Blitz: Captured Secrets by Carmen Peone with an excerpt and a giveaway

Captured Secrets

by Carmen Peone

Release date: March 7th, 2023

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Western

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63156135-captured-secrets

Blurb:

“Brimming with suspense and adventure, Captured Secrets, is a love story I’ll not soon forget. An engrossing tale with all the twists and turns that make a contemporary Western so hard to put down.” Debra Whiting Alexander, award-winning author of Zetty

After her parents die in a horrific car accident, Sydney Moomaw is thrust into running their guest ranch in eastern Washington. She soon discovers that her parents were keeping secrets. Why is the ranch in serious debt? Why did her parents allow the insurance to lapse? Why didn’t they tell her about it? And where are their wills? Sydney needs to figure out a way to save the ranch she loves before her sister sells it.

Photographer Trey Hardy arrives at the ranch the same day Sydney’s parents are killed. His working-vacation plans change when he decides to help Sydney save her ranch. But, his offers to help are met with resistance. Her stubbornness and independence are both maddening and alluring.

Amid the tangle of finances, tensions with her sister, and her own grief and anger, Sydney begins receiving threatening notes. They must be from her abusive ex-husband, but he’s in jail. Isn’t he? When a teenager appears at the ranch insisting she is Sydney’s daughter, Sydney finally realizes she’s going to have to start trusting people to help her. Will Trey’s plan work? Can they save her beloved ranch? Can she really have the life she’s dreamed of?

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mmG920

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captured-secrets-carmen-peone/1142242736?ean=9781645263616

Excerpt: 

Flashlight in hand, she scanned the place for anything burnable. Twigs and pinecones were what she needed. Rain pounded the roof. One drop landed on Sydney’s head, making her flinch. 

She went outside again, scavenged for what fuel she could find, and laid it on the floor. A small puddle formed under the debris. The twig she laid on the now-dying flames remained too wet and doused the fire. After tossing a small heap of rat bedding in the tin, she lit another match, gently blew on the growing fire, and again killed the flames with wet pine needles.

With her soggy boots, she cleared a place to sit and leaned against the inside of her saddle. The saddle blanket wasn’t enough to keep her warm. 

Tired and cold, she closed her eyes for a moment. Oh, Lord, what now?

A faint whinny caught her attention. She reached for her pistol, then gave a stiff grunt. Shoot.

She’d left it in her purse. The porch steps groaned against heavy clicks. Cooper? Her heart pounded as her breaths came in short spurts. She searched for something, anything, to defend herself with. The door creaked open.

No, no, no! She pulled out a deer-skinning knife from the saddlebag, her hands shaking.

A tall figure came through the door. “Sydney?”

A light shined in her face, causing her to squint. “Trey?”

He dropped his saddle and pad on the floor and slammed the door shut. “You crazy––stubborn––determined–– irrational woman! You said you were going on a short ride.”

She wanted to hurt him or hold him. Anything to calm the terror clawing at her insides. “Stubborn? Irrational? With everything I’ve been through, the length of my ride is all you’re concerned about? You arrogant––cocky––egotistical—”

He reached her in two strides, tossed the knife aside, and pulled her into his grasp. “You scared me half to death.” 

His voice soft, it felt more like a breath whispered deep in her soul. Her chest burned. “I didn’t mean to.” She captured his mouth, a low groan escaping her throat, and he deepened the kiss, his firm hand cradling her head.

She wrapped her arms around his soaked waist, the kiss tasting of regret. Of desperation and remorse. Needing his strength and comfort, she pulled his taut body snug against hers. Then gathered her wits and pushed him away, breathing hard. “Sorry. I can’t.”

“Can’t what? Love? Trust? For how long, Syd? Until you grow old and alone? What will it take for you to let me in?”

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INT) ends March 16

• $25 Amazon gift card
• 2x ebook copies of Captured Secrets

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251235343/

AUTHOR BIO:

Carmen Peone is an award-winning author who has lived in Northeast Washington and on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation since 1988. She had worked with a Tribal Elder, Marguerite Ensminger, for three years learning the Arrow Lakes Language and various cultural traditions. She owns and trains her horses and competes in local Extreme Challenge and Mountain Trail competitions. With a degree in psychology, the thought of writing never entered her mind, until she married her husband and they moved to the reservation after college. With the love of history and western-woman lifestyle, she brings stories of hope, family, relationships, and faith to her novels. 

These books were a labor of love, especially the second edition of the True to Heart Trilogy. 

Thank you to my cover model, Shayna Palmanteer of the Colville Confederated Tribes, for your willingness to be a part of this adventure. Visit my website for information on the workbooks that go along with my young adult books at https://carmenpeone.com/books/. 

http://carmenpeone.com

Healing, Hope, Horses

Author links:

https://carmenpeone.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CarmenEPeone/

https://www.instagram.com/jcpeone/

https://www.pinterest.ca/carmenpeone/

https://twitter.com/carmenpeone

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4862063.Carmen_Peone