Lilly Stanton mistrusts the law, Chance Boyd is sworn to uphold it. Now he must gain her trust if he is to save her from a dangerous criminal and allow them to admit the love they feel for one another.
Destitute, Lilly Stanton has come home after four years in prison. Hardened by her past, she trusts no one, especially the Stanton’s newly hired hand, Chance Boyd. Although he reminds her of every worthless man she’s ever known, Lilly slowly learns to trust him. When her former lover, an outlaw, reveals the truth about Chance’s identity, her love for him crumbles into feelings of betrayal. Now she has some hard choices to make; choices that could send her back to prison.
Dedicated to upholding the law, Federal U.S. Marshal Chance Boyd is assigned to find stolen gold. Only Lilly Stanton can help him, a former convict whose trust he must gain. Keeping his identity a secret, he maneuvers his way into a job on the Stanton farm, but soon learns that Lilly is not the criminal he expected to find. When Lilly is kidnapped, Chance realizes this may be the one woman who can help him recover from his past.
She mistrusts the law and he is sworn to uphold it; can Lilly and Chance find a common ground that will enable them to survive the danger facing them and finally admit the love they feel for one another?
Excerpt
Chance Boyd almost swallowed his tongue. He’d heard she was beautiful, but nothing had prepared him for the sight of the woman bathing in the creek.
He stood behind a sparse stand of cottonwoods and watched Lilly Stanton scoop water over her lithe body. The woman might be thin, but her figure was the stuff men dreamed about. Her wet camisole and bloomers hugged her body, the water rendering the fabric almost shear. He swallowed, hard. She needed no corset since her natural curves rounded into a flawless hourglass figure.
Water trickled over her ivory skin, running between her breasts. The perfect globes pushed against the damp cotton, pink nipples puckering from the cold. Rounded hips eased into the longest legs he’d ever seen on a woman. Legs made for wrapping around a man. Heat pooled in his groin, making his pants tight. He loved her height. She must stand around five-foot seven. She’d fit perfectly next to his six-foot one-inch frame.
The setting sun kissed her skin and hair, giving her a golden glow. She poured water from a small pot over her red-blond hair and pushed the wet tresses off her face. He wondered if the hair felt as silky as it looked. He also wondered about the color of her eyes. Unfortunately, he’d have to wait until he met her to find out.
Chance sat, leaned against the tree, and groaned. He’d wait for the next day before he went to the farm. If he showed up this evening, as he had initially intended, she might accuse him of spying on her while she bathed. And she’d be right. Not a good first impression.
He covered his face with his hands and tried to close out the sight of her nearly naked body, but found it impossible. He should enjoy the view, since this would probably be the only time he’d see it. Once she discovered the true reason for his visit, she’d more than likely kill him. Or at least try.
The cold end of a pistol touched his temple and the click of the hammer being pulled back echoed through the trees.
“Mister,” a female voice said, “if you so much as breathe, I will blow your brains all over that tree.”
A young widow joins her aunt’s house-restoration project in the wilderness, determined to take a stand for independence, but two men have different plans for her—and so does God.
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
