The Perfect Dress from New York Times Bestselling Author Carolyn Brown

A plus-size Texas gal has designs on an old crush in New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown’s exuberant, bighearted romance.

In the small town of Celeste, Texas, Mitzi Taylor has never quite fit inside the lines. Nearly six feet tall, flame-haired, and with a plus-size spirit to match every curve, she’s found her niche: a custom wedding-dress boutique catering to big brides-to-be with big dreams. Taking the plunge alongside her two best friends, she’s proud they’ve turned The Perfect Dress into a perfect success.

Just when Mitzi has it all pulled together, Graham Harrison walks back into her life, looking for bridesmaid dresses for his twin daughters. A still-strapping jock whose every gorgeous, towering inch smells like aftershave, the star of all Mitzi’s high school dreams is causing quite a flush.

For Mitzi, all it takes is a touch to feel sparks flitting around her like fireflies. She can just imagine what a kiss could do. Graham’s feeling it, too. And he’s about to make that imagination of Mitzi’s run wild. Is it just a hot summer fling, or are Mitzi’s next designs for herself and seeing her own dreams come true?

Here's an excerpt:

    “Men! Can’t live with ‘em, and if we shot 'em all, we’d be out of business,” Mitzi grumbled as she entered the back door of the custom wedding dress shop that she owned with her friends Jody and Paula.

    “Ain’t it the truth.” Jody adjusted her beaded headband, and filled three cups with herbal tea. She threw her long blonde braids over her shoulder. “Some days I could poison Lyle.”

    “And yet, if anyone else even mentioned that, you’d burn them at the stake.” Paula picked up a cup of tea and carried it to the table. She’d gotten her dark hair and dark eyes from her Texas mother, but all the superstition came straight from her Louisiana father. She waved a hand over the cup three times before she tasted it. At thirty-five, she’d never been married, but then technically, neither had any one of them. Jody had lived with Lyle since they’d graduated from high school, but they rejected the tradition of a marriage license.

    Jody’s brown eyes flashed. “Oh, honey I wouldn’t waste gasoline or wood to burn anyone. I grow my own food, remember? I’d poison the tomatoes, and it would look like whoever bad-mouthed my boyfriend had had a heart attack. And you don’t have to do that with your tea. I wouldn’t dream of poisoning you.”

    At almost six feet tall and fitting into a size eighteen jeans, Mitzi had learned to be comfortable in her skin but not until she was an adult. Before that she’d endured lots of bullying about her size. Of course today it came rushing back, all over a wisecrack a man made in the tiny little pastry shop on Main Street in Celeste, Texas.

    “Dammit!” she swore. “I forgot to bring in the doughnuts. I’ll be right back.”

    Someone must’ve forgotten to inform the people who made calendars that in East Texas, summer didn’t wait until the last days of June. The official day was still three weeks away, but that day in May the weatherman said it would reach three digits. Mitzi’s dad had joked that he’d already seen a few lizards carrying canteens.

    Sweat beads had formed on Mitzi’s upper lip by the time she returned. She set the box on the table and grabbed a paper towel to dab at her face. But before she could get the job done, her maternal grandmother, Fanny Lou, slipped into the back door. Mitzi’s dad had bought the house for them to put their business in, but Fannie Lou had given them the seed money for fabrics, new sewing machines and the separate air conditioning unit for the dressing room. She refused to be called a partner, but she loved to drop in at any old time. Not that Mitzi minded. After being away for so many years, she loved to have her grandmother around, not matter what time of day it was.

    Fanny Lou wasn’t quite as tall as Mitzi, unless she was wearing her cowboy boots. Her bright red hair sat on top of her head in a messy bun that looked somewhat like she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. Set in a bed of wrinkles, her bright blue eyes always twinkled behind wire rimmed glasses. That day she was dressed in bibbed overalls, a faded red T-shirt and her signature boots. She set a paper bag filled with tomatoes and cucumbers on the table.

    “Hotter’n the devil’s pitchfork out there. I brought y’all some stuff from my neighbor’s garden. Lord knows, I can’t eat all that and if I could, I wouldn’t. Old women like me don’t have to eat their vegetables. They can eat doughnuts when they want.” She sniffed the air. “I smell coffee.”

