Today, I'm welcoming Rosanne Bittner. If western romance is your preferred reading sub-genre, then you'll be desperate read on to find the details of Rosanne's series. It's hit the headlines - i.e. front cover - on The Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine for July 2105 where the series is featured.
Book 1, Outlaw Hearts, is already released and Book 2 Do Not Forsake Me is on pre-order and will be released in early July 2015.
As well as sharing information about the series, and some background to her writing, Rosanne has a great GIVEAWAY via the Rafflecopter entry below!
The Giveaway
Grand Prize - One (1) Set of Autographed 11.7 x 16.5 Framed Prints & $50 Amazon Gift Card
Two (2) Sets of Autographed 8.5 x 11 Framed Prints & Two (2) $25 Amazon Gift Card
3 Signed Copies (US Only) - Outlaw Hearts & Do Not Forsake Me
3 e-Book (International) - Outlaw Hearts & Do Not Forsake Me
Read on for details and excerpts from the stories but first a few words from Rosanne about her love of sneaking in a bit of pioneering history...
Oh, how spoiled we
are today. Oh, what the pioneers would have given for McDonalds and TV’s and –
oh, what heaven! – cell phones!! Just imagine if they could have called all the
way back home and talked to those precious parents and siblings they had to
leave behind, usually never to be seen again. Instead, they wrote letters that
took five or six months to reach each other – if they reached them at all. They
buried children and loved ones along the way, never to see their graves again.
They suffered from illnesses and pain we’d never have to worry about today
because we can always find help in this modern day.
This is why I write about American history and especially pioneers. I do my little, tiny part in trying to remind readers what our ancestors went through to settle this country. I try to “teach” a little history in an entertaining way while getting my fictitious characters involved in true events. Sometimes I wonder just how “fictitious” my characters really are, because I get so involved in their lives they become real to me – and often readers write to me wanting to know if they really did exist!
I will never get over the wonder of how our pioneers braved new settlement. Even in the east, when the “West” was the Ohio Valley and the Smoky Mountains, heading in that direction meant incredible dangers from animals and the elements and, of course, the Native Americans, who were not happy with any of us intruding into what they considered their land, and I don’t blame them one bit. That’s the food for many of my books also.
So here we are today, able to get in an airplane and go from New York to California in only about 4 -5 hours, and even driving it, you can make the same trip in 4-5 days, compared to close to six months or more by wagon. Visiting Las Vegas every year always refreshes my memory and my writing skills when it comes to the kind of books I write. You have to see the country to truly appreciate what it took to settle there a hundred and fifty years ago. There are places along the Oregon Trail where there are still ruts from the thousands and thousands of wagons that plodded their way west, people filled with dreams of their own land, dreams of gold, dreams of a better life, dreams of even more freedom than what they already had back east. Dreams are what this country was built on – as well as freedom. I hope today’s generation doesn’t let all of that slip away.
This is why I write about American history and especially pioneers. I do my little, tiny part in trying to remind readers what our ancestors went through to settle this country. I try to “teach” a little history in an entertaining way while getting my fictitious characters involved in true events. Sometimes I wonder just how “fictitious” my characters really are, because I get so involved in their lives they become real to me – and often readers write to me wanting to know if they really did exist!
I will never get over the wonder of how our pioneers braved new settlement. Even in the east, when the “West” was the Ohio Valley and the Smoky Mountains, heading in that direction meant incredible dangers from animals and the elements and, of course, the Native Americans, who were not happy with any of us intruding into what they considered their land, and I don’t blame them one bit. That’s the food for many of my books also.
So here we are today, able to get in an airplane and go from New York to California in only about 4 -5 hours, and even driving it, you can make the same trip in 4-5 days, compared to close to six months or more by wagon. Visiting Las Vegas every year always refreshes my memory and my writing skills when it comes to the kind of books I write. You have to see the country to truly appreciate what it took to settle there a hundred and fifty years ago. There are places along the Oregon Trail where there are still ruts from the thousands and thousands of wagons that plodded their way west, people filled with dreams of their own land, dreams of gold, dreams of a better life, dreams of even more freedom than what they already had back east. Dreams are what this country was built on – as well as freedom. I hope today’s generation doesn’t let all of that slip away.
Nancy says: I hope we never lose any of the history that authors, like you and I love to write about. The historical period I write about is some 1800 years before the era of the western pioneers but that doesn't stop me from also trying to do that little bit of 'informing' through our writing!
Rosanne's stories are deep love stories, often family sagas told as a series. It is the hero and heroine’s love that holds them together through the trials and tribulations of settling America’s western frontiers. Rosanne absolutely love the Rockies, the Tetons, the Sierras, and the wide-open plains, prairies and desert land west of the Mississippi. In her books, she strives to tell the truth about the settling of the West and how it affected our American Indians, as well as the gritty depth of what our brave pioneers suffered in their search for free land and a better life.
Rosanne lives with her husband and two sons in Michigan and is a member of the Nebraska and Oklahoma Historical Societies, her local southwest Michigan historical society, Women Writing the West, Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, the national RWA, National Rifle Association and a local charity group called the Coloma Lioness Club.
