By Karen Rock
We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the stops
you can see snippets, as well as the link to each full post, below:
...I hope you enjoy this inspiring come-back story brimming with romance and uplifting values that reinforce the importance of overcoming challenges through strength of will and determination, never letting limitations stop you from achieving your dreams and how friendship is the strongest foundation upon which true and lasting love is built. Other themes include: disabilities, respect, self-worth and faith.
— Karen
But here—here she couldn’t hide from it. In the real world, her vision blossomed into a bigger problem and she shrunk into someone incompetent, dependent, weak, a person she never wanted to be.
“I can handle a fifteen-hundred-pound stallion at fifty miles an hour. But this—I can’t deal with this. What am I supposed to do with my life?”
She’d been planning on trying out for the ERA Premier tour team again at their end-of-summer qualifiers. Now she’d never be good enough to ride with them.
Or ride at all…
The life she’d always wanted ended before it’d even started, and she had no contingency plan.
"This is a feel good, heart warming story. . . . Also reading best friends Jared and Amberley grow even closer was beautiful. I would highly recommend this one because you have the feel good story, but also the story of two feuding families going on is also intriguing."
“I’ll do it!” The rail had to be on the lowest setting, six inches above the ground. No challenge at all. She could do it blindfolded.
Or legally blind.
Amberley set her jaw, wheeled Harley away and brought him into a trot that carried her swiftly to the blurred shape of the gate. She couldn’t quite judge the height, or her proximity, just yet. Unease fluttered in her belly. How many paces to it? Time to jump?
Relying on instinct, she squeezed Harley’s sides at the right moment, but he balked. She flew over his head and landed flat on her back. At the children’s cries, she struggled to sit up, but the fall had knocked the wind out of her.
"The author’s writing flows smoothly and she has crafted a beautiful story with more complexity than most romances. A beautiful Colorado setting, feuding families, career choices, children with disabilities, and a very special horse named Harley make for a deeply satisfying read. . .
Falling for a Cowboy is a thoroughly entertaining read that touches the heart."
"I loved the name Amberley and her character. It would be so hard to lose your eyesight. The 2nd in the series and definitely a good series. Such an inspiring book with Amberley and Jared overcoming her blindness and with the horse therapy program for children with disabilities."
“Amberley.” Jared breathed her name like an invocation, barely breaking their kiss.
“Hmm?” She threaded her fingers his crisp hair, unable to open her eyes.
His lips slid across her jaw, nibbling her earlobe. “You’re beautiful, babe.”
Babe?
He called all of his girls babe. Especially when he couldn’t remember their names.
Tension locked up every inch of her. She propped an eye open. Then the other. Despite her lack of vision, she could see this disastrous moment clearly. In minutes, he’d gone from treating her like a child to seducing her like one of his flings. And she was neither.
"In Falling for a Cowboy, Karen Rock peels back the layers of fear and helplessness that come from Amberley’s loss of sight. She also shows readers the true meaning of friendship—encouragement, and support when one is at their lowest point, standing ready to do anything to assist, pushing the right buttons to motivate from fear, and calling each other out when necessary."
“Just because he lost his wings doesn’t mean he’s not a Pegasus anymore.” Jared helped Emily off the saddle and down the stairs.
Emily threw her arms around Harley’s neck. “You’re a real Pegasus, Harley. You are.”
Harley’s head bobbed in a flash of black and silver, and Amberley smiled through the tears that sprang to her eyes.
Jared was right. Wings didn’t make a Pegasus. Working limbs, perfect eyesight…they didn’t make a human either. What we imagined and strived to be counted. Real strength rooted itself inside, where it mattered most.
"Amberley is the kind of heroine you hope to find, but never knew you were searching for. Jared is a walking dream that steps from a imaginative figure into real life. Falling for a Cowboy blends heartbreaking realism with courageously inspiring characters. . . . Falling for a Cowboy is phenomenally fascinating storytelling."
"I'm loving this Rocky Mountain Cowboys series! . .
I loved the inclusion of children with physical challenges as Amberley struggled to come to grips with her new challenges and the message that with the right help and love we can all do amazing things. Helping others brings joy and this book brought this out. There were lots of feel good moments to be had in this story."
Her blond brows lowered and met over the straight bridge of her nose. “I should have bought out your share.”
“Glad you didn’t.”
