I’ve mentioned before how forgiveness is one of the hardest things for me as a person. I want to forgive, but the lingering doubt and sense of betrayal keep me from offering the true ‘forgive and forget’ that I think we’re responsible for.
I address this type of betrayal and heartache in my upcoming Love Inspired book, and my editor and the team there seem to agree. Last week, they gave me the official title for next year’s book. I hope you’ll join me in 2025 with Forgiving the Cowboy, a second-chance romance between Tenley and Mac. If you’ve read The Cowgirl’s Last Rodeo, you’ve met Tenley already, but Mac will be a new character for you.
To celebrate this book landing a contract with Love Inspired (it only took me 3 rewrites to get it right!) and the amazing title the team chose, I want to share a snippet from the story.
Please enjoy this sneak peek into Tenley and Mac.
How was he supposed to do this? He folded the papers and thrust them in Tenley’s direction. “You know this is what’s best.” He pushed because that’s what he was good at. He’d built a career on being the guy who followed the letter of the law. He never wavered. Never backed down. He’d beat this thing with Tenley if it took every last breath. Breath that grew shorter the longer she stared at him without moving.
“I’m not a criminal you can scare into doing what you want.” She crossed her arms and took another step closer. If not for the fence between them, she’d probably have tried to haul him away. “I have Jade’s best interests at heart. You’re just anxious to get away from me, and you’ll end up hurting Jade because you can’t stand the heat.” She dared him to contradict her.
Mac swallowed the first retort that came to mind. Even Tenley didn’t deserve to have those words thrown at her. She was right. He was running scared and trying to drag Jade along for the ride.
Tenley was a contradiction to the woman he used to know. Still bold and full of fire, but this one had a tenacity and grit that he’d only seen in people who’d suffered.
What experience did Tenley have with grief and agony?
Tenley moved with lightning speed. She snatched the papers from his hand, ripped them to shreds, then threw the pieces into the air.
Mac watched the bits flutter in the breeze until they landed on the ground and lay still.
“I will do everything in my power to protect her.” Mac stooped, ready to duck under the rail and gather the scraps. “Jade is the last of my family. She’s everything to me.”
Tenley flinched like the words were a physical blow he’d dealt her.
Tough. He had every right to say the truth.
Childish laughter spilled out from behind Mac. He straightened. “Jade doesn’t need to know about this.”
“Of course.” Tenley spat the words at him. “I’m not the one trying to ruin her life by taking her away from everything—and everyone—she knows and loves.”
That’s not what he was doing.
Jade skipped toward him, hand in hand with Cody, the little boy who’d been struggling earlier.
Tenley wore a smile bright as sunshine. The sight pinched and poked at Mac. She’d make a great mother. The kind of mother he’d wanted for his kids. Now those dreams were shot to bits no bigger than the pieces of paper Tenley left behind.
Tabitha Bouldin has a bachelor's degree in creative writing/English from Southern New Hampshire University. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has been writing since 2015. When she's not homeschooling her kids, you'll find her curled up with a book. Tabitha's genre of choice is Contemporary Christian Romance which she describes as: Adventure with heart.
Oh, this sounds good!! I have a hard time with forgetting. The forgiveness isn’t easy, but it’s definitely easier than forgetting! Though, sometimes, I’m not so sure we need to forget. I think we have to learn from what we’re going through, and that sometimes means remembering how things happened in the past and how we got through them. We have to forgive, and we have to let the feelings of what happened go, though forgetting is something else entirely. Forgetting means we just may have to learn those lessons again, and there are some I do NOT want to go through again! Can’t wait for this book!!
Good morning, your book sounds like a great read , thank you for sharing the snippet, I really like it. I can forgive, but to me the hardest is to forget. I guess forgetting is harder because it will always stay with us, we just have to not bring it up again, or at least that is how I see it. Have a Beautiful and Blessed Easter.
Hi, Tabitha! What a great hook for your story! I really like it.
Forgiveness is hard. It helps, though, to understand that it is not saying that the wrong wasn’t wrong. Forgiveness does not mean that the wrong should not be dealt with, just that we leave the punishment in God’s hands.
As an act of faith, we trust God to handle the situation for us. He may do that by meting out punishment in the here and now and He can be really creative about that :). He may handle it by covering it in the blood of Christ, just as he has with our own wrong-doing. Finally, he may handle the unrepentant by allowing them to chose their own punishment apart from Him forever.
When we forgive, we free ourselves from the anger that will eat us alive if we let it. Anger is strong so we may need to ask God’s help. We may need to consciously and explicitly say, “Heavenly Father, I, once again, put this hurt in your hands. I ask for your healing of my heart and your bringing of justice in your perfect timing. Grant me patience and peace in the meantime.”
The other side of this coin is that forgiveness does not mean that we trust those whom we have forgiven. Reconciliation is a totally separate act. It is also something that requires effort from both sides.
One of the things that I like so much about inspirational romance is that the path from apart to together is possible even in cases like your story. I think it is awesome that you are not shying away from such a challenging story line!
Best wishes as you continue telling stories that point to the glory of God through the love that He makes possible in Jesus.
Thank you for sharing! It sounds a great read. I think you’re right, forgiveness is such a gift but also so challenging, but with God’s grace we can keep working towards it.
Love the title. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Happy Easter.
Holding on to the hurt usually only hurts me. Forgiveness heals me but I’m struggling with why forget – the forgiveness heals the emotions but the remembering helps me not repeat the situation and informs my choices in the future. Now if I give someone something I give it freely with no expectation and I am ok with that. I think one of the most freeing forms of forgiveness is to pay forward what I have learned. Looking forward to reading both books. Thanks :)