Cowboys & Werewolves & Country Music

It's a natural pairing - cowboys and ranchers on the one side and wolves, and their paranormal brothers, werewolves, on the other. Cowboys and wolves have a long history. They share a love for the land and the wildness of the spaces that most men never see. Romantically, they have a similar nature. They're both tough. Some times they're loners, but they recognize the pack, and they look after each other. And most romantic, they mate for life. Unfortunately, that's more true of wolves than cowboys, but ideally, the cowboys out there are looking for that special one who'll be the one for life.
It's like the Tim McGraw song:
I'm gonna live where the green grass grows
Watchin' my corn pop up in rows
Every night be tucked in close to you
Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed
Point our rocking chairs towards the west
Plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows
Where the green grass grows
As I've been writing Laramie Moon, I've been listening to a lot of country music. That's been no hardship because I love country music. I like lots of different music - rock, punk, metal, even the occasional Broadway musical (I'm not big on jazz, much to my husband's dismay) - but country music has a soul-baring purity that I love. As Brad Paisley says,
This is real.
This is your life
In a song.
Yeah, this is country music.
A while back I was driving in the car, listening to the radio, when a song came on, and I instantly knew, that was Jim's song. Jim Winter - a cowboy and a werewolf - is the hero of Laramie Moon. The song is "I Wouldn't Be a Man" by Josh Turner, and it speaks of the feelings Jim has for Sissy.
People often say country music is sappy and corny, but it is unabashedly romantic and heartfelt.
Here's my playlist of some of my favorite romantic country songs. I can't hear "Somewhere Other than the Night" without crying, and without fail, if my sweet husband hears me play it, he'll come give me a kiss. You can't beat that. 
Keith Whitley – Don’t Close Your Eyes
Keith Whitley – When You Say Nothing at All
Garth Brooks – Somewhere Other Than the Night
George Strait –Carried Away
George Strait – You Look so Good in Love
Josh Turner – I Wouldn’t Be a Man
Steve Holy – Good Morning Beautiful
Clay Walker - Fall
Billy Currington – Must Be Doing Something Right
Lone Star – Amazed
Chris Cagle – Miss Me Baby
Mark Wills – I Do
John Michael Montgomery – I Can Love You Like That
John Michael Montgomery – I Swear
Tracy Lawrence – Stars Over Texas
Randy Travis - It's Just a Matter of Time
Clint Black - When I Said I Do
Doug Stone – Different Light
Doug Stone – Why Didn’t I Think of That
Jason Aldean – Why
Jason Aldean – Don't You Wanna Stay
Blake Shelton - Nobody but Me
Tim McGraw – I Need You
Kenny Chesney – You Had Me at Hello