Cowboys and Kisses – Audiobook
$7.99
Written by Karin Kallmaker. Narrated by Ann Shanks Etter.
- Are there kisses she can trust in a prairie town where Darlin' is her only name? A sapphic historical romance where the women save themselves - and each other.
This discount-priced purchase enables a choice of downloads: 1) a zip file that contains all MP3 tracks or 2) a single, chaptered M4B format file used by Apple-based and many other audiobook listening apps. Either way, the files are permanently yours.
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The Story...
Run time: 4 hours and 30 minutes
Listen to a Sample
AUDIO SAMPLE BEGINS . . .
It was supper and I should have gone down to partake. I was hungry but didn’t feel it.
Jinny had escaped, I reminded myself. I watched Greta’s chest struggle to rise for every breath and didn’t want to acknowledge the truth: for every Jinny there were a hundred Gretas in this house. In other towns, there were more Gretas, Millas, and Darlin’s.
Cherry’s authoritative rap on the door brought me out of grim, dark thoughts.
“Leave her. You can’t help.” Once again, Cherry stayed outside in the hall.
“I think she’s dying. She shouldn’t be alone.”
“You can’t change it. She’ll survive or she won’t.”
Cherry was much older than I was, true, but I felt as if I’d learned something she had not. “Either way, how these hours pass matters.”
A one-way stage ticket to the frontier leaves a young woman penniless and alone in Long Grass, Wyoming. With no other hope than to survive another day, she takes up the only profession open to her. Years later she encounters the cowboy she can love, and her first taste of pleasure - and happiness.
Cowboys, however, are born to wander, and their kisses are as brief as the lives of young women without family or means. Accepting that her days will be numbered too few, Darlin' escapes into her scribblings where her dreams of freedom can soar over the limitless prairie.
When she recognizes her own truth and a chance for love in the longing gaze of a townswoman, will she finally find kisses she can trust?
Two determined women in a hostile world save themselves — and each other — in a lyric, sensual love story as only Karin Kallmaker can tell.
What People are Saying:
- Cowboys and Kisses Audio at The Lesbian ReviewThe emotions flowed through the narration as clearly as if Etter was the girl telling me her story. – Review of Cowboys and Kisses
- A Gift of Romance and Evolution – Cowboy and KissesOverall, I really enjoyed the read, so much so that the epilogue brought a tear to my eye. It was just so cute.
- Cowboys and Kisses – Very Pleased with the Ending!At times heartbreaking, but overall hopeful, I really loved Darlin’s story and was very pleased with the ending.
- Reader Comments about Cowboys and KissesThe heat of a prairie fire and the bold passion these women share is portrayed in vivid, poetic language.
- Cowboys and Kisses Audio at Lez Review BooksVery good narration for an excellent novella. 4.5 stars.
- Cowboys and Kisses Reviewed at Lez Review BooksA fine balance between romance and reality . . . intimate scenes are beautifully appropriate for the period.
- Listener Reviews of Cowboys and Kisses AudiobookThe heat of a prairie fire and the bold passion these women share is portrayed in vivid, poetic language.
- Poignant and Authentic- Cowboys and Kisses at Queer Aussie Reviews…A look into the struggle women faced in the American West during the nineteenth century, and Karin has written it as masterfully as expected.
- Cowboys and Kisses Highly Recommended – The Lesbian Review…Searching for a touching and steamy historical romance with fully fleshed out characters, then look no further…this is the perfect story for you!
- Cowboys and Kisses Voted Historical Romance of the Year!I Heart SapphFic readers have voted Cowboys and Kisses the historical romance of the year!
- Grit and Heart – Cowboys and Kisses at Lou Morgan’s ReviewsNever has a fictional character’s Happily Ever After delighted me more.
- Cowboys and Kisses Reviewed at Jude in the StarsThis is a very interesting book, as much for the story as because of who wrote it. There’s not a single second of doubt that ...
- Harsh Realities Carried Gently in Sensuous Prose – Cowboy and KissesLimited and often harsh options of unattached women were starkly depicted but carried gently in an almost sensuous prose…
- Satisfying and Cathartic – Cowboys and Kisses5 stars! So, so satisfying and cathartic to see that they were allowed to have their happy ending!
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Author's Notes
The West is probably one of the most romanticized eras in American literature and film. The love affair with wide open skies and rugged jawlines tended to leave out the survival odds, especially for women and girls. And of course mostly overlooked the realities of the indigenous people who already lived under those skies.
When I wrote the novella in 2007, the reality of how brutal and unforgiving conditions were for females without the protection of man or marriage was foremost in my mind. I considered writing two endings to the story - my first concept of a conclusion more realistic and yet triumphant in spirit, versus a true happy ever after. I decided then to stay closer to my original vision of the story.
In this updated version, which has turned into a short novel, the happy-ever-after ending finally sees the light of day. Two determined and smart women in a hostile world save themselves — and each other.
