So happy to have author Rosanne Bittner back and to be kicking off her tour for DESPERATE HEARTS! So, without further ado, here's Rosanne!
Hello, romance readers, from Rosanne Bittner! I’m visiting this blog to tell you about my September book, DESPERATE HEARTS (Sourcebooks). It’s my 59th published book and an exciting tale about a Montana vigilante. Mitch Brady falls in love with a young woman who has come to the little gold town of Alder, Montana under mysterious circumstances. Little does this lawman know that Elizabeth Wainright is wanted for murder back in New York City!
I’ve been writing over 30 years and just turned in my 60thbook. I’m an avid lover of America’s magnificent West, its history, its breathtaking landscape, and all the exciting western action that is food for so many plots. I love to take fictitious characters and wrap them into real American history, telling that history through realistic stories that readers remember long after they finish one of my books.
Next up is a reissue of one of my favorite love stories, OUTLAW HEARTS, new cover and all, next June (2015). The very next month a sequel will be published, DO NOT FORSAKE ME. I’ve seen the proposed cover and it’s lavish, harking back to the dramatic and memorable covers of the sweeping historical romances of the 80’s. Many have told me it reminds them of the famous GONE WITH THE WIND poster of Rhett and Scarlett standing on the bridge with Atlanta burning behind them.
You won’t want to miss DO NOT FORSAKE ME, a story of love, forgiveness, redemption and exciting, often gritty, western action, which contains tragedy and triumph – and some very hot love scenes! The first book is about wanted man Jake Harkner and the woman who loves him and becomes his rock. The story covers several years and brings Jake from the depths of despair to the heights of love and acceptance. The sequel involves Jake’s grown son and daughter and a family closeness that will bring both laughter and tears. I love these two stories and am considering a third book.
I have always wanted to write – wrote tons of poems over my early years – my first poem in the 2d grade – my first short story in the 4th grade – but I never tried a full novel until I was 34 years old. I’d read THE PROUD BREED by Celeste de Blasis, and I just said, “I want to write a great love story like that,” and off I went. Another book that impressed me for many years before I ever tried writing books is A LANTERN IN HER HAND, by Bess Streeter Aldrich. What a wonderful story!
One piece of writing advice is something I learned the hard way and something very important for new writers to remember – watch passive voice and be careful of omnipotence – i.e. let the story happen through the characters and don’t sit “above” the story telling the readers what’s happening. Let it all happen through the characters in an active way. By doing so, readers become even more involved in the story and everything seems more real.
My next project is a toss-up between my first full-length contemporary story and/or another historical Indian/white romance that harks back to the sweeping romances of the 80’s.
You can find me all over the internet – Google, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Sourcebooks.com, my web site (www.rosannebittner.com), blog site (www.rosannebittner.blogspot.com, and many other social networking sites and blogs. You can go to my web site and “one-click” on book titles to order them or do the same through Amazon. I always attend the Romantic Times convention, and in 2015 it will be held in Dallas, Texas. I hope I see some of you there! Just go to www.Romantictimes.com to find out more about the convention. I’ll be there with flying colors to push OUTLAW HEARTS and DO NOT FORSAKE ME. I have already held several book signings for DESPERATE HEARTS, but one more is coming up on October 25th in Muskegon, Michigan at Barnes & Noble at 1:00 pm.
Be sure to pick up a copy of DESPERATE HEARTS. It’s a great read, and you’ll fall in love with Mitch Brady!
Blurb~
SHE’S A WOMAN WITH A SECRET
Elizabeth Wainwright is on the run. Accused of a murder she didn’t commit, she has no choice but to cut ties with her old life and flee West. The last thing she wants is attention, but when her stagecoach is attacked, she suddenly finds herself under the fierce protection of one of Montana’s famed vigilantes…whether she likes it or not.
HE’S A MAN WITH A CODE
Lawman Mitch Brady is sworn to uphold justice in the wild lands of 1860’s Montana. He’s never met a man he’s feared, and he’s never met a woman more desperately in need of his help. Something’s shaken the secretive Elizabeth, but as he gets to know the beautiful city belle, he finds the only thing he wants more than her safety…is her trust.
