She knew exactly what she was doing. You don't."        "I can learn."        "Can you?" He came at her with that lean-hipped walk she found so intimidatingly masculine. "What are you going to do the first time a man stalks up to you and puts his hand on you like this?"        At his touch she went rigid and sucked in an audible gasp of air. "What if he backs you up against a wall?" He pinned her against the soft velvet of the door curtain.        "You have made your point, Mr. Hays. . . ."                THE BEQUESTWhen Gabrielle Antoine arrives in the rough mining town, the convent-bred beauty is shocked by the decadence she finds there--and stunned to learn she has just inherited a bordello from the mother she never knew. Worse, her mother's business partner, Jordan Hays--a rugged, cynical loner--embodies everything Gabrielle fears . . . and secretly desires. Determined to transform the house of ill repute into an honorable enterprise, Gabrielle soon locks horns with an unscrupulous rival. And as Jordan seeks to shield her from this unexpected danger, Gabrielle finds herself swept away by a passion as tempting as sin itself. . . .

    Defiantly beautiful, Caroline Wetherby stepped ashore in a land so wild and fierce, she trembled.  She had come seeking refuge with the last of her family, but her sister was dead.  Waiting to greet her were pious Pilgrims, warring Indians, howling wolves, a boisterous household of men and boys...and him, her rugged, unwelcoming brother-in-law, Matt Mathieson.  Caroline wanted to hate Matt as she hated all men.After her father's death, she'd been eager to escape England.  But as daughter of a gambler and a gypsy, her flamboyant ways and healing skills tempted disaster in the sanctimonious Connecticut Colony.  And putting herself in the hands of a big, handsome stranger tempted something far more dangerous--emotions she couldn't resist, kisses she couldn't forget, and a future that could bring ruin...or a journey to heaven on earth in his arms.

    Right up until he broke her heart six years ago. Now that she's returned to Wyoming for good, what she wants more than anything is to save her family's ranch. Even if that means swallowing her pride and asking Dave to marry her.Matty's up to something - Dave knows that much. Just as he knows that Matty needs help, so of course he'll provide it, just as he has all her life. Doing what's best for Matty is second nature. Even when it comes to marrying her in name only. Although he can't resist one hot-blooded kiss after the I-dos.Maybe - just maybe - his Matty will become more to him than Almost a Bride.

    So when the beautiful and wily Charlotte steps off the train looking for a new life he jumps at the business opportunity she presents. Engaged forty-five minutes after meeting, married the next day, Michael thinks he’s found everything a respectable man should have. Except that Michael is as far from respectable as they come. They agreed not to ask questions about each other’s pasts, but when the past seeps into their present Michael suspects his passionate new wife is not who she says she is. Too bad he’s already fallen in love with her.Charlotte Baldwin has a secret. She fled Philadelphia to escape the sins of her past but someone is following her. What better way to hide than by marrying Michael West, Cold Springs, Montana’s enigmatic shopkeeper? A new name, a new life, and a passionate husband is exactly what she needs to leave her sins behind. But when it comes to keeping secrets Charlotte may have met her match in Michael. When a connection neither of them expects catches up with them, the shocking revelation means Charlotte may have run right into the arms of her enemy.No sin stays a secret forever…

    She'd been raised to bake in her parents' bakery, and after their deaths, she had planned to carry on the family tradition. Devastated to find out she was losing her family's business, she needed something to do to support herself. When she received a letter from her twin sister's husband in Arizona Territory, suggesting she come out to be the bride of his best friend who was opening a restaurant, it seemed like the perfect solution to her problems. Tripp had gone to the best culinary school in the country, and he knew exactly how to create the perfect meal. He spent hours and hours coming up with just the right menu for his restaurant, only to be told he couldn't get a loan for it unless he married. When his best friend came up with the solution of sending for his baker sister-in-law, it only made sense. Her ideas of the perfect menu were different than his, though. Would the two be able to stay together long enough to convince the bank he was a good risk? Would Sadie be able to convince Tripp that the two of them belonged together after all?

    So he seized the chance to work Abbie Westland's land...and from the moment he first saw Abbie, he was determined to use his arms to work the farm by day and to soothe her through the nights in his strong embrace.Abbie, with her fiery determination, was different from the fragile beauties he'd known at home. In her, Grayson found an honest passion he'd never experienced before. But could their growing love survive the surprising reminder of her past that came to haunt them?

