For Love of Banjo-a Western Historical Romance

SARAH WANTS TO GIVE AWAY
A  PDF COPY OF
"FOR LOVE OF BANJO"
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By Sarah J. McNeal
Please welcome my guest, Sarah J. McNeal,  who writes unique Western Historical Romances.  

When I wrote Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride, I had no intention of writing a sequel or a series.  But when I wrote in the character of Banjo, everything changed.  I fell in love with the homeless kid who was born in a bordello and invented little gadgets.  He had a heart of courage.  I just couldn’t let him go.  So, I had to give him his own story.

For Love of Banjo by Sarah J. McNeal

Western Trail Blazers

E-Book and Paperback

BUY LINKS:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/136814

Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=for+love+of+banjo+by+sarah+mcneal

Deceit stands between Banjo Wilding’s love for Maggie O’Leary and his search for the father he never knew.

Blurb:

Banjo Wilding wears a borrowed name and bears the scars and reputation of a lurid past.  To earn the right to ask for Margaret O’Leary’s hand, he must find his father and make something of himself.

Margaret O’Leary has loved Banjo since she was ten years old but standing between her and Banjo is pride, Banjo’s mysterious father and the Great War.

Excerpt:

Sunset spread like liquid gold across the horizon.  The golden light glinted off his spectacles, making it impossible for Maggie to read his dark eyes.

 Her lips pressed together in hurt. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Banjo Wilding that a good slap across the face won’t fix.”  He grabbed her wrist in his long fingers and held it in his firm but gentle grasp.

“First you want me to make love to you—in sin I might add—and next thing comes out of your mouth is sass.  Making love to you might prove a dangerous undertaking for any man.”  He smiled when he said it.  He let go of his hold on her wrist and opened his arms to her.  His dark eyes drew her to him.  She gazed into those magnetic eyes, felt her heart turn over and hurried into his warm embrace.  Banjo pulled her in close and kissed the crown of her head. 

The Earth paused as she stood in his arms.  Minutes passed.  Banjo took in a ragged breath and Maggie knew what he would say next.  She dreaded it.  He loosened his hold on her and stepped back.  The awful moment had come. 

WYOMING HILLS

A little history:
For Love of Banjo takes place during World War I.  Banjo joins the 15^th Regiment Calvary, a real cavalry that  disbanded after World War I but reinstituted years later and still in existence today.

And now a little ghostly legend from the Platte River area of Wyoming:  The Ship of Death

THE SHIP OF DEATH
PLATTE RIVER LEGEND

On the Platte River between Torrington and Alcova, Wyoming, a legend persists that a "Ship of Death” continues to sail upon the sometimes dangerous waters. The phantom ship is said to rise out of a strange mist that quickly becomes a massive rolling ball of fog. As the ship grows closer, witnesses report that its sails and masts are covered with frost. Upon its deck stands the crew, also covered with frost, and huddled around a corpse lying on a canvas sheet. The legend continues that the ship always foreshadows the death of someone who will die on the day that it is spotted. As the crew steps back, the identity of the corpse is revealed as a person known by the witness.

The first alleged sighting was made in 1862 by a trapper named Leon Weber. When the crew stepped back, the corpse revealed the body of Weber’s fiancé who died later on that same day. Another sighting of the phantom ship was made by cattleman, Gene Wilson in 1887, when he saw the body of his wife laid out on the canvas. In 1903, another tale describes that when Victor Heibe was chopping down a tree on his riverfront property, he spied the ship. Laid out on the deck was the body of a close friend.

Every case was reported in the late fall, and in all cases, the person seen upon the deck of the phantom ship died on the very same day.

One of the sightings allegedly occurred six miles southeast of the town of Guernsey, near Casper, Wyoming. Another sighting was said to have occurred at Bassemer Bend on the Platte River.

SARAH--thank you so much for visiting Sweethearts of the West, and giving us a wonderful glimpse into your newest novel. I want to know how the homeless kid who was born in a Bordello grew up and fell in love, and I'm sure your readers will, too. Celia