Monday, July 12, 2010

ExcerpTuesday - Margaret Tanner



Margaret Tanner is an award winning multi-published Australian author. She loves delving into the pages of history as she carries out research for her historical romance novels, and prides herself on being historically correct.  Her publishers are Whiskey Creek Press and The Wild Rose Press.

Margaret is a member of the Romance Writers of Australia, the Melbourne Romance Writers Group (MRWG) and EPIC.  Her novel The Trouble With Playboys came 3rd in the historical romance section of this years Preditors & Editors poll.

Margaret is married and has three grown up sons, and a gorgeous little granddaughter.
Outside of her family and friends, writing is her passion.

FRONTIER WIFE
BLURB: Only in the new world can a highborn young Englishwoman and a tough frontier man, ignite the passion that will fulfil their hopes and dreams in ways they never imagined possible.

Tommy Lindsay arrives in colonial Australia to claim the rundown farm she and her brothers have inherited.

Hidden behind her fragile English rose beauty, beats the heart of a courageous young woman. She will need all this strength to survive the unforgiving heat, and the dangers lurking around every corner.  Lost in the bush, capture by a feral mountain family, raging bushfires are nothing, compared to the danger she faces if she gives her heart to Adam Munro.

Adam Munro, a rugged frontier man, has no room in his heart to love a woman.  All he ever wanted was a presentable wife who would provide him with heirs.   He didn’t need passion in his life, not until he met the beautiful English rose living next door to him.

EXCERPT:
“North Eastern Victoria, Australia - 1879
Tommy Lindsay wiped her damp forehead with a lace handkerchief. Perspiration ran in rivulets between her breasts, pooling at the waistband of her gown and leaving a damp patch. She coughed a couple of times to clear the dust clogging up her throat.
“I don’t like it here.” Her little brother, Jamie, kicked one of the leather sea trunks and she was tempted to join him. “Why doesn’t someone come?”
A few boxes and trunks stacked on the hotel verandah held all her possessions and those of her two brothers. Just thinking about how the once proud Lindsay family had been reduced to such pernicious circumstances caused tears to build up at the back of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t afford such a luxury, not with a young brother and a sick older brother to worry about. She had to be strong, resolute.
Warrior, a thoroughbred black stallion, stomped and snorted restlessly.
“Easy, boy.” David patted the stallion's glistening neck. “How much longer do we have to hang around, Tommy?”
“I don't know.” Her voice trembled even though she fought to control it. “Uncle Henry’s lawyer said someone would take us to the farm. Do you think he might have forgotten? Maybe he got the days mixed up?”
Sick dread washed over her. Oh, God, what if this desperate undertaking of theirs failed? It was sheer madness sailing thousands of miles across the sea to start a new life in an alien, hostile country, but what other choice did they have?
“Sorry for being so grouchy but my leg is aching, makes me irritable.” David grimaced as he rubbed his thigh.
His skin looked even more ashen than usual. Perspiration beaded his upper lip, not entirely caused by the fierce Australian sun searing them from a cobalt blue sky.
One glance at them and anyone who wasn’t blind would pick them out as newly arrived immigrants. Their skin was pale, not just because they were blue-eyed blondes, but they came from England’s gentle, temperate climate. David once felt the burning South African sun, but his tan had long since faded beneath the pallor of prolonged illness.
“I'm hungry.” Jamie’s bottom lip quivered.
“Someone will come soon,” Tommy reassured him.
“Why don't they hurry up?” He scuffed his boot across the verandah boards and tugged at the swathe of corn-colored hair flopping across his forehead.
A tall, slim young man sauntered up to them. “Are you the Lindsays?”

Frontier Wife is published by The Wild Rose Press

6 comments:

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Chris,
Thank you for inviting me to visit your blog,I appreciate it.

Cheers

Margaret

Chris Redding said...

Thanks for coming Margaret

Unknown said...

Margaret, your excerpt proves perfectly why you are a favored author. As soon as I find time in my reviewing schedule, I really would like to add yours to the mix.

Ging

Rhobin said...

Just stopping by to say hi to both Margaret and Chris. Great job ladies. Sounds like an excellent story.

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Ginger,
Thanks for popping by, I apprecite it. In case you don't recall, Frontier Wife is an upgraded version of The English Rose from Enspiren Press, and it was also orphaned when my first publisher Lovestruck books closed their doors. So, third time lucky I hope.

Cheers

Margaret

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Rhobin,
Lovely of you to stop by and say hi to Chris and I. Thank you so much.

Cheers

Margaret