His boots were made of anteater skin….

I bet you didn’t know there are a whole lot more than cowhide leather and ostrich skin to make cowboy boots from. Personally, I have never given it a lot of thought until now. I’ve just been drawn to a cowboy in his “basic” uniform of a wide-brimmed hat, a chambray shirt, well-worn jeans, and scuffed boots.

The most commonly used material for cowboy boots is cowhide leather because it is durable, looks good, and allows the feet to breathe.

Another fairly common skin used for boots is snakeskin. The most popular of these skins are from pythons and rattlesnakes. Boots from these skins have beautiful and complex patterns.

One of the most desired exotic skins, which I was familiar with, is ostrich. The skin has a unique grain, is fairly durable, and also breathes well.

In the more exotic skins used to make boots are skins from alligator lizards, hornback lizards, eels, cobra, boa, alligator, bison, calfskin, and elk. The skins that I found the most surprising were from goats, sharks, elephants, hippos, kangaroos, and anteaters. Boots made from anteater skin are very expensive due to their rarity and are considered a status symbol in the cowboy boots world.

After this research, I’m going to have to rethink having my cowboys simply wear boots. Maybe my next cowboy hero will wear boots made from kangaroo skin. No, that just creeps me out.

My most recent cowboy story release, CowboyDreamin’, is part of the 1 Night Stand series. My cowboys (Shane and Carson) didn’t wear anything particularly unique, but Kendra did have purple hair.

BLURB

Kendra spends her days and nights running a business, sculpting, and leading a Tahitian dance group in Kauai. She can’t squeeze anything else into her life, but she dreams of cowboys. Sexy, hot cowboys in tight jeans, low-tipped Stetsons, dusty boots, who know all about how to please a woman. She enjoys her fantasies, but can’t imagine ever settling down with a cowboy. But just one night with one would be so nice. After that, she could move on and get past dreaming of the white knight cowboy who would sweep her off her feet and ride with her off into the sunset.

Because of an accident that Shane believes left him “less of a man,” he doesn’t see a wife and children in his future. Carson, his ranching partner—and sometimes lover—thinks Shane is wrong. He refuses to let Shane settle for a life of rodeo bunnies who only want a romp in bed with a bull rider. Shane deserves more than that. He manages to sign Shane up with a matchmaking service to, hopefully, meet another kind of woman, maybe someone who will appreciate Shane for the man he is. Except Madame Evangeline expects both of the cowboys to go on this special one night date. But one night with the purple-haired, hip-shaking beauty in Kauai might not be enough…for either of them.

EXCERPT

Shane watched in fascination as two island women danced onto the beach stage barefoot, hips swaying, breasts bouncing. He’d seen this kind of dancing on TV once when he’d flicked channels around. It hadn’t held his interest at the time. But, damn, he liked the hell out of it in person. So did his lower body.

He shifted in his chair and hoped no one would notice the way his cock had tented the front of his too-tight jeans. He’d gone too long without loving a pretty female. Then he remembered why he was here and his mood soured. An arranged date.

He started to get up to leave when two more eye-catching dancers slipped from the cave entrance. One in particular snagged his attention. His dick grew harder; his pulse raced. Damn, talk about hot! And she knew how to shimmy her hips. He hoped he wasn’t drooling.

Then he forced his gaze higher and couldn’t move it beyond two plump breasts cupped by a pair of coconut shells. He ached to replace the shells with his palms, squeeze those….

The dancers did a sexy little hip-swishing spin. He swallowed and stifled a shudder. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. No doubt she affected every other man in the area. A glance at Carson told him his good buddy sure was under her spell.

He reached for his beer and chugged the rest of it, hoping it would cool him down. It didn’t. As he focused on the woman in the pink skirt again, he thought his poor old heart would beat itself to death. She had more wiggle to those amazing hips than any of the others. Those shells were working darn hard to contain her tempting breasts. And her smile…. God, he’d never seen one so….

She did another sassy, hip-teasing turn and captured his full attention once more. He hadn’t noticed her waist-length hair all that much before, but now the wavy mass fluttered around her, caressed her sweet body. It fascinated him, until he studied her closer. “Is her hair purple?”

“It appears to be,” Carson said in a husky tone. “I’m real glad we didn’t miss this.”

Shane didn’t want to admit he agreed, because that would mean he had accepted the arrangement then. But he wasn’t suffering. He kept watching the dancers, thinking about the photo in the e-mail. Which of these dancers was Kendra? They’d been told she had blue eyes. These women had brown eyes.

Interrupting his musings, the purple-haired beauty looked in his direction and her blue eyes widened. She fell out of sync with the others. He knew in that instant she was the woman he’d balked at meeting. His gut warned him his world would never be the same.

Author Info: Starla Kaye

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