The Cowboy’s Wedding Proposal
Country Fair Cowboy
The Cowboy Academy books 7 and 8
Melinda Curtis
Harlequin Heartwarming Pub
The Cowboy’s Wedding Proposal and Country Fair Cowboy by Melinda Curtis are charming reads. The stories have romance with a little mystery intertwined. A touching story of second chances and new beginnings
The Cowboy’s Wedding Proposal’s plot has Tillie Powell facing an insurmountable job as a wedding planner for her cousin Reese, who is a Bridezilla. Now she must also contend with best man Keith Morgan. Six years earlier he had proposed to her and after she said no. She married someone else, got divorced, and had a child Shay (who steals all the scenes she was in). Now reunited for the wedding, Keith suddenly seems to be everywhere she is, throwing Tillie off balance by helping with wedding tasks and annoyingly winning over Shay. As the big event draws closer, Tillie must decide if she’s finally ready to hear Keith’s side of the story and why he left so abruptly.
Country Fair Cowboy has Dr. Hazel Hughes wanting to honor her brother, who died in an accident, by doing her residency in Newmarket, England. Unfortunately, she was not matched there and instead is sent to Clementine to work as a resident for vet Dr. Wylie Newman. After inheriting his dad’s practice, Wylie now wants to settle down with a family of his own. He hires Ronnie, the local matchmaker and his sister-in-law to find him a mate. But he only has eyes for one woman, Hazel. She initially does not return his desires making it very clear that this is a temporary stop and she will leave once a position is open in the UK. Although she is constantly hoping for an opening in England, she and Wylie start growing closer, but she is still fighting to follow her dreams. She also must contend with the vet tech, Maisey, who is ornery as can be. Just as she wins over Wylie’s heart, she also wins over Maisey’s.
Reading these cowboy books will put a smile on readers’ faces with the blending of humor, family, community, and outstanding characters. These stories are very heartwarming.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for The Cowboy’s Wedding Proposal?
Melinda Curtis: I thought it would be interesting to have at the center of the story a wedding where the best man and the maid of honor used to be involved, almost got married, but didn’t. The wedding was a mirror of their relationship since everything went wrong with the wedding.
EC: In this story you had AI helping the child obtain a pair of specialty glasses. What would you like to say about AI?
MC: Many of my books are on the list for training AI. I feel I am linked to AI whether I want it to be or not. I was not paid and was not asked for my permission. I think AI does have a place because it is on our phones and in Google summarizing our searches. But when it comes to writing I do not think it should be writing books. I asked it to write a short scene and got back something that made no sense with no action or movement in the scene. What I use it for is to get some fun ideas for scenes when I give it the details. But I found it was not creative. AI as an author does not have the output quality as a regular author.
EC: How would you describe Keith?
MC: Vulnerable, likes to think about the future, and wants to oversee his own destiny. He is also mistrusting, charismatic, bold, proud, and holds grudges as he should.
EC: How would you describe Tillie?
MC: Determined, loyal, a leader, witty, bossy, animated, has a sense of humor, and risk averse. She does not like snakes or bugs. I am exactly like her with those feelings.
EC: What about their relationship?
MC: Keith feels that she hurt him, so he shut her out. She was his best friend and they were able to tease each other with banter. They are attracted and do have sparks. His pride got in the way because he did not stick around to find out why she said no to his marriage proposal.
EC: What do you want to say about Tillie’s child, Shay?
MC: I like to have a child for comic relief and to get couples back together. I enjoy writing humor. I did try to have the heroine as the comic relief, but it was hard to have her not be a cardboard character. Instead, I used Shay for that purpose. She has this Stargardt eye disease. She added to the conflict to Tillie and the decisions she needed to make. Shay gravitated toward Keith, forcing Tillie to deal with him more.
EC: What do you want to say about the bride, Reese, and the groom, Carter?
MC: They had more screen time, but they were edited out. They might have gotten short changed. Regarding Keith and Tillie, they seemed not to care about their self-worth. I think the depth of their character and why they made choices went with the edits.
EC: What about the idea for the other book, Country Fair Cowboy?
MC: It is the same series as the other book we talked about that deal with the foster cowboys. Sometimes as in this book they are back in Clementine, sometimes as in Cowboy’s Wedding Proposal the setting is somewhere else. Regarding the idea for the story, I have gone through a journey with my dog over the past one and a half years. I spent a lot of time with vets. She has a back issue, so we go to acupuncture. She exhibits signs of an elderly dog. I spent some time with those who want to be a vet.
EC: How would you describe the vet resident, Hazel?
MC: At first, she seems like a city snob. She is ambitious, easy going, too cheerful, sarcastic, and determined.
EC: How would you describe the vet, Dr. Wylie?
MC: He broods over his past. He is creative, a creature of habit, kind-hearted, pragmatic, quiet, reliable, and charming.
EC: What about their relationship?
MC: She is his resident. But they do tease each other. He adores her but she tries to remain professional. She is enchanted by him. Yet professionally he is old school, while she is new school. Hazel is not willing to compromise. Because her brother died, she feels she will not settle or give up her dreams.
EC: What role did Maisey play?
MC: She is the senior citizen comic relief. She is a loner, contrary, gruff, prickly, stubborn, and ornery. She needed to find love. There are two love stories, one between Wylie and Hazel and the other between Maisey and Hazel.
EC: What was Maisey and Hazel’s relationship?
MC: At first it was very territorial. Then they came to find the good in each other. She was a surrogate mom/grandma to Hazel. Like the older matriarch in the family.
EC: You have a fainting goat in the story. Is that true?
MC: Yes. I love goats. They are uplifting. We took our granddaughters to see goats. There was a fainting goat and one of our granddaughters thought it had died. But they play dead like a possum. I thought her reaction was hilarious, so I put it in the book.
EC: Next books?
MC: The next book in this series is titled Falling for the Christmas Cowboy. A cowboy’s foster mother and biological mother team up to send single women to him, trying to get him to settle down. He sets up a fake date with the heroine to block other women from going after him. This comes out this fall.
Next week there is a romcom coming out, Love and Latte at the Mermaid Café. The hero and heroine are over forty. In the story is a real mermaid.
THANK YOU!!