Excerpt ~
“I really don’t want to dance,” Elizabeth protested, half yelling above the whooping men and loud piano playing. “It hurts my shoulder.”
“Just one little dance, lady?” her partner begged.
“Really, I …”
Suddenly a big fist rammed into her partner’s jaw, sending him flying across two tables. He landed against a bar stool and everyone backed away from Elizabeth. She turned to see Mitch Brady standing there with a dark look of rage in his eyes. “The lady said she didn’t want to dance!” He scanned the room. “Everybody here understand that?”
The man Mitch had clobbered rolled to his knees, groaning.
“Stu was only wantin’ a dance, Mitch,” another man spoke up. “Ain’t no harm in that.”
“There is when the woman was dragged in here against her will and never agreed to the dance.”
Everyone backed farther away, and Elizabeth could see no one in the room was about to give Mitch Brady any more trouble. … He took hold of Elizabeth’s arm and led her toward the swinging doors at the saloon entrance. “Let’s go,” he said.
Elizabeth followed him out.
Bio ~
I am a member of the Nebraska and Oklahoma Historical Societies, my local southwest Michigan historical society, Women Writing the West, Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, the nationalRWA, National Rifle Association and a local charity group called the Coloma Lioness Club. I help run a family business and love doing things with my three young grandsons. If you visit my Website you’ll see all my titles listed as well as a page that lists all my many writing awards; or you can visit me on Facebook. At either site you will learn news of new books to come as well as reprints of many of my past titles soon to be published in trade paperback and as e-books! I also have an author site at Amazon.com.
You can find Rosanne here:
You can buy DESPERATE HEARTS here:
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More by Rosanne Bittner ~
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Extraordinary…Bittner’s characters spring to life. —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Raised in the hills of Tennessee, Emma Simms dreams of the day she’ll escape her life of poverty to start over in the excitement of Knoxville. But when her mother dies and she’s left with no one but her stepfather, Luke Simms, her dream abruptly becomes a nightmare. Luke plans to send Emma to Knoxville alright—straight to a notorious brothel.
River Joe, the mysterious Cherokee-raised frontiersman, knew from the first time he set eyes on the beautiful Emma that he had to have her as his own. And one glimpse at the handsome, buckskin-clad stranger ignites the flame of dangerous desire in Emma’s heart.
Their passion could consume them both, but their love could very well save her life.
Extraordinary…Bittner’s characters spring to life. —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Raised in the hills of Tennessee, Emma Simms dreams of the day she’ll escape her life of poverty to start over in the excitement of Knoxville. But when her mother dies and she’s left with no one but her stepfather, Luke Simms, her dream abruptly becomes a nightmare. Luke plans to send Emma to Knoxville alright—straight to a notorious brothel.
River Joe, the mysterious Cherokee-raised frontiersman, knew from the first time he set eyes on the beautiful Emma that he had to have her as his own. And one glimpse at the handsome, buckskin-clad stranger ignites the flame of dangerous desire in Emma’s heart.
Their passion could consume them both, but their love could very well save her life.
TEXAS BRIDE
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A man who must choose between his love or his life in this dazzling tale, named a Romantic Times Book Reviews All-Time Favorite.
Rachel Rivers is the most beautiful woman that Brand Selby has ever met. From the moment he laid eyes on the proper schoolteacher and watched her tremble beneath his longing gaze, he knew he wanted nothing more than to win her heart.
But Rachel lives in a land where hatred for the Indian runs deep, and where she is courted by Texas Ranger Jason Brown, Brand’s sworn enemy. But the fate of Rachel and Brand’s love has already been sealed, and not even the prospect of Rachel being cast out from her own kind, nor the threat of Brand’s own demise, can extinguish the flames of desire in their hearts.
A man who must choose between his love or his life in this dazzling tale, named a Romantic Times Book Reviews All-Time Favorite.
