Read an Excerpt from Rosanne Bittner's THUNDER ON THE PLAINS

About THUNDER ON THE PLAINS

With more than 7 million books in print, RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award–winning and USA Today Bestselling author Rosanne Bittner pens a historical Western romance filled with dangerous cowboys, capable heroines, and an epic love story that sweeps across the Old West.

IN A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
Sunny Landers wants a big life-as big and free as the untamed land that stretches before her. Land she will help her father conquer to achieve his dream of a transcontinental railroad. She won't let a cold, creaky wagon, murderous bandits or stampeding buffalo stand in her way. She wants it all- including Colt Travis.

ALL THE ODDS WERE AGAINST THEM
Like the land of his birth, half–Cherokee Colt Travis is wild, hard, and dangerous. He is a drifter, a wilderness scout with no land and no prospects hired by the Landers family to guide their wagon train. He knows Sunny is out of his league and her father would never approve, but beneath the endless starlit sky, anything seems possible...

Read an Excerpt

She studied his eyes in the flickering firelight. “I’ll never forget this trip or you for the rest of my life, Colt. No matter what else happens in my life, I’ll always think of you as the most wonderful, special person I ever met.” She couldn’t help more tears then, and Colt gently wiped them with his fingers.

“I’ll think of you the same way. I’ll bet someday I’ll read about you in the newspapers, Miss Sunny Landers, part owner of a transcontinental railroad. You’ll go home and next year your pa will have that coming-out party for you, and every eligible young man in Chicago who is anybody important will be wanting to court you. You’ll be flirting with congressmen and going to operas and signing million-dollar deals. Your pa has a big dream, and I don’t think he can finish it without you at his side; and I don’t think you’d let him. You’re his whole world, and right now he’s yours, and that’s probably the way it should be.”

She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “And you’ll be out here leading wagon trains and chasing buffalo, and that’s how it should be for you.”

He smiled more. “Now you’ve got it right.”

He held her gaze, and for a moment she thought he might kiss her. “Thanks for coming to see me, Sunny. Your brother told me once that your name fits you perfectly, and he was right. Don’t ever change. You’re going to have to deal with a lot of power, make big decisions, handle an empire. Don’t let it make you into a different person.”

She held back tears. “I owe you so much. I owe you my life, Colt.”

“You don’t owe me anything, except maybe some good words in that journal of yours. You’d better get going now before your pa finds you out here alone with me. It wouldn’t look good.”

She could not help the sudden urge to hug him. Colt felt his arms going around her, and he wondered if she realized what the feel of her did to him. He breathed deeply of her sweet scent, telling himself his feelings might have been the same for any pretty girl in the same situation. A man got lonely out here.

“Good-bye, Colt,” she said, pulling away from him. “I’ll never forget you, never.”

“Bye, Sunny.”

She studied him a moment longer, then turned and ran off into the darkness, feeling on fire, her heart torn with mixed emotions. Was this how love felt? She found the wagons and climbed inside her own, quickly searching for her journal and pen. She sat down on the feather mattress and began to write.

Colt Travis is leaving us. Tomorrow will be the saddest day of my life, for from then on I will never see Colt again. It seems strange to say it, but in spite of how different he is from anyone I have ever known, we were good friends, and I feel special having known him. I went tonight to tell him good- bye, and he held me. I think I love—She heard footsteps outside the wagon then, and her father looked inside. Sunny quickly closed the journal, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that she had been crying. “Father,” she said, not even aware that she had called him Father for the first time rather than Daddy. “Did you already pay Colt?”

“No. I’m on my way over there now.” He looked at her strangely, and she wondered if he knew where she had been.

“Do we have to go right back to Chicago, Father?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You wanted to go on, at least to the South Pass. I’m well now, and we have new supplies and a new scout and even soldiers to go along. I want to go on. I love it out here, Father, and it’s important for you to see what might be the best route. It will help you understand what will be needed in the way of money and all.”

“Sunny, I hate to expose you to any more danger. I almost lost you more than once. Nothing is more important to me than you.”

“Father, I’m a Landers. I’ll be fine. I want to go on.”

He frowned. “What happened? I thought you were eager to go back.”

“I never said I was. You just thought it. Let’s keep going.”

“You’re not afraid?”

She leaned back, feeling alive and beautiful. She was a woman, a strong and brave woman at that, according to Colt. If someone like Colt thought it, then it must be so. She felt so sad, yet so proud. She had found a new confidence, a new power. And not leaving this country just yet would help her feel close to Colt a little longer. “I’m not afraid of anything anymore,” she answered.

GIVEAWAY

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About Rosanne Bittner

The award-winning author of over fifty books, Michigan resident Rosanne Bittner is a member of the service organization of the Lioness Club, which supports needy families and other worthy causes. She and her husband of thirty years have two sons.

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