Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ "You were riding a horse on the beach?" CASTAWAY HEARTS #excerpt

 

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?

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     “I did not spy, young Miss. I was out for a late night horse ride on the beach, and I heard a ruckus. I figured I better check things out to make sure someone or something wasn’t drowning.”

     There was much more to it than that, but she ventured no further questions in that regard.

     “You were riding a horse on the beach?” This thought piqued her interest.

     “Yes. I couldn’t sleep…” Dawson began. “I have several, do you like to ride?”

     “Yes, but I’ve already been warned away from it.” Anger singed her insides. “Again, it’s not something a lady, like myself, should be doing.”

     “Well now, that’s a might shameful.” Dawson’s lips curled up on one side before he drew on his pipe and looked thoughtful. “I tell you what. If you like to ride, I’d be more than happy if you’d ride one of my fine mares. Gypsy’s mine and trusts only me, but I have several others that are good and gentle for a lady like you.”

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ You spied on me. #CastawayHearts #excerpt #ebook

“What do you like to do, Catherine?” He seemed to attempt small talk. “What are your interests?”

“Nothing I can enjoy here.” She tipped her head back toward the house and shrugged her shoulders, defeated. “Most of the things I enjoyed while I lived in England were things Grandmother Melanie has made it clear are improper.”

“Like what?” Dawson lowered his voice and leaned toward her. “Splashing in the ocean in the middle of the night?”

Catherine whipped her head back around, her heart thudding in her ears at the remark. A guilty smile brightened Dawson’s face.

Had he been there?

Had he been the presence she sensed the night before?

“You spied on me last night? How dare you.” Her skin crawled with deep crimson heat.

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ CASTAWAY HEARTS~ #excerpt Don't dwell on this waif...

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?

****

Dawson gave the horse a good prod with his heels, and she took off. The wind whipped through his hair and the moonlight illuminated his way through the lush forest across the road from his home, down the embankment to the edge of the beach. Even in the dark, guided by the pale moonlight, his horse knew the way. This was not their first midnight ride.

As they reached the clearing, Dawson gave another prod. Gypsy opened up and flew across the sand. She sensed her master’s troubled heart and in turn mirrored his desire for freedom and wild abandon. Dawson let her run, her thunderous hooves muffled by the gritty sand beneath.

The horse galloped across the sand for a good quarter mile before Dawson gave her a nudge and pulled back on the reins to slow her to a halt. He stared out at the sea, the moon, the stars, and found he felt small, petty, and irritated still.

Aggravation crept into his heart as he looked out into the bay. Nathaniel knew what Dawson went through in his youth and yet his foolish little brother still wanted to take a bride.

Dawson threw a glance over his shoulder to the cliff-side home of Captain and Mrs. Barrett. The building housed the one idea he never imagined he could want.

Catherine.

Don’t dwell on this waif. She’s not yours to want after or worry about.

His brother was another story. Nathaniel had a great mind for sailing, but he had always been bohemian, never content to stay still for long.

FFF- #TwoBrothers by @christinawolfer @FictionWitches #TMPress

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At eighteen, Amanda Riley got her first lesson in love when Jacob Henderson broke her heart. But then she made the biggest mistake of her life – she ran off and married his younger brother.

Ten years later, she’s divorced and moving back to her small hometown. She’s made a name for herself in the cutting horse industry. That should count for something… Right? But decade old mistakes won’t be easily forgotten by everyone in town.

When Amanda and Jacob are thrown together to help an abused horse, old desires ignite and past truths are revealed. And just when they think they’ll get a second chance at love, the younger brother comes home.

Author Bio: The first Compiled Writings by Christina were gathered and stapled together when I was ten years old. Those terribly written, yet funny to read, short stories often held some resemblance to my life growing up on a 39 acre farm in Williamsburg, OH, a small town east of Cincinnati. There were horses, cows, pigs, dogs, cats—okay, a zoo—which included three older brothers.

I left this wonderful life behind at eighteen to pursue a degree in Journalism and then a career in Marketing. After ten years of living in the city, I moved back to Williamsburg and bought those same 39 acres I grew up on. I eventually married my best friend, Jack, and allowed him and his son to move in with me, my two dogs and two horses. Since then, we’ve added another horse and built our dream home, a log cabin.

