Book picks similar to
Summer's Desire (Cowboy Seasons, #1) by Kathleen Ball
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kathleen-ball
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Silken Threads
Patricia Ryan - 1999
Attacked and disabled by a broken leg, he rents a room in the humble home of Joanna Chapman, a silk merchant’s widow. Joanna, having learned not to trust handsome, charming devils like Graeham, lets him think her husband is still alive in order to keep him at a distance. Mindful of his mission—and the promised reward—Graeham tries to resist his feelings for Joanna, but the white-hot desire simmering between them cannot be denied.Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window
Bargaining With a Rake
Julie Johnstone - 2012
Now, faced with an unwelcome marriage that will chain her to London and the secret slowly killing her, she’s desperate to save herself and the sister she adores. Salvation comes in the form of an American shipping tycoon, and all she must do is seduce him into marrying her. But Gillian’s scheme hits a snag when she makes a bargain with a notorious rake, Alexander Trevelle, Lord Lionhurst. He agrees to help her win the hand of his American friend, if she’ll assist him with exacting revenge against her unwanted fiancé. But the price of the pact may just be their hearts.
Fixing Fate
Anna Brooks - 2017
My brother’s friend and ex-partner is everything I’ll never be. Sexy, confident, and perfect. He calls me sunshine and tells me I’m beautiful. He asks me to stay. When my past come back with a vengeance, he proves just how much he’d risk to shield me from the demons that were never supposed to resurface.
Mail Order Prairie Bride
Julianne MacLean - 2000
He knows how hard the prairie can be on a woman, and all he wants is a stalwart bride who won’t complain about hauling water from the creek…. SHE’S A CITY GIRL WITH NO IDEA WHAT SHE’S IN FOR… All Sarah MacFarland wants is to escape her fearful life in Boston and start fresh with a new identity. Answering an advertisement for a mail order bride seems like the perfect solution, until she meets her soon-to-be husband—a ruggedly handsome, strapping farmer who leaves her breathless on their wedding night. But is it possible that two tormented souls can find happiness, when all they know is betrayal, and when trust is the only way out of a tumultuous past that simply won’t stay buried? (Originally published under the title PRAIRIE BRIDE in 2000) The Compete Trilogy: MAIL ORDER PRAIRIE BRIDE – Dodge City Brides – Book 1 TEMPTING THE MARSHAL – Dodge City Brides – Book 2 TAKEN BY THE COWBOY – Dodge City Brides – Book 3 “You can always count on Julianne MacLean to deliver ravishing romance that will keep you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning.” —Teresa Medeiros
Set Free
Kelly Collins - 2015
He’s running from his failed marriage. Can a ramshackle ranch inspire a second-chance romance?Mickey Mercer is determined to leave her past mistakes behind bars. Fixing up the rundown family ranch could be the perfect way to get back on the straight and narrow and make her late father proud. But when her vindictive ex sabotages her every move, she reluctantly accepts a stubborn cop’s offer of protection and finds herself falling head over spurs into his strong arms.Detective Kerrick McKinley may take his vow to serve and protect a little too seriously. While his blue-blooded passion put an end to his marriage, it also compels him to guard a newly freed ex-con from her dangerous stalker. But the more time he spends with the sexy and spontaneous horse rancher, the more he’s itching to get back in the saddle…In the face of old fears and new dangers, can Mickey and Kerrick find the courage to risk it all for a chance at true love?Set Free is the first installment in the compelling Second Chance Series of contemporary romance novels. If you like headstrong characters, fiery chemistry, and rustic ranch settings, then you’ll love Kelly Collins’ pulse-pounding romance.
Let Your Heart Beat Again
Janith Hooper - 2017
After four months on the job, twenty-four-year-old Rebecca Harper has become something of a jack-of-all-trades on the Cooper Bar-6 Ranch...except for her cooking. But the four strapping sons who run the ranch in their father's absence need wise counsel more than unburnt bread, and Rebecca is perfect for the job. Whether dealing with the driven eldest, the belligerent youngest, or the personalities in between, she recognizes the source of each young man's pain is a lifetime of a father's indifference. As soon as the rogue returns, Rebecca aims to give "Mr. Cooper" a thick piece of her mind. Not that dishing out hard truth will make her feel any more alive. Past betrayal has taught her to live at arm's length from anyone who might mean too much to her. So she cooks and cleans and counsels, at once harboring anger against a man she has never met and numbing herself against the life she has forgotten to desire. Until one night, one thunderstorm, and one heroic stranger changes it all. In that fleeting moment, Rebecca Harper dares to hope her heart will beat again. * * * Breath Without Life novels portrays seven bachelor ranchers, each so broken down by old wounds that he cannot conceive of ever finding love. Be there when one Cooper after another meets the one incredible woman who can make him whole again. Every book within this series is a stand-alone love story, though ranch life circumstances run chronologically through all six novels.
Craving
Helen Hardt - 2016
Her humiliation still ripe, she doesn't expect to be attracted to her friend’s reticent brother, but when the gorgeous cowboy kisses her, all bets are off.Talon Steel is broken. Having never fully healed from a horrific childhood trauma, he simply exists, taking from women what is offered and giving nothing in return...until Jade Roberts catapults into his life. She is beautiful, sweet, and giving, and his desire for her becomes a craving he fears he'll never be able to satisfy.Passion sizzles between the two lovers...but long-buried secrets haunt them both and may eventually tear them apart.
