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UNDER THE RANCHER’S PROTECTION
Someone is dead set on stopping Shelby Arroyo from doing her job: assessing mineral rights in a mine in gold country. But after rancher Barrett Thorn rescues her from an attack, the handsome widowed cowboy seems to feel responsible for her. That is, until he discovers she’s from the family that he’ll never forgive for his wife’s death. As the threats against Shelby escalate, cowboy honor and an unexpected attraction keep Barrett by her side, even at his own risk. And since Shelby won’t back down, Barrett must protect the brave, loyal woman he has no business falling for...a woman someone wants to kill by Christmas.
“What just happened?” Shelby demanded.
“Dynamite.”
She gave Barrett an incredulous look. “Dynamite? As in TNT?”
He nodded. “Plenty left around here from the mining days.”
“Why would someone light up a stick and toss it at me? It has to be the guy who threatened me.”
“Maybe, unless you’ve angered somebody else.”
She folded her arms and skewered him with such a look of disdain it almost made him smile.
Whatever she had or hadn’t done, it wasn’t his business. Yet once again, he found himself trying to extricate her from a pile of trouble.
“What makes you think it’s not the man who threatened me?” she said.
“Doesn’t seem like a rational thing for him to do.”
“He threatened to kill me recently, if you remember.”
“Words don’t mean much. My father believes him to be an honorable man, deep down.”
She met his eyes, her own glimmering with unreadable emotion. “I admire that kind of familial respect.”
Something was under those words, something deep and painful and raw.
What is it about cowboy heroes? There’s a mystique about the hardworking cowboy, the tough, honorable, God-fearing man who isn’t afraid to speak the truth or fight for his family honor. I am thrilled to bring you this new series featuring the Thorn family—four brothers who will face any danger to protect their beloved Gold Bar Ranch and the women whom they will come to love along the way.
In this first installment in the series, Barrett Thorn must come face-to-face with his inability to forgive those who were responsible for the death of his wife. It’s a struggle for a man with a deep faith, who knows what God wants from him. In the course of the novel, he’ll meet a woman who challenges his beliefs and his feelings, as they both seek to solve a mystery and stay alive.
Thank you for coming on this new journey into cowboy country! I hope you will enjoy riding along with me. As always, I am blessed to hear from my readers. You can contact me via my website at www.danamentink.com and there is also a physical address there if you’d like to write. God bless you, my friends, and welcome to Gold Country!
Sincerely,
Dana Mentink
DANA MENTINK is an award-winning author of Christian fiction. Her novel Betrayal in the Badlands won a 2010 RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award, and she was pleased to win the 2013 Carol Award for Lost Legacy. She has authored more than a dozen Love Inspired Suspense novels. Dana loves feedback from her readers. Contact her via her website at danamentink.com.
Cowboy Christmas Guardian
Dana Mentink
MILLS & BOON
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And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
—Romans 8:28
This book is dedicated to Phil and Nancy Fay, horse lovers, baseball fans and faithful servants.
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