how much of a luxury our phones are. When I was a kid, we still had a party line!!

Angela Adams said... Best Blogger Tips

What would I miss? It's a toss up between my phone and my radio.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Angela Adams Interesting. Most people don't listen to the radio anymore oh wait there is SiriusXM radio now isn't there. Hmm.

Mary Preston said... Best Blogger Tips

I wear eyeglasses, so I would miss them desperately. They just wouldn't be of the same quality.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

nurmawati djuhawan said... Best Blogger Tips

my blackberry off course...
i love bbm with my friends...
and i hope i win ur paperback novel because i can't use starbuck's card in indonesia...

thx u for the giveaway...

-nurmawati djuhawan-
chiko_jubilee at yahoo dot com

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@Mary Preston Wow, I hadn't even thought of my glasses. I can't see a thing without them, literally, so I'd be one of those with thick, bottle bottom lenses or Coke bottle lenses as they later became known.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@nurmawati djuhawan Thanks for entereing nurmawati.

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Excellent post, Cindy. I would miss my computer which is my life. It would be hard to go looking for buffalo chips because I would be afraid of running into snakes. I would have to eat apples I guess. The Wild Series books sound like a great series.

woolfcindy said... Best Blogger Tips

@mjdresselbooks Since I'm attached at the hip to my computer I guess I'd miss it too. LOL

Kat ~ Forever Book Lover ♥ said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks everyone for stopping by and participating in the Giveaway!

Special thanks to Cynthia Woolf for her wonderful Guest Post and coming by to chat with all. Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule, I appreciate and I know your fans do too!

The Contest has ended and I will chose two lucky commenters to win the two prizes. Good luck to all.

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