There's nothing like a cowboy on a cover to make me pick up a book and run for the checkout! Stetsons, a horse with a rider, a pair of western boots, any of those are a draw. Of course there are authors I buy just because their name is on the book.
The first western romances I read were Janelle Taylor's Ecstasy series. Anyone remember those? I cried for those heroines captured by braves and sighed when they found a happy-ever-after. Later, I discovered LaVyrle Spencer and those lovely early books, then Lisa Gregory/Candace Camp. Anyone remember Francine Rivers' wonderful westerns? I couldn't find any of these old covers online, so I scanned mine. I have two editions of Sycamore Hill.
When you remember discovering western romances, which books and authors come to mind?
Read all Zane Grey's the library had when I was 13. Unfortunately, I used the word "Bas...d" thinking it was like calling someone a "Chicken" so my aunt made me look it up in the dictionary. OOPS! Don't know if they had any romance, but certainly cowboys and westerns.
ReplyDeleteLOVED LaVeryle Spencer AND that they compared you favorably-- HIGH praise in my opinion! Have most of Candace Camp & some Lisa G. Know of F Rivers by Good reputation, just haven't read her yet, and certainly didn't know she started with westerns!! Have many D Garlock. Plattsmouth NE library has ALL Louis' leather-bound books, I think donated by one man. WHO could NOT love the man whose book The Sacketts brought BOTH SAM Elliott AND TOM Selleck to the screen in the same movie!!
ReplyDeleteLaVyrle's books--can't remember titles!--where the heroine was a blacksmith and the other where she was the newspaper publisher in Deadwood. I loved these! Not sure if they were Western or just Americana, but I do feel the urge to re-read... I also read Dorothy Garlock for a long time. Oh, and Robin Lee Hatcher!
ReplyDeleteI love Louis L'Amour movies because of the casting and read Zane Grey as a kid, too.
Thanks for the memory jog!