Check out this post and excerpt for Return to Marker Ranch by Claire McEwen (Blog Tour Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway)


On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

The covers for this series are really cute and I love that there's some ranching and cowboying (I know it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway) going on. Check out the author's guest post, an excerpt, and enter the giveaway below...

Return to Marker Ranch (Sierra Legacy)Return to Marker Ranch
(Sierra Legacy #2)
by Claire McEwen
Adult Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
July 1st 2016 by Harlequin Superromance

Summary

This is one reunion both of them could do without

This is the chance she's been waiting for to prove she can run her family's ranch. And despite her many doubters, Lori Allen knows she's doing a good job. Until the man who once broke her heart—Wade Hoffman—runs her well dry! And it turns out he's got as much to prove as she does. After serving his country, Wade's back to rebuild his family's reputation and win his battle with PTSD.

With so much to lose, neither can afford to give in to temptation. But to succeed they must let go of old heartache and face up to bringing out each other's worst, along with the best. And what doesn't kill them…

   
(Affiliate link included.)

East of the Sierra

My new book, Return to Marker Ranch, takes place in my fictional town of Benson, California, nestled against the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.  People often ask me why I set my books out there.  And the only answer I can give is “Because I love it.”

I first traveled to the east side of the Sierras with some college friends, a few months before we graduated.  We found hot springs and soaked our weary bones, we hiked on giant sand dunes, and we sat quietly, just appreciating the rolling sagebrush-covered hills and the and rugged, majestic landscape.  And something about the area sunk into my soul. I didn’t want to go home.  I cried when we left!


So more than a decade later, when I was writing my first book and needed a rural location accessible to San Francisco (where my heroine lived) I immediately thought of the Eastern Sierra.  It was the perfect choice, because each time I wrote a scene in my book, I’d take a mini vacation to the landscape I love!

And now I’m launching Return to Marker Ranch. The second book in my Sierra Legacy series and my fifth book set in the area.  And I still love the Eastern Sierra.

Last winter my family and I stayed in the area, near Mono Lake, for a gorgeous, ice-cold week, taking photos non-stop. I’m not a good enough photographer to really do the scenery justice, but hopefully I can give you a sense of what I love so much.

Snowy mountains and sagebrush:


Mono Lake and volcanic rock:


Endless open spaces:


Gorgeous old barns and fences:


Ranches surrounded by breathtaking scenery;


I try to to capture the landscape in my stories. And I try to make use of it. From flash floods in the first book in the series (Wild Horses) to snowy and treacherous mountainsides in Return to Marker Ranch, the Eastern Sierra plays a big role in my characters’ lives.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour of the region I love.  And thank you for joining me today to celebrate the release of Return to Marker Ranch!  

—Claire

Excerpt

Lori stared at the overgrown pasture. Native shrubs had overtaken most of the grass. Marker Ranch hadn’t been maintained when the Hoffmans lived here, and ever since they’d run off, nature had been busy reclaiming the land.

But now they were back. Or someone was. She glanced down the hill. Far below she could see the top of her tank, downstream from this new one. Typical Hoffman underhanded behavior. They’d drilled a well and stolen her water.

She stared out over the parched landscape. It didn’t make sense. Why would the Hoffmans come back? Everyone said they were hiding down in Mexico ever since they fled arrest for drug dealing years ago. They couldn’t come back. Could it be Nora or Wade? The two younger Hoffman kids had stayed away from the shady family business. Nora had left for college and Wade had followed his older sister a few years later. Lori shivered despite the heat. She wasn’t going down that road—wasn’t going to think about Wade Hoffman. She made a habit of not thinking about him every day. The jerk had stolen her heart, her pride and her happiness. She’d often wished he’d just followed family tradition and swiped her car instead.

The tank squatted in the field, all shiny and new. If she’d had her gun she would have shot it. Lori ran a hand over her eyes, but when she opened them, the tank was still there. This was really happening.

No. It wasnt happening. Memories and old hurt turned to outrage. This couldn’t happen—wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t allow it. Lori turned Dakota and pressed her into a jog, heading back along the ridge.

Thoughts swirled in circles of fury. She’d worked for years so she’d be ready to take over Lone Mountain Ranch. She’d pushed herself on every exam, every paper and every lab in college. She’d handled all the challenges life had thrown her way. And worst of all, she’d put herself through a heartbreak so big that it still ached. All so she could achieve her dream of running this ranch and her father could retire and finally find some peace.

And now that dream was in serious peril. No water on her upper pastures meant half her grazing land would be useless. Which meant she’d have to sell off her cattle. Which would mean that all she’d gone through, all she’d sacrificed, would have been for nothing.

They passed her empty storage tank and picked their way back down the hill. Lori asked Dakota for a lope the moment the mare’s hooves hit the packed dirt road at the bottom. She was going to take care of this today. Somehow.

I can do this. It had been her mantra for months, but this was her biggest test. No way was she going to fail it. She faced down bulls, delivered calves and took care of herds of cattle every day. She dealt with disapproving ranch hands who questioned her every move. Compared with all that, a little chat with the lowlife, water-stealing Hoffmans would be easy.

Other Books in the Series

Wild HorsesWild Horses
(Sierra Legacy #1)
by Claire McEwen
Adult Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
March 1st 2016 by Harlequin Superromance

Summary

This wild stallion can't be tamed 

Todd Williams is still the naive idealist he was in college. Only now he's endangering lives—Nora Hoffman's to be exact. Nora hasn't seen Todd since he decided that saving the rain forest was more important than their relationship. Until the night she's nearly crushed by the stampede he causes. Now Todd is determined to make amends, for everything. 

She may not agree with his methods, but even Nora can't deny the importance of his fight to save the wild horses. With the attraction between them still sizzling and the fate of the horses in the balance, Nora must decide just how much she's willing to risk.

   
(Affiliate link included.)

About the Author


Claire McEwen lives by the ocean in Northern California with her family and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. When not dreaming up new stories, she can be found digging in her garden with a lot of enthusiasm but, unfortunately, no green thumb. 

Claire enjoys discovering flea-market treasures, walking on the beach, dancing, traveling, and reading, of course! She loves to write complex heroes and heroines, who grow and find themselves through their search for love.


Tour Schedule

July 1st: Launch
July 5th: Mythical Books
July 6th: Brooke Blogs
July 7th: EskieMama Reads
July 11th: Colorimetry
July 12th: deal sharing aunt
July 13th: Wishful Endings
July 14th: Harlie's Books
July 15th: Beck Valley Books
July 17th: Grand Finale

Tour-Wide Giveaway

$25 Amazon eGift Card
1 copy of the first book in the series, Wild Horses (print if US, ebook if outside the US)
Open internationally
Ends July 22nd
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