Hallie Reads: Captured Secrets | Excerpt + Giveaway

08 March 2023

Captured Secrets | Excerpt + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

“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?

Publisher: Iron Stream Media

Release Date: March 7

EXCERPT

Sydney thumbed through the growing pile of mail before her sister was due to arrive. Most of the stack was unpaid bills. She opened an envelope and pulled out a photo of her and Trey dancing at the powwow. A note accompanied the print.

You look cozy in his arms. I’ve missed you.

Remember, you’re mine.

Her belly clenched. The envelope offered no return address, but the postmark was from Spokane. She swallowed. Could Cooper be out? It’s too soon. He had to be toying with her, having someone else send the notes.

With trembling hands, she stuffed the print and note back in the envelope and hid them in the top drawer as Glenda pulled up. She’d have to decide later if it was wise to share the picture and notes with Trey or not. He was in the photo, after all.

She felt helpless. No way would she get a restraining order against Cooper. They were useless. Besides, there was no proof he was the one sending the notes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carmen Peone is an award-winning author of Young Adult Adventure and Contemporary Western Romance and lives in northeast Washington state and on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation with her husband. She had worked with a Tribal Elder, Marguerite Ensminger, for three years learning the Arrow Lakes Language and various cultural traditions, which led to her writing career. With a degree in abnormal 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 the western woman’s lifestyle, she weaves threads of hope, family, relationships, love, and faith into her stories. Sign up for her newsletter and receive her novella, Gentling the Cowboy for Free.

Connect with Carmen by visiting carmenpeone.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

GIVEAWAY

(3) winners will each receive a signed (or Amazon ebook) copy of Captured Secrets (winner’s choice), a $15 Amazon gift card, and a photo greeting card related to the book and taken by the author!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 7, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 14, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

TOUR SCHEDULE

JustRead Publicity Tours