Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Melissa Cutler and an Ab-tastic Discovery

MORE WINNERS!  Winners of Melissa Cutler's contest are...
CrystalGB and Mary Louise.  Please send me your email and snail mail address if you want a print book to christie(at)Christie(-)Craig(dot)com
Congrats!!


WINNERS!  WINNERS!  The winners for Susan Muller's and C.C. Hunter's book are:  ReneeC23, Kristi, and Donnas.  Please email me at Christie@christie(-)Craig(dot)com and let me know if you want a print copy or an e copy from B&N or Amazon!!!


Hi, everybody!  Please welcome my friend, the wonderful and talented Melissa Cutler to Killer Fiction.  She's just released a steaming hot cowboy romance called The Trouble with Cowboys, and if you enjoyed Blame it on Texas, I know you're gonna love her!  So, without further ado, take it away, Melissa . . .


Melissa Cutler here, and I'm so excited to be on Killer Fiction talking about the ab-tastic cover of my sexy, contemporary western, The Trouble with Cowboys.

Picture this: five of my girlfriends and I are at bar. If you know anything about me, this tidbit of information is not at all surprising. Mama likes her cocktails. Anyhow, there we were, hunching over our big-ass margaritas and the newly minted cover flat of The Trouble with Cowboys, which we were examining in close detail—a.k.a., shamelessly ogling the cover model. And my friend Cori says, "His face looks like Mr. Romance, from the RT Convention two years ago."

To which the rest of us replied, "You can see his face? I hadn't noticed."

Tearing our gaze away from his abs, we all gave the cowboy's face a good, close look. The RT convention my girlfriend was talking about was the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in 2011, and at the convention there was a competition to crown one of the attending romance novel cover models as Mr. Romance. "It's him," another of my girlfriends seconded. "That's Len Gunn."

And being the 21st century, she whipped out her deluxe phone and pulled up the convention link (http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/rt-booklovers-convention-2011-meet-mr-romance-2011 ). Yep, no doubt about it. Mr. Romance was Cowboy Kellan on the cover of my book. Now…what did I do with that information?

That's easy! I sloshed down the rest of my margarita, threw a twenty on the table, and bolted home to start stalking him. Well, not stalking per se, but I did want to see if I could connect with him and if I could convince him to do an interview with me. I found him on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/LenGunnModel ) and my message to him started something like this—"You don't know me, but I think you're on the cover of my book…"

You know what? He turned about to be the nicest guy ever. He graciously agreed to let me interview him (you can read that here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2012/10/02/melissa-cutler-len-gunn-trouble-with-cowboys-cover-model/1609555/ ) and I must say that it's been a singular pleasure getting to know him these past few months. And I got to meet his Aunt Jackie because she left a comment on the interview and the randomizer selected her to win a copy of The Trouble with Cowboys. I also got to chat with his mom on Facebook when she saw a picture of me holding a copy of the book in Barnes & Noble. She commented on the photo, "That's my baby you're holding in your hand." Many of my Facebook friends then congratulated Mrs. Gunn on creating such a fine specimen of a man.

The Trouble with Cowboys is all about who we are underneath those superficial labels we seem to fit on the surface until you dig deeper. Amy is in serious lust for all things "cowboy", and her restaurant's key supplier, cattle rancher Kellan Reed, seems to fit her cowboy fantasy perfectly. Of course, the reality of who Cowboy Kellan is as a man is a whole lot more complicated and wonderful than Amy ever dreamed. My journey of getting to know Len Gunn reminds me of the lessons that the characters learn in the book. There is so much more to each of us than who we seem to be on the outside, and we owe it to ourselves not to make snap judgments about people by how the look—even if what you're looking at is a shirtless, ab-tastic cowboy in low-brimmed Stetsons and jean that fit just right.

From the back cover…

Cowboys have never been good for Amy Sorentino. First her hard-riding father bankrupted the family farm. Then her all-hat-no-cattle boyfriend sold her out on national television, ending her promising career as a chef. Now she and her squabbling sisters have partnered up in a final attempt to save their land by starting an inn and local restaurant. So it figures that with everything on the line, Amy’s key supplier is just the kind of Stetson-tipping heartbreaking bad boy she’s sworn to avoid. But Kellan Reed has a few secrets of his own–and cowboy or not, Amy can’t resist this kind of wild ride.

 From The Trouble with Cowboys…

Kellan’s imposing form materialized at the end of the breezeway, blocking her progress. He folded his arms over his chest and propped his shoulder against the wall.

Amy yelped and lurched to a halt. “You scared me.”

“Sorry about that.”

She took in his casual stance. “You don’t look sorry.”

“I’m ready to ask you out.”

“Oh.” She tried to calm her racing heart, breathing deeply. Impossible. “Go ahead.”

“Amy, may I make you dinner at my house on Friday?”

She was ready with her answer. “No. Not a good idea. Rule number one is to steer clear of cowboys. I put it there for a reason.”

“Rule number one,” he muttered, swaggering closer, his thumbs hitched on his belt buckle. Not that she was looking there. He stopped close enough to touch her. She took another step back and bumped into the wall. “Amy, may I have dinner with you?”

“No.” The word was little more than a note on the wind.

She flattened her palms against the cool stucco wall as her eyes trailed a vein in his neck from where it began at his shirt collar to where it ended at the locks of hair peeking from beneath his Stetson. Something shifted inside her, something carnal and potent. She waited for him to touch her, arching her back, thrusting her breasts up, desperate to feel his hands on her body.

