Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Apple iTunes (eBook) Download from Smashwords (eBook) Amazon Amazon Goodreads Category:  Historical Fiction Publisher: Ubiquitous Press ISBN-10:  0615909264 Type: Fiction Pages: 418 Copyright: Oct 29, 2013 ISBN-13: 9780615909264 Price: $3.99 (eBook) In this passionate sweet Western Historical Romance, author Charlene Whitman introduces Emma Bradshaw—a high-society young woman from New York, who is forced to move out to the untamed Front Range in Colorado and finds that true love can withstand all the dangers the West can throw at her.  Colorado Promise Book One in the Front Range series – Historical Western Romance In this passionate sweet Western Historical Romance, author Charlene Whitman introduces Emma Bradshaw—a high-society young woman from New York, who is forced to move out to the untamed Front Range in Colorado and finds that true love can withstand all the dangers the West can throw at her. Greeley, Colorado, in 1875 is a town built on a promise . . . . . . but to Emma it is a desert prison in the middle of a hostile and dusty prairie. Emma had hoped to go to Vassar College, to pursue her dreams of becoming a botanical illustrator. But when her father, struck with “Western fever” moves the family out West, Emma’s dreams are shattered. Her only consolation is that her childhood friend, handsome Randall Turnbull, has moved to Greeley to work for his railroad baron father. Her heart sparked by his comforting presence, she hopes Randall will fall in love with her and marry her. But promises often turn bitter . . . . . . as Lucas Rawlings, veterinarian and horse lover, well knows. Lucas has lived on the Front Range for three years at Sarah Banks’s horse ranch, after stumbling down from the Rockies consumed with grief. Since losing his precious wife and baby in childbirth, he doesn’t think his heart can bear ever loving again. But Sarah, a half-Cheyenne with a medicine woman for a grandmother, has a vision showing it’s time Lucas married again. He scoffs until he rescues Emma in a sudden hailstorm and their lives become intricately entwined. Emma must choose—and fight—for the man she loves, at the risk of all she loves . . . Emma yearns for the comfort and familiarity of Randall’s company, but Lucas’s easy confidence and gentle ways snag her heart. Facing a new life beset by grasshoppers, drought, and blizzards is hard enough. But when murderous ranchers try to force Sarah off her land, and her brother takes up dangerous company, the lives of her family and the man she’s come to love are threatened. It will take a miracle—and the strength and promises of true love—to come through unscathed in this untamed land. Excerpt Chapter 1 “Emma, dear, I believe this heat is about to make me faint.” Camilla Bradshaw fluttered the silk fan close to her flushed cheeks as the carriage jostled along the bumpy streets of the Upper West Side. Emma reached over and dabbed her mother’s perspiring brow with a lace handkerchief, frowning over her propensity for melodrama. She glanced out the window. “We’re nearly home, Mother. I’ll have Josephine bring you some sweet tea in the parlor as soon as we arrive.” Hoping to stem the tide of complaints sure to follow her mother’s remark, Emma said, “Weren’t the florals beautiful? I especially enjoyed the still-life oils from Venice—” “Yes, oh yes, Emma, dear. A stunning exhibition.” She turned and looked at her daughter. “But your paintings are just as delightful. Perhaps one day we’ll see your works of art hanging in the prestigious Metropolitan Museum.” Emma refrained from shaking her head at her mother’s imagination. “I do botanical illustrations. Not something anyone would hang on the walls of a museum. But I hope someday my drawings will be good enough to be used in reference books.” Her mother made a little noise of disapproval, but Emma turned from her and looked through the window at the bustle of the city, letting the sound of the horses’ hooves on pavement and the rhythmic turn of the carriage wheels lull her in the balmy afternoon, the heat matting her coifed hair against her head. As she watched the passing of gleaming black Hansom cabs drawn by sluggish, heat- weary horses, she thought about the lovely book her father had given her for Christmas, a book she cherished above all others and one that had inspired her to take up pen and ink and watercolor to capture the fine details of plants. Which led to her growing passion to study botany. The artist, a Belgian woman named Berthe Hoola van Nooten, did more than just paint flowers and trees; she somehow captured their perfection in a way that made each living species fascinating and magnificent. Emma wished she could portray creation with such precision, but knew she still had a long way to go. She longed for a studio in which she could paint for hours, uninterrupted. Her heart thrilled at knowing her opportunity to reach her dream was at hand. Soon, in a scant two months, she would be off to Vassar College—seventy miles away. Away from the stifling heat of the city and the suffocating scrutiny of her parents. She chided herself for such thoughts, but she yearned for room to grow, for more space than their small but elegant brownstone home afforded, where she had little privacy and even less say in how she spent her time. She loved her parents truly, and although some of her friends had already found their escape through marriage, Emma had yet to find a suitable beau. Like them, she yearned for love and often fantasized what her future 1 ~ Charlene Whitman ~ husband would be like, but none of the young men her parents had arranged for her to meet were at all what she hoped for in a husband. Stuffy, arrogant, well mannered—and oh so dull. Upon her sixteenth birthday, her father had seemed determined to marry her off as quickly as possible, but after the last disastrous dinner, at which her father nearly pressed the poor man into a corner with his unrelenting questions, Emma begged her father to give her a little time off from the arranged meetings with potential suitors. She scoffed. She knew why her father was anxious to marry her off, and it had nothing to do with her happiness. Their carriage drew to a stop. Emma glanced out the window and said, “Mother, we’re home.” The coachman pushed the lever and opened the door, then helped her mother down to the sidewalk. She then extended her own gloved hand, careful to gather up her skirts as she stepped out. Emma took her mother’s arm and walked with her to the door, which opened briskly to allow them entrance. “Madame,” Thomas, the butler, said, offering his arm to escort Emma’s mother inside. Emma nodded her thanks to the older gentleman who had been serving her family for as long as she could recall. Thomas led her mother into the drawing room, and Emma blew out a breath. She enjoyed these outings with her mother, and knew once she went away to college she would no doubt miss them, but her mother had been especially annoying today. On and on about her cousin’s lovely wedding they had just attended last week upstate. And what a beautiful wedding she would plan for Emma once she became engaged. It seemed all her mother talked about these days was her inevitable wedding. But they knew her plans to go to college. It was as if no one listened to her or cared what she wanted. As she willed herself to calm down, her personal maid, Helen, came hurrying the length of the hall and took Emma’s lace gloves from her as Emma peeled them from her sticky hands. The house was a mite cooler than the outdoors, but perspiration still dotted her brow, and her blouse and petticoats stuck to her skin. Her corset had seemed to swell from the heat, and she longed to unlace the stays and breathe freely again. She pushed back a stray strand of long ebony hair that had come unpinned, looking forward to washing up and changing into something cooler for dinner.

