Dear Reader,
Welcome to the third of three books about the rowdy McKettrick cousins, the Creeds.
Tyler Creed, the youngest of the Creed brothers and the one with the hottest temper and the biggest chip on his shoulder, is determined NOT to have anything to do with his two brothers or their new enterprise, Tri-Star Cattle Company. The same might go for Lily Ryder Kenyan, the girl he dated and betrayed back in the day. But thereâs one problem. Lily isnât a girl anymore; sheâs a beautiful, passionate woman. And the two of them strike sparks off each other in this red-hot, very sexy story.
I also wanted to write today to tell you about a special group of people with whom Iâve recently become involved. It is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), specifically their Pets for Life program.
The Pets for Life program is one of the best ways to help your local shelterâthat is, to help keep animals out of shelters in the first place. It offers tips as basic as keeping a collar and tag on your pet all the time, so if he gets out and gets lost, he can be returned home; being a responsible pet owner; spaying or neutering your pet; and not giving up when things donât go perfectly. If your dog digs in the yard or your cat scratches the furniture, know that these are problems that can be addressed. You can find all the information about theseâand many other common problemsâat www.petsforlife.org. This campaign is focused on keeping pets and their people together for a lifetime.
As many of you know, my own household includes two dogs, two cats and four horses, so this is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. I hope youâll get involved along with me.
With love,
Praise for the novels of
LINDA LAEL MILLER
âAs hot as the noontime desertâ¦Well-developed, personable characters and a handful of loose ends will leave readers anticipating future installments.â
â Publishers Weekly on The Rustler
âLoaded with hot lead, steamy sex and surprising plot twists.â
â Publishers Weekly on A Wanted Man
âMillerâs prose is smart, and her tough Eastwoodian cowboy cuts a sharp, unexpectedly funny figure in a classroom full of rambunctious frontier kids.â
â Publishers Weekly on The Man from Stone Creek
â[Miller] paints a brilliant portrait of the good, the bad and the ugly, the lost and the lonely, and the power of love to bring light into the darkest of souls. This is western romance at its finest.â
â Romantic Times BOOKreviews on The Man from Stone Creek
âIntrigue, danger and greed are up against integrity, kindness and love in this engrossing western romance. Miller has created unforgettable characters and woven a many-faceted yet coherent and lovingly told tale.â
â Booklist on McKettrickâs Choice (starred review)
âAn engrossing, contemporary western romanceâ¦Millerâs masterful ability to create living, breathing characters never flagsâ¦combined with a taut story line and vivid prose, Millerâs romance wonât disappoint.â
â Publishers Weekly on McKettrickâs Pride (starred review)
âLinda Lael Miller creates vibrant characters and stories I defy you to forget.â
â#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
Linda Lael Miller
Montana Creeds: Tyler
For Katherine âKOâ Orr and Marleah Stout,
my pals. Loves yaâs.
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
T YLER C REED SUPPRESSED a grin as the old guy in the Wal-Mart parking lot stared, dumbfounded, at the fancy set of keys resting in his work-roughened palm. Blinked a couple of times, like somebody trying to shake off an illusion, then gave the brim of his well-worn baseball cap an anxious tug. According to the bright yellow stitching on the hat, his name was Walt and he was the worldâs greatest dad.
Walt looked at his ten-year-old Chevy truck, the sides streaked with dry dirt, the mud flaps coated, and then shifted to stare at Tylerâs shiny white Escalade.
âI thought you was kiddinâ, mister,â he said. âYou really want to trade that Cadillac, straight across, for my old rig? Itâs got near a hundred thousand miles on it, this junker, and every once in a while, a part falls off. Last week, it was the mufflerââ
Tyler nodded, weary of Waltâs prattle but not about to show it. âThatâs the idea,â he replied quietly.
The aging redneck approached the Cadillac, touched the hood with something like reverence. âIs this thing stolen?â Walt asked, understandably suspicious. After all, Tyler reflected, a man didnât run across a deal like that every day, especially in Crap Creek, Montana, or whatever the hell that wide spot in the road was called.