Today I'm excited to welcome author Linda Goodnight to my blog, and she is offering a giveaway of a print copy of her book (US address only, please)

So, Linda, what do you have for us today?

Thanks for hosting me, Donna. I know you write both contemporary and historical novels, so let's talk about that.

Contemporary or historical? What’s your favorite kind of book? Back in high school, I strongly disliked history. BOR-Ing. (Can I get a witness?) Then, I became a teacher and was required to teach American History. Fortunately, a philanthropist in our state made a teacher’s grant available, allowing me to spend several weeks studying and exploring old Williamsburg, VA., the birthplace of the American Revolution. History came to life. It wasn’t boring. History was real people doing extraordinary things to create a free nation at the risk of great peril. After that I was hooked and managed to hook many of students on the thrill of American History.

             A natural extension, then, was developing a love for historical novels, especially romance novels where I was amazed to learn so much while enjoying a terrific fiction story. Any time period, any setting, from England’s War of the Roses, the French Revolution, to all the eras of the American experience.

             As a primarily contemporary romance author for most of my career, I often itched to set a story in the past. The Honey Ridge novels, a split-time series that focused mostly on present day, allowed me to dip a toe in the Civil War era. Since then, I’ve wanted to write a full-length historical. This brings us to CLAIMING HER LEGACY, my current release from Love Inspired Trade.

             My home state, Oklahoma, has a fascinating, wild-west history. Beginning as a vast land split between the forested hills, rivers, and low mountains of Indian Territory where I now live and Oklahoma Territory on the flat and dry Great Plains, Oklahoma began as a lawless, wide-open place for land seekers and outlaws. The result is a history of sophisticated cities, relentless outlaws, cowboys, farmers, homesteaders and Native Americans.

             My research for Claiming Her Legacy allowed me to explore the Land Run cities of Perkins and Victorian Guthrie and Indian Territory’s Robbers Cave which figures in the final scenes of the book.

             The history I included in Claiming Her Legacy is anything but boring. Fierce, but vulnerable, Willa and

her tortured hero, Gideon, promise for an action-packed adventure I think you’ll love. Currently, available in-store at Walmart and to preorder online from your favorite book seller.

             What’s your favorite time-period to read about? Leave a comment, and we'll draw randomly and send you a print copy of Claiming Her Legacy.

Here's the first page of this wonderful story:

Oklahoma Territory, 1890

             Papa was dead.

Murdered.

             Even with a month passed and green grass already sprouted atop Finn Malone’s lonely mound of red dirt, Willa Malone and her two sisters could scarce take in the desolate truth.

             “He was a good papa.” With tears glistening in eyes as blue as cornflowers, Savannah, a blonde vision in a yellow cotton dress, placed a bouquet of wildflowers next to the simple wooden cross.

At twenty, Savannah was the baby of the family, protected, coddled, and educated in the east because of her delicate health. How would a fragile butterfly like Savannah survive for long in a place as wild and lawless as Oklahoma Territory?

“He loved us,” Savannah declared as if trying to make herself believe it.

             Willa had her own opinion about Papa’s devotion. If their father had loved them enough, he’d have made provisions for them. If he’d loved them enough, he wouldn’t have gallivanted off to search for gold, leaving three young women to farm a fledgling homestead alone on the Oklahoma prairie.

And he wouldn’t have left them owing a loan they couldn’t repay.

Willa was the oldest. Caring for the family rested on her shoulders. It always had.

At the moment, she didn’t know how to move forward. And there was no going back.

About Linda:

Award winning New York Times bestseller Linda Goodnight fell in love with words as a young child when her mother took her to a tiny library and let her fill a cardboard box with books. The next week she was back again, forever hooked on the beauty and power of the written word. Her other passions are her faith and her blended family. A former nurse and teacher, she lives in Oklahoma. Connect with Linda at www.lindagoodnight.com 

links:

www.lindagoodnight.com

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Claiming-Her-Legacy-A-Western-Historical-Novel-Paperback-9781335418760/650237938

Claiming Her Legacy: A Western Historical Novel - Kindle edition by Goodnight, Linda. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.