Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
A Cowboy’s Fourth of July by Melinda Curtis is the second in the series. What makes the plot interesting is how the dynamics between the characters have changed over the years. The hero and heroine were high school friends with her having the upper hand but as they grew to adulthood the roles reversed.
Allison Burns has many responsibilities. She gave up her dream of becoming a singer after becoming pregnant. Now a single parent she wants to do best for her daughter but is struggling financially. Allison needs to find a way to keep the family ranch from being foreclosed by the bank owned by Dix Youngblood. He had a crush on her in high school ever since he helped her pass her math classes. Because he still has feelings for her, he agrees to help her straighten out the finances. As they spend time together both realize that their feelings have grown. As with most of her books, Curtis uses either a child or animal to add humorous banter to the story.
Elise Cooper: What is the series based upon?
Melinda Curtis: This is the second book in the series. I tried to base each story on the backstory of the foster boys at a rodeo stock ranch. This is my starting point.
EC: How would you describe the hero, Dix?
MC: He is a very introspective person who finds safety in numbers. You could classify him as an urban cowboy because he does not work every day on a ranch but has the skills to. He chose a different path in banking and finance. I consider him forthright with a strong character.
EC: How would you describe the heroine, Allison?
MC: She is someone who set aside dreams for the sake of family. She had been pursuing her dream to be a singer and then got pregnant. Her music career was put on hold because she decided her baby was more important. She has a lot of responsibilities and is pulled in all different directions, with her life in crisis mode. She is a rancher, single parent, and a baker. Her family always competed in this baking contest but had a wrench thrown at her by some other character in the story who can be classified as a ‘mean girl.’ Allison is direct and a worrier.
EC: What about the relationship between the two?
MC: Dix is someone she has turned to in the past to help her with subjects she did not excel in high school. Then she was popular with a position of power, but the tables have now turned. It is in his hands if she will keep her ranch. She needs him to help her figure out her finances. It is a different dynamic for her since he has exceled more in life. It is a flip in the dynamics.
EC: What is the role of Allison’s daughter Piper in the story?
MC: She is comic relief. Piper is full of sunshine. She is inquisitive, prickly, proud, a tomboy, and in control. She is a little bit spoiled as the only child in the family. Piper is happy go lucky, looking at the world as her oyster.
EC: This story did not seem to have as much banter and tension as your other stories.
MC: The characters dictated. These characters had some attraction between them but not as over the top as some of my other stories. Their personalities do not seem to clash as much.
EC: Your next books?
MC: One book coming out is a small-town girl with a big city secret. It is a story about dreams set aside for children. She had a secret relationship with a famous man who died. His brother then needs her to help him to run for political office. She moves to small town in Harmony Valley to get away from him.
Next month the third book comes out in this series, A Cowboy Christmas. It is about a man who wants to buy a cutting horse and the woman who owns the horse does not want to sell to him.
There will also be another in the Christmas Town Collection. It has novellas set in a small-town set during Christmas. It will be released on October 10th and is titled Lights, Camera, Christmas Town. A movie is made during the holiday season in the town.
EC: THANK YOU!!