What he did, though, was far more dangerous.

The Trouble with Cowboys is in stores now:








Giveaway: I'm giving away two book bundles of both my fall releases—The Trouble with Cowboys and Seduction Under Fire—to two commenters, so tell me…Amy in the book has it bad for everything cowboy. What's your favorite type of romance novel hero?
***
Melissa Cutler is a flip-flop wearing Southern California native living with her husband, two rambunctious kids, and two suspicious cats in beautiful San Diego. Three things you should probably know about her are: she believes Judith from Julie Garwood's The Secret is the most perfect heroine in all of literature (sorry, Elizabeth Bennett), she's traveled to more countries in the world than states in the U.S., and she's certain that there are actually only two types of food in existence—those that taste better with hot sauce and those that taste better with whipped cream. She divides her time between her dual passions for writing sexy, small town contemporaries for Kensington Books and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense for Harlequin.

21 comments:

Pamela said...

Cowboys rock, of course. This story sounds good, Melissa - my to be read pile is going to push me out of my apartment at this rate. :P

My heart also tends to stray to the hero cops/PIs - always in search of answers and ends up with love in the most unusual circumstances.

Pam

Kara C said...

Love the cover! Very stalking - worthy.
As for the question, I'd have to go with law enforcement or military as a favorite. Of course, you can't go wrong with cowboys either. :-)

Anonymous said...

Great post, Melissa!! My favorite hero is a blue collar worker...carpenter (aka Ben in my latest) or construction worker or fisherman or.... basically a man who works with his hands, and has the natural body as a result. :) I also love a good misunderstood bad boy. And military men... LOL

Anonymous said...

Hi Melissa. Wow.. the cover is certainly eye catching and it's great to hear Len is such a nice guy. Actually my fav romantic hero is definitely law enforcement, strong, a bit of a scoundrel (like Han Solo) but with a good heart. I have never read a cowboy book but I may have to pick up your's, the reviews on Amazon are outstanding!

traveler said...

The story and cover are wonderful. I have an interest in the handyman whose skills are always needed.

Melissa Cutler said...

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be on Killer Fiction today talking about romance heroes.

Pamela and Kara C, it sounds like you'd enjoy my other fall release, SEDUCTION UNDER FIRE, which has a law enforcement hero who falls for the woman he thinks he hates after they're both kidnapped and taken to Mexico.

Sharla, thank you so much for stopping by on your OWN release day for BEFORE AND EVER SINCE. Yay!

May Louise, You haven't read a cowboy book? *gasp* I might be a bit biased (ha, ha), but I think The Trouble with Cowboys would be a great one to start with.

Thanks for stopping by the blog, everyone!

~ Melissa

Heather said...

I like firefighters. :-) YUM YUM I like cowboys though and your cover is very stalk worthy!

petite said...

Since cowboys have principles and values which I admire, they are my favorite characters to read about.

CrystalGB said...

I like cowboys, firefighters and SEALS. :) Your book sounds great. :)

Sarah S. said...

I'm a big fan of all things alpha, especially military and law enforcement, but cowboys are right up there. :)

Arianne said...

Oh my Mr. Gunn is so dreamy. ok, focus. I live cowboys, they have this pride that no heroes seem to have, but they're also good lovers. any hardworking man, like a handy man, carpenter, etc, sounds sexy actually.

Christie Craig said...

Hi Melissa!

First thank you visiting us here at Killer Fiction. And congrats on such a wonderful cover. He is super dreamy!!

Melissa Cutler said...

I'm all about blue collar, alpha heroes. And if they carry a gun, so much the better. Thanks for weighing in, everyone. Keep those comments coming!

catslady said...

Love your covers! Actually I enjoy the alpha males in my reading. They can be any profession or walk of life but I'm really attracted to men in charge lol.

Na said...

I like romance heroes who have a sense of humor, is a family man, has a bit or a lot of bad boy in him. These traits make him entertaining and I've come across many cowboys like this. It's wonderful. Fantastic abs helps too :)

TrishJ said...

I just want my hero to be a bit of a bad boy, a little humor and Definately alpha. I tend to like soldiers the most. Love the cover of your book, and how cool was it to actually get to KNOW the hunk!! ;-)

Brandy said...

I've always liked cowboys because they seem so strong and dedicated to not only their ranches, but their families as well. Of course, I also like cops, because I like the uniform as well as the fact that they uphold the the difference between right and wrong. Yeah, I'm weird.
VERY nice cover for your book, btw. And I noticed his face first!

Melissa Cutler said...

Good for you, Brandy, for checking out his face! (lol) I'm with you about what makes cowboys and cops sexy, and you'll be happy to know that in the second book of my cowboy Catcher Creek series, the hero is both! He's the sheriff in the community's rural county, and he happens to be the hero in The Trouble with Cowboy's best friend.

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog!

Melissa Cutler said...

TrishJ ~ you're right. It was so cool to actually get to know the cover model. It's really been wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Barbara E. said...

I like all kinds of heroes, but there's just something about a cowboy that always catches my interest. I think it's those rugged good looks, the cowboy boots and of course, those cowboy hats. :D

Unknown said...

If any of you are thinking about getting The Trouble With Cowboys. No thinking needed, YES you want it.

It's has heart of family, and love for cowboys and it's just in time for the holiday season.

I love all types heroes, but Melissa has books on my two favorites, cowboys & law enforcement