Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine's honor won't let him refuse. From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she's determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it isn't enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands...everything. Yet there's still a bounty on Desi's head, and keeping her sexually satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

    Alone and terrified, she is rescued by Luke Butler, a rancher who knows only one way. His way.When Luke Butler finds Emma Martin, he has no other choice but to bring her back to his ranch. Soon, his life is turned upside down by a female who doesn’t know how to mind and who doesn’t know how to stay put.The battle that follows is a clash of wills, a test of tempers, and a lesson in love.Excerpt:Luke glanced at Emma and gave her a pointed look that meant she was to stay where she was. Then he turned and escorted the sheriff out the door."You're not using your brain, man,” the sheriff argued."Not your concern," Luke responded sharply."She's too soft, Luke. She needs people around her, not just a bunch of rag-tag ranch hands. Let her go back to town with me. I'll keep her safe, I'll see to it that Emma has--"Luke cut him off. "Stop talking," he growled in a hiss. "She's not up for discussion. You lost your chance to keep her safe when you sent me out there to find her. You need to forget she's here. Emma doesn't exist for you anymore. Don't say her name, don't even think about her.""Jesus Christ, Luke. You're not even acting sane." "Don't push me. I'm the only help you've got this side of Silver Creek. You need to move on about your business. You know I'd never hurt her. Soothe your goddamn conscious with that and finish the job you need to be doing. Find the scum that did this. Find 'em and hang 'em high because I don't like the thought of them being alive after seeing her face."The two men glared at each other before the sheriff turned and mounted his horse.Luke hesitated only a moment before he slammed back into the house and prowled to the chair where Emma was still sitting. He pulled her up and with a jerk, she stumbled against him.His arms reached out and encircled her."It'll take half an hour before the sheriff is too far away for one of my men to chase him down and bring him back. So you've got that long to decide." One steely arm was wrapped around her back, the other traced a line down her spine and then up again in a smooth caress."I thought I'd already decided.""You need a little more understanding of the situation before you can make a proper decision."Emma was pleasantly shocked by the intimacy of his touch and held enthralled as she stood in the circle of his arms. She remained mute and concentrated on her breathing that seemed to be rushing in and out of her lungs as if she were completely out of oxygen."Fair warning, Emma-girl," his smooth voice was brutal."Warning?" she managed to ask."I feel inclined to make sure you understand how it’s gonna be while you still have the opportunity to leave. Like I said, in half an hour or so, that option will be taken away from you.""I'm sure." Her voice was hesitant and didn't sound sure at all."Yeah?" His gaze slipped to her mouth and his already dark eyes grew stormy. "Let's hear you repeat that in a few minutes."Emma had no other warning before his mouth fell on hers.

    Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

    and the secret you've spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare? Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could reveal secrets from his past he would prefer remain buried.Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met from a distance.

    She sought her livelihood in the theater, where, as a beautiful actress, she found vengeance in enchanting and discarding suitors, teasing them with subtle promises of ecstasy only to reject them with an air of finely tuned cruelty. It was an amusing sport...until the young Lord Julian—half mad with desire—shot himself. Then Mara, with her brother Brendan and his small son Paddy, departed for America. Brendan hoped to strike it rich in the California hills...Mara wanted only to forget young Julian's desperate act. She had no idea that Julian's uncle, Nicholas Chantale, was in pursuit. Dashing, reckless and rich, Nicholas Chantale had vowed revenge on the temptress who brought his nephew to such an extreme. Nicholas desired one thing--to win the affection of this evil beauty and then spurn her! Unsuspecting, Mara found herself in love, her long-suppressed passions awakened for the first time....by a man whose seductive allure concealed the hate in his heart!

    When she came to, Kady was in the dusty western town of Legend, Colorado--where a hanging was about to commence! With quick wits and more than a little moxie, Kady halts the proceedings, much to the relief of one Cole Jordan, a tall, thankful, and very appealing man.Now it's Kady's turn to enlist his help to find a way back home. But before long, Kady discovers a passion that she knows can only live in Legend--until Cole reveals a secret that unites them in a way Kady never could have imagined.

    So when Gus McQueen, a cowboy with laughing eyes and big dreams, presses her to elope with him to his Montana ranch, she is ready. But nothing has prepared her for the harsh realities of frontier life, or for the unpredictable hankering of her heart--and least of all for the fact that almost from the first moment she sets eyes on Zach, Gus's dashing, ne'er do-well brother, she knows he's the one she was destined to love. Brought up to be a lady, Clementine determines not to let the frontier--or her marriage--defeat her. She devours life, befriending the town prostitute, defending Indians, and suppressing her heart's desire, until Zach forces her to face him and make her choice. On a vast canvas dotted with memorable characters and one rousing adventure after another--shootups, storms, a mine explosion, an attack by a rabid wolf, Penny Williamson has created an irresistible work of fiction that combines the heroic and gritty appeal of westerns like Lonesome Dove and Streets of Laredo with the romantic enchantment of The Thorn Birds..

