Good Husband Material. Susan Mallery

      This couldn’t be happening to her, Kari thought.

      Gage Reynolds had just walked back into her life. Right in the middle of a bank robbery…With a robber’s gun pressed to her temple!

      Eight years ago, Gage was her beloved, a young deputy, tall and handsome in his khaki uniform. He was still good-looking enough to make an angel want to sin. And now he was the sheriff of Possum Landing, judging by the badge on his shirt.

      His dark eyes gleamed with interest at what he saw. “You know,” he casually told the gunman, “that’s Kari Asbury. The one who got away.” He continued easily. “Eight years ago, that pretty lady there left me standing at the altar.”

      The bank robber glared at her. “That wasn’t very nice. You want me to shoot her, Sheriff?”

      Gage shrugged. “That’s mighty neighborly of you…but I think I’d rather deal with her in my own way.”

      Kari gasped. Obviously, coming back to placid Possum Landing was going to be a whole lot more complicated than she’d thought….

      Dear Reader,

      A rewarding part of any woman’s life is talking with friends about important issues. Because of this, we’ve developed the Readers’ Ring, a book club that facilitates discussions of love, life and family. Of course, you’ll find all of these topics wrapped up in each Silhouette Special Edition novel! Our featured author for this month’s Readers’ Ring is newcomer Elissa Ambrose. Journey of the Heart (#1506) is a poignant story of true love and survival when the odds are against you. This is a five-tissue story you won’t be able to put down!

      Susan Mallery delights us with another tale from her HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS series. Good Husband Material (#1501) begins with two star-crossed lovers and an ill-fated wedding. Years later, they realize their love is as strong as ever! Don’t wait to pick up Cattleman’s Honor (#1502), the second book in Pamela Toth’s WINCHESTER BRIDES series. In this book, a divorced single mom comes to Colorado to start a new life—and winds up falling into the arms of a rugged rancher. What a way to go!

      Victoria Pade begins her new series, BABY TIMES THREE, with a heartfelt look at unexpected romance, in Her Baby Secret (#1503)—in which an independent woman wants to have a child, and after a night of wicked passion with a handsome businessman, her wish comes true! You’ll see that there’s more than one way to start a family in Christine Flynn’s Suddenly Family (#1504), in which two single parents who are wary of love find it—with each other! And you’ll want to learn the facts in What a Woman Wants (#1505), by Tori Carrington. In this tantalizing tale, a beautiful widow discovers she’s pregnant with her late husband’s best friend’s baby!

      As you can see, we have nights of passion, reunion romances, babies and heart-thumping emotion packed into each of these special stories from Silhouette Special Edition.

      Happy reading!

      Karen Taylor Richman

      Senior Editor

      Good Husband Material

      Susan Mallery

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      SUSAN MALLERY

      is the bestselling author of nearly fifty books for Harlequin and Silhouette Books. She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her handsome prince of a husband and her two adorable-but-not-bright cats.

      Dear Reader,

      What is it about old friends? It doesn’t seem to matter how much time passes or what changes there have been in our lives—being with old friends renews the spirit, while reminding us of where we used to be and how far we’ve come.

      Some of my book characters are like old friends—scary but true. ? One of my most successful series at Silhouette Special Edition features the Haynes family—four brothers, a half sister and a close friend. Over the course of six books, they each met their perfect match, fell in love and reaffirmed the bonds of family and marriage. I hated to say goodbye to them. Almost as soon as I finished the last book, I had the idea of going back to them someday.

      That day is here. Welcome to my HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS, part two. If you are new to the series, don’t worry. These books stand alone. If you are a fan of HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS, then I hope you will enjoy visiting old friends, while making new ones.

      Two sets of brothers are about to have their worlds changed forever. They will find out they are not who they thought they were and begin a journey of self-discovery that will lead to love and a family they knew nothing about. Like the other Haynes men, these men respect the rules of the land and risk their lives to enforce them. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word.

      These books are special to me, and I hope you will find the stories touch your heart, as well.

      Best,

      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 One

      Kari Asbury fully expected to have trouble cashing her out-of-state check, she just didn’t think she would have to put her life on the line to do it.

      It wasn’t just that the check was drawn from a bank in big, bad New York City; it was that her driver’s license was also from that East Coast state. Ida Mae Montel would want to know why a girl born and raised in Possum Landing, Texas, would willingly run off to a place like that…a place with Yankees. And if a girl had to do such a thing, why on earth would she give up her Texas driver’s license? Didn’t everyone want to be from the Lone Star State?

      No doubt Sue Ellen Boudine, the bank manager, would mosey on over to examine the check, all the while holding it like it was attached to a poisonous snake. They’d make a few calls (probably to friends, letting them know that Kari was back in town and with a New York driver’s license, of all things), they’d hem and haw, and sigh heavily. Then they’d give Kari the money. Oh, but first they’d try to talk her into opening an account right there at the First Bank of Possum Landing.

      Kari hesitated in front of the double glass doors, trying to figure out if she really needed the cash that badly. Maybe it would be better to pay the service fee and get the money out of the ATM machine. Then she reminded herself that the quicker everyone realized she’d returned to town for a very temporary visit, the quicker all the questions would be asked and answered. Then maybe she could have a little peace. Maybe.

      There was the added thrill of finding out if Ida Mae still wore her hair in a beehive. How much hair spray did that upswept style require? Kari knew for a fact that Ida Mae only had her hair done once a week, yet it looked exactly the same on day seven as it did on day one.

      Still smiling at the memory of Ida Mae’s coiffure, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. She paused just past the threshold and waited for the shrieks of welcome and the group hug that would follow.

      Nothing happened.

      Kari frowned.