Love Cowboys? I have one for you...

Happy Veterans day to everyone in the U.S. No matter where you live, I hope you’ll take a moment today to silently, or loudly, thank the members of your military, both those currently serving and Veterans for the scarifies they’ve made on our behalf.  While we authors dream up heroes every day, the men and women serving in the armed forces are true heroes every day.
For the history buffs, did you know that the reason the U.S. celebrates Veterans day on November 11th is that’s the day when fighting ceased  between Allied nations and Germany towards the end of World War One; “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
So onto cowboys, not the kind in uniform, but the ones on ranches. Unless you’ve ignored this blog for the past several weeks, you know about Harlequin’s thanksgiving promotion where you can find 13 online stories for FREE through the month of November. My story, Falling for the Cowboy, is live today (yipeee).

Elena Striotikos knows that returning to her boyfriend Dylan Hayes’s hometown to meet his family are the final step to getting what she wants; a marriage proposal. Except Dylan’s crazy town is the exact kind of closed community she grew up in and has spurned…and Dylan’s discovering he’s a cowboy at heart. Can Elena fall in love with a cowboy?
Elena and Dylan have been in my head for a very long time, in fact, writing just a short story on them was really hard.

Elena is a Greek American girl who’s fought all her life for an identity, a sense of home. Is she Greek or is she American? How can she be both? She’s finally found a place that she can call home. But…there’s always a but and to find out what it is, you’ll have to read the the story.

Dylan is a small town country boy who couldn’t wait to move out of Bellhaven. He moved to Chicago to pursue a career and found love instead. Now he’s back home to Bellhaven (a town that the locals call Hell’s Bells) with a plan that he hopes Elena will go along with.
Here is a  story teaser:
He’d grabbed a cowboy hat off a rack, placed it on his head, and gave her a broad smile, looking a lot like the star of a country western film.
“Dylan?” He didn’t have a twin brother. Not that she knew of. Maybe aliens had abducted him, and sent him back as a long lost character from the Wild West.
He grinned. “You like the old me?”
“The old you?”
“Yeah, this is me, you know, when I’m not a lawyer.”
“So what are you when you’re not a cowboy?”


I loved writing this story because Hell’s Bells/Bellhaven is the town for my upcoming Heartwarming book, First Comes Marriage. It’s a town full of quirks and charm and people who worm their way into my heart. I hated leaving them after just one book so I was glad to be able to include a few in this short story. And to find out why the town’s called Hell’s Bell, you’ll have to sign up for my newsletter, I’ll be sending out some sneaky peeks before the book releases in February.
Oh, and here's a cover sneak peek for First Comes Marriage.

Just a reminder, free reads are not all that we’re doing. There are a ton of giveaways as part of this promotion. Check them out here and for more fun, attend our facebook party on Nov 30.
And don’t forget, in addition to mine, there are four amazing stories up on the Harlequin site by Amy Vastine, Liz Flaherty, Leigh Riker, and Jen Snow. They are all sure to warm your heart.
So cowboy’s are my weakness, I even married one. What’s yours?


Comments

  1. I can't wait to read your story, Sophia. My weakness...popcorn.
    Thank you to all of the Veterans and their families.

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  2. It's Remembrance Day in Canada today. Thank you for honoring veterans in your post today.

    Your short story sounds terrific, Sophia....I will be heading to the Harlequin website shortly to read it. Before you know it, First Comes Marriage will be released, too. Very exciting!

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    1. A few months ago, it felt live forever before my book would be out, now I am scrambling to get this ready for the launch :) Happy Remembrance Day Kate!

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  3. I'm heading over to read it, too.
    LOL, my weakness is men in uniform and Nestles Crunch.

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  4. A big salute to our men and women in uniform and those who have served at some point in their lives. I'm flying my new flag today.
    Your stories both sound exciting and I love the cover of your book. Looking forward to reading.

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    1. Thanks! And thank you or honoring our Veterans.

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  5. I enjoyed your story, Sophia! My weaknesses are too numerous to pick just one! Congratulations on your story AND your new book.

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  6. Writing a short story for amazing characters is so hard! Can't wait to read it.

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  7. Congratulations, Sophia! I love your cover, too, and the very sound of Hells Bells! We're flying the flag, too - lots of veterans in our family and circle of friends. My weaknesses are nuts and chocolate, so if you put them together - and I can have them with a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea - I'm in pig heaven! Happy Day, everybody.

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  8. I agree. There's something hard to resist about a cowboy.

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  9. My weakness is chocolate and coffee (sometimes both at the same time). Loved your story!

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  10. In the rest of the world we also recognise this date. It’s just called different things, but there were Remembrance Day services worldwide today. Prince Charles attended ours here in Canberra. :)

    This sounds interesting. In Australia we have such a massive Greek population and it has influenced our culture. It was said that Melbourne was the second biggest “Greek” city in the world, after Athens!

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  11. Sophia, your cowboy story sounds wonderful. I love cowboy stories.

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  12. My weakness is cupcakes. Ask Cari and Anna J. ;)

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  13. Chocolate, peanut butter and Ice cream mixed together are my major weakness! I enjoy Cowboys very much, especially strong ones that treat women right. Jenny

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