White Water Passion
by
Dawn Luedecke
Date of Publication:
November 12th 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Historical
Romance
Tagline: Only by working together can they save
their mill…and their future.
BLURB
The Montana Territory is one of the last
outposts of the American West—where adventure as grand as the wide-open plains
is around every corner, and passion as wild as the land itself beats in every
heart . . .
Elizabeth Sanders isn’t afraid of anything, except
what will happen to her beloved town if the Big Mountain Lumber Mill is
destroyed. When she overhears a plot to do just that, she vows to put a stop to
it, even if it means dressing as a young lumberjack to expose the saboteur.
There’s only one problem with her plan—her brother’s handsome friend and fellow
logger Garrett Jones, who arouses a desire within her soul as fierce as the
river rapids.
When Garrett discovers that the odd new lad
on the crew is in fact Beth, he’s shocked. A logging camp is no place for a
young woman—especially the spirited beauty he’s admired for so long. Keeping
her safe is easier said than done, however, as the attraction between them
flares into true passion. As the danger mounts, Beth and Garrett must work
together to survive the last log run down the wild rapids and claim any chance
of saving the mill—and their chance at a future .
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“Well written, well
researched. Like the river, this plot runs faster and faster. Readers won’t be
able to put it down.”
—New York Times
bestselling author Jodi Thomas
Excerpt:
Missoula Montana, 1888
Elizabeth
Sanders could vanish right now, and no one would notice. She blended in with
every other woman by wearing her matching pinstriped walking skirt and blouse.
Each store clerk and patron in Missoula, focused on their affairs without a
care to their neighbor, would fail to notice if she walked through Higgins
Street naked, let alone disappeared into thin air. They certainly wouldn’t look
twice when she came back this way a different person.
Hundreds
of people bustled in the heat of the Montana sun doing the same old things, the
same old ways, with nothing to show for their trouble but dirty shoes. If
Elizabeth was going to get her shoes dirty, she preferred to have fun doing
it…the Devil May Care way.
Navigating
the pedestrian-riddled streets was treacherous at best. Times like this made
her wish she’d taken her grandmother’s buggy. At least then she wouldn’t be
jostled around like a dirty shirt in a churning wash bin. A deep exhale boosted
her determination enough to risk a step to the side to duck around a
particularly slow matriarch. The small triumph lasted only a moment before she
slammed into a hard chest.
The soft
fabric of a well-tailored suit skimmed her cheek a split second before warm
hands reached out to steady her. The touch—firm, yet gentle—made her feel like
she now balanced on the back of a high-strung and wild mustang as it fled down
a hill with uncontrolled freedom. She hadn’t needed the extra hand. Wasn’t in
danger of falling over. What sort of dullard rescues a woman in no need of
liberation? She pulled away and adjusted her skirts as he let go. Her mind
focused once more.
“Pardon
me.” She glanced up to a familiar face. One she’d seen many times in her
dreams. Her breath failed as her brother’s friend, Garrett Jones, peered down
at her with silver-clouded eyes. Oh, how he made the world spin whenever he
drew near. His handsome, yet rugged, face made her fingers ache to touch the
severe lines of his jaw. The rich scent of tobacco infused with lavender and
some sort of citrus drifted on the breeze. Eau de Cologne. A fragrance only the
wealthiest of men in Montana could afford. A scent belying the canvas pants,
spiked boots, and sturdy cotton shirt he sported every time she’d seen him on
the train platform.
“Elizabeth.”
Did he say her name, or did she dream the word? Oh to be noticed by a man like
Garrett Jones. The only man who could make butterflies flit around in her
stomach and fear slide through her chest in the same confusing moment.
The
hem of her dress hovered mere inches from his feet. Her face heated and heart
began to pound. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the man who
led the Devil May Care boys. The man who held her future in his hands if she
succeeded in becoming part of his crew at the logging camp. If things went the
way she planned, she’d be staring into his amber and steel speckled eyes for
the rest of the season. Did he truly recognize her after all these years of no
more than a passing glance?
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Logging in History
WHITE
WATER PASSION takes place in a fictional company in the very real Montana
mountains. Researching for the series has been an amazing experience. I started
with nonfiction books about Missoula and the railroad (which, unfortunately, I
ended up losing in Hurricane Harvey). I discovered that there are different
ways to log/river log depending on where the company was located in the
country. The fun part was in combining facts with my own spin on the fictional
history of Garrett, Beth, and the Great Mountain Lumber Company.
In
Montana they used horse or oxen teams to bring the logs to chutes, which would
then slide the logs from the hills to the lake where they would hold it on the
banks or in a ‘raft’ until the spring run-off when the rivers were full enough
to float the logs down to the mills. While the hero of my story, Garrett (river
logger and heir to a railroad company), tries out railroad logging at the end
of the book. This form of log transportation didn’t really become widespread in
Montana until the early twentieth century, however, Montana river logging did
continue until 1926 despite having trains and eventually trucks to aid in the
transportation to the mill.
Along
my research journey I’ve discovered the amazing tools used in the operation,
phrases popular in the days, and more. One thing my publisher did was insert a
Glossary of terms I wrote in the book, which has come in handy for more than
one reader. Here is a little peak at the Glossary featured in the Montana
Mountain Romance series.
One
of the funnest things I discovered while researching was this Canadian song, Log
Drivers Waltz, about falling in love with a riverman. The song fits
perfectly with the Montana Mountain Series, and it has become one of my
favorite go to video’s on youtube. Check it out.
Author
Info
A country girl born and bred,
Dawn Luedecke has spent most of her life surrounded by horses, country folk,
and the wild terrain of Nevada, Idaho and Montana. As a child she would spend
many afternoons reading books, watching western classics, and Rogers and
Hammerstein movies. When she grew up she decided to leave the quiet country
life for a chance to find adventure by serving a successful tour in the United
States Coast Guard. During that time she found her soul mate (and alpha male) and
started a family and writing career. She enjoys writing historical and
paranormal romance and spends as much time as she can working on her current
manuscript.
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