~Two sisters and an assortment of suitors follow a tangled path with true love the goal.~
Two sisters, one Season. Chloe won't be content with her first Season unless she catches the eye--and the heart--of the ton's most wealthy, most handsome, most interesting bachelor. And she has no intention of sitting around waiting to be noticed. Phaedra just wants the Season to end so she can return to the country, unburdened with anything so useless as a husband. The only thing interesting about London is its cultural treasures, which she intends to sample liberally.
The men in the sisters' court aren't quite sure what to make of them. Lord Wilderlake is intrigued, Mr. Dervigne intends seduction, the Earl of Everingham is enchanted, Mr. Martin wants a big sister, and Reggie Farwell is merely amused. Faced with such an assortment of suitors, how can Chloe and Phaedra realize their dreams? Only time--and the course of true love--will tell.
~Every family is dysfunctional in one way or another, but mostly the Blankenships get along in spite of themselves.~
Cecile, the family matriarch, has invited (read commanded) everyone to a family reunion at the ancestral ranch near Yellowstone. Annie brings inconsolable sorrow, Hetty dreads her parents' reaction to her latest lover, Evan has a secret, and Serhilda wants to be anywhere else. With four generations living in each others' pockets, everyone expects bickering, spats, hurt feelings, and perhaps a few secrets finally revealed. When the week is over, even Cecile wonders if the reunion brought the family closer together, as she had hoped, or created rifts so great that they'll never be mended.
~She wants to be safe, he needs to be free. No place offers both, so where can they go?~
Book 2 in the Behind the Ranges series.
Victim of brutal rape, Flower Jones longs for refuge in England, where she believes she will be safe. But she reckons without William King, an escaped slave, who wants her for his woman. Although he could live free in Cherry Vale, where no one will ever whip him again, William follows her as she travels to a seaport, risking capture as an escaped slave. The raw gold they carry excites the greed of outlaws, who force them to fight for their lives. Face to face with death, will Flower realize how precious life --and William--are to her?
~Shootist Malachi Breedlove is the least likely man for gentle botanist Nellie Sanders to trust--especially with her heart.~
Book 5 in the Behind the Ranges series.
Nellie Sanders persuades her uncle, a renowned botanist, to allow her to join an expedition to the Sawtooth Valley in Idaho Territory in 1872. Using an assumed name, infamous shootist Malachi Breedlove contracts to lead the botanical expedition into the wilderness.
A crazy old woman steals Nellie, believing her a dead daughter returned to life. As leader of the expedition, Malachi is forced to send others to seek the woman he now realizes he loves. Nellie finally convinces the old woman to take her back, claiming she will die without Malachi.
No sooner are Nellie and Malachi reunited than disaster strikes the expedition. Now the lovers must face the dangers of the wilderness, must conquer old weaknesses and discover new strengths. As the summer ends, Nellie faces a choice between academic acclaim and love, while Malachi wonders whether he can hang up his guns and survive. Can they find a compromise that lets them both realize their dreams?
~There's more to marriage than being in love…~
A Behind the Ranges story.
Luke and Katie Savage, newly married and at the end of a danger-filled and arduous journey, finally reach Boise City, where her family awaits them. They both are tired and ready to rest. Katie is excited because Christmas is next week and they'll spend it with her family. Luke isn't sure he's ready for a family celebration, especially when everyone--perhaps even Katie--is a stranger to him. Holidays should be happy events, but when you're odd man out, it's hard to get into the spirit of the season. But Katie loves him, so Luke will do his best.
~East meets West in a sensual contest where love is the prize...~
What do an archaeologist from Back East and a cowboy from the empty corner of Oregon have in common? Not much, except the waterhole that Rock McConnell needs for his cattle and Genny Forsythe must approve. First she has to make sure there are no prehistoric petroglyphs near the site, and that could take months of study. Now Rock isn't against preserving the past, but his cattle are gettin' mighty thirsty.
