A Blogversation: Western Romance with Paty Jager

I'm excited the Blog Queens asked me to carry on this blogversation about western romance. If you don't know me, I'm Paty Jager the author of 45+ books half of which are western romance the other half are mysteries with a strong western flavor (there are horses, rural areas, and the cowboy qualities I admire).

Whether you are writing historical or contemporary western romance you need to know a bit about horses,  domestic animals, and rural living. Farming or ranching are a good thing as well. While you don't have to have lived that way (I do) it helps. You don't have to do as much research. But... if you do plan to write about these genres, if you haven't lived it or experienced it, you really need to connect with someone who has. 

My first critique partner was a writer back east who had ridden a horse once and didn't know the difference between a fetlock and a wither. We partnered and she helped me hone my writing skills and I helped her get horse and other ranch things correct. It was a successful pairing.

I believe half of what makes a romance book work is the chemistry and the other half is environment they are in. My first contemporary western is Perfectly Good Nanny. I made my heroine a city person running away from her life and finding a job (nanny) as far from there as possible. I put her on a cattle ranch in the middle of the SE Oregon desert country. She is out of her element but fighting to stay because she doesn't want to go back. The hero didn't hire her- his twelve-year-old daughter did. Over the internet with the help of a meddling Native American neighbor. There are two scenes in the book that happened to me with cattle that I changed up a bit, but used as ways to bring the hero and heroine together. 

What do you think? Do you read fiction, especially western romance, to live the western (historical or contemporary) life with the characters? If so, what part do you like the best?  

Halsey Brothers Series box set! by Paty Jager

Back during my early years of writing I was a complete seat-of-the-pants writer. I didn't outline, or write bios on my characters. I just got an idea, a hint of the hero and heroine, and I started writing. During that time, I wrote Marshal in Petticoats, a historical western romance. Several chapters in, I discovered the hero, Gil, had four brothers: Ethan, Hank, Clay, and Zeke. They didn't bodily enter the story until close to the end of the book. But in those short cameo scenes, I fell in love with each one of them and knew I had to write their stories.

Once Marshal in Petticoats was picked up by a publisher it was a no-brainer that each brother needed a story. And so the Halsey Brothers Series, or as some call it the Petticoat series, was born.

Now the books are available as separate ebooks or as an ebook box set.

Here are the condensed blurbs for each one:

Marshal in Petticoats

After accidentally shooting a bank robber, Darcy Duncan becomes marshal of a town as accident prone as herself.  And she’s not about to take orders from a corrupt mayor or a handsome drifter.  

Halsey discovers the new marshal is a passionate woman hell bent on proving the mayor is corrupt and dodging outlaws to clear her name.

Outlaw in Petticoats

Zeke Halsey has wanted Maeve Loman since he first set eyes on the prickly schoolteacher. Even as she thwarts his advances, he sees the desire burning in her eyes. Offering to help her find her father, he hopes they both live long enough for him to prove to Maeve he isn’t going anywhere.

Miner in Petticoats

Ethan Halsey, the oldest of the Halsey brothers, is determined to fulfill his father’s wishes to provide for his brothers. The only drawback is a feisty woman who refuses to part with the land he needs.

Aileen Miller has had two husbands. She isn’t about to allow another man to dictate her life or the lives of her two children.

Can they work together and achieve their goals or will their growing attraction shatter their dreams and disrupt their families?

Doctor in Petticoats

Dr. Rachel Tarkiel gave up on love after a devastating accident and settled for a life healing others.  Blinded by a person he considered a friend, Clay Halsey curses his circumstances and his limitations. Can their love overcome their internal fears and the obstacles life throws at them or will a mysterious man keep them apart forever?

Logger in Petticoats

Hank Halsey believes he’s found the perfect logging crew—complete with cooks—until he discovers Kelda Nielson would rather swing an axe than flip eggs. Strong and stubborn, Kelda Nielsen grew up falling trees, and resents any man who believes she’s not capable, until Hank. Will her deceit ruin Kelda’s chance at love or will hardheaded Hank realize it’s more than his love that puts a sparkle in her eye?

You can purchase the box set now at Kindle, Nook, and Kobo for $8.99, but if you wait, it will go on sale during October for $.99. The reason I'm practically giving away the box set is to get readers excited about the next trilogy set around the Halsey family. 

Readers have been clamoring for more and Jeremy's Story(Darcy's brother in Marshal in Petticoats) Laying Claim will be the first book from the Halsey Homecoming Trilogy about the three young men brought into the Halsey family through marriages.