So... what is the Outlaw Hearts Series about?
by Rosanne Bittner
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Kobo Books | All Romance
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release June 2, 2015
Published by: Sourcebooks
Length: 576 Pages
Fall in love with the epic, sweeping romance of Bittner's beloved Outlaw Hearts, called by New York Times bestseller, Heather Graham, "a wonderful, absorbing read, with characters to capture the heart and the imagination."
United by chance, bound by fate, consumed by passion.
Miranda Hayes has lost everything-her family, her husband, her home. Orphaned and then widowed, desperate to find a safe haven, she sets out to cross a savage land alone...until chance brings her face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake Harkner.
Hunted by the law and haunted by a brutal past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything he has. He's never known a moment's kindness...until fate brings him to the one woman willing to reach past his harsh exterior to the man inside. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He will do whatever it takes to keep her his.
Spanning the dazzling West with its blazing deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear them apart. But the love of an outlaw comes with a price...and even their passion may not burn bright enough to conquer the coming darkness.
Excerpt:
She opened her eyes and managed a weak smile.
“You have a son,” she whispered.
No. He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t really have a son of his own. It was all so unreal. Maybe if he didn’t look at the kid, this would all just go away. “You hang on, Randy. Don’t you dare leave me with a kid to raise on my own. You know I can’t do it.”
She smiled more. “Yes, you can.”
He put his hands to either side of her face and bent down to kiss her forehead. “You listen to me. I love you like I never thought I could love another human being.” He felt a lump rising in his throat, a desperate fear at the thought that he could lose her. “I need you, Randy, and you know all the reasons why. Don’t you go and die on me, you hear? If I lose you I’ll go right back to that old life. You don’t want me to do that, do you?”
“You talk … big, Jake,” she whispered. “Don’t … mean it … got to take care of our little son.”
He brushed her cheek with his own, tears forming in his eyes. “Damn it, Randy, don’t you leave me. Don’t you dare leave me!”
“Come and see your son, Jake.” Mrs. Anderson touched his arm.
Jake straightened, looking over at the cradle … finding it difficult to picture a child of his own lying in it. Why did he dread this? What if he really did love the child? … That meant he couldn’t bear for anything to ever hurt the child, especially not his past.
The sins of the father are visited upon the son. He remembered hearing a street preacher shout that once back in Missouri, recalled how he had applied those words to his own father. And look how he had turned out, just as mean and unfeeling and murderous as his father. To think his own past could somehow scar his son.
by Rosanne Bittner
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Kobo Books | All Romance
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Published by: Sourcebooks
Length: 480 Pages
"Veteran romance author Bittner revisits the characters of Outlaw Hearts as a much older couple in this captivating romance...a refreshing view of enduring love that survives the dangers of the Old West." - Publishers Weekly
"More than two decades in the making, Bittner's sequel to Outlaw Hearts is an emotional powerhouse! The strong flavor of the Wild West combines with a beautiful love story, creating a true saga of the era. This epic tale of an outlaw lawman and the woman who tamed him has everything Bittner fans expect and more. This classic historical western is destined for the "keeper" shelf. 4 1/2 Stars, Top Pick!" - RT Book Reviews
Fate brought them together. His past may tear them apart.
Miranda Hayes' life was changed the day she faced down infamous gunslinger Jake Harkner...and walked away with his heart. Their fates have been intertwined ever since. Hunted by the law, fleeing across a savage land, their desperate love flourished despite countless sorrows. Now, twenty-six years later, their family has finally found some measure of peace...balanced on the knife's edge of danger.
Jake has spent his years as a U.S. Marshal atoning for sins, bringing law to the land he once terrorized. But no matter how hard he fights the demons of his brutal past, the old darkness still threatens to consume him. Only Miranda keeps the shadows at bay. But when outlaws looking for revenge strike a fatal blow, Jake risks losing the one woman who saw past his hard exterior and to the man inside.
He always knew there'd be the devil to pay. He just never realized he might not be the one to bear the ultimate price.
Excerpt:
The men inside the jail laughed. “Jake Harkner, kind and thoughtful toward kids, and a ruthless, murderin’ sonofabitch toward everybody else.”
“Something like that,” Jake answered. “You try anything, or hurt Sparky, and you’ll see the ruthless, murdering sonofabitch side of me.”
(Reporter Jeff is watching all of this) Five men against one, he is thinking). Jeff wondered how he would manage to find his next breath.
“What about the hired gun, Bo?” Jake yelled. “Who is he?”
“Pierce Henry. He’s out in the street somewhere, waiting to shoot your ass if we can’t do it. One way or another, you’ll die today for killin’ Jack, and for what you done to Brad. The kid is hurtin’ real bad, Jake. He might not live.”
“He made his choice,” Jake yelled back. “Now come on out of there unless you’re ready to die. Give it some thought.”
It was then that everything changed. A little boy came running down the street on short little legs. “Gampa! Gampa!”
Jeff froze in terror. My God, it’s Jake’s grandson!”
“Jesus Christ!” Jake swore.
After that, all hell broke loose. Jake charged off the boardwalk and literally leaped over a hitching post. He ducked and rolled his way toward his grandson while guns blazed from inside the jail.
Here are images of the prints that can be won via the Rafflecopter below.
Thank you for featuring with me and best wishes to you, Rosanne, for a great tour!
Slainthe!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Rosanne is an amazing writer with such great detail put into her books! I would love to win this amazing prize! It would be cherished!
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