Purchase The Perfect Dress:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2YmVsHu

B&N: https://bit.ly/2SMXvkb

Meet Carolyn

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly and #1 Amazon and #1 Washington Post bestselling author and a RITA finalist. With more than 90 books on the market, she’s a recipient of the Bookseller’s Best Award, and the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award, and also a three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award.

Carolyn and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else, as well as what they’re doing and when—and they read the local newspaper on Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

When she’s not writing, Carolyn likes to sit in plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, and watch him protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.

Follow Carolyn:

Website: https://bit.ly/2TtQUeI

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecarolynbrown

Instagram: https://bit.ly/2FApe47

FB (Author’s Page): https://bit.ly/2GZ2HAz

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2YmVsHu

B&N: https://bit.ly/2SMXvkb

Thank you so much for inviting me back to Get Lost in a Story! I love getting to visit with all y’all! I’ve got coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other one so bring on the questions.

E.E.: Who is your favorite villain?

Carolyn: That would have to be Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, but if we’re talking about television series, it would be Boyd Crowder in Justified. By the time that series ended I wasn’t sure which I liked better, the hero or the villain.

E.E.: Is there a “Blooper” in your story (it may have been changed before printing)?

Carolyn: Not in The Perfect Dress, but there was surely one in one of my previous books. The hero had this pet duck that followed him around. In the story the duck waddled up the stairs, and I bought an “i” instead of a “u”. Y’all can figure out exactly what waddled up the stairs. I was glad for a good editor.

E.E.: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

Carolyn: I always say that I’m going to take a whole week off and clean my house, but after the office is cleaned, it seems a shame not to use it, so I start plotting the next book.  But in all honesty, after I write THE END, I take a deep breath and give thanks that I met my deadline!

E.E.: If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?

Carolyn: My great-great-great-great-great grandmother Martha Cummins. I’ve been told my whole life that she came to the United States from Ireland and married a Native American, but my DNA test showed that I didn’t have an ounce of Native American blood. So I’d like to ask her about her husband. Wait just a minute while I go write this idea down for a future book about a heroine who doesn’t believe her DNA test!

E.E.: If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

Carolyn: Probably to Ireland.  I’ve always been intrigued about that place. Maybe it’s that DNA test calling me home to where my roots really started.

Today, Carolyn  will give away a signed copy of The Perfect Dress. Just leave a comment and enter the raffle.

Do you recall your wedding dress? What did you love about it? 
If not yours, someone else's.

Thank you for having me again, and thanks so much for the folks who asked questions. 

Join me on my Author’s FB page today from 11 to 12 central standard time if you have anymore questions!!

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E.E. Burke's BEST OF THE WEST featuring BETH WILLIAMSON

My BEST OF THE WEST guest today is BETH WILLIAMSON. Besides have a weakness for Reese's and shoes, she's a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Western historical romance. 

I caught up with Beth at the recent RT Conference outside a coffee shop and she was busy writing (and talking to herself...or to one of her characters). She recently released her latest book in the popular Malloy family series. Let's take a sneak peek at THE GEM. 

Life gives you want you want. But you have to fight for what you need.

    Charlie Chastain is an oddity, and it doesn’t bother her a bit. Her life in Ft. Laramie—hunting game, up to her elbows in carcasses, stitching hide clothing—suits her independent spirit. So what if she’s not a great beauty like her sisters? No one will force her into society’s mold, much less a dress. But to say she is completely happy would be a lie—and no one understands that better than the only man in her life she trusts. Elijah Sylvester.
    Aside from serving as the fort’s resident fix-it man, Eli has spent a lifetime fighting bullies who consider him stupid, a throwaway. He fights his feelings for the woman who makes his heart hammer, but considers him nothing more than a friend.
    When Charlie’s restless feet send her off on a new adventure, Eli saddles up so she doesn’t go unprotected. But their trip takes a dangerous turn and suddenly the hunters become the hunted. And by the time Charlie realizes how much Eli means to her, it could be too late.

Here's an excerpt:

   Everything changed the moment she saw Elijah Sylvester naked.

   Charlie should have knocked on the door again. She should have shouted to him before she entered his cabin. But she hadn’t. He was her best friend. They had spent time together every day for the last ten years. She couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without Eli at her side. As her friend, not as a man.

   But now she’d ruined that friendship because of her impetuous actions—she walked in to find Eli naked, covered in soap. Although it was merely seconds, she lived a lifetime as she drank in the sight of the man she never knew beneath his ill-fitting clothes.

