Can't Get Enough of Those Cowboys!

By Starla Kaye (Guest Blogger)

Cowboys, cowboys, cowboys. . . I can’t get enough of them. I love them from the tip of their scuffed boots, to their snug fitting jeans and chambray shirt rolled up past their elbows, clear up to their wide-brimmed hat.

I’ve been writing about all kinds of heroes for quite a few years now, mainly penned as Starla Kaye. I’ve also published several romantic suspense stories as S.K. Fero. Although I will continue writing as Starla Kaye, I will now focus even more on writing western romances, both historical and contemporary, as S.K. Fero. Please see my contact information below for S.K. Fero’s info as well as Starla Kaye’s.

Cowboy Hats: More than you’ll ever want to know

Handling a hat:

1. Some people swear that you should never grab the hat by the crown. Pick it up by its brim and then adjust it by the front and back of the brim.
2. Other people say to hold the brim near the crown in the front and back when putting on or removing the hat.
3. Set it upside down on its crown. Never set it right side up on its brim because that causes the brim to warp and misshape.
4. Store the hat upside down inside its original box, if not worn often.
5. Never set the hat near a heat source because that will cause the sweat band to contract and shrink the size. This is a real annoyance after you’ve got it to conform perfectly to your head.

Dealing with wet hats:

1. Felt hats were designed to be used in the rain.
2. Wool hats are designed for dry climates and should never get wet.
3. Straw hats are designed to handle a minimal amount of rain.
4. When the hat gets wet, carefully even out and round out the dents and creases. Carefully turn the sweatband to the outside and sit the hat right side up on the sweatband. Let it dry slowly. Do not put it in an oven or use a blow-dryer on it.

Cleaning hats:

1. Protect a hat from water damage with a non-silicone based protector, sprayed and lightly brushed into the felt.
2. Keep felt hats clean with brushing, but use different ones for dark and light-colored hats.
3. Get a heavily dirt and stained hat cleaned by a professional.
4. Straw hats should be brushed regularly with a brim brush or an ordinary whisk broom. Clean a straw hat with a damp sponge and non-detergent soap.

Hat color:

Black hats are warmer and keep a cowboy’s head warmer on long cold nights or day.

Crown creases:

1. Ranger Style: The two creases and dips are toward the front of the crown, with the crown higher in the back.
2. Montana Peak: A hat with four creases radiating out from the top of the crown. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police wear this style.
3. Straight Crown: A hat with no creases pressed into the crown.
4. Hispanic Felt Hat: A hat with a straight crown flattened on top.
5. Derby: A hat with no creases and the brim is narrow.

Hat etiquette:

• Tip your hat for strangers. Take if off for friends.
• Tip your hat any time a lady thanks you for some service.
• Take off your hat when the National Anthem is played.
• Take off your hat at a burial.
• Don’t take off your hat in public buildings, entrance halls, corridors of office buildings or hotels, or in elevators.
• Take off your hat when sitting down at a table for a meal, unless there is nowhere safe to lay the hat.
• Leave the hat on when sitting down to eat a meal at a counter.

Resources:

Cowboy Hat Info: http://www.cowboyhatinfo.org/hat_care_tips.html

Canadian Cowboy: http://www.canadiancowboy.com/index.html

FAQ’s about Cowboy Hats: http://www.countrycalendar.com/Country_Store/hats/faq_cowboy_hats.htm

Story of the Cowboy Hat: http://voices.yahoo.com/story-cowboy-hat-shapes-styles-6229318.html

CONTEST:

Leave a comment about why you love cowboys for a chance to win a small sign “Cowboys Stirrup Fun” and another surprise. The contest ends March 17, but the prize will not be mailed until March 24 (as I will be traveling until then.)

Cowboy Dreamin' by Starla Kaye

 BLURB:

Kendra spends her days and nights running a business, sculpting, and leading a Tahitian dance group in Kauai. She can’t squeeze anything else into her life, but she dreams of cowboys. Sexy, hot cowboys in tight jeans, low-tipped Stetsons, and dusty boots. Men who know all about how to please a woman. She enjoys her fantasies, but can’t imagine ever settling down. But one night with one would be so nice. Surely that would get her dreams of a white knight cowboy sweeping her off her feet out of her system.

