To Have and To Hold by Charlene Raddon - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

Today we're spotlighting author Charlene Raddon on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the historical romance, "To Have and To Hold". She's sharing an exclusive excerpt with us.

Charlene will give away a free copy of one of her other books at each stop and a $15 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner at the top, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops)! The more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win a prize!

A woman without a prayer…

A widow with two children, Tempest Whitney had to mortgage everything to repay the money her husband had stolen. But even as she struggles to hold onto her Utah homestead, a scheming rancher buys up her debts, demanding she either get off his land or marry him. Then a dark-haired stranger shows up, claiming to be her dead husband…

A man without a past….

Buck Maddux spent two years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Now a death bed promise has brought him to Tempest’s dugout. A man without roots, he doesn’t plan to stay—or to feel so fiercely protective of this feisty beauty he saves from a forced marriage. Suddenly, Buck yearns for a home, a family, a lasting love. But what can he offer Tempest? The surprising answer lies in the forbidden canyons of an ancient Anasazi tribe, where fortune and danger await—along with a passion more precious than gold…

Utah – 1888

Tempest Whitney stilled as the dogs barked and raced off toward the road. The freshly washed diaper she'd been about to hang on taut cord strung between cottonwood trees slid from her fingers to the dirt. The clip-clop of horse hooves sounded on the road beyond the curve. Someone was coming. Her heart drummed fiercely at the thought of company—in hope as well as in trepidation. Life was lonely at Hearts-ease.

Overhead, branches thrashed in a gush of wind, announcing a change of seasons with a shower of golden leaves, and exchanging the smell of lye soap for that of sagebrush. In the house twenty-two month old Ethan wailed, as if he sensed his mother's unease. Angel's childish voice mingled with his cries as the four-year-old tried to soothe her brother.

Shading her eyes with her hand, Tempest peered into the distance, torn between the need to go to her children and the need to see who was coming. Shadows from the canyon walls hid the rider’s features when he rounded the curve in the road. Not her father; the dogs never barked at Ronan Carmichael. Besides, now that he worked at Jonas Creedy’s saloon in Harper, Ronan rarely came home anyway, except to beg for money.

Thoughts of Jonas increased her apprehension. The obnoxious man wanted her and didn't care a fig if she were willing or not. So far she’d managed to evade his grasp, but she feared her luck would run out.

Charlene first serious writing attempt came in 1980 when she awoke one morning from an unusually vivid and compelling dream. Deciding that dream needed to be made into a book, she dug out an old portable typewriter and went to work. That book never sold, but her second one, Tender Touch, became a Golden Heart finalist and earned her an agent. Soon after, she signed a three book contract with Kensington Books. Five of Charlene's western historical romances were published between 1994 and 1999: Taming Jenna, Tender Touch (1994 Golden Heart Finalist under the title Brianna), Forever Mine (1996 Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer's Choice Award Nominee and Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist), To Have and To Hold Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist); and writing as Rachel Summers, The Scent of Roses. Forever Mine and Tender Touch are available as e-books and after January 24, To Have and To Hold will be as well. When not writing, Charlene loves to travel, crochet, needlepoint, research genealogy, scrapbook, and dye Ukrainian eggs.

Links:

http://www.charleneraddon.com/
http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CharleneRaddon?ref=hl

To have and to Hold: