SHE GOT WHAT SHE WANTED Lisette Keller was determined to leave and pursue her dream of opening a millinery shop in Chicago--but first she had to find a way to get there! If she could persuade handsome rancher Gil McLoughlin to hire her as a cook on his cattle drive to Abilene, she'd be well on her way, and she'd arrive with money in her pockets to boot! But Lisette hadn't counted on quivering at Gil's first fiery touch or craving the taste of his lips on hers. Whatever her future might hold, Lisette knew she must surrender to the sudden passion that coursed through her whenever Gil gazed into her eyes, savor his ardent caresses, and learn love's deepest secrets in his bold rapturous embrace... all the way to Kansas! HE FOUND WHAT HE NEEDED When a feisty blond minx applied for the job of cook on the long hot trail drive from Texas to Abilene, Gil McLoughlin was tempted--and not because of Gisette's skills over a...

She's a bride with a secret as big as Texas... Widowed and alone, Linnea Powell agrees to swap places with a reluctant mail-order bride. Arriving in Lubbock, Texas, armed only with her future husband's letters promising a prosperous life, Linnea feels hopeful—until the stagecoach leaves her standing before a handsome stranger who has more ambition than he does prospects. Still, Linnea accepts Sam Kincaid's proposal, knowing the moment he seals their vows with a hungry kiss, she'll never be able to keep her past a secret. For her appealing new husband is all too eager to share the marriage bed.... Sam knows there's something mysterious about his new bride. But that only adds to Linnea's allure. And when he learns his wife is really a vulnerable widow, he's even more determined to give her the life and family she dreams of. Sam's not afraid of hard work, especially when the prize is Linnea's love. What the rugged rancher doesn't know is that...

India Marshall took one look at the Union Army's Rock Island Prison Camp, on the banks of the Mississippi...and prayed for strength. The determined Confederate belle had vowed to set her brother free at any cost. If she could somehow entice Major Connor O'Brien into trusting her, she might be able to stage a prison break...until she found herself caught between fear and desire, desperation and a passion that promised to break her heart. West Point soldier Connor O'Brien fought for the North, even though his big, brawling family came from Tennessee. He had mixed feelings about guarding this prison camp, but no doubts about the southern charmer who was placing both their lives at risk. Now, as the dark currents of war and treachery swept them toward certain betrayal, Connor and India were trapped between the loyalties they held dear and the love they could no longer resist...

BLACKMAILING BLACKGUARDEmma Oliver would do anything to protect her family from that lying scoundrel, Lieutenant Paul Rousseau. She had even gone to his hotel room to plead with him to leave her family alone, and had offered the handsome blackguard money. But all he would accept was one night with her -- in his bed. Outraged by his ridiculous demand, she had staunchly refused, damning him as a rake, even though the dashing sailor's touch inflamed her, made her traitorous body ache for his caress, and her heart beg for his love...VIRGIN VIXENOliver! The very name set his blood boiling. He had waited so long to wreak his revenge on that murderous family, and now the opportunity presented itself in the curvaceous form of the beautiful Emma Oliver. He would woo the tantalizing blonde with kisses that would leave her breathless, embraces that would make her lush body quiver with ecstasy, and shower the green-eyed beauty with promises of love that...

PASSION TEMPTED HERCharity McLoughlin had gotten herself into another mess. Her wealthy family had disowned her, her purse was empty -- and worst of all, she'd been tricked into smuggling Texas silver into Mexico. Now the law was after her. She wasn't sure whether being abducted by a ruggedly handsome stranger who called himself Hawk meant her fortunes were looking up or down. The one thing she didn't doubt was the fiery attraction she felt for this hard-muscled man. Perhaps she wouldn't try to get away just yet. Instead, maybe for just one night, she would surrender to the raging desires that his slightest touch stirred in her...DESIRE ENSLAVED HIMDavid Fierce Hawk had decided long ago that he'd take one of the McLoughlin daughters as his wife because of the kindness and beauty he'd seen in their mother. But he wasn't sure he wanted this daughter -- Charity, the blue-eyed hellcat he'd agreed to bring back to the family fold. She was certainly...

HE DESPISED HIMAs her beloved Mexico teetered on the brink of overthrow by the ruthless dictator Santa Anna, beautiful Alejandra Sierra schemed with her countrymen to defeat him. They needed a spy from his ranks, and who better than Texas soldier-of-fortune, Reece Montgomery? It was Alejandra's job to "charm" the arrogant, flaxen-haired Reece into helping their cause -- a job she despised, for he was an unscrupulous traitor, loyal only to gold. But when she felt the fire in his soul and the hunger in his kisses, Alejandra found herself cursing her own seduction -- and her own burning need for his masterful touch.HE ADORED HERReece Montgomery had his own private reasons for being on General Santa Anna's payroll. Still, he didn't trust the general, and he'd bet the raven-haired beauty who'd come to bribe and seduce him was part of some elaborate trap. Well, Reece didn't plan on falling for it ... but then he didn't plan on Alejandra's lips being...