Rachel Rivers is the most beautiful woman that Brand Selby has ever met. From the moment he laid eyes on the proper schoolteacher and watched her tremble beneath his longing gaze, he knew he wanted nothing more than to win her heart.
But Rachel lives in a land where hatred for the Indian runs deep, and where she is courted by Texas Ranger Jason Brown, Brand’s sworn enemy. But the fate of Rachel and Brand’s love has already been sealed, and not even the prospect of Rachel being cast out from her own kind, nor the threat of Brand’s own demise, can extinguish the flames of desire in their hearts.
OREGON BRIDE
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On a trail of danger, love follows no set path.
Traveling west aboard a wagon train with her late husband’s family, young widow Marybeth MacKender wishes only to leave behind the memories of her loveless marriage, and to protect her infant son. But the dangers of the train are endless, as are the advances of her brutish brother-in-law who is resolute in claiming Marybeth as his own.
It isn’t until Marybeth meets Joshua Rivers, a frontiersman both tough and tender, that her hope for the future ignites as brightly as the desire in her heart. With courage aroused by passion, Marybeth is determined to face the perils of this rugged terrain for Joshua and the love she feels as great as the odds stacked against them.
FULL CIRCLE
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Rosanne Bittner returns with her hallmark “power, passion, tragedy, and triumph.” —Romantic Times
The last thing sheltered missionary Evelyn Gibbons wants upon arriving at the South Dakota reservation is to fall in love. Yet, from the moment she clashes with Black Hawk, the complicated man of the Sioux, she knows he’s everything she could ever want, and everything she can never have.
Living in the hills with his young son, Black Hawk reveres the ways of his people and is determined to preserve Sioux traditions. But when he meets Evelyn, a woman from the society he most abhors, not even his own prejudices can smother the flame of desire that burns for her.
But in the midst of their unlikely romance is a storm tide of treachery and hate that threatens to destroy their love, and their lives.
UNTIL TOMORROW
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Powerfully charged with thrilling escapades, colorful history, realism, romance, and a pair of memorable characters who prove that love can indeed triumph over everything. —Romantic Times
Addy wants nothing more than to leave her small Illinois home for the gold-rich hills of Colorado, where a teaching job awaits. But her plans are thwarted when a band of outlaws rob the very bank in which she is withdrawing her savings, taking her hostage in the process. Rogue and ruthless, her captives sweep her off to the country with evil intent, but one man stands in the way.
Ex-Confederate soldier Parker Cole doesn’t understand his own fierce determination to protect the beautiful captive from his fellow bandits. Touched by her courage and spirit, he vows to prove his love to her, following Addy to a mining boomtown filled with dreamers and desperados. Fearless though he may be, Parker must summon all of his courage to beat out the line of rich and powerful suitors in the pursuit of the greatest treasure—Addy’s heart.
Powerfully charged with thrilling escapades, colorful history, realism, romance, and a pair of memorable characters who prove that love can indeed triumph over everything. —Romantic Times
Addy wants nothing more than to leave her small Illinois home for the gold-rich hills of Colorado, where a teaching job awaits. But her plans are thwarted when a band of outlaws rob the very bank in which she is withdrawing her savings, taking her hostage in the process. Rogue and ruthless, her captives sweep her off to the country with evil intent, but one man stands in the way.
Ex-Confederate soldier Parker Cole doesn’t understand his own fierce determination to protect the beautiful captive from his fellow bandits. Touched by her courage and spirit, he vows to prove his love to her, following Addy to a mining boomtown filled with dreamers and desperados. Fearless though he may be, Parker must summon all of his courage to beat out the line of rich and powerful suitors in the pursuit of the greatest treasure—Addy’s heart.
SAVAGE HORIZONS
Book One of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
Book One of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
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An orphaned half-blood man named Blue Hawk is adopted by a white family and renamed Caleb Sax. Caleb struggles to let go of the only habits and culture he’s ever known – that of the Cheyenne – and gradually learns to live among the whites, but not without great difficulty and prejudice against him in the white world. Through it all he never stops wearing a blue quill necklace that belonged to his Indian mother, a part of his past that will always remind him of his true blood.