   Soap bubbles clung to his body, accentuating golden muscles and sinew. Eli was tall and lean, but his form was built of elegant lines. How had he hid this from her for ten years? She’d never thought of him as a man, and now she would never think of anything else.

   He ruined everything by revealing himself. Never mind that it was her fault or that he seemed as mortified as she was. He held a bucket over his head, presumably to rinse himself into the hip bath he stood in. His arms shook, as the water must’ve weighed a good bit.

   He dumped the water over his head. The bucket clattered to the floor and he wiped the suds from his face. As he reached for the towel on the back of his chair, she moved closer to him, without thought. He jumped back and slipped on the wet floor, landing on his ass with a howl of pain, probably obtaining a few splinters in the process.

   “Shit, Eli!” Charlie was right there beside him, inches away from his naked body.

   Her heart stuttered and her thoughts scattered. She couldn’t look away.

   “What are you doing here?” His voice was rough as sandpaper.

   “I came to see if you wanted to go hunting tomorrow. I saw Big Buck.” She held out her hand. “And you’re naked.” She sounded like the village idiot. Her cheeks were hotter than a forge, burning up her face.

   He scrambled backwards and got to his feet. She was painfully aware of how close she was to him.    Close enough she could smell him, touch him—hell, she could kiss him.

   Holy shit. What was wrong with her?

   “I know I’m naked.” He snatched the towel off the chair, the end slapping her in the leg. She winced and made a face. She couldn’t decide to laugh or cry as he wrapped the towel around his torso. Unfortunately the thin fabric did not hide the body she’d seen in its full glory. “Why didn’t you wait until I invited you in?”

   She shook her head. “I didn’t know you’d be naked.”

   “Oh, for God’s sake, Charlie, would you forget about me being naked?” He tightened the towel with a jerk.

   “I can’t.” She stepped closer, her curiosity overcoming the ridiculous reaction she couldn’t control. “You’re not what I expected.”

   “You need to leave.” He pointed at the door.

   She reached up and ran her hand down his shoulder to his arm. “I didn’t know you had these under your shirt.” Her fingers traced the curve of a muscle. “Hell, I saw Mason without his clothes, but he didn’t have these. You hide yourself from people. It’s no wonder. The women would chase you if they knew what was under your clothes.” She touched the other shoulder and his small nipples pebbled to a point. Men’s nipples did that too?

   “Jesus, Charlie. What are you doing? What are you saying?” He stepped back to put at least a foot between them. Her hand traveled with him, the heat from his skin almost burning her.
   Her gaze snapped to his and her hand finally dropped to her side. “I don’t know.”
   The moment stretched between them, the air crackling. Charlie managed to suck in a breath, but her chest was heavy. It was like breathing underwater.

Available Now:
Samhain: http://tinyurl.com/nhwf47s 
iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/njhtuqe
Nook: http://tinyurl.com/odo6a5c
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/phxzxr7
Kindle: http://amzn.to/1S5Sca6
Google Play: http://tinyurl.com/pbfh4nv
ARe: http://tinyurl.com/omhqqml

Meet Beth

Beth Williamson, who also writes as Emma Lang, is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of both historical and contemporary romances. Her books range from sensual to scorching hot. She is a Career Achievement Award Nominee in Erotic Romance by Romantic Times Magazine, in both 2009 and 2010, and a semi-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.

Beth has always been a dreamer, never able to escape her imagination. It led her to the craft of writing romance novels, fueled by Reese’s and tenacious pursuit of the perfect story. She’s passionate about purple, books, and her family. She has a weakness for shoes and purses as well as bookstores.

Life might be chaotic, as life usually is, but Beth always keeps a smile on her face, a song in her heart, and a cowboy on her mind. ;)

Website: http://www.bethwilliamson.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bethwilliamson
Twitter: http://twitter.com/authorbethw

E.E.: Who is Beth Williamson? Tell us five interesting things about yourself that readers would not know about.

Beth: I'm originally from New York but have lived in North Carolina since 1997.

I have 2 brothers and 1 sister.

Beth is actually my middle name.

I adore Nathan Fillion and totally <3 Firefly and Castle.

I've been married since 1990

E.E.: When did you know you wanted to write?

