Contemporary Western Romance with Stephanie Berget

I met Stephanie years ago at an author unconference.  Another author told her about a Western romance author who lived in Oregon (Stephanie lived in Idaho at the time) and who would be at the conference. When she introduced herself she said she was looking to connect with that author. I raised my hand and we've been friends ever since! We've even had stories in the same western romance anthologies.

Paty: Why do you write Western Romance?

Stephanie: I've been a cowgirl and an avid romance reader since I was in my mid-teens. As I started training and competing on barrel horses, it bothered me that the rodeo scenes in the romance books weren't true to life. The love stories were good, but I couldn't find authors who studied rodeo and ranching and wrote real cowboys and cowgirls. I started writing to put reality into my western romance.

Paty: The realism of rodeo life comes through in your books. How many series do you have? Do you only write series or do you have standalone books?

Stephanie: I have three series published, Harney County Cowboys, Rodeo Road, and Sugar Coated Cowboys. I'm working on the second book in my Change of Heart Cowboys series and hope to have it out by February of next year. I also write standalones. I just published Balancing The Books. It's an enemies to lovers story featuring an accountant and a small-town sheriff.

Paty: I've read at least one book from each of your series. But I'll have to get Balancing the Books.  Your books are mostly in rural settings. Why did you pick those settings?

Stephanie: I was raised in a fairly large city but was always horse crazy. Since becoming an adult, I've chosen to live in very small towns. I love the friendly atmosphere and people and to have room to keep my horses.

Paty: I know that draw to having horses. How do you make your cowboys so real? They all have the swagger and the toughness of a cowboy.

Stephanie: I'm married to a former bareback bronc and saddle bronc rider who has become a team roper. We've lived the rodeo lifestyle, so I've had lots of role models for my heroes.

Paty: And it comes through in your stories. Do you have an ongoing character (main or secondary in a series) that is your favorite?

Stephanie: This is a hard question, but if I had to pick, it would be Sean O'Connell in Dancing Creek Ranch, the second book in my Harney County Cowboys series. I like the fact that Sean was willing to make major changes in his life to win Catherine's heart.

Paty: He is a definite hero. Who are some other Western romance authors you enjoy reading?

Stephanie: One of my favorite western authors is Kari Lynn Dell. She was a good friend, but I love her books because she was the best at putting reality into rodeo romance. I also really like Katie Lane and D'Ann Lindun's books. I usually read contemporary western romance, but for historical western romance, I've really enjoyed your books.

Paty: Ahhh, thank you! What is the one thing you hope readers take away when they finish one of your books?

Stephanie: I hope they'll take away a smile at my happy endings and maybe I can teach them about rodeo and ranching.

Paty: They should do that, since you write so authentically. Just for fun – Tell us what is your favorite thing to do besides writing and reading, because we know that’s a given.

Stephanie: I love to run barrels and ride in the mountains on my horse, Cisco. He's a fifteen-year-old dun-colored registered Quarter Horse and if I do say so, he's the sweetest and prettiest horse around.

Paty: Thank you for answering my questions and being a guest on Romancing the Genres.   

Stephanie: Thank you for asking me to participate. 

Here's more about Stephanie:

Finding romance beneath a rodeo moon. That’s what Stephanie Berget had in mind when she began writing--adding a realistic view of rodeo and ranching to her Contemporary Western Romance.
She was born loving horses, developing a lifelong love of rodeo when she married her Bronc Rider. They traveled to rodeos throughout the Northwest while she ran barrels and her cowboy rode bucking horses.
Stephanie and her husband live in the mountains of Eastern Oregon, where they raise and train Rodeo horses with the help of Cisco, the wonder horse, and Dizzy Dottie, the Border Collie.

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephaniebergetwrites, or Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/stephanieberget. Check out all her books on Stephanie's Amazon Author Page

This box set of three stories is about cowgirls falling in love and the men who capture their hearts.

Tied to a Dream – Frannie O’Connell was taught to be self-sufficient, but being Superwoman was harder than it looked. On a lonely stretch of road as she rests and dreams of rounding the barrels, a stranger knocks on her window. By the look of his black Stetson, he’s a cowboy. Life had taught her to be wary but his deep blue eyes and sexy smile has her reaching for the door latch.

Dancing Creek Ranch – Catherine Silvera, manager of the Dancing Creek Bar finds a waterlogged, unconscious man sleeping in the only vehicle left in the parking lot at 3 a.m. She recognized the cowboy. This man had helped her years ago, when she couldn’t help herself. It would only take a few minutes to repay his kindness then make tracks like a coyote-shy rabbit with hot breath on her tail.

Rocky Road Home – Sissy Leviny couldn’t let the man who saved her from the pack of jackals at the bar. When she found him beaten up alongside the road, she picked him up. He’d been beaten because of her. She liked cowboys but there was something about this Harley-riding hero that she couldn’t shake.
Buy link:
https://bit.ly/HarneyCountyCowboys

 

Stephanie is giving away an ebook of Tied to a Dream to one lucky commenter.