New Release - Gambling on Forever by Becky Lower - @prairierosepubs #WesternRomance

When Elise Lafontaine spies her father’s missing saddlebag with its all-important papers slung over the shoulder of a man boarding a riverboat, she follows him, hoping to retrieve the contents. Her plans come to an abrupt halt when she is declined entry to the boat, since she is an unaccompanied female.

From his perch on the top deck, handsome riverboat gambler James Garnett witnesses her denied entry. When she shoots him a look of desperation, how can he resist those deep blue eyes and beautiful face? Of course, he comes to her rescue, pretending she is his fiancée—and she is allowed aboard.

Begrudgingly, Elise accepts James’s offer of help to win back the saddlebag and the papers by having him play poker on her behalf, certain the thieving Confederate brothers who stole the bag will lose everything to James. But can Elise be happy with only the saddlebag and its contents? Or has she already lost her heart to the dangerous gambler?

After a sultry kiss, Elise steals his money and the papers and jumps overboard. Then the games truly begin. Now, Elise stands at the biggest crossroads of her life—will she go her own way, fiercely independent and alone? Or will she wager everything on the man who holds her heart--GAMBLING ON FOREVER?

EXCERPT

     After shouting every curse word she could come up with, in no less than three languages, Elise quieted and glanced around the small cabin. She needed to corral her energy—which had been riding high ever since this morning when she first spied the missing saddlebag.

     Taking some deep, calming breaths, she assessed her situation. She didn’t for a minute buy Mr. Garnett’s pronouncement that he had no ulterior motive. Everyone had an angle of some kind. Especially men. Especially men with a smooth exterior like Mr. Garnett. Like Bailey Snodgrass. Ever since he’d set foot in St. Louis and disrupted the lives of Elise’s best friend and her family, she’d been on guard against the many other slick men who had surfaced after the war. Carpetbaggers like Bailey, riverboat gamblers, sweet-talking handsome men…they were all the same in Elise’s mind.

     Susannah was hopefully on her way back to the ranch by now to round up the search party. Elise’s four brothers, each one bigger and fiercer than the next, would be coming for her shortly. Of that, she had no doubt. Their Indian blood and a lifetime in the wilderness rounding up wild horses made them expert trackers, but tracking one of the many riverboats clogging the Mississippi might cause some problems for them, even with their superior skills.

     But they would find her and would do serious damage to the pair who had the stolen merchandise. And Mr. Garnett? So far, she had nothing to report to her brothers about him. But the journey had only begun. And he was a man. She had no doubt he’d do something to trip himself up soon.

     The big steam engine had roared to life a few minutes ago while she spilled every obscenity in her repertoire, and the large paddle wheels started slapping against the waves as they rotated.

     If she were the weepy sort, she’d be shedding buckets by now over her plight. Here she was, alone on a strange, large ship, without even a change of undergarments. But crying never helped any predicament, so she’d calm herself and figure out what to do.

     

Upcoming Christmas in July event: 'A Gift of Christmas Hope' video by Kaye Spencer

With the Prairie Rose Pubications' Christmas in July event right around the corner (24th), I'm sharing my brand spanking new book video for my story contribution to the festivities. My story, A Gift of Christmas Hope, is from the 2014 Wild Texas Christmas anthology.

Until next time,

Kaye

Brief History of Poker and Playing Cards by Kaye Spencer

I've always been interested in cards and poker, so when my western romance, Gambling with Love, was originally published (rights reversion status with a 'sometime in the future' re-release date with Prairie Rose Publications), I researched the history of cards and poker for an interview, since poker playing is an important component to the plot.

For today's post, I’ve revisited this information in preparation for the fandango scheduled for Jacquie Rogers’ Pickle Barrel Facebook Party on May 18, 2014, since I’m featuring this book during my 15 minute time slot.

Gambling with Love is set in 1883 Wyoming and Colorado. The heroine, Lainie Conrad, is a professional poker player. Lainie wants revenge against the man who was responsible for the death of her husband. To exact her vengeance, Lainie meets him across the poker table in a high-stakes draw poker game with the intent to ruin him financially.

In order to write the poker scene in Gambling with Love with historical accuracy, I researched cards and poker. I was not disappointed in the plethora of websites, blogs, and books on both topics.

For trivia fans, here are a few tidbits about playing cards:

• Playing cards date historically from as early as 10th century Asia;
• 14th century Europe saw a variety of playing card designs develop;
• By the late 15th century, the 52-card deck was popular as the standard preferred deck even though many card games only called for 20-32 cards, which limited the number of players in a game;
• 15th century England and France saw the evolution of  the four suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs; and
• Court Cards—King, Queen, Jack—were influenced by English and French royalty.

Another interesting aspect of cards is the Joker, also called the Jack of Trumps, Imperial Trump, and Wild Card. This card may have evolved from an Americanized version of the European card game, Euchre, which required an extra card (called the trump card or Jack of Trumps). Consequently, in keeping with the royal court cards, the Joker came to represent the Court Jester or Fool.

The Joker has a paradoxical appeal because it carries special properties as the Imperial Trump or Wild Card and, in that role, can resolve problems and win “tricks”. The Joker is as powerful as it is insignificant. It can represent any card and yet it represents nothing without a purposeful designation.

And a bit more trivia about poker...

Poker’s hazy origins are of some debate among those who study this sort of thing. There are arguments supporting its creation in the ancient Orient to the game evolving as a pirate’s pastime. However, there is some agreement that poker’s historical roots reach back to a French card game of vying, bluffing, and betting called “Poque” in which one said Je poque to open the betting. In America, Poque dates back to the French settlers of early 1800s New Orleans. As the game of poker spread northwards along the Mississippi River, it followed the expansion of the American frontier with the rush to the California gold fields in 1849 and later with the further opening of the west after the Civil War. “Brag”, a three-card British betting card game with a drawing component, influenced the rules of Poque and the “draw” was incorporated into the game. By the mid-1800s, the game was known by its American name, Poker, and was increasingly played with all 52 cards to allow for more
players. The term “Draw Poker” was first recorded c. 1850.

According to the Hoyle 1854 edition, these were the accepted hands:

• one pair
• two pairs
• straight sequence or rotation
• triplets
• flush
• full house
• fours

Apparently, Draw and Stud Poker rules appeared for the first time in the card games rule book, The American Hoyle, in the 1875 edition. The 1887 edition noted that four of a kind was the best hand when straights were not played. Interestingly enough, for many years, straights were not generally accepted poker hands.

Hoyle’s rules stated that when a straight and a flush came together, it outranked a full house, but not fours. Until the 1890s, the highest possible hand was four Aces or four Kings with an Ace kicker (a.k.a. wild card, imperial trump or “cuter”). Not only was this hand unbeatable, it could not be tied. Obviously, the player holding four kings and an ace couldn’t be beaten, however, a ‘cuter’ was a specific type of wild card in that it often bore a dangerously close resemblance to the ace of spades. More than one old west legend sprang up about gamblers losing high stakes pots to this clever imposter when they erroneously thought they held all four aces.

I incorporated a ‘cuter’ into a poker game as a nice little twist in Gambling with Love, so the heroine could use it to her advantage.

To read more about the history poker in the American Old West, refer to the Time-Life Books series on The Old West, specifically the volume devoted to “The Gamblers” or visit the innumerable internet sources devoted to the game of poker, which are too numerous to list here.

Until next time,

Kaye

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