Donna Alward talks on her THE LAST REAL COWBOY! And Gifts!

This week RBH invited Romance Author Donna Alward to share with us about the heros she likes to write and read about. But as she says there are damaged heroines and heros who love them!

Damaged Heroines and the Heroes who love them….
I tend to write damaged heroes. I love a good broody, wounded man who falls really hard for the right woman. Wounded heroines are a harder challenge for me. Maybe because we don’t want to feel sorry for a heroine. We want to see strong, independent women we can cheer for – and because the majority of readers of Romance are women and the main protagonist is generally female, you really have to make sure she’s relatable. The hero is the man you dream of, but you walk in the heroine’s shoes.
Wounded heroines need special sorts of heroes. My last three Harlequin Romances have all starred wounded heroines – some of the scars are visible, some are not. In my current release, THE LAST REAL COWBOY, social worker Angela Beck seems confident at the beginning, like she has her crap together. She’s Executive Director of Butterfly House, a second-stage housing shelter for abused women. She’s a hard worker and she’s strong and determined to make it a success.
But Angela hasn’t dealt with her own issues yet, and her own secret: that she feels guilty for leaving after high school – leaving her mother to deal with her abusive father all by herself. There’s a little piece of her that still hopes her mother will be strong enough to leave him someday.
It takes a big man to deal with that sort of baggage.
In walks Sam Diamond. Sam seems pretty cocky at the beginning, but he’s also carrying a fair burden – the day-to-day running of Diamondback Ranch in the wake of his father’s stroke. Not just the practical running of it but stepping in as the de facto head of the family even though that title still belongs to his Dad, Virgil. Sam knows how to love and how to care for someone. And he’ll protect those he loves ‘til the end. They are two pretty strong personalities to put together, and sparks fly a bit, but they’re a pretty good team, too.
In THE REBEL RANCHER, the follow up book out next month, Angela’s first client Clara is our wounded heroine. As a client of Butterfly House, we know she’s come from an abusive relationship and jumping into another is not in the plan. Especially with a man like Tyson Diamond – the rebellious Diamond who left the ranch at 18 and never looked back. Ty’s got a reputation as a bad boy and that scares her to death – until she meets him and sees a whole other side to him. She sees the hurt behind the bravado. The calm beneath the charisma. Clara’s a wounded bird, and Ty, despite his reputation, is loyal and especially gentle. I don’t have to tell you that I really love Ty, do I?
And last fall I wrote a damaged heroine whose scars are pretty obvious – HOW A COWBOY STOLE HER HEART - Meg Briggs is a breast cancer survivor. She’s gone through a mastectomy and chemo. While inner wounds are easier to ignore, it’s harder when it’s so obvious and well-known. Meg is, to a large extent, identified by her cancer.
Clay is an old friend and he hasn’t always been a good one. Before her treatment they had words and now he needs to apologize for not being there for her. Clay’s had his own experiences with the Big C and the truth is it scares him to death. But he’s stronger than he gives himself credit for. And he loves Meg – he always has. What Clay has to offer is acceptance – of her diagnosis, her treatment, and what the future might mean. And the scene where that acceptance is tangible is my favourite scene in the book.
It’s resonated with readers as well – this book has been nominated for Romance Writers of America’s RITA award, has won the Colorado Award of Excellence, and is also nominated in the National Reader’s Choice Awards and the Booksellers’ Best Awards.

[Wow! Donna! Congratulations on being nominated for so many awards!]
I think what it comes down to is that we all have scars of some sort, and we all dream of rising above them. Throw in a dreamy, sexy and strong hero and you get a Happy Ever After that makes it all worth it.
Donna’s website: www.donnaalward.com

Twitter: @DonnaAlward
Buy links at Harlequin: THE LAST REAL COWBOY
 
Buy link at Amazon for THE LAST REAL COWBOY


And last we have a gift from Donna Alward! You can download her book Hired By The Cowboy among some more books! Well altogether sixteen books are available for you to download FREE!

