Today I am highlighting the third book in the Wades of Crawford County series, Through The Storm, and taking part in a blog hop featuring several authors and books. Click on the image above to enter the Collette Cameron Rafflecopter give-away for a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite, a basket of chocolates, a copy of the three books in the Wades of Crawford County series plus other prizes.

The Wade family saga continues in this work of historical fiction set in post-Civil War Missouri. Love reigns in the home of Leann and Ralph Wade, although tested many times during the course of their marriage. Sonny Wade, Ralph’s brother, harbors a secret passion for Leann, and Joan Smith, a family friend, desires Ralph. Leann and Ralph struggle to overcome the storms of life through faith, courage, and commitment to each other.

Leann’s faith is tested when her desire to have a large, fun-loving, congenial family like the one in which she grew up is threatened. After eleven years of marriage with one natural-born son, an adopted son, and a foster daughter, Leann does not give up her desire to have more children.

Ralph is proud of his ability to provide for his family on their large productive farm. He takes great pride in his crops and the abundance of their produce. Ralph is content with his lovely wife and three children, but he adores Leann, and she wants more children, so he wants more children. His heart’s desires are to please his wife, raise his three children to be fine responsible adults, and work his land. Ralph’s pride is wounded and his emotions in a turmoil when he contacts a disease from his school-age children that may render him unable to father more offspring. His very manhood is at risk.

Their marriage is threatened by the attraction Sonny, Ralph’s older brother, feels toward Leann, and Joan Smith, a Cuba business woman, displays toward Ralph. Sonny secretly loves Leann. No other woman can take her place in his heart. He tries to keep his feelings at bay, but her memory is welded into the very fabric of his being. Sonny loved Leann before she and Ralph married, but he enlisted in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and lost his opportunity to court her. He never expresses his love openly; however, Leann and Ralph suspect his feelings.

Ralph befriended Joan Smith during an earlier encounter when she was under great distress. He finds her appealing, but his love for Leann prevails over the physical attraction he feels for Joan.

        “Pa and Junior caught some nice fish in the Meramec last week,” Ralph said about halfway into the trip home. “I’m gonna take you and the kids fishing soon. Johnny and me will be through with harvesting the tobacco, and we all need a break from sickness and working hard. Nothing like a good fishing trip to make a person feel better.”
         “How nice! The kids will love to go fishing. I’ll pack a lunch. We’ll have a great time.” Leann slipped an arm through his.
         He looked at her sitting close on the wagon seat, and felt the warmth of her body pressing against his arm. Not being able to resist the temptation to kiss her lovely mouth, he pulled up under a large oak displaying an array of orange and red colors. He had missed her sweet love while lying sick in the bed for what seemed an eternity.
         The reins slacked when Leann returned his embrace. Jed came to a complete stop while they kissed in the warm sunlight of a beautiful autumn afternoon. Ralph’s hat fell onto the floorboard. A red leaf floated softly into her hair as the sun’s rays crowned her head with a golden halo. He nibbled a pink earlobe, then kissed the white nap of her neck where strands of sweet-smelling hair lay in small curls. A folded quilt in the wagon bed came to mind. He may spread it out on the grass for them to lie on. Leann suddenly removed her arms from his neck. “We’d better go. The kids will be home soon.”
         Hating to, but knowing the necessity, Ralph released her, found his hat, and took up the reins. They rode the rest of the way in silence, basking in each other’s company. The wagon pulled into the front yard at the same time Jim galloped up on Starbright