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      Dear Reader,

      Welcome back to the Last Chance Ranch! The town of Shoshone, a small community that’s part of the Jackson Hole region in Wyoming, is celebrating the Fourth of July, and the Last Chance always has an entry in the parade. So let’s grab a lawn chair and stake out a spot along Main Street.

      There’s nothing like a parade on the Fourth to stir up a little patriotism! And what represents the spirit of this fine country better than cowboys in snug jeans riding magnificent horses? Save me a seat, because I don’t want to miss a thing, especially when the Last Chance entry arrives.

      All three Chance men plan to ride those spectacular registered Paints they breed at the ranch. Jack, the oldest, will be mounted on his black and white stallion Bandit, while Nick, the middle son, has chosen his dad’s favorite, a butterscotch Paint named Gold Rush. Gabe, the youngest, will no doubt be riding Top Drawer, a handsome roan Paint.

      Nick’s fiancée Dominique is in town for the long weekend, but Jack and Gabe are still unattached. As they ride by, you may hear sighs of longing from the single women along the parade route. It’s understandable that they’d entertain a few fantasies about the Chance men. After all, guys like these are what made the USA great. Come on, the parade’s about to start!

      Patriotically yours,

      Vicki

       Harlequin Mills & Boon® is thrilled to welcome Vicki Lewis Thompson back to Blaze®.

       Look what people are saying about this talented author’s latest works …

      “Vicki Lewis Thompson gives readers

      a sexy, funny tale.” —Romance Reviews Today on Better Naughty than Nice

      “Hang on for the ride of your life … I could

      not put this book down!” —Night Owl Reviews on Blonde with a Wand

      “If you thought Over Hexed was phenomenal, wait until you read Wild & Hexy!…. a rip-roaring good time.” —Romance Junkies

      “The same trademark blend of comedy and heart that

      won Thompson’s Nerd series a loyal following.” —Publishers Weekly on Over Hexed

      “Thompson mixes magic, small-town quirkiness, and

      passionate sex for a winsome effect.” —Booklist on Over Hexed

      About the Author

      New York Times bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON has been writing books for a few (cough, cough) years now, and she has a Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from Romance Writers of America to prove it. Turns out that after all these years and all these books, the process is as exciting and challenging as ever. In other words, the hundred-and-first book is no easier to write than the first! And she wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a great job and somebody has to do it. She feels lucky that she’s been allowed to share her fantasy world with readers everywhere.

      AMBUSHED!

      

      VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

      

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To the undaunted residents of Summerhaven, a small mountain town in Arizona that survived a devastating forest fire in 2004 and has proudly risen from the ashes. Your annual Fourth of July parade is a testament to your resilience and creativity.

       Prologue

       June 3, 1937

       From the diary of Eleanor Chance

      WHO WOULD have thought sex in a hayloft could be so much fun? Or that I’d be happy living in a barn? But the barn was in better shape than the house when we arrived at the Last Chance Ranch a month ago, so Archie and I took the hayloft for our bedroom and my brother Seth sleeps in one of the stalls down below.

      I won’t pretend the past month’s been easy for me, what with learning to be a bride and a carpenter all at once. Archie says I’m pretty good at being a bride. The two of us burn up the sheets in our makeshift bed. But even Archie, who loves me dearly, admits I’m a little less talented as a carpenter.

      Fortunately Seth is better at that skill than I am. Between Archie and Seth’s efforts and my puny contributions, we’ve made a temporary home out of the barn and have a start on building a house. We tore down the old one, with much hooting and hollering because it was such an eyesore. If we work like beavers we might have the house done before the first snow, which would be nice. Winters are hard in Jackson Hole, and besides, I’d like to celebrate Christmas in a real house instead of a barn.

      Even though I’m not so great with a hammer, my sewing has helped us out. I made a wedding dress for a nearby rancher’s daughter and took a cow in payment. The barter system works well here, and eventually I hope to stitch my way to another four-legged critter. This time I want a bull. Archie and I are holding off starting a family until we have an income-producing cattle herd.

      More news—Seth has taken a liking to Joyce, the woman who owns the Rusty Spur Saloon in nearby Shoshone. Seth can’t afford but one beer a night, so he makes it last and flirts like crazy with Joyce.

      She’s a good woman and I know Seth is looking for the same kind of happiness Archie and I have. Archie’s given me a nickname. He calls me Nelsie. I like it.

      In between the carpentering, Archie helped me plant a vegetable garden. We’re out in the middle of nowhere, so he had to fence it to keep out the rabbits and deer. The tomato vines have blossomed and carrot tops are waving in the breeze.

      It’s funny, but that garden seems almost as important as having a roof over my head. I feel like I’m putting down roots right along with the vegetables. Against all odds, we’re building a life here. I do believe this is where we are meant to be.

      1

       Present Day

      GABE CHANCE hadn’t expected to get all choked up over riding in Shoshone’s annual Fourth of July parade. For the past ten years he’d spent summers competing in cutting-horse events and hadn’t been home to take part in this nonsense. But he was home now and it was the first parade without his dad. Milling around the staging area without Jonathan Chance barking orders seemed plain wrong.

      His two older brothers were pretending they weren’t affected. That was easier for Jack, who was four years ahead of Gabe and eons ahead of the human race in his ability to hide his feelings. Nick was struggling a bit. Gabe could see it in his green eyes. As for their mom—well, Sarah had chosen to wear shades for the occasion. Good call.

      Thank God Jack had vetoed Nick’s typically sappy idea of tying Gold Rush, their dad’s butterscotch paint, behind the Last Chance wagon driven by Emmett Sterling, the ranch foreman. Talk about maudlin. As a compromise, Nick was riding Gold Rush, because a Fourth of July parade wouldn’t seem right without that flashy horse prancing down Main Street.

      Nick kept close to the wagon because his main squeeze, Dominique Jeffries, was riding in it. She was a photographer based in Indiana and was only here for the long weekend, but from the way those two lovebirds were acting, Gabe predicted she’d soon relocate.

      Naturally she was shooting a bunch of pictures of Nick on that horse. She’d never met their dad, so she had