30 comments:

  1. Thank you for the lovely post and form bringing Donna to the blog I love her books !

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  2. I was wondering whether you would be happy to put up a link in my brand new monthly series called “Books You Love”. The idea is for people to link up posts about a book they loved – it doesn’t have to be one they just posted about. It could be an old fave. I am hoping we will end up with a nice collection of books that can go on our reading lists. Here is the link Books You Loved May Edition

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  3. Hi Desere!

    Thanks for coming along!

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  4. Hello Carole!

    I've put the link of Donna Alwards - The Last Real Cowboy post on your Books You Loved!

    I also commented on what the book is about.

    Thanks for the invitation!

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  5. that's great - thanks a bunch

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  6. These books sound about perfect for my reading tastes! Thanks so much for introducing me to Donna! :)

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  7. Hey everyone! Jemi - I hope you give them a try (and that they meet with your approval!)! And Desere - always great to see you. :-)

    Carole, what a great idea!

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  8. Lots of great information in this post! There's something irresistibly sexy about a cowboy.

    Nice meeting you, Donna!

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  9. Donna's books look great. I really liked the blurb on the first one. Thanks for the free downloads. I'll tweet your post and put it on facebook. :)

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  10. Great blurbs. These books sounds awesome. It's wonderful to meet Donna and her books. :-)

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  11. Romance book.Wow. Intresting.

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  12. I've got my copy of THE COWBOY WHO STOLE HER HEART and I'm looking forward to reading it.

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  13. Enjoyed the blog Donna! Congrats on the new release and all the amazing awards!

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  14. Love your books, Donna. Your characters are so real! Keep 'em coming and congrats on the awards.

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  15. I like damaged heroes, too. Those books sounds great -- who doesn't love a cowboy?

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  16. Hi Donna, the books look great. I'd love to read your books. The stories sound really interesting, and I love the cover of those books :)

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  17. Thanks everyone! Harlequin is also giving away 5 cowboy books from their May titles on twitter - the contest is only open for another 3 1/2 hours. Just look at @HarlequinBooks timeline to get deets. THE LAST REAL COWBOY is one of the books included!

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  18. Wow, amazing books. Thanks for the introduction. Great beach reading ahead!

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  19. Writing wounded heroes/heroines sounds challenging.

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  20. J.L. - challenging, but oh-so rewarding. Truly. It's kind of like anything worth having is going to be hard work. I always know that in the end these characters truly deserve a happy ever after. They've earned it after I've tortured them so completely!

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  21. Sounds like a bunch of terrific books! Who can say no to cowboys, right?

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  22. These books sound fabulous, and I'm not usually one for romance titles! Thanks for featuring Donna on the blog!

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  23. Massive congrats to Donna! And yes, I do love a damaged hero.

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  24. Anonymous12 May, 2012

    Congratulations, Donna.

    Yes on brooding heroes. I like sweet, uncomplicated characters, but my favorites are the brooding ones that have heavy issues and pasts on their minds.

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  25. Hello Donna! Your cowboy romance books sound so utterly romantic and yet realistic too with amazing women and gorgeous wounded real men! Yay!!! Take care
    x

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  26. You know, I don't think I've read any cowboy romances... Yours seems like a great way to start, Donna!

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  27. Wow, that's fantastic!
    Congrats on all those nominations and awards!
    (I love cowboys)

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  28. These are such sweet covers. They look like real people instead of models.

    It was nice to learn about Donna.

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  29. Oh, thank you all! I just popped back and saw the new comments. Thanks for stopping in and I do hope you take a chance on a cowboy or two. They're a special breed of hero!

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  30. Anonymous27 May, 2012

    I truly find this a interesting subject. Never looked at this subject in this manner. If you are planning to create more articles relating to this subject, I definitely will be back in the near future!

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You can discuss your romance novel addiction too!