ALONG THE RIO GRANDE - Tracie Peterson - One Free Book

Welcome back, Tracie. Please provide a brief summary of your new book, Along the Rio Grande. In 1899, widow Susanna Jenkins arrives in San Marcial, New Mexico, to help her family run a hotel financed by her uncle Harrison. Her parents, Herbert and Gladys Ragsdale, along with her eighteen-year-old brother, Gary, are used to a life of luxury. Having lost the family fortune in a scheme, Herbert is at his brother’s mercy. Gladys Ragsdale is not happy with their change in fortune and social standing. Being knocked down the social ladder creates hardship on them and difficulty for Susanna, who’s trying to help Uncle Harrison in teach them a lesson.

Owen Turner works as a boilermaker supervisor for the Santa Fe shops in San Marcial. As a man of faith, he has been confident that God would send him a wife, but so far, the women he’s met are either taken or too much on the wild side of life. Owen and Susanna meet at church when children playing jump rope entangle them by accident. Neither mind the introduction.

When Gary applies to work for the Santa Fe, Owen becomes his boss, but problems abound.

Susanna is grateful to have Owen in her life and feels confident she can keep the promise she made to her late husband—to remarry. But Owen must deal with letting go of his past mistakes before he can move forward into a future of love.

Along the Rio Grande is the first book in your Love on the Santa Fe series. How many books will be part of your new series? There will be three completely independent books in this series.

What is the connecting element for all of the books in this series? While the books are independent of each other, they’re all connected by the setting of New Mexico and the Santa Fe Railroad. The main characters will all find romance—and face things that help their spiritual growth.

Along the Rio Grande is set in San Marcial, New Mexico. Why did you choose this setting? I participated in the Bethany House novella collection Serving Up Love. I set that story in San Marcial, and there were just too many interesting things about this town that no longer exists. I thought it made a fun and interesting setting.

One of the underlying themes in Along the Rio Grande is learning how to face one’s past. How this theme comes into play in the life of your male protagonist, Owen Turner? Owen made some big mistakes in his past, including allowing his brother to get away with poor work on the railroad. He knew that it could cost someone their life . . . and it does. Owen finds himself having to learn to let go of his past and the mistakes he made, and give them over to God. This is one of the themes I’m known for because so many readers have told me that seeing this lesson in the lives of others has helped them overcome their own guilt.

What other lessons do you hope readers gain from reading your new novel? That God is always faithful and that His love for us will never fail. Sometimes we tend to assign God with human qualities and think He’ll give up on us, but He never does.

You are well known for your detailed research. What type of research was required for this series? I like to visit the areas where I set my stories. Fortunately, I had tons of research on this area from prior visits. I also had some great resource books and connections with the Santa Fe Railroad.

You have written more than 100 novels in both the contemporary and historical genres. Do you have a preferred genre? My love of writing encompasses a lot of genres, including nonfiction, but historical is my favorite. I love pulling out the details of the past and seeing they aren’t any different from a lot of things we’re going through today.

What do you love most about writing historical romance novels? Because the Bible is God’s ultimate love story, I enjoy writing stories with hope and happily-ever-after endings. God’s love for us is so fulfilling and eternal, bringing us confidence, joy, passion, and hope. I like to create stories that mimic that love in the lives of my characters and give them a happily-ever-after, because in Christ we will have a happily-ever-after.

How can readers connect with you?

I love to hear from my readers, and they can connect with me at my website: www.traciepetersonbooks.com or at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TraciePetersonAuthor 

Thank you, Tracie, for sharing this new book with my blog readers and me. Since I love all of your books that I've read, I really look forward to reading this one.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Along+the+Rio+Grande&i=stripbooks&crid=2LWWL0EX99KCH&sprefix=along+the+rio+grande%2Cstripbooks%2C1611&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 

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