Danielle found herself staring into a striking pair of eyes that mirrored the color of the infinite blue Wyoming sky. Letter to Reader Title Page Dedication About the Author Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Teaser chapter Copyright
Danielle found herself staring into a striking pair of eyes that mirrored the color of the infinite blue Wyoming sky.
Atop a magnificent black-and-white Appaloosa sat a long-legged, slim-hipped cowboy regarding her with unconcealed amusement. He looked well over six feet tall in the saddle. Besides an infectious grin, he wore a plaid Western-cut shirt with pearl snap buttons and a pair of faded jeans that sinfully molded to the lower half of his body. One glance alone told her that this was not a man who was merely playing the part of a cowboy for the sake of a Prairie Scout Jamboree. Indeed, it was no dime-store cowboy who was so intent on stealing her seat out from under her. He was one hundred percent pure cowboy.
And she was one hundred percent mesmerized.
Dear Reader,
Silhouette Romance is celebrating the month of valentines with six very special love stories—and three brand-new miniseries you don’t want to miss. On Baby Patrol, our BUNDLE OF JOY selection, by bestselling author Sharon De Vita, is book one of her wonderful series, LULLABIES AND LOVE, about a legendary cradle that brings love to three brothers who are officers of the law.
In Granted: Big Sky Groom, Carol Grace begins her sparkling new series, BEST-KEPT WISHES, in which three high school friends’ prom-night wishes are finally about to be granted. Author Julianna Morris tells the delightful story of a handsome doctor whose life is turned topsy-turvy when he becomes the guardian of his orphaned niece in Dr. Dad. And in Cathleen Galitz’s spirited tale, 100% Pure Cowboy, a woman returns home from a mother-daughter bonding trip with the husband of her dreams.
Next is Corporate Groom, which starts Linda Varner’s terrific new miniseries, THREE WEDDINGS AND A FAMILY, about long-lost relatives who find a family. And finally, in With This Child..., Sally Carleen tells the compelling story of a woman whose baby was switched at birth—and the single father who will do anything to keep his child.
I hope you enjoy all six of Silhouette Romance’s love stories this month. And next month, in March, be sure to look for The Princess Bride by bestselling author Diana Palmer, which launches Silhouette Romance’s new monthly promotional miniseries, VIRGIN BRIDES.
Regards,
Joan Marlow Golan Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
100% Pure Cowboy
Cathleen Galitz
To Mom and Dad who raised us with love and kindness
and a generous dollop of humor. Your love for one another is an inspiration to us all.
CATHLEEN GALITZ,
a Wyoming native, teaches English to students in grades seven to twelve in a rural school that houses kindergaftners and seniors in the same building. She lives in a small Wyoming town with her husband and two children. When she’s not busy writing, teaching or working with her Cub Scout den, she can most often be found hiking or snowmobiling in the Wind River Mountains.
Chapter One
What have I let myself in for? Danielle Herte asked herself for the millionth time that day.
Her aquamarine eyes widened at the scene that seemingly transported her back in time to the opening of the American West. Almost a hundred girls wearing long skirts were engaged in a myriad of activities: some cooking over open fires, some quilting, some braiding one another’s hair, the heartier among them tossing tomahawks at stumps set up for target practice. In the background, a string of covered wagons stretched across the horizon like so many billowing sheets hung out to dry.
Blinking hard, Danielle reminded herself that this was the present, not the past, a fact driven home by the repetitious pounding of a rap song blaring unceasingly from a boom box in the back of the van. Before embarking upon the four hour drive from Denver, Danielle hadn’t realized that en masse, girls her daughter’s age communicated at one volume only—full blast. Assuming that it was a blessing she was unable to make out most of the lyrics, Danielle swallowed her last aspirin before her car limped into the tiny, windblown wayside known as Muddy Gap, Wyoming.
Unbelievably, this insignificant dot on the road managed to prove even more unappealing than its name. Wondering why anyone had even bothered to name the place at all, Danielle switched off the ignition and announced with a false note of cheer, “Everybody out. We’re here!”
Instantly, ten boisterous, adolescent girls spilled out of the van eager to immerse themselves in this mock site of an 1850s wagon train. The first one out, a leggy brunette with a pageboy bob and pretty but uncertain eyes, held an old-fashioned bonnet in her hands.
“Put this on, Mom,” Lynn insisted. “Plee-eease...” Added as an afterthought, the obligatory courtesy typified Danielle’s daughter. At thirteen, her sweet little girl was blossoming into a hormonally driven bundle of contradictions—at one moment mature beyond her years, at others hotly embarrassed to be so much as caught in her mother’s company. Even Danielle’s impetuous decision to update her look with a store-bought rinse that promised to make her feel young and carefree again had been perceived by her daughter as a deliberate act to sabotage the precarious status she held among her peers.
What it actually had been was a symbolic act of casting off the old and donning a new life; one devoid of a domineering husband, who for well over a decade had wielded complete control over Danielle. Not only had Scott selected