Genny's youthful dreams were filled with cowboys, tall, lean, laconic, and Levi'd. Rock is all of them rolled into one gorgeous, virile man. Trouble is, she's had her fill of dominant males, and Rock is about as dominant as they come. Rock knows that delicate, feminine women can't last in the harsh environment of Owyhee County, pretty women like Genny, with silvery hair and painted fingernails. But his body sings another tune, one of immediate, demanding hunger for her kisses--and more.
Love will not be denied. Someone's got to bend, but who, and how much?
~An independent woman and a contrary cowboy flee from their pasts across a winter landscape. Catastrophe threatens each step of their journey. Can they transcend danger to find lasting love?~
Book 4 in the Behind the Ranges series.
Independent Katie Lachlan has caught the eye and heart of a rich suitor who won't take no for an answer. Luke Savage killed a man in a gunfight and swears he'll never carry a handgun again. A strong attraction and mutual dependence link them together for a journey along the brand new transcontinental railroad, as she flees the suitor who stalks her and he runs away from his past. Instead of safety, they find new danger as they are forced to travel on foot across a wintry landscape. While Katie learns that independence is no match for force, Luke discovers that saving Katie is more important to him than the vow he made. Striving together against wilderness, gunfighters bent on retribution, and a frontier town on the brink of riot, they find their strength, their convictions, and their very love tested by adversity and danger.
~Whose children are they? Not even their mother knows for sure.~
Seeking to fill a heart left empty by the death of her fiancé, Madeline Pierson conceived twins by artificial insemination. Or did she? All she knew was that she needed something--someone?--to make life worth living.
One foolish night with Erik Soloman brought her both healing and guilt, so she did her best to forget him. Eight years later they meet again, to discover that time has not lessened the fiery attraction between them. When Erik encounters Madeline's son, he sees his own face--the twins must be his. Now Madeline is forced to face her feelings about him--how closely is she willing to let him share in her children's lives? Does Erik, who has never really had--or wanted--a home, have the staying power to be the man she needs? And will he?
~He sought adventure and found deadly danger. She followed her father, and found heartbreak.~
Behind the Ranges book IX
Sixteen-year-old Merlin Lachlan dreams of knight errantry, but with only one eye, doubts he'll ever be more than a squire--a knight-in-training. He soon has the opportunity to play the hero when he befriends Calista Smith, a girl-child traveling alone to her father in Montana.
Eight years later Merlin receives a telegram from Callie, a cry for help. Her father is taking her to an unknown destination, possibly to a fate worse than death. Abandoned at the depot in Cheyenne, along and virtually penniless, Callie finds work. When Merlin arrives he finds not a damsel in distress but a woman standing on her own two feet. Still, she is Callie, and he has a tender memory of her. As she has of him.
Merlin weds Callie to ensure that her father will have no more control over her fate. Thwarted, Lem Smith seeks revenge and ends their brief idyll with fire and blood and terror. Afterward Merlin has no memory of her, beyond what his friends tell him. Callie is captive and helpless. Each believes the other dead.
Time heals most wounds, but not broken hearts. Callie escapes from her father and builds a life for herself. Merlin returns home, all of his youthful dreams shattered. Until a child's smile awakens old memories, and a family calls to its own.
~Regency England is a man's world, until one woman writes her own rules...~
When Eve Dixon decides to make her own way in a man?s world, she doesn?t count on having to do it disguised as a young man. When James Quinton, misogynistic entrepreneur, hires a secretary, he doesn?t expect to be attracted to hi... her. Once employed, Eve finds herself discovering that her taciturn, solemn employer is a charming, likable fellow, one she could easily fall in love with?if she were a woman. To further complicate her life, Quinton?s younger sister develops a tendre for her brother?s handsome secretary. Now Eve is caught in a tangle of her own devising. When her deception is revealed, Quinton is outraged--and intrigued. The outrage wins, and Eve?s future extends barren before her, with only memories of love in her heart. Will Quinton, who sees her as one more treacherous woman in his life, find forgiveness possible?