Running Wild
Linda Howard - 2012
So Battle Ridge, Wyoming, a small town in the middle of nowhere, seems like a good place to lie low for a while. But after becoming cook and housekeeper to cattle rancher Zeke Decker, Carlin suspects that she’s made her first mistake. Rugged, sexy, and too distracting for his own good, Zeke is pure temptation mixed with something deep and primal that makes Carlin feel almost safe. Soon things are getting way too hot in the kitchen.Zeke doesn't challenge Carlin’s terms: cash, dead bolts, and no questions. It is easy to see that she’s a woman in trouble. Problem is, he’s so blindsided by his attraction to her he can’t think straight. Zeke tries to stay all business, no complications—but that game plan is sabotaged the second Carlin gets under his skin. And when her terrifying past follows her to the ranch, Carlin faces a heartbreaking choice: run away from the man she loves, or put him in the crosshairs of a madman.
Unconquerable Callie
Deann Smallwood - 2013
She is also a dreamer. Her greatest hope is to reach a new life in South Pass City, Wyoming, where she can open a bakery and live an independent life. To be successful, she will need her greatest deception to date, a mythical fiancé who waits at the end of the line. As a woman alone, she has to prove to Seth McCallister, the wagon master, that she has the wherewithal and the stamina to survive months of drought, dust, hardships, and even the risk of death.Seth McCallister is mystified by the audacity and determination of Callie Collins. His initial distrust and concern for Callie, a woman traveling alone, opens first to admiration, then friendship, then love, a love that he is forced to hold at bay. What he doesn’t realize is that there is no fiancé. To make matters worse, Callie develops feelings for Seth McCallister, too. Yet she feels certain that once he realizes her deception, he’ll turn away, ashamed of his love and trust in her.
Mending Fences
Amelia Rose - 2013
Marlene is one of the Red O’Connor’s kids and she’s got her dad’s fiery temper. Itching for something bigger, she left the family ranch in Texas and hasn’t been back for a while. Now, for the first time in months, she’s back on vacation where she meets Curtis Copeland who is working as a ranch hand on Circle O. The last thing Marlene wants is any form of relationship, she has a full life already and it’s not on the farm. Curtis has different ideas though; he’s waited ten years to finally have Marlene and fate or destiny delivered her to him. Yet everything seems to be working against them. Marlene’s family is dead set against the relationship and Curtis harbors a ten year old secret that can tear them apart. Whether they will be able to overcome the obstacles to be together is a question neither Marlene nor Curtis can answer. Mending Fences is Book 1 in the Texas Heat series and it features the lively O’Connor family who work hard and love hard.
Quinn
R.C. Ryan - 2012
. . As a young boy, Quinn Conway was shattered by his mother's mysterious disappearance. Today, as the oldest of the Conway brothers, his only concern is protecting his family and their ranch. One look at beautiful, strong-willed Cheyenne O'Brien tells him she's also no stranger to tragedy. A series of increasingly dangerous "accidents" are plaguing her and her land, and Quinn can't stand idly by while a woman is in danger. Fiercely independent, Cheyenne isn't one to lean on others, yet she can't deny her attraction to the rugged rancher offering help. Soon, the passion building between them proves as wild and untamed as the land she loves-and just as impossible to resist. But a relentless enemy is about to make one final devastating move. To survive, Quinn and Cheyenne must put their cherished freedom-and their hearts-at risk . . .
The Dolan Girls
S.R. Mallery - 2015
R. Mallery has it all. Set in Nebraska during the 1800s, whorehouse madams, ladies of the night, a schoolmarm, a Pinkerton detective, a Shakespeare-quoting old coot, brutal outlaws, and a horse-wrangler fill out the cast of characters. Added to the mix are colorful descriptions of an 1856 land rush, Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show, Annie Oakley, bank/train robberies, small town local politics, and of course, romance. Two, in fact!
Break In Two
M.J. Summers - 2013
Witty. Sexy as hell. A story as satisfying as the perfect man.Thirty-one-year-old Claire Hatley is running from Seattle having just discovered that her live-in boyfriend has traded her in for a twenty-two-year-old hostess. Devastated and alone Claire must make a fresh start. She answers an ad for a chef at a guest ranch just outside Colorado Springs and finds herself face to face with Cole Mitchell, quite possibly the sexiest man to ever ride a horse. Common sense tells them to stay away from each other, but their attraction is not to be denied. He gives her a glimpse of what love should be, but just as she starts to trust him, the past comes back to tear them apart.Join Claire and Cole as they embark on the stormy love affair of a lifetime.
A Texan's Promise
Shelley Gray - 2011
But when he spies the marks on her back and hears about her stepfather’s advances, Clayton knows he must spirit Vanessa away to safety. As they make their way west, it becomes apparent that there’s something special between Vanessa and Clayton— far more significant than mere friendship or his sense of duty. Unfortunately, also heading west are Vanessa’s brother Miles and her stepfather Price Venture. Price wants Vanessa back for obvious reasons; Miles wants to earn his stepfather’s respect. Eventually, unexpected confrontations reach a harrowing conclusion. As their family begins to heal, their journey and trials they've faced helps them realize their future is in God's guiding hands.Same author as Shelley Shepard Gray.
Happy Pants Cafe
Mimi Jean Pamfiloff - 2014
And what are they searching for? It’s not coffee. And it’s not pants. It’s true love, and everyone who goes, finds it!So what, exactly, is the café’s big secret? Harper Branton, a columnist for the San Francisco Tribune, who’d sooner believe in unicorns than in true love, is about to find out. And it’s the perfect story to save her train wreck of a career.Too bad she’s got competition. He’s sexy, he’s arrogant, and he thinks she’s crazy. ("What kind of person doesn’t believe in love?") And this coming from a man!When these two rivals go head to head, it's more like a WWF smackdown. A shared history binds them in wonderful, terrible ways quickly turning their duel into more than just a fight for a story. Will they tear each other apart for the win or end up as two more satisfied Happy Pants customers?Note: Stand-alone story