Shannon here: Caryl McAdoo shares her inspiration for her latest Historical Romance, Texas Tough. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Sept 16th – 30th to enter the drawing for an e-book copy of Gone to Texas, book one in Caryl’s ten book series, Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga along with 3 other books in my Sept Book Bundle #2. Deadline: Oct 11th, 11:59 central time. Here’s Caryl:
When the sun dips behind the endless expanse of Texas sky, and God paints with hues of rose, amber, and gold something wonderful happens. Out where the land is as rugged as the people who call it home, love grows but not always as expected—and sometimes, against impossible odds, especially back in 1898.
Esther Hope O’Farrell in TEXAS TOUGH had her life all planned. Charles, her sweetheart since she could remember, should have proposed that morning. Everything was ready, and the time had finally come. Others, however, don’t always follow the order of things. Charles certainly did not. Instead of offering an engagement ring, he came to say goodbye, explaining he had to go to war, to prove his courage to himself.
Romance isn’t always just about whispered promises; it’s about grit, loyalty, and the kind of passion that stands steady in the face of separation. What else could Hope do but watch him leave? She wrote letter after letter, but when she never got a response, she quit writing until months later when a missive finally arrived, declaring his everlasting love and reassuring her of a future together.
But God though . . . His plans are often different, His ways are not our ways.
The next letter she received shattered her heart, her hope, and every dream. Soon after, men carrying her
Giveaway
love’s personal effects showed up in Delaware Creek. A handsome captain and a lieutenant. The latter quickly attached himself to Hope’s dear friend, Rosalyn Stringfellow—a violin master—the one Hope figured she was destined to be a grow old with—two spinsters, keeping each other company.
Though the connection wasn’t immediate, Captain Daniel Patrick Parsons lit some deeply imbedded spark inside with his playful banter and caring nature. He made her feel guilty though. Could his tenderness overcome her toughness?
TEXAS TOUGH is not a story of a whirlwind romance, but more an on-again, off-again one. It’s a lesson in trusting God and having strength in the face of adversity; about accepting what life throws at you and standing tall. The man is a Yankee with businesses in Boston, New York, and even across the ocean. She wants her babies to grow up in Delaware Creek, founded by her ancestors, where her father is the pastor. She loves Texas and has no desire to leave.
Plus, there is her broken heart to consider . . . Was love about vulnerability and letting someone in even when it felt risky? Was it way too soon? How could she tell? She knew the Scriptural requirements of the wife, to respect and honor her husband, serve and help him, submit to him as unto the Lord, remembering he is the head, and a commitment before God to stay together through thick and thin.
Her parents exampled all that her whole life. Sweet Hope is faced with so much: stubbornness, family crisis, and the ever-present challenge of balancing her heart’s desire for a husband and family, her grief . . . and where she’s willing to live. Will she ever stop leaning to her own understanding and give her burdens to God?
If there’s one thing the characters of TEXAS TOUGH prove, it’s that true love can weather any storm across any location. Whether you’re a city slicker or a country soul, there’s a lesson to be learned. Love isn’t always easy—but it’s always worth holding on to and never giving up on. With a heart as big and bold as the Lone Star State, I hope you’ll enjoy reading Hope’s story!
Reader Question: Has your relationship been tested? Do you have a testimony of God’s faithfulness to
help you?
Sept Book Bundle Giveaway #2:
Ed’s Hopeful Journey by Pearl Ada Pridham, PDF document
The Descendant’s Daughter by Patricia Lee US only, print,
The Sister’s Plight by Patricia Lee US only, print
Gone to Texas by Caryl McAdoo, Historical Romance, eBook
About Caryl: Best-selling author Caryl McAdoo, praying her story gives God glory, loves God first, her husband Ron, their children, and twenty-nine grandsugars, and then writing books—seventy-nine published titled! Her historical family sagas are loved around the world. The McAdoos live in Clarksville, Texas waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.
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About the book – Texas Tough:
The Lord’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts, nor His ways, your ways.
Hope O’Farrell thought her future lay one question away—marriage to her childhood sweetheart, but he trades their plans and dreams for a battlefield, and her world shatters. Texas Tough is a story of heartbreak and hope, faith and resilience, where grief collides with God’s mysterious providence.
At only eighteen, Hope fears she’ll grow old as a spinster, sharing the same fate as her dearest friend, Roz. God plans a different future for her though. When a captain and a lieutenant arrive in Delaware Creek bearing her fiancé’s personal effects, then come again to visit, sorrow mingles with sparks of a possible new beginning.
As Roz finds herself accompanying the lieutenant’s rich baritone on her fiddle, and Hope wrestles with her own stirring heart, they discover that even in the heat of Texas trials, love can bloom again. If Hope can trust the God who closes doors only to open windows—will she be able to see through it to a bright future she never imagined?
Texas trials forge Texas hearts—and God writes the rest.
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Caryl’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
Come back Sept 20th for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
My relationship has had its up and downs, but God is good.
Yes! But God!
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
I have a winner for my Sept Book Bundle 2. Sandie Schrager won the drawing! I appreciate Caryl for being my guest and everyone else who stopped by.