About Under this Cowboy's Hat
Edited by Rob Knight, featuring Parhelion, Cat Kane and BA Tortuga
196 pages / 75500 words
ISBN: 978-1934166-32-1, 1-934166-32-4
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
The cowboy is a larger than life figure, a legend of the American west. But he's also very much a part of modern life, whether he rides a horse or a pick-up truck, whether he works cattle or works the rodeo circuit.
Under this Cowboy's Hat is all about the cowboy, his life and loves, his work and his play. Each story takes a slice of a cowboy's life and serves it up hot, letting the reader in on a world most folks only dream about.
Masked Riders, by Parhelion, is set in 1860s California. Rich
ne'er-do-well Jesse is sent to a relation's ranch to deal with a ghost rider who seems Hell bent on making trouble. When Wardley Bridger is sent along to keep Jesse out of trouble, sparks fly. On the trail or off, these two have to deal with their feelings for each other, and try to solve the mystery of the masked rider.
In Hung Up, by Cat Kane, rodeo cowboy Billy is looking for a little companionship. When he finds Spence, he thinks he might have just what he needs. But Spence has secrets he's not sure he wants to share, and Billy has something to hide as well. Can these two learn to trust?
Rounding out this trip of stories is Ricochet, by BA Tortuga. Holt is coming off a bad break-up. So bad that it's left him with holes that are physical as well as mental. His old friend Teague comes to help him find his way home, back to Texas, and the life he thought he'd lost forever. Can they stand strong against the ricochet of Holt's past?
Get Under this Cowboy's Hat today and see what makes the men tick!
Review
Kiernan Kelly, author of the upcoming Riding Heartache Road, writes: Under This Cowboy’s Hat brings us a trio of stories from three very talented authors who, each in their own unique style, have written tales of men who leap up at us from the pages, larger than life and twice as gritty.
In Masked Riders, by Parthelion, we’re whisked back in time to San Francisco of the 1800’s, where life is every bit as rough as the men who live it. This suspenseful tale introduces us to Jesse and Bridger, one man born of privilege, the other born in the saddle, and both simmering with needs that can only be explored in dark corners and seedy hotel rooms. Brought together by circumstance, they fight to untangle a knot of mystery that surrounds the Los Robles Ranch, stealing moments of pleasure at the risk of exposure, and finding a fondness for one another that segues into something more, something deeper and enduring.
Cat Lane gives us Hung Up, a story that brings to life all of the excitement and dangers of the rodeo in the form of a young rider named Billy, who struggles against the ghost of his father’s reputation and a manager whose principles are less than ethical. Meeting Spence, a handsome vet with a past shadowed by betrayal, Billy suddenly finds himself fighting for two things – Spence’s trust, and the chance to prove his talent as a rider. Billy finds that neither is easy to attain as he rides his way through pain and heartache, and finally into the arms of a man worth fighting for.
Richochet, by B. A. Tortuga, brings us home again, to the smell of cornbread and sweet tea, and to old friends seen with new eyes. Meet Holt, a man who’d left everything behind to chase a dream to the big city, only to realize that happiness was only to be found down home. Leaving is not as easy as Holt thought it would be, but it’s made considerably more pleasant by the arrival of Teague, Holt’s best and oldest friend. Friendship, however, is not the only thing on Teague’s mind, and Holt’s return home proves to be a journey of discovery, as each man finds that what he’d been searching for had been right in front of him the whole time.
Bursting to the seams with real men in all their flawed and calloused beauty, intrigue, excitement, and steamy sex, you’ll find love among the spurs and saddles in Under This Cowboy’s Hat.
Sample
From Masked Riders:
It was better not to make a fuss. Jesse shifted his own blankets until he was lying prone near the edge of the outcrop, overlooking the darkness of the oaks and the pale trace of the road below. Deliberately, he left a pebble or two under his blankets where they would dig into him. Just now he needed the discomfort.
Bridger settled quickly. He was a steady sleeper who didn’t snore. Jesse had plenty of undisturbed time to identify such constellations as he could see sharing the night sky with a bright moon and to slap at the occasional insect attracted to his presence. Without his braiding to distract him, he could also think. He would rather not have thought.
He liked Bridger, liked him too well given that he had known the man for less than a week. Jesse wished that he could believe this growing friendship to be soul calling to soul in the sort of rapturous spiritual fellowship he had so ardently desired when he was young. He feared, though, that his animal urges were what spurred him onward toward intimacy. Not that such rushed intimacies were Bridger’s fault. The vaquero seemed a good enough sort, aside from his ease with the same thorn that stabbed Jesse. And it certainly was not Bridger’s fault that Jesse still wanted him.
It was with real relief that Jesse heard the sound of a horse and rider. He crawled a bit closer to the edge of the outcrop, careful not to dislodge anything that might cascade down into the oaks below, giving them away.
He and Bridger had been right about sound carrying. Jesse could hear the horse long before he could see it. Still, the sound of hooves grew louder more quickly than Jesse night have predicted. Whoever this rider was must know the trail or he would not have dared to take his horse along at this pace so late at night, moon or no moon. And now Jesse could hear something else besides hoof beats. The rider was singing.