    A noble count with a sprawling ranch in the grand state of Texas, Cortes challenged her with dark, penetrating eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul. Could he see the burning truth: that she loved him? It is a secret Bernadette vows to keep--especially now that she is to become his wife. For theirs is a marriage bargain, pure and simple. He needs a rich wife to save his ranch; she needs a titled husband.Yet desire will turn a marriage of convenience into a passionate battle of wills, and change an innocent girl into a woman aware of her own powers of attraction. For it is love's fiery initiation that will make Bernadette aware of her own capacity for pleasure as well as her husband's skill at providing it. And it is the sheer force of her own love that will give her newfound strength to battle against the odds to claim a man and a love she will not be denied. . . .

    The victim of a violent rape at the hands of a rich politician’s son, she must “disappear” to escape his constant attempts to recapture her. Moving from cattle drive to cattle drive as a cook, she avoids her tormentor for nearly twenty years. When she discovers that the brother she gave up for adoption after their mother died in childbirth was orphaned at an early age, she is frantic to verify that he’s safe. She tracks him to a cattle ranch in Montana.Widower Adam Morgan owns the Twin Springs ranch, but finds himself falling into a life of loneliness. Although he enjoys spending time with his grown daughter and the two men he rescued when they were living on the streets, he longs to meet a woman he can love. Living in the Montana territory where men greatly outnumber women makes finding a new wife difficult. Weary of working cattle, he is ready to make some changes in his life.Grace falls ill on her journey, but she manages to make it to the Twin Springs ranch where her brother is supposed to be living. Adam takes her in, concerned for her health and the reason she’s searching for one of his adopted sons. Their chemistry is immediate and intense, but can Grace heal from her past of pain and fear? When her secrets are finally revealed, can Adam forgive her deceptions and learn to love again?

    And no other can set the heart racing with such glorious unbound abandon.No other man.Skylar Connor was widowed before she met the man she married by legal proxy. Now she has come to the Dakota badlands for the home and goldmine left her by her late husband. But it is a painted savage who welcomes "Lady Douglas" to the Black Hills. The handsome half-breed son of a Sioux woman and an English lord, he steals Skylar from her stagecoach ... and declares it is he whom she wed sight unseen. Now Hawk has a wife he doesn't want a sensuous vixen who ignites his rage and his desire ... a beautiful schemer he must punish with ecstasy, and let no other man claim.

    As the eldest daughter of the family, she is duty-bound to wed someone of wealth and privilege -- and Sir Connor, though mesmerizing, is not only penniless but in disgrace. To Connor this fiery, untouchable maiden is a prize worth fighting for. The onetime hero has little save his pride and his skill -- as a warrior and a lover. But will that be enough to survive castle treachereries, to know the rapturous passion the lady's hungering gaze promises -- and to win her heart?

    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

    Luckily, his able new secretary, J. Quincy, seems scrupulously loyal, and possesses the invaluable ability to flawlessly forge the master's signature. But imagine Sinclair's surprise when he discovers the "J" stands for "Josephine." His cherished employee is, in actuality, a quite delectable lady in disguise.Jo desperately needs this position, and never actually lied about her gender—though she didn't quite expect Sinclair's keen eye to expose the truth so quickly. If the ton finds out, the scandal could be devastating. But Jo believes she can still be of service to the dashing lord. The greatest difficulty, however, will be keeping her mind on business with Sinclair standing so tantalizingly, intoxicatingly close. And what this earl wants, he usually gets.

    A widower, and single father, he is focused on building the MacLaren ranch into the largest and most successful in northern Arizona. He is serious about two things—his responsibility to the family and his future marriage to a goal of a wealthy, well-connected widow who will secure his place in the territory’s destiny.Katherine is determined to live the life she’s dreamed about. With a job waiting for her in the growing town of Los Angeles, California, the young teacher from Philadelphia begins a journey across the United States with only a couple of trunks and her spinster companion. Life is perfect for this adventurous, beautiful young woman, until an accident throws her into the arms of the one man who can destroy it all.Fighting his growing attraction and strong desire for the beautiful stranger, Niall is more determined than ever to push emotions aside to focus on his goals of wealth and political gain. But looking into the clear, blue eyes of the woman who could ruin everything, Niall discovers he will have to harden his heart and be tougher than he’s ever been in his life…Tougher than the Rest.

    Instead, the matriarch makes Lauren a scandalous offer to marry her son in name only. Lauren has strong feelings for him but are they strong enough?

    He'd sworn to protect her. He couldn't do that if she married someone else...COLE REDBOURNE, immersed in guilt over the accident that claimed his best friend, discovers there was nothing accidental about it. When he sets out for Silver Falls, Colorado, to fulfill his friend’s dying wish and to flush out his killer, the last thing he expected was to find hope again disguised as his impromptu bride.