Clayton's Made-Over Mrs.
Bachelor GulchTHE BACHELOR: Rugged rancher and single dad Clayton Carson. This time around he was determined to marry a woman who couldn't manipulate his heartstrings.THE BRIDE: Diner owner Melody "Mel" McCully. She was danged tired of being overlooked by the local bachelors. What was she, chopped liver?All her life Melody had loved Clayton, and he'd never once looked her way. Only now, when he had a scalawag of a daughter to raise, did he come callin'. Well, roosters would lay eggs before she'd agree to his marriage of convenience. Because plain-Jane Melody was about to be made over, and would settle for nothing less than a proposal of love!Bachelor Gulch. This little town wanted women–but are these bachelors ready for marriage?
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Table of Contents
“Who’d marry an ornery cuss like you anyway?”
“I was sort of hoping you would.”
Mouth gaping, Melody stared at Clayton for a full five seconds. She’d been dreaming of marrying this man for as long as she could remember, had imagined his wedding proposal at least a thousand times. Not once in all her imaginings had he ever used the words sort of.
He flashed her his lazy, sexy grin one more time. Just when her knees were starting to melt along with her resolve, he said, “By the way, do you have any cream and sugar?”
She thought about hitting him over the head with one of the trays, but she didn’t see much sense in denting a perfectly usable item.
“What do you say, Mel?”
Since Melody didn’t have much except her diner and her pride, she untied her apron and slapped it on the counter before stalking toward the door. “I say get your own darned cream and sugar.”
What a special lineup of love stories Silhouette Romance has for you this month. Bestselling author Sandra Steffen continues her BACHELOR GULCH miniseries with Clayton’s Made-Over Mrs. And in The Lawman’s Legacy, favorite author Phyllis Halldorson introduces a special promotion called MEN! Who says good men are hard to find?! Plus, we’ve got Julianna Morris’s Daddy Woke up Married—our BUNDLES OF JOY selection—Love, Marriage and Family 101 by Anne Peters, The Scandalous Return of Jake Walker by Myrna Mackenzie and The Cowboy Who Broke the Mold by Cathleen Galitz, who makes her Silhouette debut as one of our WOMEN TO WATCH.
I hope you enjoy all six of these wonderful novels. In fact, I’d love to get your thoughts on Silhouette Romance. If you’d like to share your comments about the Silhouette Romance line, please send a letter directly to my attention: Melissa Senate, Senior Editor, Silhouette Books, 300 E. 42nd St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. I welcome all of your comments, and here are a few particulars I’d like to have your feedback on:
1) Why do you enjoy Silhouette Romance?
2) What types of stories would you like to see more of? Less of?
3) Do you have favorite authors?
Your thoughts about Romance are very important to me. After all, these books are for you! Again, I hope you enjoy our six novels this month—and that you’ll write me with your thoughts.
Regards,
Melissa Senate
Senior Editor
Silhouette Books
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For Ann Green
After all these years, all our experiences, all our wisdom,
the only thing we know for sure is that we still don’t have a clue. Thanks, friend.
SANDRA STEFFEN
Creating memorable characters is one of Sandra’s favorite aspects of writing. She’s always been a romantic, and is thrilled to be able to spend her days doing what she loves—bringing her characters to life on her computer screen.
Sandra grew up in Michigan, the fourth of ten children, all of whom have taken the old adage “Go forth and multiply” quite literally. Add to this her husband, who is her real-life hero, their four school-age sons who keep their lives in constant motion, their gigantic cat, Percy, and her wonderful friends, in-laws and neighbors, and what do you get? Chaos, of course, but also a wonderful sense of belonging she wouldn’t trade for the world.
“Evenin’, Mel.”
For an instant everything inside Melody McCully went perfectly still. She recognized Clayton Carson’s voice; more than anything, she recognized what it did to her, darn it all. In the second or two it took to recover her equilibrium, she pushed her hair out of her face and turned around. “The diner’s closed, Clayt.”
He ambled closer, sidestepping the tables she’d already cleaned off, coming to a stop on the other side of the counter where a handful of regulars would be ordering up breakfast in less than twelve hours. He surveyed the room the way he always did, leaning back on his heels, his fingers hooked through the belt loops of well-worn jeans. “Do you have any coffee left?”
Mel was tired, and when she was tired, she tended to be the tiniest bit cranky. Of course, Clayt claimed she was always cranky. That wasn’t true at all. She had a perfectly fine disposition when it came to everybody else. It wasn’t her fault that Clayton Ezekiel Carson was a blind fool who couldn’t see the forest for the trees or the one woman in all the world who’d always loved him.
Motioning to the coffeepot with the wet dishrag in her hand, she said, “There’s coffee, but it’s been sitting in the pot so long it’s about to turn into paint stripper.”
“Just the way I like it.”
Mel sputtered under her breath the entire time it took to reach beneath the counter for a clean cup and fill it with thick, black brew. For some reason Clayt hadn’t moved. His eyes were in the shadow of the brim of his hat, and the lower half of his face was covered with a couple of days’ worth of whisker stubble that did nothing to detract from the strong lines of his jaw and chin. The man was over six feet tall without the scuffed-up heels of his cowboy boots. He loomed over her, and Mel McCully hated to be loomed over.
