Book picks similar to
Tempting the Deputy by Heidi Rice


romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary
free

Black Hills Angel


A.C. Wilson - 2013
    She is both mother, father, and provider to her infant daughter, Harper. Her family has turned their backs. Her job is nearly non-existent with her inability to make it there. The lack of sleep and lack of faith in humanity is devastating. There is nowhere left to turn for help. Angels come when we least expect them.Matt Johnson has lived his entire life in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He knows the value of family, duty, and loyalty. It is quite a shock when he finds a screaming baby and its crying mother in an apartment hallway. Something unexplainable draws him forward and coaxes him into her life. All he wants is to ease her burden and show her that people can be trusted. Love has a funny way of showing a person just where they are meant to be and Matt is in for a wild ride.

Lazy Love


Kirsten Osbourne - 2016
    She’s the star of a popular network drama. She has a loving boyfriend of eight years. Everything she touches turns to gold. But underneath her beautiful exterior, lies a beautiful soul with secrets. Jesse Savoy has been in love with his lovely co-star since the day they met, and if not for her boyfriend, he’d have begged her to marry him years before. As soon as her relationship fizzles, he drags her off to Vegas for the marriage he desperately wants. Will her fears of intimacy keep her from having the marriage they want? Or will they be able to overcome them together?

Texas Rough


Sara York - 2012
    But doing the boss is out of the question.Gresh wants more from Lane than his ability to handle livestock, he wants it all. Lane won’t give him the time of day so he forces the issue, setting up a date that Lane believes to be a business meeting. Alone together, Lane and Gresh ignite in a flash of passion.Just when it feels like there could be something more between Lane and Gresh, the new doctor in town, Riley, sets his sights on Lane. Riley chases hard after him, insinuating himself in Lane’s life, highlighting Gresh’s faults. But Gresh won’t give up without a fight. Will Lane and Gresh be able to survive the intrusion, or will Riley be the one walking away with Lane's heart?Texas Rough is the first book in Sara York’s Texas series. Texas Hard and Texas Twist are next in line. Get ready to get your cowboy on and go for a rough ride.

Her Dakota Man


Lisa Mondello - 2013
    She'd left South Dakota years ago because she couldn't bear to watch the man she loved loving another woman. But now she knows the truth. She'll keep the promise she made to a friend, but will Logan understand when he learns the truth? More important, can they again recapture the passion that had been between them all those years ago? He needed to face the past to get the love of a woman he thought he'd lost... Everyone knows that the Dakotas didn't get the name Badlands for nothing. Harsh weather and rough living are a way of life. But single dad, Logan McKinnon, had seen more than his share of bad times after the death of his wife a year ago. The last thing he needs is Poppy Ericksen, an old flame and his late wife's best friend, showing up unannounced to help after devastating floods nearly washed away their hometown. With no place to stay in town, he has no choice but to offer her a bed at his house. But can he live under the same roof with a woman he'd once loved passionately without feeling he's betraying his late wife?

The Cowboy's Rebellious Bride


Laurie LeClair - 2017
    That was their pact. Feisty, spitfire Hannah Prescott yearns to get the bulls she raises to the top rodeo circuit finals. Being a woman in a male-dominated career means she fights harder for what she wants, and romance plays no part in her goals. But when everything's on the line and her best friend asks her to play pretend, what's a girl to do? Sexy, life of the party cowboy Cody McCall is determined to save the legacy of his family’s ranch and give his beloved, widowed grandfather something to live for again. Options are limited until he hits on the perfect plan–pretending to marry the girl who’s been his confidante and friend all these years. After stealing sweet kisses with Hannah, Cody starts to dream of something more permanent...if he can only convince Hannah to agree that the move from friendship to marriage is worth the fight. He wants a forever bride, but there's only one cowgirl he desires.