Beth: Third grade. Before that I spent so much time in my imagination, it likely hadn't occurred to me that I was a writer. Until my third grade teacher commented on my lovely poetry, and then the decision was made. Eight years old and I knew not only what I wanted to do, but who I was deep inside. A writer.

E.E.: Did you find it difficult to get published?
Beth: I've written poems that were published, and worked as a newspaper reporter and technical writer. I guess that means I was published, but not really, y'know? I started to "write" romance novels back in 1995, although it took me about 8 years to write two books. The first one will never see the light of day. The second was THE BOUNTY, my first published romance novel. I've been lucky to have publishing contracts and I feel blessed to have all that I do. I'm now a NYT bestseller and I get to write what I love, and at the end of the day, that's worth more than anything.

E.E.: Why should readers check out the Malloy Family series and what was it about these characters that made you want to write about them?

Beth: The Malloys! They were my first series beginning with THE BOUNTY. It was my first published novel in ebook and print. As such, the Malloys hold a special place in my heart. I love family-centered books and the Malloys do anything and everything for each other. The last (possibly?) and 12^th book, THE GEM, releases on July 21. It’s been an amazing 11 year journey with this family I love so dearly.

E.E.: Why historical westerns?

Many people think I'm a little loony to continue to write (and read) historical western romances. I mean, it's a small genre without the giant sales or big shiny bling in the publishing world, right? Ah, but I have loved western romances from the moment I read my first one, which was Elizabeth Lowell's Only His. 
   I was hooked. HOOKED! The reason why? For many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that western men, cowboys live life by a code of honor. Even the most alpha male has a sense of honor, an ingrained code he abides by.
   What does that mean? Why, cowboys are like modern knights. Fierce warriors who carry a weapon, defend those who are defenseless, protect damsels (whether in distress or not), and are just waiting for a strong woman to tame them.
   *sigh*

E.E. Is writing or story-telling easier for you?

Beth: I don’t think you can be a writer without being a story teller. They go hand in hand, in my opinion. When I first conceive of a book, or a series, I become a story teller. Spinning a yarn in my head about who these people are, what they like, what they wear, what their favorite foods are and so on. Then I start on their story and I let them take over my brain. My hands and fingers become the writer while the characters are telling their story.

Truth. J

E.E.: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?

Beth: Oh, I’m quirky all day long. I think what would surprise people is I have conversations, sometimes in my head and sometimes out loud, with characters. When I’m doing something by rote, like driving, the stories in my head take over. I’ve been known to dictate the story as I drive, and that’s when I talk (argue with) to the characters. It’s most assuredly a quirk. ;)

E.E.: Why do you write under two names: Beth Williamson and Emma Lang?

Beth:  It's not multiple personalities, I swear! LOL. The truth is rather boring - I write under two different names due to a publisher request. My writing style is the same, regardless of the pen name, and the books are generally in the same genre - historical western. I try to make it as seamless as possible - with one website etc.

Today, Beth is giving away an eBook download of choice from the Malloy family series (which you can check out on her website at http://www.bethwilliamson.com/series/malloy-family/  

Just leave a comment and enter the drawing.

What do you love about Western historical romance?

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E.E. Burke's BEST OF THE WEST with Award-winning Author Laura Drake

Today, my Best of the West guest is Laura Drake. A Texan at heart (now in residence), she writes women's fiction and contemporary Western romances featuring uber-hunky bull riders. Check this one out.

A Love as Bold as a Texas Sunset . . .

Ex-army medic Katya Smith has always healed other people's pain. Now she has to deal with her own. Taking a job as an athletic trainer on the Pro Bull Riding circuit seems like the perfect escape from her grief--except Katya doesn't know anything about bulls, and even less about the tough men who ride them. She doesn't expect to fall for the sport, or for one tantalizing cowboy who tumbles her defenses.

For rodeo champion Cam Cahill, fifteen years of bucking bulls have taken their toll on his body. Before he retires, he wants a final chance at the world title--and he doesn't need some New Age gypsy telling him how to do his job. But when the stunning trainer with the magical hands repairs more than his worn muscles, everything changes. Soon Cam finds himself trying to persuade Katya to forgive her past so she can build a future . . . with him.

Here's an excerpt

Katya’s heels echoed as she entered the white tiled hallway. The long, emotional day left her wilted, feeling as if she’d worn this suit for days. And she still had to nail this job. She rolled her shoulders. This next hour would be the crossroads of her future.