    Now marriage to a stranger is her only hope of finding a home where she and her two younger brothers can escape the brutality of the Chicago orphanage where they live. With any luck, she can even start a family of her own, once the three of them are settled at Jacob Creed’s Texas ranch. But Miranda has one gigantic concern: Her husband-to-be knows nothing about the brothers she’s bringing along. What if he calls off the deal when he discovers the trick she’s played on him?Jake Creed is hanging on to his Texas ranch by his fingernails. His nemesis, Alexander Blackthorne, is determined to ruin him. Jake will never give up, but he’s in desperate trouble. His wife died six months ago in childbirth, along with their stillborn son, and his two-year-old daughter needs a mother. The advertisement Jake wrote never mentioned his daughter—or the fact that he has no intention of consummating his marriage. He’s determined never to subject another wife to the burden of pregnancy. But Jake doesn't count on finding his bride so desirable. He doesn't count on aching with need when she joins him in bed. And he never suspected his bride would have plans of her own to seduce him.

    He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected. Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man? When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau--leading to uproarious consequences for the whole town--will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?

    After being unjustly court-martialed for the murder of four Yankee soldiers and narrowly escaping the hangman's noose, he sheds his identity and heads west to live among the Apache. As Shatto, he finds solace among his adopted brethren. But the new influx of settlers and soldiers into the Arizona Territory spells danger for the Apache people.Independence Taylor blames herself for bringing the small pox into her home that led to her mother and brother's deaths. Abandoned by her grief-stricken father, she undertakes a dangerous journey to join him at his military outpost to beg forgiveness. En route, her military escort is attacked by Apaches. She has been advised to take her own life rather than be captured, but Shatto intervenes before she can pull the trigger.Indy's initial fear of the mysterious Shatto is tempered by the bargain he strikes with her father to subdue the warriors by training a select group of troopers in Apache warfare. Imbued with the power of the wind spirit, Shatto attempts to bring peace to the troubled land.As tensions mount between the settlers and Apache, so does the undeniable attraction between Shatto and Indy. Can the would-be lovers broker peace...or will chaos rule and destroy their burgeoning passion?

    Captain Morgan Wade, the notorious buccaneer, brazenly ordered the young beauty to his cabin to be held for his own pleasure!Summer fought him with the ferocity of a wildcat, but held by his insistent passion, she was swept by waves of desire she had never known, and was powerless to resist him.Even as she returned to Barbados and the marriage that had been arranged for her, she still trembled with memories of those days and nights of forbidden passions, and of the man whose love would forever hold her heart captive.

    But her journey had another purpose--to find her sister and mend the family tie that was severed years ago, when Addie left home with a hardened heart--and without an explanation.NOAHThe thought of this headstrong woman turning his town upside down riled Marshal Campbell to no end. But there was something about Sarah that the lawman found irresistible. Inside, he longed to treat her like a lady. But outside, he'd keep up his ornery image--and give her a rocky welcome to town... Two strong-willed souls, Sarah and Noah would discover the timeless beauty of love--when the heart learns to take back the past and start again...

    Fierce and fearless, Kenric of Montague had never admitted defeat, and now he demanded Tess's loyalty--and her surrender. But how could she give herself to a man who pledged to keep her safe but stirred her most dangerous passions?Beautiful and Innocent...Scarred by war and the dark secret of his birth, Kenric of Montague had no wish for a wife... until he beheld Tess of Remmington, the magnificent woman pledged to be his bride. Yet even as he gave in to his aching hunger to possess her, he vowed that Tess would never tame his savage heart. But when a treacherous plot threatens to part them, Kenric will find himself drawing his sword--and risking his life--to save the only woman who could capture his soul...

    Original.

    It was like lightning, the first time they looked into each other's eyes: Gray Eagle, the captured Indian brave, and Alisha, the beautiful young settler. As the proud Oglala warrior was being tortured by his white captors, only Alsiha seemed to notice he was a human being - handsome and strong, and one who took her breath away.But if Alisha could have read Gray Eagle's thoughts she would have been even more disturbed...Because from the moment he saw her, the Indian knew he had to possess the fair-skinned one - and his life would not be complete until he had made her his slave!