The Rancher's Hand-Picked Bride
Gwen Murphy, once the girl from the ranch next door, owed her aging Apache neighbor big-time. But deploy her private-investigator skills to a find a wife for Morning Hawk's greatgrandson? And move into his home to do so? Dang it! For years, virile Jess Logan had stirred feelings celibate Gwen wanted no part of.Once under Jess's roof–and his amused masculine scrutiny–Gwen did her best to procure him a spouse. Or did she? For Texas heat scorched her whenever Jess was near, melting her lifelong icy grudge against men. Finally she saw her heart could be whole, if only she could find the courage to let Jess claim her as his woman.
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“That’s Gwen Murphy standing there, Jess reminded himself. She’d rather slug a man than kiss him.
But with her hair all sleep mussed and her curves in that old cotton robe that showed more leg than he guessed she was aware of, she looked sexier than any woman in the flimsiest negligee.
“You’re still here,” Gwen grumbled.
“I told you I’d see you through your recent loss.”
“Not necessary,” Gwen replied. But, suddenly light-headed, she slumped against the doorjamb.
Jess reached her and lifted her into his arms. Her robe opened more, and he realized she was wearing little or nothing under it. Arousal threatened again.
Gwen yanked her robe around her and rasped, “Put me down.”
He must be crazy to be attracted to her, Jess thought. He liked his women soft and sweet.
While tangling with Gwen…would be like tangling with a cougar!
Dear Reader,
Spring cleaning wearing you out? Perk up with a heart-thumping romance from Silhouette Romance. This month, your favorite authors return to the line, and a new one makes her debut!
Take a much-deserved break with bestselling author Judy Christenberry’s secret-baby story, Daddy on the Doorstep (#1654). Then plunge into Elizabeth August’s latest, The Rancher’s Hand-Picked Bride (#1656), about a celibate heroine forced to find her rugged neighbor a bride!
You won’t want to miss the first in Raye Morgan’s CATCHING THE CROWN miniseries about three royal siblings raised in America who must return to their kingdom and marry. In Jack and the Princess (#1655), Princess Karina falls for her bodyguard, but what will it take for this gruff commoner to win a place in the royal family? And in Diane Pershing’s The Wish (#1657), the next SOULMATES installment, a pair of magic eyeglasses gives Gerri Conklin the chance to do over the most disastrous week of her life…and find the man of her dreams!
And be sure to keep your eye on these two Romance authors. Roxann Delaney delivers her third fabulous Silhouette Romance novel, A Whole New Man (#1658), about a live-for-the-moment hero transformed into a family man, but will it last? And Cheryl Kushner makes her debut with He’s Still the One (#1659), a fresh, funny, heartwarming tale about a TV show host who returns to her hometown and the man she never stopped loving.
Happy reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
Books by Elizabeth August
Silhouette Romance
Author’s Choice #554
Truck Driving Woman #590
Wild Horse Canyon #626
Something So Right #668
The Nesting Instinct #719
Joey’s Father #749
Ready-Made Family #771
The Man from Natchez #790
A Small Favor #809
The Cowboy and the Chauffeur #833
Like Father, Like Son #857
The Wife He Wanted #881
*The Virgin Wife #921
*Haunted Husband #922
*Lucky Penny #945
*A Wedding for Emily #953
*The Seeker #989
†The Forgotten Husband #1019
†Ideal Dad #1054
†A Husband for Sarah #1067
The Bridal Shower #1091
*A Father’s Vow #1126
*A Handy Man To Have Around #1157
The Rancher and the Baby #1187
*The Determined Virgin #1229
Paternal Instincts #1265
The Bride’s Second Thought #1288
Marrying O’Malley #1386
Truly, Madly, Deeply #1404
A Royal Mission #1446
Slade’s Secret Son #1512
The Rancher’s Hand-Picked Bride #1656
Silhouette Special Edition
One Last Fling! #871
*The Husband #1059
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Girls’ Night Out #880
Logan’s Bride #950
Silhouette Books
Jingle Bells, Wedding Bells 1994
“The Forever Gift”
36 Hours
Cinderella Story
ELIZABETH AUGUST
lives in western North Carolina with her husband, Doug. They have three grown sons. She began writing romances soon after their youngest was born.
After a bout with cancer, she has learned to relax and enjoy life more. To this end, she has taken up golf. She says her game could use a great deal of improvement, but the beauty of the mountain courses takes her mind off of her bad shots.
Elizabeth has published under the pseudonym of Betsy Page for Harlequin.
Contents
Chapter One
Gwendolen Murphy, known to friends and foes alike as Gwen, grimaced distastefully as she turned onto Logan property. It had taken her nearly an hour to get here from Lubbock and the ranch house was another half a mile from the main road. The Texas heat was oppressive and halfway there her air-conditioning had decided not to work. Her short chestnut hair was damp with perspiration and beginning to curl into little ringlets, the back of her shirt where it rested against the seat was wet and her jeans were clinging with an uncomfortable heaviness. But the physical discomfort wasn’t what was gnawing at her.
Coming back to this small bit of Texas brought too many unhappy memories. The tiny frame house she and her mother had lived in was on property that abutted the Logan ranch. Just driving past the place where she’d spent her childhood had sent a cold chill down Gwen’s spine. Memories of her two stepfathers interspersed between her mother’s boyfriends, the smell of liquor in the house all of the time, her mother passed out on the couch, had assailed her. Her mother hadn’t been a bad woman, just a weak one. Something Gwen had vowed never to be.
