Jennifer Ryan (and me!) Share Our Favorite Cowboys!

This post originally appeared on the Harlequin blog! It’s an interview with  myself and the wonderful Jennifer Ryan!!

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Sometimes (okay, more often than not) we crave a cowboy. A strong, protective, honorable-but-maybe-just-a-little-bit-bad, honest-to-goodness cowboy. Which is why we’ve asked USA TODAY bestselling authors Jennifer Ryan and Maisey Yates for input on their favorites. You know, for a rainy day…

Cowboys in Movies

Maisey: Adam Pontipee from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is, I think, my first cowboy love. (I’m calling him a cowboy since he rides a horse, wears a hat and works the land. And he lives in the mountains of Oregon, just like the cowboys in my Copper Ridge series do!)

It’s Adam’s confidence that appeals to me, right down to his marriage proposal to Millie.

Adam: So, how ’bout it?

Millie: How ’bout what?

Adam: How ’bout marryin’ me?

Jennifer: Daniel Craig. I know, I don’t really need to say anything else, except did you see him in those tight pants in Cowboys and Aliens? Those wide shoulders and washboard abs! Even though he’s lost his memory, the woman he loves haunts his muddled thoughts and tugs at his heart. She’s been taken and killed by aliens, and he misses her terribly. He wanted a life with her and to be a good man. He becomes that man when he falls for another woman and tries valiantly to save her. He loses her, but saves the world and gives up his outlaw ways—maybe. I love a bad boy with heart.

Okay, this isn’t the greatest Western ever made, but did I mention it’s gorgeous Daniel Craig? BONUS: Harrison Ford as a grumpy ranch owner. Yes! Double the cowboy sexy!

Cowboys in Books 

Maisey: The first cowboy I read was Kristiana Gregory’s Jimmy Spoon. In Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express, Jimmy, having spent a good portion of his childhood with a Native American tribe, is trying to fit back in with his family and failing. My favorite part is when he goes back to his childhood sweetheart, Nahanee, and they get married. Because a cowboy is always true.

Jennifer: Rory may be one Stone Cold Cowboy, but he’s got a heart of gold and eyes for only one woman. He’ll stop at nothing to keep her safe and make her his. He may be a man of few words, but when he tells Sadie how he feels, he’ll make your heart melt. Dedicated to family, his woman and his ranch, he’s the guy you want on your side—and the man you want in your life. Rory is intense, sexy, strong, well mannered and ready to steal your heart with one rare sexy grin. While writing Stone Cold Cowboy, I fell hard for this tough guy, so I just had to include him in my list!

Cowboys on TV

Jennifer: Sexy sweet and superhot, my obsession with this modern cowboy is totally Justified. Deputy Raylan Givens does things his way, even if the Marshal Service doesn’t like it. I love a bad boy on the right side of the law. Raylan grew up hard in rural Kentucky. Under the old-school gentleman, you’ll find a tough guy. He’s one tall drink of water with those intense eyes leveled on his prey under the brim of his signature hat. When he smiles, it hits me right in the gut.

Maisey: I prefer my cowboys on the big screen (the better to admire them!), so I’m going to cheat and list a second movie character here—Luke in The Longest Ride. Ok, I’m cheating even more, because I haven’t actually seen the movie/read the book yet. But I have seen a lot of pictures of Scott Eastwood in a cowboy hat. Those pictures are enough to put him in the “favorite” column. Not least because he looks a bit like Eli Garrett, the stoic, misunderstood, insanely sexy hero from my first Copper Ridge novel, Part Time Cowboy.

About One Night Charmer:

Copper Ridge, Oregon’s favorite bachelor is about to meet his match 

If the devil wore flannel, he’d look like Ace Thompson. He’s gruff. Opinionated. Infernally hot. The last person that Sierra West wants to ask for a bartending job—not that she has a choice. Ever since discovering that her “perfect” family is built on a lie, Sierra has been determined to make it on her own. Resisting her new boss should be easy when they’re always bickering. Until one night, the squabbling stops…and something far more dangerous takes over.

Ace has a personal policy against messing around with staff—or with spoiled rich girls. But there’s a steel backbone beneath Sierra’s silver-spoon upbringing. She’s tougher than he thought, and so much more tempting. Enough to make him want to break all his rules, even if it means risking his heart…

About Stone Cold Cowboy:

With their hearts’ desires on the line, nothing can stop the Montana Men

Sadie Higgins has a bad habit of bailing her brother out of trouble. But when he rustles a herd of cattle from the tough, honorable Kendrick brothers, it’s Sadie who’s in for it. Because the cowboy tracking them down is big, silent, and forbidding as hell.

Rory Kendrick is on the hunt to find out who’s been stealing from him. When he stumbles upon Sadie in the woods, he barely recognizes the quiet, vulnerable beauty who has always taken his breath away. His mission shifts in an instant: He will do anything it takes to keep her safe . . . and make her his.

Sadie has always protected her family—no matter the price. But when Rory ropes her heart, she’s forced to take a look at her life and make a dangerous choice—one that could cost, or gain, her everything.