Hi guys, we have Tara Lain popping in today with her upcoming release Cowboys Don’t Come Out, Tara has a fantastic guest post where she chats about cowboys and we have a great excerpt so you can get a taste of the story, so check out the post and enjoy the excerpt! <3 ~Pixie~
Cowboys Don’t Come Out
Tara Lain
Rand McIntyre settles for good enough. He loves his small California ranch, raising horses, and teaching riding to the kids he adores—but having kids of his own and someone to love means coming out, and that would jeopardize everything he’s built. Then, despite his terror of flying, he goes on a holiday to Hana, Hawaii with his parents and meets the dark and mysterious Kai Kealoha, a genuine Hawaiian cowboy. Rand takes to Kai’s kid brother and sister as much as he drools over Kai, but the guy sports more prickles than a horned toad, and more secrets than the exotic land he comes from.
Kai’s earned his privacy and lives to protect his “kids.” He ought to stay away from the big, handsome cowboy for everyone’s sake—but since the guy’s just a haole on a short vacation, how much damage can he do? When all of Kai’s worst fears and Rand’s darkest nightmares come true at once, there’s not much chance for two cowboys who can’t—or won’t—come out.
Tara Lain!
Paniolos – the First American Cowboys
Hi I’m Tara Lain. Thank you for stopping by MM Good Book Reviews to hang out with me as I introduce my new novel, Cowboys Don’t Come Out., a holiday story that takes place primarily on the island of Maui, Hawaii. As Americans, we pride ourselves on our cowboy traditions. Western movies and TV shows never go out of style completely and we fancy ourselves strong and independent like our cowboy ancestors. But do you know that cowboys existed on the Hawaiian islands before they came to the American mainland?
In 1798, Capt. George Vancouver presented King Kamehameha with five black longhorn steer. By the early nineteenth century, these steer had run rampant, numbering in the thousands. In 1816, Kamehameha gave one of his advisors, John Parker, some land and permission to wrangle the cattle. With the help of Hawaiian workers, Parker established a booming business in beef and tallow. In 1832, Parker hired Mexican vaqueros to work with his herds. These experienced men brought to the islands their boots, saddles, guitars and ukuleles and a music tradition that stretches to this day. They were called paniolo, a Hawaiian language interpretation of the word espanol, the language these vaqueros spoke. They trained the local men to work with cattle and began the world of the Hawaiian cowboy – 15 or more years before cowboys were originally identified with America. Because Hawaiians began their work with cattle and horses earlier, their paniolo traditions are strongly shaped by the Mexican vaquero heritage that stemmed originally from Spain.
Most Americans are unaware of the paniolo, but if you ask a cowboy, you’ll get a respectful answer. In 1908, great-grandson of John Palmer Parker and Kipikane, Ikua Purdy, was invited to compete in the Frontier Days World Championship in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He and fellow paniolo Archie Kaaua and Eben Low shocked the rodeo crowd by taking top honors, and became instant cowboy celebrities as “Hawaii Roughriders.”
My new book involves two cowboys – an American mainlander and a Hawaiian paniolo — who get together while one is on a holiday and have to figure out how to make a quick fling into forever. I hope you love Cowboys Don’t Come Out. Here’s an excerpt –
Excerpt
Rand McIntyre settles for good enough. He loves his small California ranch, raising horses, and teaching riding to the kids he adores—but having kids of his own and someone to love means coming out, and that would jeopardize everything he’s built. Then, despite his terror of flying, he goes on a holiday to Hana, Hawaii with his parents and meets the dark and mysterious Kai Kealoha, a genuine Hawaiian cowboy. Rand takes to Kai’s kid brother and sister as much as he drools over Kai, but the guy sports more prickles than a horned toad, and more secrets than the exotic land he comes from.
Kai’s earned his privacy and lives to protect his “kids.” He ought to stay away from the big, handsome cowboy for everyone’s sake—but since the guy’s just a haole on a short vacation, how much damage can he do? When all of Kai’s worst fears and Rand’s darkest nightmares come true at once, there’s not much chance for two cowboys who can’t—or won’t—come out.
What did I expect? Whatever he thought, this wasn’t it. The small living room/dining area/kitchen combo shone so clean and bright, it defied the shabbiness. An old couch had been decorated with a bright throw covered with Hawaiian flower prints, while a couple of chairs stood opposite it, looking comfy if worn. At the center of things, a large table was set for three with mismatched but colorful ceramic dinnerware, and at the stove, wearing shorts, flip-flops, and an apron, stood Kai.
He frowned stormily. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I brought the kids.” Rand crossed his arms. Not moving.
Kai’s dark eyes flashed at his sister. “Damn it, Lani.”
Rand took a step forward. “Don’t you yell at her because you’re too chicken to face me.”
“Chicken?” He glanced at Lani and Aliki, and his chest expanded with a big breath. “It’s complicated.”
Rand walked to the couch and sat. “I’ve got time to hear all about it.”
Kai huffed and turned back to the great-smelling onions frying in his pan. “Go back to your girlfriend and leave us alone.”
Rand glanced at Lani, who gazed at him like he should do something. “I already explained to Lani and Aliki how sorry I am about breaking up our party unexpectedly. My mom invited Julie, and I was so surprised, I didn’t act appropriately. I apologize.”
Aliki walked over and wrapped his arms around Kai’s waist. “Hey, brah, give the cowboy a break. He’s our friend, right?”
Kai looked down at his brother. Rand tilted his head to see Kai’s expression, and it was—soft. “Yeah, kaikaina, he’s our friend.” Kai looked over Aliki’s head, his face neutral. His chest expanded, contracted, and he said, “You want to stay for lunch, brah?”
Rand nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that. What can I do to help?”
“Maybe Aliki can be persuaded to eat salad if he knows his riding teacher made it?” He held Aliki’s chin and stared into his face. The kid wrinkled his nose and ran to the back of the house. Kai yelled, “Change your clothes and then come back and help.”
Lani had removed her boots and was wiping them with a cloth. “I’ll change too and be right back.” She grinned at Rand and walked out.
Alone—at last. “I really am sorry about yesterday.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. Hell, what you and your folks did for my kids—I can’t even say.” He shook his head, but his eyes never left the pan to which he’d added tomatoes, ground beef, and a bunch of spices that made the whole room fragrant and Rand’s belly rumble.
“I’m talking about you. You and me. I’m sorry for putting you in such a weird position.”
He glanced at Rand, frowned, and lowered his voice. “There’s no ‘you and me.’ You’re a haole tourist, brah, who goes back to his life tomorrow. I’m a brown-skinned dropout with mouths to feed.”
As kicks in the teeth went, that one qualified as pure, fourteen-carat-gold truth.
About Tara
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
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