Buck up, soldier. She straightened her spine, tightened her core muscles, and marched.

She turned the corner of the white tiled hallway. Her step faltered. A cowboy strode ahead of her, head down, spurs jingling. What Maydelle had called chaps hugged his slightly bowed legs, fringes bouncing. She hadn’t seen a cowboy from the back before. Wide bands of smooth leather curved from between his thighs to cup his butt, creating a frame for a perfect picture. Not that the jeans were tight. They were a working man’s jeans, used and dusty. Which made them all the sexier.

Wowzer.

He held the vest the riders wore in one hand and a rope in the other, a bell on the end dragging behind. The bright red Western shirt he wore tightly tucked at his small waist widened to broad shoulders, his blond hair was cut short beneath the dark brown hat.

Nice. A muscle under her ribs fluttered. Walking behind men in those chaps would be a sweet perk of this job.

He hurled the rope in a sudden vicious burst. The bell clanged and echoed as it hit the wall.

“Shit!” The cowboy squatted, clutching his shoulder and swearing like a drill sergeant.

She almost stopped, to see if she could help. When he rolled his shoulder, she knew he hadn’t dislocated it.

Dr. Cody was waiting. If she didn’t nail this job, she’d never be able to help anyone.

He swore viciously.

“Well. Excuse me.” Figures. No matter how studly they may look, star athletes were at heart tantrum-throwing toddlers. She had two years of locker room stories to prove it. New sport, same infantile behavior.

“Pardon me, ma’am.”

He sounded sincere, but she glanced back, just to be sure.

God save the world from baby-faced men. Washed, blue-sky eyes with sun-squint lines at their corners, a strong jaw, and full lips. Lips, that as she watched, quirked as his eyes took a long, slow trip up her legs.

She faced forward so fast her neck popped. Why do the good-looking ones have to be assholes?

Meet Laura 

Laura Drake is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She writes both Women's Fiction and Romance.

She sold her Sweet on a Cowboy series, romances set in the world of professional bull riding, to Grand Central. The Sweet Spot (May 2013), Nothing Sweeter (Jan 2014) and Sweet on You (August 2014). The Sweet Spot won the 2014 Romance Writers of America^®   RITA^® award in the Best First Book category.

Her 'biker-chick' novel, Her Road Home, sold to Harlequin's Superromance line (August, 2013) and has expanded to three more stories set in the same small town. The Reasons to Stay released August, 2014.

In 2014, Laura realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.

Website:  http://LauraDrakeBooks.com

Twitter:  @PBRWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraDrakeBooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/247709.Laura_Drake

E.E.: What’s the first book you remember reading?

Laura: Aside from the obligatory Dick and Jane stuff, I remember getting Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry for my birthday. Loved the story, and especially the watercolor paintings of that round-belly pinto with flowers woven in her mane, standing on a beach with a blue sky background. Sigh. Horse stories were like crack to a horse-crazy little girl from Michigan!

E.E. What sound or noise do you love? 

Laura: The sound of water. Fountains, rain, the ocean . . . but my favorite is the sound of water, chuckling over rocks in a stream. I fly fish (catch and release only-and I still feel sorry about hurting the trout!), I think fully half the reason is just to be out in nature with the shadows of leaves sliding over me, and the sound of the water… Oh, this is making me want to go fishing!

E.E.: What do you do to unwind and relax? 

Laura: Aside from fishing, I love to ride my motorcycle. I rode 100,000 miles behind my husband before learning to ride my own, and I now have more than 100k under my belt!  All our vacations were taken on the motorcycles at one time and we were putting more than 10k a year on them. I’ve been to all the Western states, and Western Canada as well. It’s an amazing way to see the country. Your destination is just an excuse to go – the important part is the journey going there! 

E.E.: Do you have stories that inspired your books?

Laura: Boy, do I have stories! In fact, the first book I wrote, Her Road Home (first book in my Widow’s Grove series), was sparked by coming around a sweeping turn on the back of my husband’s motorcycle in Central California, and seeing an old Victorian on a grassy hill all by itself, shabby and abandoned. Its white paint was gray with age, but it was still regal, sitting atop that hill. I wanted to stop and buy it. Hubby nixed that idea, so I gave it a fictional family, instead.