Borrowing Amor Boxed Set: Books 1-3


Kat Bellemore - 2020
     Chile peppers, hot air balloons and white sand dunes mix with a small town mayor, a fake fiance, and a second chance at love. Borrowing Amor: Love is a nuisance when all you want is to disappear. Two weeks before Christmas, Katie is kicked out of her apartment. Again. Rather than wander the streets and continue to work for a dirty cop, she decides to leave the city and disappear for good. But her car breaks down in a small New Mexican town, and everything is threatened when she falls for the charming mayor. Sam Freedman is the first bachelor mayor of Amor. After convincing the locals that having a mayor without family responsibilities means he can dedicate all his time to the community, townspeople watch his every move. Then Katie Andersen shows up. Against Sam’s better judgement, he hires her to replace his event coordinator. Now he can barely think straight, let alone run a town. In the midst of half-truths and outright lies, Katie and Sam desperately search for the place where honesty and trust lead to love. But they have to find it before the past catches up with them. Borrowing Love: It’s better to have loved and lost, they said. They were wrong. Ruby Freedman hasn’t left the small town of Amor in four years--not since her husband died. The memory of his fateful accident was enough to cause her to sell her airplane, and never ride in a car again. Then Parker Loveland comes back to town. Now she has to add him to her list of things she intends to avoid.After years away, Parker Loveland is back in Amor to celebrate his parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary. He has worked hard to escape the clutches of his hometown, but when he runs into Ruby, the only girl he cared about in high school, and the only one that ever stood him up on a date, he’s torn between the embarrassment he felt more than a decade before, and his desire to be around her.Caught between memories of the past and fear of the future, it will take leaving Amor to help Ruby and Parker find the second chance they didn’t know they were looking for. Borrowing a Fiance:  She wanted freedom. She got a fiance instead. Melinda Garrett has been stuck managing her parent’s diner for over a decade, when all she had wanted was to go to college. When her younger sister gets married, Melinda reluctantly agrees to attend with her friend, Daniel, as her date. But when the pressure is on, she claims he is her fiance, in hopes that her parents’ opinion of selling the diner will change.Daniel Armstrong isn’t the kind of guy a girl takes home to meet her parents, but when he offers to attend a wedding as Melinda’s date, he finds himself labeled as her future spouse. Now, challenges lie around every corner, testing Melinda’s claim that she and Daniel are in love.

Rocky Mountain Heat


Vivian Arend - 2009
    Responsible oldest of six brothers, Blake Coleman knows his desire for the sweet girl-next-door is wrong. While Jaxi has grown into a western-hat-wearing blonde with slim legs that go on forever, the responsible thing to do is keep his hands off. Jaxi has other plans for Blake's hands, and his heart. She's more than ready to convince him they’d be perfect together, but he can't seem to see past the big "don't touch" sign that's apparently hanging around her neck. When Jaxi ends up living on the Six Pack ranch right under Blake's nose, the undeniable heat between them slides off simmer and up to barn-burning levels. When a couple of Blake’s younger brothers decide Jaxi's brand of trouble is worth getting tangled up with, Blake's going to have to let go the reins and fight for what he really wants—her heart, forever.Warning: Unapologetically sexy, this book contains cowboys seducing and being seduced: in trucks, pool halls, and barns. Drool-worthy country charm, a little double-teaming, and a lot of secrets are revealed as the Coleman family saga begins. Saddle up and ride.Originally published 2011

Her Sanctuary


Toni Anderson - 2009
    Her undercover work brought down a mobster’s empire. Her reward? A bullseye on her back, betrayal burning like battery acid in her veins, and a life on the run.A remote Montana ranch was supposed to be a safe haven to begin reclaiming her life. Which doesn’t include a man as solid as a mountain, with sapphire eyes and a slow, sexy drawl that curls inside her in a way she hasn’t felt in far too long.Nat Sullivan smells trouble coming in the Triple H’s cold mountain air. And this time it’s not the repo men sneaking in to take his prized horses. It’s a beautiful woman with wide eyes, dark hair, and skin pale as snow.Together, the damaged agent and struggling rancher find common ground…and a healing passion neither expected. But when a killer with a lust for revenge tracks Elizabeth down, the secrets she must unleash to survive could destroy everything they both love…REVISED AND UPDATED, NOVEMBER 2021.

Taming Him


Kennedy Fox - 2018
    Working on the ranch helped build his solid eight-pack and smoking body. He's every girl's wet fantasy, and he knows it too. Alex doesn't follow the rules of your typical playboy bachelor. After wining and dining his dates and giving them the best night of their lives, he always sends flowers and calls the next day—even if it's to say, let's just be friends. His mama taught him manners after all, and his Southern blood knows how to be a gentleman. Still, that isn’t enough to tame the wildest of the Bishop brothers. River Lancaster has finally met the man of her dreams. Too bad after six months of romantic bliss, she finds out he's married. With a broken heart and blind rage, she books herself a ticket to Key West, Florida. Tired of cheaters and liars, she’s set on escaping to forget he ever existed. Who needs a man when there's an all-you-can-drink margarita bar, anyway? That's what she tells herself until she bumps into the right guy who can make all those bad memories disappear.Even if it's only temporarily. Two weeks on the beach is what they both need. No strings attached, no expectations, no broken hearts. Too bad the universe has other plans—one that'll change the entire course of their lives in just nine short months.This is book 1 in the Bishop Brothers series. Each book features a different brother and can be read as a complete standalone. HEA guaranteed!**Not suitable for readers under 18 due to adult language and sexual content.**

Promise Me, Cowboy


C.J. Carmichael - 2013
    Unfortunately, bronco rider Dawson O’Dell neglected to mention he was married the night he invited her to his bed after they’d both placed first in their rodeo events. When his wife walked in on them – Sage was deeply hurt and humiliated. After an accident in the ring the next day, Sage decides she’s quitting the rodeo–and cowboys—to become a chocolatier in her hometown ranching community, Marietta, Montana. She’s doing just fine, but then Dawson shows up —five years later, with a little girl in tow. He’s here for the Copper Mountain Rodeo hoping to win big. But he’s also got plans of settling down with his daughter and buying a house—the very same one that Sage has been dreaming about. He says he’s here for her and he’s making lots of promises. But can he keep them?

