Pelican Book Group

…come to Christmas at Hearts Crossing Ranch

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

….before it became Hearts Crossing Ranch! My Christmas prequel, The Heart of a Stranger, has you meet Elena Montoya and James Martin at the start of the Martin dynasty. The dynasty exists until this day in my long-running series at Pelican Book Group. I’m honored to be one of 24 authors featured in this year’s Christmas Extravaganza, and in November and December, I’ll be featuring the books, blurbs, bios and buy-links of a lot of my fellow authors. Stay tuned!

So…it’s December 1876, and a stranger shows up claiming Elena’s land is his land. Well, how can that be? But she has always believed in God’s word that strangers can be angels unaware and to treat them as such. How can she turn James Martin away when a blizzard starts to rage? And how can she not keep him safe when somebody on the ranch threatens his life? Somebody she trusts who has killed before. Oh, yes, this is truly a love story but it turned into a bit of a murder mystery, which surprised me, too.

Here’s the gorgeous cover designed by the inimitable artist Nicola Martinez. How is it she can see right inside my head–and my heart?

More soon, and God bless.

The Heart of a Stranger~Christmas 2024!

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

Howdy! Welcome to my world of writing. The upcoming The Heart of a Stranger was a joy to write. I’m both honored and thrilled to announce that this prequel to the Hearts Crossing Ranch series has been selected as one of only 24 stories for Pelican Book Group’s annual Christmas Extravaganza! I’ve gone back to my origins for this one–historical Western romance. It’s December 1876, and the ranch’s heir Elena Montoya meets handsome interloper James Martin as the family graveyard. He claims he owns the ranch. Of course it’s love at first sight, but then he nearly dies in her arms. It’s a story of love for sure, Christmas comfort and joy, faith always, and a fine little mystery. Is Hector, her long-time trusted ranch boss, actually a killer?

I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it. Hearts Crossing Ranch began in 2010 after I entered a writing contest at Pelican book Group. Since then, my fictional Colorado ranch has inspired thirteen stories. I just can’t stop filling it with people–their love stories and faith journeys.

My editor-in-chief Nicola Martinez is amazingly supporting, both professionally and personally. Not long ago, she helped me through a health challenge. Honestly, she’s the first person I confided in. And Lisa McCaskill, who along with Nicola edits my books, is also near-perfection. These ladies give life to my ranch and help my dreams come true. Thanks and love to both.

And just sayin’…Wordpress gives me absolute fits. But it did auto-generate this lovely image for me.

Bye for now. I’ll be starting a Scents And Scentsibility page soon (What’s that? Stay tuned!) as well as a writer’s tool box. Gotta put my career as a Catholic high school English teacher to use in my retirement. And I reckon new ideas will get me back here more often.

Please come back. Love to all who’ve wandered by on my trail to tenderness.

Today’s Tender Trail….

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

My dear friend and former teaching colleague John moved up to Washington a while back, so we keep in touch electronically LOL. Here’s a pic of the autumn walk he took a couple days ago, and I couldn’t resist asking permission to share his photo. He readily agreed. We each taught American Studies at a Catholic high school, and share the same core beliefs about our country’s history and Constitution. Here ya go, a look at a perfect fall day in Washington state!

P.s. I’ll be reading and reviewing another dear friend LoRee Peery’s Christmas story in the near future, so stay tuned!

Love at First Snow

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

A Hearts Crossing Ranch Origin Story!

My baby Kitty Leigh.

Okay, my dilute calico babygirl really isn’t the reason I’m posting today, but my release IS a Christmas story, and I came across this picture and…you understand. She’s three and we adopted her during Covid lockdown from our local animal services, and she’s definitely become Her Royal Highness of the Household.

(One day soon I’ll post her peeking out of the Christmas tree branches at age three months, when she climbed to the top.)

Anyway, moving on…I’m thrilled to be part of Pelican Book Group’s 2023 Christmas Extravaganza, and to continue the saga of the Martin family of Hearts Crossing Ranch in Mountain Cove, Colorado. There’s even an anthology with the first eight stories–featuring separately the challenges and romances of each of eight Martin siblings. I’ll show you more about it soon. But LOVE AT FIRST SNOW is the story of how their ma and pa meet. We go back all the way to 1976, yikes, to meet Elaine Martin and Alex Kennedy, who get together –of course, at Christmastime.

