'To Have and to Hold' by Charlene Raddon Excerpt Tour

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

By

Charlene Raddon

BLURB:

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…

Read an exclusive excerpt:

A strange sound intruded into his consciousness, a sort of scratching that seemed to come from overhead, and set the hair at his nape on end. "What in tarnation . . . ?

Tempest went stiff and still. "Centipedes," she whispered.

Every hair on his body prickled. "What?"

“Centipedes. The storm’s disturbed them. They've come down out of the sod and are running around inside the paper tacked to the ceiling."

He sat back on his heels, staring up at the dim, candle-lit ceiling. "Judas, must be hundreds of them."

Buck had seen them, five-inches long and thick as his forefinger, racing across the ranch yard on hundreds of tiny feet. Their bite was said to be deadly. Even the pigs were wary of them. The thought of them falling on him and scrambling over his flesh was enough to kill his ardor. He understood now Ronan’s hallucination of centipedes when he had the shakes.

A trickle of water joined the scratching noise. Wood snapped. Mud and water streamed down. Buck leaped from the bed, dragging Tempest with him and shielding her with his body while stones and mud clods battered his head and shoulders. The candle guttered, and went out. Above the roar in his ears, he heard Angel cry out for her mother.

Buck’s voice, coming from the darkness, was stark with shock and terror. "Judas Priest! The roof’s caving in!”

Buy links: Amazon

About the author:

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:

htp://www.charleneraddon.com/

http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com/

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

Charlene will give away a free copy of one of her other books to a commenter at each stop and for the grand prize, a $15 Amazon gift card. Follow the tour for more chances to win!