Because of an accident that Shane believes left him “less of a man,” he doesn’t see a wife and children in his future. Carson, his ranching partner—and sometimes lover—thinks Shane is wrong. Carson refuses to let Shane settle for a life of rodeo bunnies who only want a romp in bed with a bull rider. Shane deserves more than that. He manages to sign Shane up with a matchmaking service to, hopefully, meet another kind of woman, maybe someone who will appreciate Shane for the man he is. Except Madame Evangeline expects both of the cowboys to go on this special one night date. It doesn’t take long for either cowboy to realize that one night with the purple-haired, hip-shaking beauty in Kauai might not be enough….

EXCERPT:

Shane watched in fascination as two island women danced onto the beach stage barefoot, hips swaying, breasts bouncing. He’d seen this kind of dancing on TV once when he’d flicked channels around. It hadn’t held his interest at the time. But, damn, he liked the hell out of it in person. So did his lower body.

He shifted in his chair and hoped no one would notice the way his cock had tented the front of his too-tight jeans. He’d gone too long without loving a pretty female. Then he remembered why he was here and his mood soured. An arranged date.

He started to get up to leave when two more eye-catching dancers slipped from the cave entrance. One in particular snagged his attention. His dick grew harder; his pulse raced. Damn, talk about hot! And she knew how to shimmy her hips. He hoped he wasn’t drooling.

Then he forced his gaze higher and couldn’t move it beyond two plump breasts cupped by a pair of coconut shells. He ached to replace the shells with his palms, squeeze those….

The dancers did a sexy little hip-swishing spin. He swallowed and stifled a shudder. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. No doubt she affected every other man in the area. A glance at Carson told him his good buddy sure was under her spell.

He reached for his beer and chugged the rest of it, hoping it would cool him down. It didn’t. As he focused on the woman in the pink skirt again, he thought his poor old heart would beat itself to death. She had more wiggle to those amazing hips than any of the others. Those shells were working darn hard to contain her tempting breasts. And her smile…. God, he’d never seen one so….

She did another sassy, hip-teasing turn and captured his full attention once more. He hadn’t noticed her waist-length hair all that much before, but now the wavy mass fluttered around her, caressed her sweet body. It fascinated him, until he studied her closer. “Is her hair purple?”

“It appears to be,” Carson said in a husky tone. “I’m real glad we didn’t miss this.”

Shane didn’t want to admit he agreed, because that would mean he had accepted the arrangement then. But he wasn’t suffering. He kept watching the dancers, thinking about the photo in the e-mail. Which of these dancers was Kendra? They’d been told she had blue eyes. These women had brown eyes.

Interrupting his musings, the purple-haired beauty looked in his direction and her blue eyes widened. She fell out of sync with the others. He knew in that instant she was the woman he’d balked at meeting. His gut warned him his world would never be the same.

BUY LINKS:

Publisher Buy Link: Decadent Publishing

Buy Link: All Romance Ebooks:

Amazon Buy Link

BIO:

Starla Kaye has published 20 novels, 37 novellas, and 7 anthologies to date. She writes in many sub-genres of romance, but her heart really belongs to cowboys. Okay, she is pretty fond of Highland warriors, medieval knights, daring pirates, a Regency lord, and.... The list goes on. She definitely likes writing about a strong-willed, spirited, independent woman who takes her hero to his knees. Make the hero suffer, that's her motto.

When she isn't writing or hanging out with her writing friends or family, she travels. Give her a place to go and she'll figure out how to do it. She is a strong believer in there being so many places to see and so many things to do, and she wants to see it all, do it all.

Starla lives in the Midwestern part of the United States with the man she married at nineteen. He believes in her following her dreams about writing. She supports him with his chosen career as well. They have found and live their Happily Ever After.a writes many sub-genres of romance, but her heart really belongs to cowboys. Okay, she is pretty fond of Highland warriors, medieval knights, daring pirates, a Regency lord, and…. The list goes on. She definitely likes writing about a strong-willed, spirited, independent woman who AUTHOR CONTACT – Starla Kaye

Website: Starla Kaye

Amazon Author Page: Starla Kaye

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AUTHOR CONTACT – S.K. Fero

Website: S. K. Fero

Amazon Author Page: S.K. Fero

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