Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ CASTAWAY HEARTS #historical #romance #excerpt

I'm going to be taking a break from sharing snippits from Love By Design, as I need to rethink and probably do more editing on it, and any other unpublished stories I have for the time being. I've been attempting to do some reassessing and taking note of what does or does not work for my novels.

Also- with summer vacation beginning for my kids, I'm certain to lose track and forget to post every Sunday, but I will try to remember when I can. It might not always be every Sunday and it will most likely be from my published debut historical romance- Castaway Hearts, which is available where most books are sold, in print or ebook.(follow link on image to Amazon or the buy links in the lefthand column here on my blog)

Here is the Blurb for CASTAWAY HEARTS-
Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

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Today I'll leave you with a snippit from Dawson Randolph's POV after he discovers that his seafaring brother, Nathaniel, is secretly engaged to the young Catherine Barrett, the granddaughter of one of his closest companions. 

Marriage was an institute for tenderhearted fools. He might have been one himself years ago, but he would never be a fool again. Dawson stood and crossed to the windows and stared out across the fields full of tobacco.

At thirty, Dawson had his home and his crops and the occasional visits with friends. He had no mind to think of marriage and believed his younger brother would find it in his best interest not to think about it either. He would do what he could to dissuade Nathaniel from it. It would breed only heartache and sadness.

Dawson knew this fact very well.

Nevertheless, much as he believed it, the moment Catherine Barrett rounded the corner into the parlor of her grandparents’ house, Dawson could not take his eyes from her.