Outlaw Hearts - Teaser #5

Available June 2, 2015

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“How’d you get so good with guns, Pa? Mom told me your own father died when you were about my age and that your mother was already dead. You didn’t have anybody to teach you.”

Jake smoked quietly for a moment, staring at the campfire. Tell him the truth, a little voice nagged him. There couldn’t be a better time. “I just taught myself,” he answered. “I was orphaned at your age, had no other family. That was back in Texas in the thirties. Things were pretty lawless then. A kid my age had to know how to defend himself, how to provide for himself.

…

Lloyd leaned closer over the fire and turned the spit. Fat dripped from the rabbit onto hot coals and made little hissing sounds. “You ever have to kill a man back then?” he asked. 

Jake met his eyes. Yeah, my own father. And a hell of a lot of others. How could he tell (his own son) that? The kid looked at him sometimes like he was a God. If he knew the truth …

Outlaw Hearts - Teaser #4

“Somebody get Jake!” a man shouted.

Kennedy shot again, hitting the man in the back. Three innocent people! Miranda could see the stands now, heard shouting, more screams, children beginning to cry. Plenty of the men sported guns because of the shooting contest, but none seemed willing to get involved. A couple of men rode off on horses, deciding just to get out of there. The band stopped its playing. She could see Jake now, standing in the middle of the corral. To her horror, another man, obviously part of Kennedy’s bunch, held a crying Lloyd, pointing a gun to the baby’s head. The black stallion was trotting nervously in a circle around the inside of the corral fence. … 

She took faint hope in the fact that Jake was still alive and standing, and he wore one of his revolvers. He had put it on because of the shooting contest, but it was only one gun with six bullets. How many men did Kennedy have along? 

Now you know the kind of man your Jake used to be, Juan had told her. She would not believe he had ever been this bad. He would not stick a knife into a woman’s ribs. He would not threaten a little boy. Never. He would not rape, or come to something like this and shoot people down like rabbits. Still, he had ridden with these men at one time, and now it seemed he would pay a much higher price for it than if he had gone to prison. Her heart ached at the look in his eyes when Juan dragged her around the corral fence to stand next to the man who held Lloyd. The baby reached for her, screaming, “Mama!”

Available June 2, 2015

Pre-Order!

United by chance, bound by fate, consumed by passion.

Miranda Hayes has lost everything-her family, her husband, her home. Orphaned and then widowed, desperate to find a safe haven, she sets out to cross a savage land alone...until chance brings her face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake Harkner.

Hunted by the law and haunted by a brutal past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything he has. He's never known a moment's kindness...until fate brings him to the one woman willing to reach past his harsh exterior to the man inside. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He will do whatever it takes to keep her his.

Spanning the dazzling West with its blazing deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear them apart. But the love of an outlaw comes with a price...and even their passion may not burn bright enough to conquer the coming darkness. 

Outlaw Hearts - Teaser #3

“Jake Harkner, put me down!” Randy liked to use his real name in private, felt he should hear it and learn to be proud of it. She made a mild protest when he dumped her on the bed and moved on top of her, but her weak objections vanished when his lips covered her own again in a penetrating kiss. This was so like the man she loved, spontaneous, gently demanding, sometimes a little wild and unpredictable. “Jake this is crazy.”

He moved his lips to her neck and ran his hand under her dress. It was warm, and she hadn’t bothered with extra slips. “Just a quick little sign of affection, mi querida,” he said softly. She felt her drawers coming off. “Maybe tonight we’ll do this again, take our time.”

Just the words brought on a surge of hot desire. When Jake Harkner “took his time” with a woman, he had the most exotic ways of taking her to a world of ecstasy. She never dreamed there were so many ways to make love. With Jake it always seemed so right and natural.

Available June 2, 2015

Pre-Order!

United by chance, bound by fate, consumed by passion.

Miranda Hayes has lost everything-her family, her husband, her home. Orphaned and then widowed, desperate to find a safe haven, she sets out to cross a savage land alone...until chance brings her face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake Harkner.

Hunted by the law and haunted by a brutal past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything he has. He's never known a moment's kindness...until fate brings him to the one woman willing to reach past his harsh exterior to the man inside. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He will do whatever it takes to keep her his.

Spanning the dazzling West with its blazing deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear them apart. But the love of an outlaw comes with a price...and even their passion may not burn bright enough to conquer the coming darkness.

Outlaw Hearts - Teaser #2

She opened her eyes and managed a weak smile. “You have a son,” she whispered.

No. He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t really have a son of his own. It was all so unreal. Maybe if he didn’t look at the kid, this would all just go away. “You hang on, Randy. Don’t you dare leave me with a kid to raise on my own. You know I can’t do it.”

She smiled more. “Yes, you can.”

He put his hands to either side of her face and bent down to kiss her forehead. “You listen to me. I love you like I never thought I could love another human being.” He felt a lump rising in his throat, a desperate fear at the thought that he could lose her. “I need you, Randy, and you know all the reasons why. Don’t you go and die on me, you hear? If I lose you I’ll go right back to that old life. You don’t want me to do that, do you?”

“You talk … big, Jake,” she whispered. “Don’t … mean it … got to take care of our little son.”

He brushed her cheek with his own, tears forming in his eyes. “Damn it, Randy, don’t you leave me. Don’t you dare leave me!”

“Come and see your son, Jake.” Mrs. Anderson touched his arm.

Jake straightened, looking over at the cradle … finding it difficult to picture a child of his own lying in it. Why did he dread this? What if he really did love the child? … That meant he couldn’t bear for anything to ever hurt the child, especially not his past.

The sins of the father are visited upon the son. He remembered hearing a street preacher shout that once back in Missouri, recalled how he had applied those words to his own father. And look how he had turned out, just as mean and unfeeling and murderous as his father. To think his own past could somehow scar his son …

Available June 2, 2015

Pre-Order!

United by chance, bound by fate, consumed by passion.

Miranda Hayes has lost everything-her family, her husband, her home. Orphaned and then widowed, desperate to find a safe haven, she sets out to cross a savage land alone...until chance brings her face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake Harkner.

Hunted by the law and haunted by a brutal past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything he has. He's never known a moment's kindness...until fate brings him to the one woman willing to reach past his harsh exterior to the man inside. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He will do whatever it takes to keep her his.

Spanning the dazzling West with its blazing deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear them apart. But the love of an outlaw comes with a price...and even their passion may not burn bright enough to conquer the coming darkness.