DO YOU NEED A COWBOY FIX?
New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson is back with more â¦
Sons of Chance
Chance isnât just the last name of these rugged
Wyoming cowboysâitâs their motto, too!
Saddle up with:
SHOULDâVE BEEN A COWBOY
August 2012
COWBOY UP
September 2012
COWBOYS LIKE US
October 2012
Take a chance ⦠on a Chance!
Dear Reader,
THE SONS OF CHANCE are back! Youâve already met brothers Nick, Gabe and Jack Chance. And boy, was it ever one hot summer, as each cowboy took on new responsibilities and paired up with the strong women they needed. The last book, Claimed!, ended with Gabe and Morganâs wedding, plus a little rendezvous in the hayloft involving Morganâs sister, Tyler, and Alex Keller, the DJ at the wedding reception.
I guess quite a few of you were paying attention, because I got many questions about that hayloft scene, and whether it would lead to anything. Well, it does. And this is the book that picks up Alex and Tylerâs story ten months later. As you might imagine, neither of them has forgotten that night in the hayloft!
The ranch itself is a haven for all those, including animals, needing a last chance to live the life they were meant for. That mission dovetails nicely with a new venture initiated by my fellow Blaze>® authors, the Blaze Pet Project. We believe everyone, including our furry friends, deserves a last chance for a happily ever after. For more information, visit our blog at www.blazeauthors.com. And welcome back to the Last Chance Ranch in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming!
Yours in cowboy country,
Vicki
New York Times bestseller VICKI LEWIS THOMPSONâs love affair with cowboys started with The Lone Ranger, continued through Maverick, and took a turn south of the border with Zorro. She views cowboys as the Western version of knights in shining armorârugged men who value honor, honesty and hard work. Fortunately for her, she lives in the Arizona desert, where broad-shouldered, lean-hipped cowboys abound. Blessed with such an abundance of inspiration, she only hopes that she can do them justice. Visit her website at www.vickilewisthompson.com.
For my editor Brenda Chin,
who gave me the opportunity to create a multi-book series about my favorite subjectâcowboys.
A tip of the Stetson to you, Brenda!
May 14, 1956, from the diary of Eleanor Chance
I LOVE GIVING birthday parties. And when your only child turns ten, well, today was a big day at the Last Chance Ranch. We had unseasonably warm weather in Jackson Hole, and after the kids left, tummies full of birthday cake and ice cream, Archie went to the barn and brought out Johnnyâs big present.
Sheâs a beautiful little filly who looks exactly like the horse that the Lone Rangerâs sidekick, Tonto, ridesâwhite with bay patches. While most kids would want an all-white horse like the Lone Rangerâs, Johnny loves Tontoâs horse, Scout.
And so this filly will be named Scout, even though sheâs a girl. Everyone around here calls Scout a pinto, which is what Tontoâs horse is, but sheâs actually a registered paint. That means she has pinto coloring, but she also has papers and can be bred later on.
She cost us a fair bit, but the money went to a good cause. One of our neighbors needed to sell this filly so he could pay for his wifeâs back operation. The operation was Ginnyâs last chance to avoid living in a wheelchair, and Iâm happy to say the surgery was a success.
Thatâs what this ranch is about, giving people and animals one last chance. So everyone came out ahead on this deal. Besides, Archie says Scout is an investment as well as a birthday present for Johnny. Cattle ranching has been good to us, especially during the war when the army needed beef, but Archie thinks we should diversify, and for years heâs dreamed of raising horses.
Scoutâs a dream come true for Johnny, whoâs begged us for a pinto from the moment he saw his first episode of The Lone Ranger. But Scout could be the beginning of Archieâs dream, too. I sure hope so, because spending all that money on a registered paint was a gamble, even if it was for a good cause.
I keep reminding myself that Archie won the Last Chance in a card game nineteen years ago, and thatâs turned out pretty well. As Archie always says, âChance men are lucky when it counts.â
WHAT ROTTEN LUCK. Alex Keller ended the phone call, tucked his phone in his jeans pocket and nudged Doozie into a canter. He needed to get back to the ranch house and figure out what the hell to do now that the country band heâd hired wouldnât be showing up tomorrow. He couldnât expect to get a replacement at four oâclock on a Friday afternoon, which meant no live music for the open house. Damn.
The open house had been his idea. Two months ago, after accepting a job as the first-ever marketing director for the Last Chance, heâd proposed the event to increase the ranchâs visibility and establish it as the premier place to buy registered paints. Technically he was up to the challenge. He held a degree in marketing, and although heâd spent most of his career as a high-profile DJ in Chicago, heâd also been instrumental in the radio stationâs marketing campaigns.