Besides Tom and Cora Sax, the white man and woman who love Caleb like their own son, someone else shows Caleb true, loyal love. It is Tom and Cora’s daughter, Sarah. Sarah and Caleb fall in love, instigating years of struggling to stay together against tremendous odds. Sarah discovers Tom Sax is not her real father, and she is stolen away in marriage to a white man she does not love. Devastated, she is led to believe Caleb is dead. Caleb spends years searching for her, and when he finds her at last, a dynasty is born from their blood.
FRONTIER FIRES
Book Two of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
Book Two of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
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Continuing the story of Calab and Sarah Sax, this deeply moving love story takes the readers to Texas, which in 1833 still belongs to Mexico. Living on 49,000 acres in San Filipe de Austin, an American settlement founded by Stephen Austin, Sarah and Caleb witness a phenominal growth in the territory, a population explosion of people looking for free land. All become part of a growing sentiment that Texas should be an independent province and not part of Mexico.
With Sarah and their children, Caleb, known as Blue Hawk to his Cheyenne relatives, and his family find themselves involved in a Mexican war … and eventually their son is involved in the battle for the Alamo. For a time Caleb and Sarah think he’s been killed, and amid all their heartache and turmoil an old enemy comes knocking, someone who once nearly destroyed Caleb and Sarah’s love and life together. Choices must be made, danger lurks everywhere, but the deep connection between Caleb and Sarah can never be broken.
Don’t miss this fabulous continued story of America’s stunning history, and a family that became crucial to the settling of Texas!
Continuing the story of Calab and Sarah Sax, this deeply moving love story takes the readers to Texas, which in 1833 still belongs to Mexico. Living on 49,000 acres in San Filipe de Austin, an American settlement founded by Stephen Austin, Sarah and Caleb witness a phenominal growth in the territory, a population explosion of people looking for free land. All become part of a growing sentiment that Texas should be an independent province and not part of Mexico.
With Sarah and their children, Caleb, known as Blue Hawk to his Cheyenne relatives, and his family find themselves involved in a Mexican war … and eventually their son is involved in the battle for the Alamo. For a time Caleb and Sarah think he’s been killed, and amid all their heartache and turmoil an old enemy comes knocking, someone who once nearly destroyed Caleb and Sarah’s love and life together. Choices must be made, danger lurks everywhere, but the deep connection between Caleb and Sarah can never be broken.
Don’t miss this fabulous continued story of America’s stunning history, and a family that became crucial to the settling of Texas!
DESTINY’S DAWN
Book Three of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
Book Three of the BLUE HAWK SAGA
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Book #3 of this Blue Hawk trilogy, brings an epic frontier story to an ending readers won’t want to miss. Caleb searches for his beloved Sarah, who has again been taken from him; while at the same time he helps his children seek their own fortunes in the West. His son Tom rides the outlaw trail in search of men who killed his Mexican wife; Caleb’s daughter Lynda, a dark beauty, finds herself in love with a lawman in the heart of the West; Cale, Lynda’s son, marries a Cheyenne woman and gives his life to the Cheyenne way; and James, Caleb’s youngest son, struggles with his identity and tries to hide his Indian heritage.
DESTINY’S DAWN takes the readers on adventures from Colorado to California, as Caleb searches for Sarah, the love of his life, in a story about a nation divided by blood, and two people united by wild passions. Through it all two things help Caleb stay grounded and determined … his love for his beautiful Sarah … and the blue quill necklace he has worn since a young boy, reminding him of the mother who died giving him birth.
Savage Destiny
Find the Entire Series on Amazon.com in Print
and Now Available for Kindle Download!
Voted BEST WESTERN SERIES by Romantic Times Magazine in 1986, the Savage Destiny books chronicle the lives, love, and adventures of Abbie and Zeke Monroe. To celebrate the publication of the seventh, and last, book of the series in 1996, Zebra reprinted all of the original six books, with attractive new covers.
