Five-Star Review at The Romance Studio!

Praise the Lord! Hearts Crossing Ranch has received a five-star review at The Romance Studio!
I still find myself drawn to the ranch and the wagon-train vacation even though they're fictional...but so much so that hubby and I are off on a similar adventure this summer...a real one...around the Tetons.

I can't wait to get inspiration from God's incredible nature, from the close family members sharing the experience with us, and from the wranglers who'll lead us.

In the meantime, Hooper Martin's story is in the works!

Something nice...

A four and a half star review from Novel Editions--yee haw, and thank you, God!

This was truly a book that forced the characters to dig deep within themselves and to confront the things that may have shaken their walk with the Lord. Both Kenn and Christy were raised to be a child of great faith. However, in both of their lives one event --Kenn's guilt over "letting down" his brother Bragg, and Christy's unexpected loss of her father-- seemed to have them turning their backs on God.


Ms. Hanson's ability to paint a picture and tell a compelling story kept me interested until the last page. I also loved her clever references to things that relevant to everyday of an average person's life -Michael Phelps, a horse named Joe Montana, etc.
My biggest hope is that Ms.Hanson will continue to tell the Martin Family story by using the other Martin siblings in future books!

Check out my 4/12-star review for Hearts Crossing Ranch at Novel Editions.

Novel Editions a book review site featuring reviews of books rated G or PG.

Redeeming Daisy and Faithful Danger

I'm excited that the first round edits for Redeeming Daisy are in the can. Editors simply make one's writing better...noticing a word order or sentence structure that a second set of eyes knows can be slightly improved. Redeeming Daisy is the second story set at Hearts Crossing Ranch and features Pike Martin, large animal vet and brother to Kenn.

I'm grateful for such a talented editor, Nicola Martinez, who has a nose for the details...or is it eyes LOL? As well as one who calls Redeeming Daisy a "lovely story." Sigh.

I'll keep you informed as to the progress. I've also submitted to her TV Guide-like blurbies about what happens to the entire Martin clan!
Right now, though, I'm finishing up what I call March 9 Prompt, aka Faithful Danger. White Rose Publishing selected random details and posted them on March 9 to see what kind of story a writer can come up with in 10,000-20,000 words.

The SITUATION:
Two puppies, a woman in hiding, a mysterious man, and a pair of pink polka dot pumps.

The PHRASE:

“Dead guys don’t usually show up for breakfast,” she said, staring at the very-much-alive man who stood in front of the pastry counter.

I'm in the closing stretch of Faithful Danger...I'll let you know how it turns out. Yeah, my mysterious man is a cowboy turned private investigator. And our heroine falls for him spur, lariat and Stetson even though she's in hiding in a small Central California ranch town from very bad Soprano-esque people...

Redeeming Daisy...

Wow, today I got the contract for Redeeming Daisy, the second Martin story of the clan at Hearts Crossing Ranch, available now at White Rose Publishing. I'd thought to go with another title using Heart or Cross or some variant thereof, but after a brainstorm, my terrific editor Nicola Martinez came up with the present title.

Now comes the delicious "work" involved in a new release: composing blurbs, taglines, gathering reviews and comments about previous books to add as teasers to the frontispiece. So exciting! Esp. tossing out ideas for covers. (Nicola is a master artist as well. Boy, did I get lucky!)

I hope you'll stay tuned. I'll get the blurb posted as soon as...I think of it LOL.

Don't forget to visit my blog dedicated to the folks at Hearts Crossing Ranch  And a chance to win!

SPECIAL EDITION: Hearts Crossing Ranch RELEASE DAY

Yeah, things have been a tad nutso. But HCR is here, here, HERE!

And featured today at White Rose Publishing.

The cover design is to-die-for, my editor Nicola Martinez absolutely the best. I thank her again for taking this chance with me--my first contemporary and my first inspirational. I hope you enjoy Christy and Kenn's journey of faith and path to love.

Visit my Hearts Crossing Ranch blog once in a while for summer contests going on. I'm trying to get things updated at my website....wish days were 25 hours long. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of being invited to The Romance Studio June release party, and my "behind the book" blog at Petticoats and Pistols last Wednesday was a ton of fun.

My First Inspirational Sale: Hearts Crossing Ranch

I've been busy editing--
my first contemporary Western inspirational, Hearts Crossing Ranch! Every new contract is a gift, a blessing, an affirmation, but to sell my very first attempt at not just a contemporary Western but an inspirational one has me over the moon!

And the cover, designed by the amazing Nicola Martinez, is to die for. Hearts Crossing Ranch will be released by White Rose Publishing at a soon-to-be-announced date.

White Rose Publishing held a contest last summer, and I decided to keep my mind busy in a romantic way while we got ready for our daughter's wedding. The editor had a template with a few elements each submission had to have, including the title. Well, I reckoned Hearts Crossing was the perfect name for a ranch! My heroine Christy Forrest has come to the ranch for a city-slicker wagon train adventure and sparks fly when she meets Kennedy Martin, the hottie cowboy wagon master. Of course each is experiencing personal issues that lead to crises of faith, so their journey involves both their developing love for each other and their renewed trust in God.

