Book description:
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ruth Cardello comes the steamy new release to the Lone Star Burn series.Lucy Albright never wanted her family’s Texas ranch, but now it’s in foreclosure. She’s already lost so much she can’t bear the thought of losing one more thing. Lucy learned the hard way not to accept help from a man when there are strings attached, so she’ll do whatever it takes to save the ranch on her own terms—even if that means launching an online business marketing high-tech sex toys.
Ranch manager David Harmon has a reputation for being a cowboy with a heart of gold. Even if she refuses his help, down-and-out Lucy is the kind of woman he’ll do anything to protect. And while David may not know much about Lucy’s naughty side business, that won’t stop a cowboy from doing something he’s set his mind to.
With the ranch threatened by a scheming neighbor, Lucy can’t help but keep David around. Their attraction may be undeniable, but will the spark between them burn her entire future to the ground?
Excerpt
She met his
eyes, and for a moment her resolve wavered. He had the kindest eyes she’d ever
looked into. What would we be to each
other if we’d known each other before all this? If I wasn’t already a tangled
mess on the inside?
Why
ask myself what might have been, when all I have is here and now?
“Keeping this ranch is my
priority now. My only priority. I know how ungrateful that sounds, but I asked
you not to come. I warned you. Good-bye, David.”
He bent closer again, so close
Lucy’s resolve began to dissolve. “I’m not leaving until I’m sure you’re safe,
Lucy. Wyatt hired me to help look after the outbuildings, and I agreed to bring
some of my horses over to give work to some of the men who were here today.
Wyatt seems to think they’ll need it.”
The room spun. “Wyatt can’t hire
you. This is my ranch.”
David caressed the side of Lucy’s
face, running the back of his fingers down one side of her neck. “Wyatt’s
worried about you. He thinks you need someone to watch over you. I agree.”
The pleasure of his touch confused Lucy. She felt
vibrantly alive, and her miserable morning was too easy to forget. No. No. No. She pushed his hand away. “I
don’t care what Wyatt thinks, and I don’t care what you do, either. I’m telling
you to leave. I don’t want you here.”
“Then why do you look like you
want to kiss me so damn much?” he asked.
Lucy turned away from him. She
wrapped her arms around herself. She could lie to him and say he was wrong, but
they’d both know it wasn’t true. “You say you want to help me, David, but you
don’t listen to me. I will save this ranch, and I will do it myself.” She
turned back to face him. “Haven’t you ever needed to prove something to
yourself so badly that an easier way of doing something was impossible to
consider?”
David nodded. “And that was
usually right before I fell on my face.”
She sputtered angrily and was
about to tell him off when he raised his hand to caress her cheek again. “We’re
at a standoff, you and I. My daddy always said the secret to solving a
disagreement was finding a compromise both could live with. Wyatt needs help
outside, the men who were here today need jobs, and I need to know you’re
okay.”
He ran a mesmerizing thumb across
her parted lips. “You need to save the ranch on your own. What if I promise I
won’t step in to help again unless you ask me to, and in return you let me pay
for the use of your barns and fields to train my horses.”
“You can’t pay me. I owe you
money.”
“Then charge me and deduct as we
go. I’ll pay you a fair rate for the lease of your facility.”
“Why would you do that?” Besides to sleep with me, because that can’t
happen.
As if he heard her, he dropped
his hand and stepped back. The sadness she felt at the absence of his touch was
as confusing as fighting the pleasure from it had been. “I’ve been thinking
about getting my own place for a while. This would be a way to test how I like
it. Working with Tony has been good for me, but like you, it’s time for me to
see what I can do on my own.”
“You can’t stay in the main
house.” Lucy blushed right after she blurted her thought out.
A slow smile spread across his
face. “Wyatt suggested I stay in the old workers’ quarters. None of the men who
were here today will be looking to stay there. It’ll be perfect.”
Perfectly
crazy.
Am I honestly considering this? “If I say yes, it doesn’t mean I’m
agreeing to anything else. I want to be clear about that.”
A twinkle lit his eyes. “Why,
Miss Lucy, what else might I think you were agreeing to?”
Author Bio:
Ruth Cardello was born the
youngest of 11 children in a small city in northern Rhode Island. She spent her
young adult years moving as far away as she could from her large extended
family. She lived in Boston, Paris, Orlando, New York--then came full circle
and moved back to Rhode Island. She now happily lives one town over from the
one she was born in. For her, family trumped the warmer weather and
international scene.
She was an educator for 20 years,
the last 11 as a kindergarten teacher. When her school district began cutting
jobs, Ruth turned a serious eye toward her second love- writing and has never
been happier. When she's not writing, you can find her chasing her children
around her small farm, riding her horses, or connecting with her readers
online.
http://ruthcardello.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Ruth-headshot-for-website.jpg
Connect with the author
Website: www.RuthCardello.com
FaceBook:
www.facebook.com/RuthCardello
Twitter:
@RuthieCardello
Email
Notice of New Releases:ruthcardello.com/contact/
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4820876.Ruth_Cardello
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Cardello/e/B005HZXDKW
Current Works: All contemporary romance
Lone Star Burn
(*also available in audio)
Fun, hot romances that roam from the
country to the city and back.
Book 1: Taken, Not Spurred
Book 2: Tycoon Takedown
Book 3: Taken Home
Book 4: Taking Charge (Pre-order
now)
The
Legacy Collection (*also available in audio) Where
my billionaires began.
Book 1: Maid for the Billionaire
(Free Download)
Book 2: For Love or Legacy
Book 3: Bedding the Billionaire
Book 4: Saving the Sheikh
Book 5: Rise of the Billionaire
Book 6: Breaching the Billionaire:
Alethea's Redemption
Recipe For Love: A Hot Andrade Christmas
Novella
Book 7: A Corisi Christmas Novella
The
Andrades (*also available in audio)
A
spin off series of the Legacy Collection with cameos from characters you love
from that series.
Book 1: Come Away With Me
Book 2: Home to Me
Book 3: Maximum Risk
Book 4: Somewhere Along the Way
Book 5: Loving Gigi
A
new, seven book series about the Andrade’s Boston cousins.
The
first series in the Barrington Billionaire WORLD.
Book 1: Always Mine
(Free Download)
Book 2: Stolen Kisses
Book 3: Trade it All
Book 4: Let It Burn
Book
5: More Than Love (Coming 2016)
Book
6: Forever Now (Coming 2017)
Book
7: Never Goodbye (Coming 2017)
*Look for a linked series set in the same world, written by
Jeannette Winters (my sister) and Danielle Stewart (my niece).
You won’t have to read the other series to enjoy mine, but
it sure will make it more fun. Characters will appear in all three series.
Author
Jeannette Winters
Book 1: One White Lie
Book 2: Table for Two
Danielle
Stewart
Book 1: Fierce Love
Book
2: Wild Eyes
Other
Books
Taken by a Trillionaire
The Temptation Series
Gabe ( 7 brides For 7 Brothers)
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