Harlequin books has teamed up with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) to revive
four romance titles by USA Today bestselling author Tina Leonard,
featuring four unique, but equally blush-inducing bull riders! Each collector’s
edition book showcases a real-life PBR rider—Matt Triplett, Reese Cates,
Harve Stewart and Zane Lambert—on the cover! The books are exclusively
available for purchase at
Walmart during May.
Read the Q&Q with PBR Rider Reece Cates below!
- So, Reese, how and when did you start bull riding?
I started riding bulls at a very young age. My dad and my granddad both rode
bulls. So it was something that I grew up around. Something that I knew I wanted
to do. I got on my first calf when I was three years old, and I had already been
riding horses and stuff since before I could walk, and I just fell in love with
it. The adrenaline rush, the idea that I could make a living doing something
that was so fun. I was mesmerized by the sport. I did high school rodeo, college
rodeo and worked my way up into the PBR—and here I am today living my dream.
- How would you describe yourself to your fans?
Wow, that’s a good question. I think a lot of people misinterpret bull riders
and have this assumption that we are all cocky, arrogant guys that are too full
of ourselves. But there really is a lot to bull riders. Whenever you’re getting
on an animal that weighs between 1500-1800 pounds for a living each and every
week, you kind of have to have a little bit of cockiness or arrogance about you.
But we are really and truly a bunch of small-town guys who grew up hard-working,
and I think the same holds true for me.
- Do you find you get nervous on competition nights?
I think that nerves and adrenaline can be misinterpreted as one or the other,
and it can make you perform fifteen percent better or fifteen percent worse. If
you interpret it as nerves, then it’s going to cause you to perform worse, and
if you interpret it as adrenaline and you harness it and use it to your
advantage, you are going to compete even better. So, yeah, there are butterflies
there, but you know it’s the same way with Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan
whenever he was playing basketball. The greatest athletes in the world know how
to harness that and use it to their advantage. And that is what we are trying to
do.
- What do you see as the ideal romantic night?
I think for me it’s not so much about what you do or where you are at, it’s
about who you are with. I’ve heard a lot of stories about finding a good woman
and how she makes you better but I think the best one was: there was a mayor and
he and his wife were eating dinner and they walked by this construction site and
this man said hello to the mayor’s wife as they passed by. And the mayor asked
who was that and she let him know that was a guy she dated in high school and he
told her, well, aren’t you glad you didn’t marry that guy, you would be married
to a construction worker, and she informed him very quickly that, no,, if I
would have married him, he would have been the mayor. I think there is a lot of
truth in that. I think the woman makes the man. I think that the couple makes
the date; it doesn’t matter whether you are taking a long romantic walk on the
side of a beach or whether you are having a nice dinner with a glass of wine or
if you are sitting in front of a fire. If the chemistry is there it’s going to
be amazing either way.
World Finals Qualifications: 3
Hometown: El Dorado, Ark.
Residence: El Dorado, Ark.
Height: 5-9
Weight: 155
Born: 1/12/89
Riding Hand: Right
BFTS Season: 8th
Career Earnings: $449,167
High-Marked Ride: 91 points on Firewater at Built Ford Tough World Finals on
Nov. 2, 2008
* 2008 Rookie of the Year
Personal
A third-generation bull rider (his father and grandfather both rode
professionally), Reese says he was riding horses before he could walk (his
mother, aunts and grandmother were all barrel racers). Growing up and rodeo-ing
with Chase Outlaw, the two are still the best of friends and now compete in the
PBR together. During his first couple years on the BFTS, Reese attended and
graduated from Panola College in Carthage, Texas with an Agriculture Business
Degree. After suffering multiple debilitating injuries during the 2013 season
(three crushed ribs, a collapsed lung, a dislocated shoulder with torn
ligaments), Reese says he learned so much about medical procedures he thinks he
might have liked being a doctor if he weren’t riding bulls.