Colorado Promise
One of the best books I've read all year! If you are looking for a fun Lonesome Dove style romance, look no further. Very well written, great characters, engaging plot, this is a book you won't be able to put down. I loved the setting--you can tell the author did a lot of historical research to make the story believable, with all the quirks that can only come from real-life history. A must read!

Colorado Promise
Charlene Whitman's beautifully written western romance will leave you satisfied. "Colorado Promise" has everything: a heroine you'll love to root for, two drool-worthy men fighting for her affection, her rich family unyielding in their view of status, and a vivid landscape of life on the Colorado frontier. Buy this book right now!

Colorado Promise
I was asked to read and review Colorado Promise. I must state upfront that of all the genres written, Westerns and Romance rank very close to the bottom of my list of favorites. However, that being said, I have to admit I loved this book and found it very hard to put down. It definitely rates the five stars I have given it.

It begins in the summer of 1875, in New York City, where young Emaline Bradshaw is making plans to attend college and draw plants and flowers to be bound in books as a career. Those plans are shattered when her father announces the entire family is moving immediately to the Colorado territory for a calmer, safer life.

If you are expecting this Western to be a wild shoot-em-up with bar brawls every other chapter you will want to look elsewhere. Ms. Whitman has written a realistic story of the lives of the residents of Greely, Colorado. Also, this is not a sappy romantic story. It is rich with the nuances of first loves and old loves and the love of the country.

That's not to say there isn't plenty of action in this book. It is far from boring. It is a page turner from the first through the last. Ms. Whitman takes her readers on a wonderful ride through the past.

The pace is quick where it needs to be and slows for her readers to catch their breaths before the plot begins to unfold fast before their eyes. It is never dull during the action scenes or gentle scenes. I believe much research went into this book. It reads realistically without a lot of unbelievable drama.

The plot is well done. It moves steadily through the book and there are many sub-plot lines that flow smoothly along with the main story-line. The plot lines never clash or tangle leaving the reader wondering what is happening.
Ms. Whitman's characters are wonderfully written. She is descriptive not only in their appearances but their personalities. Each character is unique and brings something important to the story.

Last, but not least is Ms. Whitman's descriptive writing of what the Colorado territory was like back in the late 1700's. From describing the town to the small details about a horse's saddle, you begin to feel as if you are alongside Emma as she travels from her old life and begins her new.

I am happy Ms. Whitman is writing a series. I will be first in line to grab a copy of the next book and read it. Don't miss this book. You won't regret reading it.