An exasperated noise escaped her pale lips. “I trusted you.”
“Trusting me is the smartest thing you can do, darlin’.”
“Don’t call me that!”
Her vehement tone caught him off guard. He called lots of woman darlin’. Why did she act like it meant something?
Because you mean it when you say it to her, a voice said inside him.
"Karen Rock does a really amazing job at bringing these two broken characters together in a way that gives them strength in many facets. She's a very good storyteller and I felt right at home in Carbondale, Colorado and could picture the rodeo circuit/life pretty vividly. I loved seeing more of the characters from her previous books and I can't wait to read more about this family, as each book is centered on one of the siblings."
“Amberley, please,” Jared pleaded, his voice as raw as a bruise. “I’ve got two left feet and a swollen tongue around you lately. Nothing I say or do comes out right. I don’t know if we’re coming or going, but I know I want to find out. Give me a chance.”
He framed her face with his hands then leaned over and kissed her. Thoroughly, sweetly, wonderfully. For a moment, everything stilled: her breath, movement, her heart. The world, possibly.
“No!” She shoved his chest.
“No?” His eyelashes blinked rapidly, brushing against her temple.
“It’s not that easy.” Her breathing slowly returned to normal, though her heart still pumped overtime. “You don’t get to decide when and where and how.”
“But I thought…”
“If you want me, you’re going to have to work for me.”
"This is the perfect story! I love the Cade family and if I could, I'd like to join them. This book has a wonderful story about overcoming hardships and roadblocks in our lives and about true friendships...
I highly recommend this book to other readers. I can't wait to read another story about the Cade family."
" It’s uplifting and inspirational to anyone who has ever felt less than. A well-built plot with many familiar characters. The storyline drug a bit in the beginning as a lot of inner thoughts were being portrayed rather than dialogue, but overall an enjoyable, uplifting read!"
“What was my time?” she gasped.
“Wasn’t clocking you.”
“Will you next time?”
“So, you’re not quitting?”
“Never!” She laughed, exhilarated, pumped with enough adrenaline to lift her right off this saddle and into the sky. “Let’s go again.”
"I was hooked from the beginning of Falling for a Cowboy and did not want to put it down until I had the whole thing read. Such a fabulous and heartwarming story. I just can not put into words how much I enjoyed it and how sad I was having to tell Amberley and Jared goodbye.
I would give it 100 stars if I could.
Highly recommended."
"...I knew this series would be fine reading the books just on there own. This is a sweet second chance story that packs an emotional punch. . .
I found this to be a sweet and touching story. I loved the characters and really liked the other Cades."
“Sweetheart.”
That single word sent a tremor through her skin. “Sweetheart?”
“You don’t like darlin’.” She could feel the smile in his voice and wondered if her heart might explode in her chest.
“You’ve never called me sweetheart before.”
Jared’s strong hands cupped her shoulders, and he released a breath. “Plenty of times. Just not out loud.”
"Falling For a Cowboy by Karen Rock is the second book in The Rocky Mountain Cowboys series. This series is about the Cade family. You will absolutely adore them. Jared is a heartbreaker without even trying and Amberley is his strong willed best friend. This is a friends to lover romance and it is amazing."
“Why do it?”
“Because—because.” She hesitated, stumbling over her usual answer about winning. Competing had stopped being about scoring the top spot, she realized. It was about something bigger than that—inspiring herself and others like Dean and the rest of the Spirit Ranch kids. “Because it’s better than sitting home and wishing I’d tried.”
“Even if you don’t win?”
“Just giving it my best means I’ve already won,” she said, the words rushing from some deep part of her. The truth. Showing up for competitions meant she was someone, not nothing like her father would have said.
Sorry, Daddy, but I don’t believe I’m nothing. And I don’t believe you’d think that either. You promised I’d be okay after you passed. You told me I was strong.
"It won’t take many paragraphs for you to fall in love with Falling For a Cowboy by Karen Rock. A toe-curlingly swoony cowboy. A strong heroine. Best friends to more. Adorable kids. A sweet horse. And moments to cheer proudly like any good sports-rags-to-riches story provides. Oh, and did I mention the yummy kisses? (Whew… still fanning) The Cade family continues to be entertaining and inspiring, and I think Karen Rock gets better with each new book. Excited for the next one!"
And don't forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven't already...
Christmas Ranch Rescue by Lynette Eason