Win, lose—or fall in love . . . After losing her mama and all she has, vagabond Patience "Patty" Sweet dreams of reuniting with her father in the New Mexico territory. So she teams up with a no-good gambler whose winnings enable her to get her closer to her destination. Patty hates hanging around saloons and poker parlors, pulling dishonest deeds. But when a game of five-card draw goes wrong in Lubbock, Texas, Patty gets offered up as collateral—to a handsome stranger who's about to turn the tables . . . Lawyer Grant Kincaid has no intention of claiming his prize—a nearly nineteen-year-old petite beauty with sweet eyes—who has a hold on him he can't deny. But as he tries to help Patty untangle herself from her shady partner, he discovers she's not as innocent as she seems. For starters, she's already stolen his hardened heart . . . "Real chemistry." —RT Book Reviews on His Make-Believe...

Evelyn Rogers calls the romances of Martha Hix "sexy." "Explosive. Extraordinary. Pure ambrosia," raves Rendezvous. Now, the acclaimed author of River Magic brings you a love story set on a Mississippi riverboat--a story that will captivate and bewitch you--a story to winyour heart...Burke O'Brien's orders to his crew were explicit: No females, young or old, were to board his Mississippi riverboat on his thirtieth birthday. Long ago, the brawny captain of the Yankee Princess had been cursed to meet his bride on that date, and he would do anything to break thehex. Then, just as the clock was about to chime midnight on that fatefulday, a golden-haired enchantress stole her way onto O'Brien's vessel--and into his heart...Susan Seymour spent most of her life under the thumb of her tyrannical father. Now, she had a chance to escape his cruelty forever. Fleeing a carnival with a young child in tow, the beautiful snake charmer ...

SHE WAS RIPE FOR SEDUCTION If she hadn't been absolutely desperate, Margaret McLoughlin never would have hired the very rogue who'd wronged her family to guide her through perilous bandit territory...and wouldn't now be standing face to face with the bare-chested scoundrel with the six-gun strapped to his muscular thigh and his insolent gaze hotly raking her body! But her mother was trapped in the legendary Copper Canyons, and Rafe Delgado was the only man alive who could get her safely out. So the gently-bred innocent would just have to ignore the sinful half-Spaniard's seductive charms, refuse to grant him even one kiss and just pray he never learned her shameful secret: that she burned for him with a fiery yearning only he could satisfy! HE WAS READY FOR LOVE Let the lady think he was leading her into Mexico for the money. Rafe didn't need any starchy schoolteacher asking a lot of dangerous questions...especially with the country on the brink...

Certain he's fated to meet his bride on his thirtieth birthday, Texas rancher Jon Marc O'Brien arranges for the perfect woman to arrive on that day. He's never set eyes on sweet Beth Buchanan, a cattle buyer's daughter from Kansas, but after a two-year romance-by-correspondence, he knows she'll be the ideal wife--pure of heart, body, and soul.The glossy-haired beauty who steps from the coach is not Beth Buchanan, who died on the journey. She's a runaway named Bethany who's so hungry for the respectable life she's willing to steal a dead woman's identity--and her betrothed. It's a desperate gamble that will throw Bethany and Jon Marc into a white-hot firestorm of passion and embroil them in a Texas-sized range war with deadly outlaw Hoot Todd, but Todd's wrath will be nothing compared to the fury of Jon Marc O'Brien should he ever discover his new bride's true identity...

SHE YEARNED FOR EXCITEMENTMariah Rose's innocent fantasies of the wild west didn't prepare the British beauty for the man she saw barreling out of the Texas brush -- splendidly tall, overpoweringly masculine...and naked as the day he was born! Then the arrogant scoundrel had the audacity to appoint himself her gallant protector! He obviously had more than protecting her in mind, and Mariah steeled herself against his lusty charm. But it was impossible to keep her distance in this untamed paradise...especially when she found herself burning for his demanding kisses and yearning for his seductive caress!HE ACHED FOR HER EMBRACEThe delectable Mariah enticed Whitman Reagor as no woman ever had -- and the virile rancher had sampled the delights of many! But this time honor demanded that he resist temptation. He swore he'd escort the English enchantress safely across the rugged plains without touching a hair on her silken head. But when the...

A STEAMY STORY OF DECEPTION AND DESIRE...AS TWO LOVERS DISCOVER THAT AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE CAN SIZZLE WITH MORE HEAT THAN A TEXAS NIGHT! She was a pampered Mississippi belle who had never known a single day of hardship in all her twenty-three years. But now Skylla St. Clair was desperate. Why else would she have advertised in the newspaper... for a husband? And here he was, galloping onto her newly inherited Texas ranch--a handsome, sweet-talking rogue Skylla couldn't trust--or resist. The ex-Rebel soldier and con man took pride in his deceiving art. Now, in the booming post-war West, Braxton Hale intended to make the biggest killing of all. He would play the groom the lovely lady wanted...right before he stole her land and high-tailed it to the richer horizons of California. But that was before Braxton held the sweet, sensuous Skylla in his arms--and discovered a woman he desired far more than gold...