Their worlds collide and sparks fly–but forbidden love burns.
Giveaway Alert
Hello Everyone!
I hope you are all having a great week. Today, I'm thrilled to have back on my blog wonderful author, Becky Lower. Becky is here to tell us what inspired her new American historical romance, Dance With Destiny.
Becky, I love having you back with us. Before we get to your post, I can't help but brag a little on your behalf. I came across this amazing review about Dance With Destiny and hope you don't mind me sharing it with my readers.
Dance With Destiny is #1 on Goodreads Listopia for Interracial Historical Romance.
Early Praise for Dance With Destiny: This romance novel takes some risks and pulls them off beautifully. In Outlander fashion, Susannah is married when she falls in love with Lone Wolf, and we see her--in love--with both men, which adds a special tension to the conflict. In my opinion, this is Lower's best work.
Raoul Lafontaine is a half-Ojibwa, half-French-Canadian drifter
who is more Indian than white. Also known as Lone Wolf, he has recently left
the Ojibwa village in search of a fair-haired woman both he and his grandfather
have seen in visions. She is important to him—but how? He will never allow
himself to care for another—not after losing the wife he loved so much.
But Raoul could not have planned for the sizzling emotions that
surface when he comes near Susannah, nor the love he feels for her children.
When he realizes that Susannah returns his feelings, he knows he must leave—for
how can he stay close by knowing she can never be his? William will return to
his homestead, and they’ll once again be a family. One in which Raoul has no
place. Or does he?
Will Fate
relent and grant the love between Susannah and Raoul in this DANCE WITH
DESTINY?
Becky Lower ...
What
makes Dance With Destiny so special to me is that it’s a branch off my family
tree.
When I became
a teenager, my dad told me the dirty little secret about his grandmother. She
was half-Indian, and until the day she died, she had the strong, chiseled
features that bespoke of her heritage, and long coal black hair that fell to
her knees.
Rather than
being appalled by this knowledge, I was thrilled. Times were changing, and
being a part of the culture that was America before the Europeans came to our
shores was exciting. I began to wear feathers in my hair, and to this day I
wear moccasins around the house. So imagine my surprise when I began doing
research on the family tree some twenty years ago, with the help of the
internet and could find no link to my Indian past. I contacted the Myers branch
of the family, some of them unknown to me until then, and they graciously
shared what information they had. They, too, had heard the rumor, and how my
great-grandmother and her siblings had been harassed in school because of their
tainted blood line, but could never figure out how an Indian came into the
family.
When it
became possible, I underwent the Ancestry.com DNA test. Imagine my disappointment
when the DNA test disproved a blood connection!
But since multiple branches of the family had been told the same story
for years, there had to be a grain of truth in it.
Susannah
Myers was my great-great grandmother, and Missouria Belle was my
great-grandmother. William Myers did indeed go off to fight the Civil War,
leaving Susannah alone on a mountaintop in southern Ohio with her children.
This is my version of what may have happened. I hope you enjoy it.
Dance With Destiny Excerpt:
Ohio Hill Country, April, 1861
"You
can't leave me! Leave us! How will we ever survive? We are only good if we can
face our hardships together.” Susannah Myers pummeled her husband's shoulders
as her lips pressed together in a tight line. “Running off to war and leaving
me alone to care for our four little ones is not right. I can’t do this on my
own."
William took hold of her hands and stilled them.
He kissed her callused fingers and then grazed her lips. She stopped fighting
him and laid her head on her husband’s broad shoulder, letting her hot tears
fall.
"It'll only be for a few months, Susannah.
Summer’s coming on, so it won’t be so hard for you to get by. There are plenty
of chickens for food and eggs, I’ve stocked the smoke house with deer, and Jacob
can start on the planting, so you’ll have potatoes and fresh vegetables. I have
no choice in the matter as to whether I stay or go. I have to volunteer. Every
able-bodied man in southern Ohio is being asked to do his part. Daniel was out
here just the other day to make sure I'd sign up."
Susannah straightened up and took a deep breath.
She moved away from him, trying to distance herself from her feelings of
abandonment. "Four children, William, and the oldest of them only nine
years old. Is volunteering for service worth it when, by leaving, you’re
putting the lives of your children in jeopardy?”
He spread his hands wide. "Of course, if I
had any say in the matter, I’d want to be right here, with my woman and my
babies. But, it's my duty to serve. And I swear it will only be for a couple
months. I've only signed on for ninety days. After that, I'll be home. Don't
worry. I'll just be gone for the summer. All we're doing is guarding the
nation's capital until the southerners are subdued. We won't be anywhere near
the battle zone. I'll be home before you know I'm gone."
Susannah faced him again, trying once more to
make him see reason. "I’ll miss you the minute you leave, William. The
ache in my heart is already there. What I don’t understand is why you feel this
need to serve. We don't even own any slaves. Why must you fight these battles?
It doesn't affect us."
"The government is trying to keep the
country from splitting into two parts. We must prevent that at all costs. Our
ancestors came from Germany to southern Ohio to find a new way of life in this
great country, and so far, it’s worked well for us, even though it’s a hard
struggle each year. But if the nation splits into two, it will never be the
mighty force it should be."
Susannah sighed, fully aware her protests were
falling on deaf ears. "Promise me, then. By the time the first snow comes,
and you know it comes early here in the hills, you'll be home."
~~~
Where you can more information about Becky Lower
Amazon best-selling author Becky Lower has traveled the
country looking for great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two
people finding each other and falling in love, amid the backdrop of a great
setting, be it on a covered wagon headed west or in present day small town
America. Historical and contemporary
romances are her specialty. Becky is a PAN member of RWA and is a member of the
Historic and Contemporary RWA chapters. She has a degree in English and
Journalism from Bowling Green State University, and lives in an eclectic
college town in Ohio with her puppy-mill rescue dog, Mary. She loves to hear
from her readers at beckylowerauthor@gmail.com. Visit her website at www.beckylowerauthor.com
Becky, what a wonderful excerpt. I can almost taste Susannah's panic. I would have felt the same way. This is going to be a fun book to read.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and sharing Dance With Destiny with my readers. If anyone has any questions for Becky Lower, please don't be shy. You can post your questions in the comment section below. It that doesn't work for you, send me an email HERE and I'll pass it along to Becky. If you would like to receive a FREE e-book copy, please contact Becky.
Have a wonderful weekend. Please take a moment to yourself and read a great book.
Hugs to all,
Nancy C. Weeks