Cowboy Justice Association Novel Box Set: Books 1 - 3


Olivia Jaymes - 2014
    Luckily, Federal agents are going to give her a new identity until she can testify against the man who wants her dead. She’s not thrilled about being sent to a small town in Montana to hide, but she wants to stay alive. Sheriff Seth Reilly is doing a favor for an old Army buddy. He’s promised to watch over a woman whose life is in danger, but he didn’t plan on her being so young and beautiful. When danger finds Presley, Seth will risk everything to keep her safe until she can testify. Will Presley get her old life back or start a new life with Seth instead? Justice Healed: Dr. Madison Shay has left Chicago and moved back to her small town roots to take over her father’s medical practice. She’s not the skinny, gawky red haired, four-eyed girl any longer but it sure feels that way. Sheriff Tanner Marks might have been the captain of the football team years ago but things aren’t as rosy now. He has a son who hates him, and an ex-wife who is about to marry a man Tanner thinks might be a criminal. Madison and Tanner aren’t looking for love but it feels like the town has other plans. They keep finding themselves thrown together and it’s not unpleasant in the least. In fact, they’re starting to enjoy themselves. There just might be a future for them after all. Cowboy Truth: Sheriff Logan Wright might be the sexiest bad boy Ava Hayworth has ever seen but she’s not interested in the least. All she wants is to help him solve the murder of a prominent local citizen by a mysterious vigilante serial killer. A fling with a smokin’ hot cowboy cop isn’t in her plans. Logan doesn’t need a mystery writer who thinks she’s a detective, trailing after him while he tries to do his job. She’s smart and cute, but he doesn’t want her to get hurt. She’s the first woman he’s known who has kept her promises. It shakes him to his very core, challenging long held beliefs. Everything Logan wants, but never thought he could have, is within his grasp. With the help of Ava and his friends, he’s going to have to fight the past if he wants any kind of a future.

Her Cowboy Prince


Trish Milburn - 2018
    Formerly CEO of her family's pharmaceutical company, she's now living incognito as a housekeeper at a cozy resort in rural Montana. New career, new apartment, new name. She knows she needs to keep a low profile. The last thing she needs is a romance with the handsome, hardworking owner of the Peak View Hot Springs Resort. When rancher and resort owner Justin McQueen impulsively asks Melody for some ideas to increase bookings for the resort, he’s impressed with her creativity and quick thinking. He persuades the reluctant Melody to jump in as the temporary events coordinator, helping him plan a week of Christmas festivities. As they work together, both of them struggle to fight their growing attraction. Justin is still recovering from a bad break-up and is very aware that as her employer, he needs to tread carefully. He also senses Melody has a secret, which he is determined to uncover. As their event planning comes to fruition, Justin knows he needs to put common sense on hold and take a chance on a love he wants to last forever.

The Bounty


Beth Williamson - 2006
    After three years, the notorious bounty hunter Tyler Calhoun catches up with the elusive lady outlaw. The intensity of their dislike for each other is only matched by the growing passion they cannot seem to control. A loner by nature, a cold hard hunter by choice, Tyler fights his feelings for his prisoner the only way he knows how--by denying them. He's not prepared for how deeply his feelings will run, or how hard it will be to hold her life in his hands. Pursued by two hapless cowboys bent on taking Nicky in themselves, Nicky and Tyler are forced to turn to each other for aid, trust, and comfort as their journey progresses on its rocky road. Caught in a web of lies and murder, they hold on to each other as they travel to Wyoming to confront the man that brought them together. Tyler has to decide if his love for her is worth more than the bounty he was sent to find. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, some violence.

Eric


Jody Kaye - 2016
    And maybe we are…But when it comes down to it, we’re five teenagers ready to make our mark on the world without anyone taking advantage of our notoriety.While my brothers and sisters are flying the nest, I’m rooted at the Kingsbrier Ranch and am eager to learn the ropes at the family construction company. In my girlfriend, Ginny, I’ve found the one person outside the other quintuplet I can trust. She has a heart of gold, and I’m willing to wait for her to finish college before we get married.Though, Ginny’s uncertainty about leaving might mean losing the one stable thing in her life—our love. Forced to admit to the lengths she’s gone, will Ginny’s deceit tear us apart or be the stepping stone on a new path we never imagined?A story of finding your true love young and having the strength to forgive.