E.E.: What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

Laura: In Twice in a Blue Moon, my heroine, Indigo Blue, makes Danovan DiCarlo nuts because he wants her - but not only is she his boss, she’s a widow, grieving for her septuagenarian husband. Why would a Hollywood ‘arm-candy’ wife want to run a winery, when she admits to knowing nothing of the business? She doesn’t even drink, for cripes sakes! He just doesn’t ‘get’ her at all. Danovan makes Indigo crazy because he keeps lying to her! Every time she relaxes, and starts trusting and caring for him, she discovers another untruth. And a lie out of kindness is still a lie.

E.E.: If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go?

Laura: The old West, of course! But I’d want to come back as a man – I’m not sure I’m tough enough to be a woman back then. I’d just love to know what it was really like. 

Cribs Birdcage, licensed under GFDL via Wikipedia

The best glimpse I ever had of that past was when I visited the Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. Have you ever been? It is amazing. It looks like the patrons locked it up and walked away, a hundred years ago. There are poker tables on the main floor, a stage up front with the original red velvet drapes, dusty and falling apart. On both sides, above your head, are the ‘cribs’ where the soiled doves plied their trade. Oh. My. Gosh. Each was about seven feet long, and five feet deep, and had only curtains covering the view to the floor below! Can you imagine? Below the stage is a small room where the world’s longest poker game was held. One continuous game went on there for 8 years, 5 months, and 3 days! If you ever get the chance to visit, don’t pass it up.

E.E.: What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

Laura: I’ve been lucky enough to have a bunch of them – from signing at conferences to meeting real live fans (they like me! They really like me!) But the biggest thrill of my life (but don’t tell my husband, he thinks he is) was winning the RITA for Best First Book at the RWA National conference last year! In case you don’t know, the RITA is the ‘Oscar’ of the Romance writing industry, and they are given away at a black-tie dinner for 2,000. 

I figured it was my only chance in my life to legitimately ‘go glam’, so I rented a sequined dress that looked like molten gold in the lights – when they called my name, I couldn’t believe it was actually happening! It was the high point of my life. Here’s a link to my acceptance speech, and that gorgeous dress! 

https://youtu.be/d641Hq_iZw8

E.E.: What drew you to write in the genre(s) you do?

Laura: I write romance and Women’s Fiction with uplifting outcomes. Books have sustained me through some very hard times in my life. I’d like others to know that though it may not seem like it in those moments, things do get better, and there’s always an HEA just waiting to happen . . .

Today, Laura will offer three autographed copies of Sweet on You (mailed in the U.S. only). Just comment and enter the drawing.

Where would go on a "dream trip? and why?"

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E.E. Burke's Birthday Bash featuring Kim Rocha's top picks for BEST OF THE WEST

This weekend I celebrate my birthday. I love giving gifts as much as getting them, so I wanted to share with you, our readers, the gift of some great recommendations in Western romance, and to give you a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card so you can go out and buy them!

For a top five "must reads" list, I reached out to KIM ROCHA, who blogs and reviews books on her site, Book Obsessed Chicks as well as being a feature columnist on Romance at Random. She has a passion for romance, a soft-spot for Westerns and a love for great books.

So, take it away, Kim.

Thanks for inviting me to Get Lost in a Story, E.E.!

Many don't know that I am quite the recent romance reader. I used to strictly read horror before I finished school, and when I had my first child, my reading days were over. I sporadically read here and there, but didn't really get back into it until 2008. Even then I was only reading paranormal until I met Beth Williamson in 2011 and she sent me her novella, A Cowboy's Muse. My obsession with the West began. Sometimes trying to explain to other romance readers that Western romance isn't always about the cowboy can be frustrating, but when I can give them examples and sometimes they take my advice, it's a wonderful thing!

Trying to whittle my way into giving you my Top 5 is like asking which is your favorite child, but I will do my best! These are in no particular order by the way.

Check out this book on Amazon

Cowboy Take Me Away 

by Lorelei James

This last book in Lorelei James' Rough Rider series can also be a gateway to the series. This is how the McKay clan began with Mom and Dad McKay, Caroline and Carson. Cowboy Take Me Away is one of those books that makes you want to go back and read the entire series over again despite the fact that you may have a TBR pile a mile high. These rough and tumble McKay and West people are unique and engaging and Ms. James has given them a legacy for readers to devour.

