Bragging Rights...Tanya Hanson

One of my favorite Christmas songs has long been Amy Grant's "Grown up Christmas List." Well, I get weepy easily, but it's one of those songs that really starts the waterworks, especially during the holidays. Mostly because I have some really wing-nut relatives, I like to change a couple of words so that the lyrics can easily pertain to a family in need.

Do you remember me?

I sat upon your knee.

I wrote to you with childhood fantasies.

Well, I'm all grown up now

And still need help somehow.

I'm not a child

But my heart still can dream.

So here's my lifelong wish,

My grown-up Christmas list.

Not for myself

But for a family (world) in need:

(Chorus)

No more lives torn apart,

That fights (wars) will never start

And time would heal all hearts.

Everyone would  be (have) a friend

And right would always win,

And love would never end.

This is my grown-up Christmas list.

So....when I started my latest release Right to Bragg, the fourth book in my Hearts Crossing Ranch series, I knew from the one-paragraph synopsis on which I'd sold the story that the heroine Tiffany Vickers is a woman alone. Abandoned. Dealing with wing-nuts of her own and trying to find her way.  Cowboy Bragg Martin uses his own faith to help guide her…even as he struggles with guilt of his own. As  I plotted all the why’s and wherefore’s, the setting just called out that it needed to be Christmastime. The time of hope and healing, reunion and peace.

My latest, released 11/11/11!

I hope you enjoy Tiffany’s falling both in faith and love during a picture-perfect Christmas on that fictional little ranch, Hearts Crossing, where everybody loves to come home.

BLURB:

Disowned by her family, Tiffany Vickers faces a lonely Christmas and takes great comfort in the baby boy in her care. Her faith in tatters, she guards her heart against the baby's uncle, handsome cowboy Bragg Martin, a man with baggage of his own. While Bragg longs to open his heart and family to the lovely nanny, he doesn't understand her interest in his arch enemy. Saving a man's life and saving Tiffany's faith bring the couple together…and home to Hearts Crossing Ranch. 

EXCERPT:

     Tiffany got up for another cup of coffee, Matty’s eyes watching her every move.

     “He sure notices you,” Bragg remarked as the baby drained the bottle.

     “Yeah. We bonded right off. I’m so glad about it.” As she’d made a snap decision just then, she rushed on. “I left behind my precious nephew. I guess in my psyche somewhere I figured maybe nanny to Matty might help ease that hole in my heart.”  Gently she rubbed her hand over Matty’s head, the edge of her hand tugging at Bragg’s shirt and causing a funny havoc. Mostly though he listened to her pain.

     She sank back down into a kitchen chair, resting her cheek in her hand. “I was with Connor from the moment he was born. Paul and Diana wanted me there. Then things went haywire. It was my fault. You talk about forgiveness, but there isn’t any in this case. And I miss that little boy. Oh, I miss him so. I need him. His love was unconditional, you know. He’s three now. I can’t let him forget me.”

     Bragg’s heart tugged at the agony on her face, and Matty’s little hand flailed. Tiffany took it at once. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

     “I’ve been disowned, so, yeah, Bragg. It’s that bad.” 

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