Behind the Book with The Rancher’s Second Chance and Victoria James

Why I had to write a cowboy hero…

I’ve been a fan of the romance genre since high school and the cowboy hero captured my heart right from the start. It’s not that I grew up around cowboys. Or even farms. Really, the only time I sat on a horse was when I was six years old and posing for a picture…

I have vivid memories of my father watching old John Wayne and Clint Eastwood westerns. Clint Eastwood was my favourite-my father’s too. He still watches those movies. The image of the ‘Man with No Name’ sitting on that horse, that glint in his eye, the steely expression have been ingrained in me.

I love all the traits that are commonly thought of when describing a cowboy hero: hard-working, strong, noble, loyal, protective, tough, charming…and the list goes on and on. There is an inner strength that has to be there and at the same time, my perfect cowboy hero has to have a very tender heart…for the heroine.

In my latest release, The Rancher’s Second Chance, the hero Cole Forrester is every inch the perfect cowboy. But Cole is wounded. He hasn’t fully gotten over the death of his first wife, even though he thinks he has. His family knows better. So when his little sister’s best friend is stranded at the ranch, they go out of their way with some matchmaking antics. Soon, Cole begins falling for the last woman he’d ever expect. Melanie is poised and proper on the outside, but on the inside she has so much hurt and pain that she needs to reveal to Cole in order to have a real relationship with him. She’s admired him from afar for years and now they finally have a chance for a future.

When Cole is put to the test, his inner strength comes to the forefront and he acts just as I’d expect a cowboy hero to act. He protects and defends what is right and the woman he loves. He’ll stop at nothing to keep Melanie safe…

I fell in love with Cole and Melanie as I wrote their book and I hope you will too!

Thanks for reading!

~Victoria James