The desire to write and become publishing was never far from my mind. It pushed at me until I could no longer ignore the stories running through my head. Then one day, sitting in an airport on my way home from a business trip, I wrote the first chapter of Two Brothers. Once that first book was written, well, then I had to figure out what to do with it. I joined Romance Writers of America, as well as my local chapter, which eventually led me to Turquoise Morning Press and the future release of Two Brothers.

Like any good story, my journey has just begun and the ending is yet to be written.

www.christinawolfer.com

Castaway Hearts #Book #Excerpt 2- Mermaid in the Moonlight

Dawson gave the horse a good prod with his heels, and she took off. The wind whipped through his hair and the moonlight illuminated his way through the lush forest across the road from his home, down the embankment to the edge of the beach. Even in the dark, guided by the pale moonlight, his horse knew the way. This was not their first midnight ride.

As they reached the clearing, Dawson gave another prod. Gypsy opened up and flew across the sand. She sensed her master’s troubled heart and in turn mirrored his desire for freedom and wild abandon. Dawson let her run, her thunderous hooves muffled by the gritty sand beneath.

The horse galloped across the sand for a good quarter mile before Dawson gave her a nudge and pulled back on the reins to slow her to a halt. He stared out at the sea, the moon, the stars, and found he felt small, petty, and irritated still.

Aggravation crept into his heart as he looked out into the bay. Nathaniel knew what Dawson went through in his youth and yet his foolish little brother still wanted to take a bride.

Dawson threw a glance over his shoulder to the cliff-side home of Captain and Mrs. Barrett. The building housed the one idea he never imagined he could want.

Catherine.

Don’t dwell on this waif. She’s not yours to want after or worry about.

His brother was another story. Nathaniel had a great mind for sailing, but he had always been bohemian, never content to stay still for long.

A riotous slosh sounded in an alcove to his left and captured his attention. Inch by inch, he guided Gypsy closer to the rocky cliff, afraid of what he might find there. He thought perhaps a fish or some other sea creature had washed ashore, unable to make its way back out to sea.

As he stole closer, he made out the form, but it was not a fish or any other animal he had ever seen wash up on the beach before.

Wrapped in wispy white fabric that rippled in the wind, a ghostly female figure began to solidify in his sight. Dawson pulled Gypsy to a standstill. It reminded him of mermaid stories he had heard as a child, but this was no mermaid. This was an apparition, floating along on the breeze.

The fabric she wore was so thin he could make out the supple curves of her breasts, his eyes traveling down over her full hips, and the long slender legs that carried her to the water’s edge.

Dawson rubbed his eyes with his fists. Surely, the moonlight had deceived him.

When he looked back the image before him remained and his body responded to the nearly bare-skinned specter, so pale in the night. Dawson stared in silence, her body dancing, gyrating beneath the pale moon. The unwelcome tightening of his breeches made him well aware that this ghost was far more than a figment of his imagination. Her lengthy dark tresses trailed behind her, making him think of a mermaid’s tail. But her thin cotton nightgown revealed no signs of transformation as it clung to her shapely thighs. As she waded further into the water, a sharp gust of wind caught the top of her gown, billowing the wide neckline over her flesh. The moonlight caught her profile for a moment. The dainty nose and pouty lips seemed suddenly familiar, but they slipped into the shadows as his eyes fell to the rise and fall of her breasts again.

That’s when it hit him.

Catherine!

Gone was the prim and proper young woman from earlier in the evening. The stiffness in her before had given way to a sensuality so fluid he could feel it in the air and her movements. Her body tempted him like a waking dream, as she blew in on the breeze, wild and free. It reminded him of desires he had not visited in years.

In the moon’s glow, milky skinned and delicate, Catherine was oblivious that anyone watched her dance of free-spirited joy.

Dawson’s blood pounded in his veins the longer he spied on the young minx.

Those supple curves had crossed his mind earlier in the evening, those swells and dips along her edges made his fingers itch and his manhood betray him in the most uncomfortable way.

His brother’s words taunted him. He might find someone else…it flickered through his mind in disdainful amusement.

Gall burned through him—for his body betrayed him in that instance.

He caught his breath and turned one last hungry gaze toward her before he rode off in the other direction.

Then he gave Gypsy full rein to slice through the night as she carried him away from a temptation that would burn him if he didn’t get as far away as possible.