Another gorgeous cover to print out and frame, and hang on my wall.

I also love how their faces are kinda hidden with western mystique. You can imagine their visages all by yourself.

I’ll be back soon to post a blurb and a release date. Or at least the blurb! Can’t wait to share more with you.

Love at First Snow…

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

LOVE AT FIRST SNOW...coming December 2023!

If you’ve known me longer than ten seconds, you know I like nothing better than writing Christmas stories and watching Christmas movies. I’m already recording practically every second of Hallmark and GACs’s “Christmas In July” programming. Ought to keep me busy until, uh, Christmas.

But I’m here today to announce that the next installment to my Hearts Crossing Ranch series over at PelicanBookGroup, LOVE AT FIRST SNOW, will be part of their wonderful CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA, featuring 24 stories by select authors. I can’t wait to cuddle up with every single one, my impossibly spoiled calico kitty Leigh snug on my lap…

LAFS was an amazingly enjoyable story to write, as it’s set back in 1976. It’s origin story of how Hearts Crossing matriarch Elaine Martin meets the love of her life, Alex Kennedy. While this makes one dozen novellas in this series about the Martin family of Mountain Cove, Colorado, never fear: each book is stand-alone. So…Kennedy? Yet it’s the Martin family? Find out how and why Alex takes his bride’s last name.

I’m thinking…just like “Yellowstone” (love it or hate it LOL…) next year’s Christmas story just might take me back to my original writing roots–the Old West, and how Josephus Martin started the ranch in the first place…

Stay tuned for more deets. And enjoy this lovely summer “Christmas in July” day!

Me at Lake Tahoe, last November

Time Goes So Fast…

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment

I am not the only one who thinks the world is spinning faster and there are fewer seconds each day. But if I ever catch up, I’ll just have to start all over again. Thing is, I have a beautiful story out right now, Royalty at the Ranch. about a cowboy who’s a prince. Incognito with a college chum at Hearts Crossing Ranch for Christmas, Brodie (aka Prince Anders) finds his heart stolen by the ranch’s granddaughter. (You can read more about her in Seeing Daylight.) But he lives in (fictional) Dornfeld, Addie in Colorado. Oh, what to do? Of course you know me, and you know a happy ending’s in store. And that I believe in Christmas Miracles. Thanks to my amazing publisher, Pelican Book group’s Christmas Extravaganza, and Watershed lines, for bringing my story to life. It’s so hard to leave Hearts Crossing Ranch that my brain is always exploding with new plots and characters, all set in that perfect little part of Colorado. Fingers crossed for next Christmas!

Merry Almost Christmas!

/ Tanya Hanson / Leave a comment
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A happy trail near my home.

So glad the trail led you here to my homestead. Kick off your boots and make yourself welcome. It doesn’t snow around here, so I enjoy writing and reading Christmas stories all year long so I can pretend. Hang around barefoot as long as you want here along the beaches of California’s central coast.

Well, this was a tough year. I needed to remind myself of miracles a whole bunch. Our hearts broke at losing a loved one to Covid, and I gotta isolate a much as I can, due to a medication that messes up my immune system. Seeing the four grands and planning for Christmas are big challenges for sure. But hey, God’s in charge, always has been, aways will be.

Anyway, I hope you’ll return to Hearts Crossing Ranch in my latest novella for the series, Holly Hearts, and enjoy a merry little Christmas with Elli and Haggai. A kindergartener in Sanctuary, ranch granddaughter Ella Martin is now old enough to be a teenager with a heart and heartbreak all her own! When the hottest guy at school–not to mention her dad’s favorite ranch hand–breaks their date for the Winter Formal, she’s got to hold it together. Especially when she finds out Haggs is worried about his mom’s medical crisis. Well, she knows all about loving–and losing a mom–she’s lost one and trying to love another–so whatever Haggs needs, she’ll be there at his side.

The characters might be teenagers, but the theme of this book resonates with all ages. I mean, we’ve all been sixteen once, right? Helped somebody we love through a bad time, and hopefully trusted in God. It’s a sweet romance with a faith message, but as you know, my stories are never judge-y. It’s truly a story for everybody, all ages, all believers. And I know for sure Jesus held my hand while I wrote this. Please enjoy your journey back to Hearts Crossing Ranch!

Where of course, it snows every Christmas!