A Cowboy's Heart. Liz Ireland

      

      “I guess it’s a little silly to be discussing all this with you,” Will said. “I doubt you’ve ever fallen in or out of love.” Letter to Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication 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 Epilogue Copyright

      “I guess it’s a little silly to be discussing all this with you,” Will said. “I doubt you’ve ever fallen in or out of love.”

      The words rubbed Paulie’s fur the wrong way. Why was Will blind to the fact that she’d been crazy about him for years?

      Never been in love? How could he just assume such a thing?

      “That just shows how smart you are!” she said tartly.

      “You don’t know the first thing about me; Will!”

      He turned to her, his eyes wide with surprise. “Well, have you?”

      Now that she’d started, she wasn’t going to back down. “If you must know, I have,” she said, tossing her head back defiantly. “Deeply in love.”

      “Who is the object of all this love you claim to have stored up? Is it somebody I know?”

      “I’d say you know him pretty well, Will Brockett,” she said. “In fact, sometimes I think it’s the person you care most about in the world!”

      Dear Reader,

      Heroes come in many forms, as this month’s books prove—from the roguish knight and the wealthy marquess to the potent gunslinger and the handsome cowboy.

      Handsome wrangler Will Brockett will lasso your affection in A Cowboy’s Heart, a darling new Western by award-winning author Liz Ireland, who writes both historical and contemporary romances for Harlequin. Be prepared to laugh out loud as you watch the guilt-ridden Will try to rescue the fiancée he jilted, with the help of a plucky tomboy who is determined to have him notice her. Don’t miss the sparks flying!

      Fans of roguish knights will adore Ross Lion Sutherland and the lovely female clan leader he sets his sights on in Taming the Lion, the riveting new SUTHERLAND SERIES medieval novel by the talented Suzanne Barclay. You must meet Nicholas Stanhope, the magnificent Marquess of Englemere in The Wedding Gamble by newcomer Julia Justiss. Keep some hankies near as the tension builds between two friends who “marry for convenience” and must deny their love.

      Rounding out the month is the irresistible Sheriff Delaney, a mysterious ex-gunslinger who inherits a house—and a lovely young widow—in The Marriage Knot by Mary McBride.

      Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historicals^® novel.

      Sincerely,

      Tracy Farrell

      Senior Editor

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Harlequin Reader Service

      U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

      Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

      A Cowboy’s Heart

      Liz Ireland

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      LIZ IRELAND

      lives in her native state of Texas, a place she feels gives her a never-ending supply of colorful characters. Aside from writing romance novels and tending to two very demanding cats and a guard dachshund, she enjoys spending time reading history or cozying up with an old movie.

      For James and Dana and Will

      Chapter One

      South Texas, 1883

      Trip Peabody would have trouble staying on a horse if somebody glued him onto the saddle. At least, that was Paulie Johnson’s assessment of the man’s abilities as she watched Trip limp back into Possum Trot leading Feather by the reins. The man just didn’t have the gift of balance. Staying permanently upright, whether on horseback or afoot, was a skill he had never been able to perfect.

      Paulie, who had been tilting back in her chair on the porch of the Dry Wallow saloon, enjoying the brisk winter morning, brought the front legs of her chair down with a crash and hopped to her feet. “Land’s sake, Trip,” she called out. “Don’t tell me you walked Feather all the way to Fort Stockton and back.”

      Trip let out one of his thin wheezes that passed for a laugh. “Couldn’t have made it back this fast if I had, now could I?”

      She had sent Trip off four days ago to deposit the Dry Wallow’s money in a bank in Fort Stockton, and to see when they might be getting some whiskey. If not soon, she would have to take a wagon and go fetch some herself. Supplies were low—down to tequila, mostly—and she’d already raised the prices high enough that men were starting to grumble. She didn’t want a riot on her hands.

      But she wasn’t much fond of travelling, either. Maybe Trip had good news. “I hope that horse threw you because you had other things on your mind—like where we’re gonna put all the whiskey that’s comin’ our way.”

      Trip shook his head. “Nope.”

      Paulie sighed. “Darn that old fool, Oat Murphy!”

      Oat, their whiskey trader since Paulie’s father had started the saloon at the end of the war, had gone and gotten himself married. And not just married to anybody, but to Mary Ann Redfern, the prettiest, most sought-after girl for sixty miles. This was an especially amazing feat considering that Oat, who was on the sad side of sixty, had no teeth and a curmudgeonly personality; and the last time Paulie had seen him, the man looked like he hadn’t said hello to a cake of soap since Christmas.

      “It’s still the talk all along the road, Paulie,” Trip informed her, as if she needed to be told. Oat’s marital windfall would be big news around these parts for years. “Heck, people talk about Oat marryin’ almost