A Cowboy's Angel. Pamela Britton

      Uneasy Allies

      Mariah Stewart has a passion—to save racehorses from slaughter once they’re done racing. Zach Johnson has a passion, too—raising winners. Mariah and her protests are one more annoyance on a list that may cost him his family stables. And when his best horse goes down, she pesters him about his plans for it. The thing is, Mariah is also a vet. Her crazy proposal to save Dasher might work, and what does Zach have to lose?

      Only his sanity! Maybe his determined bachelorhood, too. Because Mariah just…gets under his skin. Zach knows she feels it—she heats up every time he’s near. But is the attraction between them enough to set aside everything they believe in?

      Zach almost laughed. And she still wouldn’t look at him, and that’s when he knew. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Mariah Stewart found him attractive.

      Well, well, well.

      Little miss animal rights activist was hot for him. He wasn’t sure if he should be flattered…or scared.

      “Don’t worry,” he said softly, closing the distance between them and tipping her chin up.

      She gasped.

      He tried not to laugh. He had no idea why he did it except maybe he supposed it had something to do with the number of times she’d driven him insane with her actions and her comments and her innuendos and assumptions.

      He pretended to examine her. “Your eyes aren’t dilated or glazed over, so no hypoglycemia.”

      “That’s good,” she said softly.

      “But if you fall down, I’ll catch you.”

      He released her, and she blinked. He smiled. Oh, yeah. She found him attractive all right.

      So what are you going to do about it?

      Drive her crazy. Completely and utterly crazy. Maybe then she’d leave him alone.

      Dear Reader,

      Usually my book ideas are the result of a conversation I’ve overheard, or an idea suggested by a friend, but that wasn’t the case with A Cowboy's Angel. As a reporter for a local newspaper I was writing a story on the horse slaughter industry and its connection to horse racing. As I was working on the article I found myself thinking: What if?

      What if a race horse owner met an activist? What if that activist hated horse racing? What if against all odds they started to fall in love?

      I am a sucker for a horse tale. Throw in a hero with a passion for animals and I’m there. I had to pit that hero against a woman as outspoken as she was beautiful, but the resulting story, A Cowboy’s Angel, the first book in a series set in the fictional town of Via Del Caballo, is everything I always strive for in a tale. Fun. Fast-paced and, most of all, a fabulous love story…or so I hope.

      You might be interested to know that I own a horse that came from a horse slaughter auction. I recently won my first buckle with that horse—proof that even our four-legged friends can have a happily ever after.

      Best,

      Pam

      P.S. Look for Jillian’s story next!

      A Cowboy’s Angel

      Pamela Britton

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      With over a million books in print, PAMELA BRITTON likes to call herself the best-known author nobody’s ever heard of. Of course, that changed thanks to a certain licensing agreement with that little racing organization known as NASCAR.

      But before the glitz and glamour of NASCAR, Pamela wrote books that were frequently voted the best of the best by the Detroit Free Press, Barnes & Noble (two years in a row) and RT Book Reviews. She’s won numerous awards, including a National Readers’ Choice Award and a nomination for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® Award.

      When not writing books, Pamela is a reporter for a local newspaper. She’s also a columnist for the American Quarter Horse Journal.

      For Julie Craycroft

      For sending Tiffany boxes, Halloween stickers, Christmas presents, and so many other things over the years. Thank you, Nanna. I can’t tell you how much your little packages mean to my child. Without you she wouldn’t know what it was like to have a grandmother. Thank you so much for stepping in and showing her the meaning of selfless love.

      Contents

       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

       Chapter Twenty

       Extract

      Chapter One

      “So you’re just going to kill the horse?”

      Zach Johnson groaned.

      “Couldn’t you at least try to rehab him or something?”

      Could this day get any worse?

      He glanced at Doc Miller and his groom, Pat, their own faces frozen in what could only be called consternation. Nearby, horses stabled along the backstretch of Golden Downs raceway watched, too, with ears pricked forward as if curious what he would do.

      Go ahead. Turn around, they seemed to say.

      He didn’t want to. He really didn’t, but he knew if he ignored Mariah Stewart, she’d just come right around the front of him