When he is touring,
there is one thing he always has to have with him…his Tempur-pedic travel
pillow. “I like my sleep”, jokes Reese, who says he could easily snooze for 10
hours if given the opportunity. After appearing on The Rachel Ray Show a few
years ago (he tested a portable washer/dryer for the show), Reese admits he is
now a fan and also regularly watches Dr. Phil. When he’s in top form, Reese
sometimes hangs out and trains with Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber (top UFC
fighters who are also PBR fans), and says that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) workouts
help keep him in shape for bull riding. In his down time, Reese likes hunting
with Chase and San Diego Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner, fishing and spending
time at home with family in Arkansas. Follow him on Twitter at @reesecates
2014 Highlights
Earned a ninth place finish in Chicago, Illinois, going 2-for-3 during the
event…landed a fourth place finish in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, covering three of
his four bulls…competed in 10 events before dislocating his shoulder while in
Phoenix, Arizona…missed six months of competition after undergoing shoulder
stabilization surgery…returned to competition in Nashville, Tennessee…placed
13th in Oakland, California, as his last Built Ford Tough Series event of the
season.
Giveaway
Readers, who's your favorite bull rider? Leave a comment below for a chance to
win a stuffed bull, plus the
collector's editions of HEART OF A
BULLRIDER, A FAMILY FOR THE BULL
RIDER, ONE WILD BULL RIDER, and THE BULL RIDER'S TWINS by Tina Leonard!
Visit Harlequin.com to enter the PBR Sweepstakes for your chance to win a
trip to Las Vegas and a VIP package to the PBR Built Ford
Tough World Finals!
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard has sold over
2.6 million copies of her titles. She has made the USA Today Bestseller,
Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and Ingrambook lists, and has written and contracted
seventy-one books and special projects. Her work has been published by
Harlequin, Samhain Publishing, Robinson Scarlet, and most recently Random House
Loveswept contracted for a single title trilogy project, Hell’s Outlaws. Leonard
was chosen to be among the first authors published for Robinson’s Scarlet line,
writing four single title novels for that imprint. Not long after, she sold on
proposal to Harlequin American, where she has since written several popular
series, most notably the Cowboys By The Dozen, Morgan Men, and Callahan Cowboys
series. Her newest single title project, HER CALLAHAN MAN, was published in
January 2014.
Leonard is known for her fun sense of humor, endearing communities, snappy
dialogue, and memorable characters.
The Billionaire: When New York billionaire
John Carruth is summoned to No Chance, Texas, to save the
local rodeo, he has no idea he is going home. Now the
long-lost twin to the town’s favorite son is determined to
win over the people he left behind—and capture the heart of
Chloe Winters, a Texan who has her own ideas of what it
means to be part of a small town!
The Bull Rider: Jake Fitzgerald, champion bull
rider, didn’t know he had another half. John may be kin, but
he’s still a stranger in these parts. With his billionaire
brother hell-bent on changing Jake’s world, Jake knows he
has to take a stand. Will he choose family—or will he take a
chance on Erin O’Donovan, a woman who has always meant
family to him?
Read an excerpt
15 comments posted.
I use to follow the rodeo a lot like in the mid-70's and 80 and now I watch it when ever I can but my favorite rodeo guy was Larry Mahan but my son knows all the top rodeo guys for he's a big fan! I love it too but just don't have a favorite!
(Carole Fiore 11:13pm May 25, 2015)
REESE IS A COWBOY THAT IS SWEETER & GIVES ME MORE PLEASURE THAN THE CHOCOLATES! TINA ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT WE GIRLS CRAVE...
AND THAT'S NO BULL ;)
(Nina Crespi 3:44pm May 26, 2015)
always loved watching the rodeos. have been riding since i was a child. still own horses. would love to read these books. they look great.
(Donna Sweatman 4:45pm May 26, 2015)
I don't have a favorite bull rider - i don't know much about them! But both Harve
& Rider sound awesome!!
(Lily Shah 6:05pm May 26, 2015)
I've never been to a live rodeo. I've only caught bull riding on TV, so I don't have one favorite rider. But I'll be watching out for Reese now!
(Marcy Shuler 1:14am May 27, 2015)
I'll go with Reese being my favorite bull rider. He's from Arkansas so he's got to be best.
(Joan Thrasher 10:32am May 28, 2015)
I don't have a favorite bull rider. Being from Detroit, I really don't know much about the sport but I wish them the best of luck.
(Karen Mikusak 7:07pm May 28, 2015)