Mary McBride

Bandera's Bride


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      “I’m as fat as a sow. I know. And just as ugly.”

      Her lower lip jutted out now in a full-fledged pout. “How unchivalrous of you to point that out.”

      “Oh, no, querida.” His hands moved to cup her face, and the grin he’d been sporting was replaced by an expression of such earnest warmth that it fairly melted Emily’s heart. “A woman can never look ugly when she is brimming with life.”

      Emily couldn’t break her gaze from those incredibly warm eyes. She didn’t want to. All of a sudden, instead of feeling like an awkward, overgrown sow, she felt like a swan, all featherlight and full of grace.

      “Go,” he said. “Before I kiss you.” He angled his head toward the door of the saloon.

      Suddenly Emily couldn’t think of anything in the world she wanted more than for John to kiss her….

      Dear Reader,

      Much of the beauty of romance novels is that most are written by women for women, and feature strong and passionate heroines. We have some stellar authors this month who bring to life those intrepid women we love as they engage in relationships with the men we also love!

      Mary McBride’s poetic voice and powerful stories have won her numerous historical romance fans. And with the recent debut of her first contemporary romance from Silhouette, Mary’s audience keeps expanding. Bandera’s Bride is a heartwarming Western about two misfits who fall in love through letters. But when Southern belle Emily Russell, now pregnant, decides to travel to Texas to propose marriage to her letter lover, she finds only his half-breed partner, John Bandera. Neither dreams of achieving the other’s love—only they magically do.

      Susan Amarillas brings us a new Western, Molly’s Hero, a tale of forbidden love between a—married?—female rancher and the handsome railroad builder who desperately needs her land. In The Viking’s Heart, a medieval novel by rising talent Jacqueline Navin, Rosamund Clavier is the proud noblewoman who falls in love with the fierce Viking sent to escort her to her own arranged marriage. Will she choose love or duty?

      And don’t miss My Lady’s Dare, by the sensational Gayle Wilson. This Regency-set tale will grab you and not let go as the Earl of Dare becomes fascinated by another man’s mistress. Nothing is as it seems in this dangerous game of espionage and love!

      Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance.

      Sincerely,

      Tracy Farrell,

      Senior Editor

      Bandera’s Bride

      Mary McBride

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Available from Harlequin Historicals and MARY MCBRIDE

      Riverbend #164

      Fly Away Home #189

      The Fourth of Forever #221

      The Sugarman #237

      The Gunslinger #256

      Forever and a Day #294

      Darling Jack #323

      Quicksilver’s Catch #375

      Storming Paradise #424

      The Marriage Knot #465

      Bandera’s Bride #517

      Other works include:

      Harlequin Books

      Outlaw Brides

      “The Ballad of Josie Dove”

      Silhouette Intimate Moments

      Just One Look #966

      For the men in my life—Leslie, Loren and Merit

      Contents

       Prologue

       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

       Epilogue

      Prologue

      Texas, 1866

      It wasn’t a perfect partnership, the one between the Southerner, Price McDaniel, and the half-breed, John Bandera. It was as far from perfect as the rugged landscape of south Texas was from the gentle hills of Russell County, Mississippi. The two men had almost nothing in common.

      Physically, they were as mismatched as daylight and dark. McDaniel was a slight man with hair as fair as corn silk. John Bandera, the dark half of the equation, had bronze skin and cast-iron black hair. Part Comanche, part Mexican, and part anybody’s guess, he was imposing in size alone, but it was his amber, catlike gaze that kept most men at a wary distance. His partner, Price McDaniel, was usually too drunk to be cautious.

      When drunk, which was often, Price was a man given to lengthy proclamations uttered in a drawl that was one third Mississippi and the rest pure Tennessee whiskey. John Bandera rarely drank and said little in return.

      The two men didn’t even particularly like each other. Still, they were partners, bound by a single and uncharacteristic burst of heroism at the Cimarron Crossing in 1864 when Lieutenant McDaniel had saved Scout Bandera’s life.

      Despite their differences, the partnership—thus far—had proven beneficial for both of them. The year before, after being mustered