Casanova Cowboy by Jamie Schulz
“How did a man-shy woman go about asking a cowboy for a kiss?”
That’s a question you’ll be dying to have answered in Jamie Schulz’s new novel, Casanova Cowboy. When a strong-willed woman from a big city starts over in a small town, leaving behind a difficult past, she is faced with a handsome and rugged rancher with his own secrets. Hart of Dixie meets Safe Haven in the stand-alone second installment of the Montana Men series. This suspenseful romance novel full of heart and healing has the heat turned all the way up to scorching.
We got a chance to talk to Jamie about draws her to writing cowboy heroes, and the key to writing some truly sizzling chemistry.
Q: This isn’t your first romance featuring a cowboy. What is it about the ranch hand life that compels you?
A: I grew up watching old Westerns and have always loved cowboys and country boys. Farm/ranch people have always seemed to be down-to-earth. In my experience, they work hard and play hard, and they’re not caught up in the flash that a lot of city folks get wrapped up in. I relate to them and admire their work ethic. Plus, what woman wouldn’t appreciate a man in a pair of nice-fitting Wranglers? Or surreptitiously ogle a set of broad shoulders and a lean waist as he walks by in them boots? Maybe it’s that aw-shucks grin every cowboy seems to smile that always got my heart racing, I’m not sure. But whatever the reason, I can’t seem to get enough.
Q: Your books often balance the main characters’ love story with serious discussions of trauma and hardships, as well as the prejudice Izabel faces in Casanova Cowboy. How do you find a balance between these two aspects of the book?
A: The trauma or heartache I write about is something I or someone close to me has faced in the past. I try to balance the dark with the light. Romances are about love and relationships. They often involve siblings and family and close friends who have to battle through their struggles. This is life. But if I dwell on the darkness, my stories would be very different. I make sure there are enough good and happy events to keep the story interesting, but also to demonstrate that people can evolve and find happiness.
Q: You share in your author’s bio that you believe every one of your stories must have a happy ending. Could you expand on what makes you keep to this rule?
A: I really dislike stories that end badly or are too sad, even if they are told wonderfully. Yes, life is hard and situations like relationships do often end terribly. However, it’s my goal to take a reader away from all the sad and terrible things in life. I want to distract them with love because life is hard enough without having a story break your heart too.
Q: Many of your readers have noted the fiery chemistry in your books. What advice do you have for crafting such a strong connection between characters?
A: I am a student of writing and romance. I’ve studied both exhaustively over many years. For me, part of the secret is in the emotions. Then if you can tie the actions with how the person is feeling inside, you’ve got the magic. It needs to feel natural to the reader because readers can tell when you force it. The other half of the secret is the body language. If it doesn’t match the emotion the character feels, it will throw everything off. But if it is believable, smooth and not forced or overly wordy, it should give the reader the sense of being in the character’s shoes, putting them right there in the story.
Q: You’ve written a wide array of romance stories, from contemporary to post-apocalyptic. What is it that inspires you to craft new stories of characters finding their happy endings?
A: I almost always get my inspiration from history. I read historical events or watch them in a documentary and often ideas just come to me for scenarios based on those things that actually happened. I may alter it a bit, set it in a new time or place, but the scene I write has its roots in a real-life event.
Q: What’s the next project on your list? Are we staying in Montana or hitching the saddle to go out of state?
A: A little of both. I’m working on two projects right now. The first one is the next book in the Angel Eyes series, where things take a new turn that, hopefully, will surprise readers. The second project is book 3 in the Montana Men series. There are apparently many readers waiting to find out what happens next.
Jamie Schulz is a contemporary Western romance and dystopian cowboy romance author. She loves to write about heroes with vulnerabilities and strong, feisty heroines who are a match for the men they love. To her, every one of her stories, no matter how dark, must have a happy ending, and she strives to make them impossible to put down until you get there.
Jamie has been writing and making up stories for most of her life and hopes to one day reach the bestsellers lists. Her book Broken Cowboy won the Global Book Awards Gold Medal for romance and was a RONE Awards finalist. Jake’s Redemption — a full-length prequel to the dark, dystopian world of the Angel Eyes series — was also an award-winner in the Global Ebook Awards.
Cowboys, ice cream, and reading almost any kind of romance are among her (not so) secret loves. She balances her free time between reading her favorite romance authors — in genres ranging from erotica and dark romance to sweet historicals and contemporary romance — and spending time with those she is closest to. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and their fur babies, and she enjoys hearing from her fans. You can follow her at her newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads and BookBub.