(With us going on a similar wagon train adventure about the Tetons next summer, the setting and timing were irresistible.

Well, to make a long story short (too late?), I was runner up in the contest and my story found a home!

Hearts Crossing Ranch: "the perfect Wild West adventure...a beautiful city slicker. A handsome cowboy. ...covered wagons and campfires. And a would-be wedding grotto healing two hurting hearts."

My New Book Cover! hip-hip HOORAY

Just finished: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown; Grade C-
Here it is...isn't it gorgeous? I got the designer I requested (yes, she did Marrying Minda also), the marvelous artist and editor Nicola Martinez, and got the horses and lone cowboy as well. Sigh.

Now I need to speed-read and finish my edits. I've got a book signing on Sunday for Marrying Minda (can you tell Minda and Mattie are sisters?)...so wish me luck! I'll be posting the blurb next. My wonderful editor helped me with it. I am definitely not a woman of few words.

Thanks for stopping by.

"Stop and Smell the Roses" Blog Bouquet

Howdy ya'll!

Welcome to Tanya Writes Romance! Please leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of Marrying Minda, my current release at The Wild Rose Press. Check back tomorrow for the winning name drawn from my cowboy hat!

I'm part of the Cactus Rose posse, authors who write romance set in the Old West. There's something about a guy in a Stetson...does it for me every time. Marrying Minda is the tale of a mail-order bride who finds herself married to the wrong man, and with a daughter of my own getting married in a few weeks, I guess you could say I've got weddings on my mind big-time.

I'm thrilled and humbled at Marrying Minda being a best-seller at The Wild Rose Press for four weeks now. For this I must thank my terrific editor Helen Andrew and cover designer, Nicola Martinez for their amazing talent and professionalism.

I hope you like the excerpt and blurb posted below. Please check out my website. I've always got some kind of contest going on. And I sure hope to see you at Petticoats and Pistols, the all-Western site where I am a regular blogger along with a dozen other authors of western romance. This week's Excerpt Week!

Don't forget: after leaving your comment here, mosey on to each author blog linked below. Everybody's got prizes and fun going on. See you again real soon!
http://amberleighwilliams.blogspot.com
http://authorsstudio.blogspot.com

http://bettyhanawa.blogspot.com
http://christineclemetson.blogspot.com
http://findagreatromance.blogspot.com
http://www.freewebs.com/lesmora/apps/blog/
http://freewebs.com/teriwilson/apps/blog/
http://hywelalyn.blogspot.com
http://jennfrancesca.blogspot.com
http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com

http://plotsandthoughts.blogspot.com

http://traveltheages.blogspot.com


http://grgiall.blogspot.com
http://LindaHopeLee.blogspot.com
http://joycemoore.blogspot.com
http://lje1.wordpress.com
http://noveltrails.blogspot.com
http://tinagayle.blogspot.com
http://willtravelforromance.blogspot.com

Blurb:

Mail-order bride Minda Becker arrives in Paradise, Nebraska and eagerly marries the handsome man who meets her stagecoach. His wedding kiss melts her toes. Too bad he's the wrong bridegroom. Cowboy Brixton Haynes can't deny he'd like a wedding night with the eastern beauty, but the last thing he needs is to be saddled with a wife and the three children his brother left behind. First chance he gets, he'll be back point riding along the Goodnight. But leaving Minda proves to be much harder than he expected.

Excerpt:

Night fell soft and silent, and the snuffles of Norman Dale’s livestock comforted Brixton with memories of the trail. Lord, he couldn’t wait to get back.
Habit had him walk quiet as he could from the barn to the house. Even the tiniest noise sparked stampedes on the trail, so his footsteps were cautious wherever he went.

At the back porch, he set down Minda’s valises and paused to peek in the back window. Her lush curves swayed beneath the simple dress as she readied the children for bed, and he couldn’t fill his vision fast enough. The memory of her soft sweet cheek brushed his fingertips once more, and his heart raced and his groin throbbed. It was the heartbeat he didn’t like; a man desiring a beautiful woman was just what a man did. But a galloping heart might mean a man felt something deep inside.

Even worse, night after night alone on the trail, he’d keep seeing her shining hair sweep across little Ned’s shoulders while she kissed the top of the lad’s head. So he pulled out his flask and drank deeper. It was too much like having a family of his own, something he swore he never needed. Suddenly he missed his brother more than he’d missed anything.

Until this minute, he had never felt shy about coming through this door without a knock. His wife’s current disposition gave him pause, but he had goods to deliver and damn, the kids just might like one of his good-night songs. His tongue clicked. Truth to tell, his bride would think him nothing but a rowdy bridegroom wanting a tumble between the sheets. Already she’d tried to disgrace him by letting a room at the boardinghouse just for herself.

Another long hard swig consoled his throat as it emptied his flask. Damn woman.