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Train Station Bride by Holly Bush

Back in 2012 when I picked up Train Station Bride by Holly Bush, I didn't know what to expect from this new author to me. The original cover was a sepia tone photo of the inside of a train car, sort of nondescript, but as a photographer, I wanted to know more. This is one of the best stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. It takes a down-on-her-luck girl from the East and brings her out West in hopes of a better life as a mail-order bride. The whole "getting to know you" theme is so amazing and the story that Ms Bush brings to light is a lasting one. Train Station Bride has recently been re-released and is a must read, as are the rest of Holly Bush's books.

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Three Weeks with a Bull Rider

by Cat Johnson

Author Cat Johnson has been thrilling readers for years with her hot cowboys and military men. In her Oklahoma Nights series Cat brings us a fresh new take on cowboys and some pretty amazing reads. Cat's third book in the series, Three Night's with a Bull Rider is my favorite in this series to date, and not only because it's got a pretty hot cowboy in it. Let's face it, what girl wouldn't want a handsome bull rider? Jace and Tara's story is striking because it takes two unlikely to be together characters and give them so much passion that cannot be denied. Cat Johnson's ability to make the pair who have such disdain for one another come to desire one another so deeply is what I love about this book and Ms, Johnson.

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The Sweet Spot 
by Laura Drake

The Sweet Spot by Laura Drake hit me hard. It's right up there with my favorite Bertrice Small book and that is saying something. Ms. Drake takes a couple who were once in love, separates them with the ultimate tragedy for parents and then after a time rekindles that love. This book teems with so much emotion and hope that it has earned its permanent place on the top of my favorites list. Laura Drake is a brilliant writer, she engages the reader from the first line to the end.

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Brody by Emma Lang

Beth Williamson writing as Emma Lang's Brody in the Circle Eight series is still my favorite because the character Brody himself is the epitome of my alpha hero.To date, I base all my opinions on alpha heroes on Brody. When I first began this series with the first book, Matthew, I knew Brody's book was going to be something else with the spitfire Olivia Graham and the dedicated Texas Ranger. Their quest brings danger as well as romance and it's another book not to be missed.

Meet Kim

Kimberly Rocha is the founder of Book Obsessed Chicks book blog. She lives on Long Island with her family who patiently moves out of the way on book club night.  They lend a hand for the Book Obsessed Chicks annual BBQ, bringing authors and readers together on Long Island, NY. Kimberly is also a talented photographer with an infectious laugh. She contributes the monthly “Western Roundup” column to the Romance at Random blog, works full time for www.MyAuthorBiz.com and www.MyBookCRAVE.com on the marketing team.

Here's where you can find Kim:

Blog: www.BookObsessedChicks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Book-Obsessed-Chicks/163870460350960

Website: www.MyAuthorBiz.com http://myauthorbiz.com/info/index.php

Newsletter: www.MyBookCRAVE.com

E.E.: I love reading your reviews because you've got such a passion for this genre. How did you get started as a reviewer/blogger?

Kim: In the Summer of 2010 I went to my very first author event in Boston for Lara Adrian. When I left that weekend I was so inspired that went home and started the Book Obsessed Chicks blog with another reader and also started my book club of the same name, which now has 5 chapters. The reviewer part came naturally since growing up I loved to write and loved to give my opinion! Well I found out that I am not an author, but I do love to tell people about the books I enjoy. 

E.E.: What do you love most about Western romance?

Kim: What grabs me most about Western romance is the state of mind. I live in New York where things happen so fast, it's hard to slow down sometimes, but the kicking up my heels and reading a Western brings me to a place I'd really like to get to know. I love the cowboy/ranch culture and the differences between East and West.

E.E.: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

Kim: My Facebook friends are a constant source of smiles. Just from one post I can get a crowd of faithful followers to make me feel great. A great book will do that to me as well!

E.E.: Where do you read and how often?

Kim: I read everyday that I am home. When I am at a conference I can never concentrate, but there isn't one night at home, lying on my sofa, I don't have a book or my iPad in hand. I am also really OCD about finishing a book in a sitting. It doesn't matter if the birds are chirping and my eyes are burning when THE END appears, I have to get it done.

To celebrate my birthday, I'm giving away a $25 Amazon gift card, as well as autographed copies of three of my books. Just comment and enter the raffle.

We want to know your favorites. What Western historical or contemporary romance should be on our list of "must reads"?

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