Wedding Planner Tames Rancher!. Pamela Ingrahm

      “I’m Not Wearing A Tuxedo.” 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 Epilogue Copyright

      “I’m Not Wearing A Tuxedo.”

      “I can understand how you feel, Wade, but it’s your only child’s wedding.”

      

      “I’ll give Myra Jo the full three-ring circus, but I won’t play the trained bear for anybody. I’m no weekend cowboy, Leah, thinking I’m a rancher because I own a few acres and run a few head. I work my land and my herds. My hands get dirty and my boots aren’t for show.”

      

      Wade suddenly looked weary, and Leah felt her heart pull. Whatever the reason, it was clear a battle would wage to put some shine on a man who wore his humble beginnings like a badge of honor.

      

      “So...have I scared you off?”

      

      “Nope.” She held out her hand. “You may have met your match....”

      Dear Reader,

      

      THE BLACK WATCH returns! The men you found so intriguing are now joined by women who are also part of this secret organization created by BJ James. Look for them in Whispers in the Dark, this month’s MAN OF THE MONTH.

      

      Leanne Banks’s delightful miniseries HOW TO CATCH A PRINCESS—all about three childhood friends who kiss a lot of frogs before they each meet their handsome prince—continues with The You-Can’t-Make-Me Bride. And Elizabeth Bevarly’s series THE FAMILY McCORMICK concludes with Georgia Meets Her Groom. Romance blooms as the McCormick family is finally reunited.

      

      Peggy Moreland’s tantalizing miniseries TROUBLE IN TEXAS begins this month with Marry Me, Cowboy. When the men of Temptation, Texas, decide they want wives, they find them the newfangled way—they advertise!

      

      A Western from Jackie Merritt is always a treat, so I’m excited about this month’s Wind River Ranch—it’s ultrasensuous and totally compelling. And the month is completed with Wedding Planner Tames Rancher!, an engaging romp by Pamela Ingrahm. There’s nothing better than curling up with a Silhouette Desire book, so enjoy!

      

      Regards,

      Senior Editor

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

      Wedding Planner Tames Rancher!

      Pamela Ingrahm

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      PAMELA INGRAHM

       lives in Austin, Texas, with the man of her dreams and their two children. She’s added to the mix one dog that thinks the human race was put here to love her, and Pamela swears she’s not doing anything to foster that notion. She also tells all who will listen how wonderful it is to live your dream.

      In loving memory of my mother, Myra D‘Etcheverry.

      To my daddy, J. Romeo D’Etcheveny, and Judy—I wish you two lovebirds every happiness. To Adrienne—You are a friend beyond measure. Thanks for all your love and support. To “The Girls”—Pat, Cara, Janet and Adrienne—bar none, you are the best critique group in the world!

      One

      “Has he been by yet?”

      “Nope,” Leah Houston answered her partner, hoping Rhonda missed the nervous jump the mere mention of him evoked. She kept her eyes on the new publicity photo for Brides and Babies, her business and her pride and joy.

      “What’s that?” Rhonda set down the soft drinks she’d just purchased and straightened the curtains separating the little storage area where they sat from the display area. The strips of satin hid the paraphernalia they had transported from the boutique to the convention center for the bridal fair.

      Leah took a grateful sip of cola and dabbed a bead of perspiration from her forehead. Although the convention center was air-conditioned—something of a necessity for Austin in June—she was still feeling the effects of the heat.

      She handed over the photo to Rhonda and waited. Brides and Babies was her brainchild, and she had nurtured it from a one-person operation to its present staff of nine. Rhonda had been with her the longest—six years now—and covered the “and Babies” side of things.

      “This will look wonderful on the new brochures,” Rhonda said as she cocked her head sideways, making the long, silky blond hair Leah would have given her eyeteeth to have cascade off one shoulder. “Your dad would be so proud.”

      Leah managed a smile. Her father had died when she was twelve, but even at that young age he had instilled in her the need to “be” someone someday.

      “I hope so. He wanted so much more for himself, but with my mom having kids every eighteen months, or thereabouts, he had to work two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. I think he had dreams and passed the torch to me.”

      “You certainly ran with it. Of course, when you came up with the cockamamy idea of putting a baby boutique around the corner from the bridal shop, I thought you were a certifiable lunatic.”

      “Thanks for the rousing vote of confidence.”

      “I hate to admit it,” Rhonda confessed, “but it was a good thing you didn’t listen to me.”

      “I listened,” Leah protested innocently. “I just didn’t pay attention.”

      Rhonda rolled her eyes and shook her head despairingly, but in the next moment all teasing was gone.

      “You are going to take the Mackey wedding, though, aren’t you? I mean, you’ve worked with Myra Jo before, so you know she’ll be fun. And you have to admit, being around her sexy, single daddy would have some...interesting... advantages.”

      Leah grimaced. “I don’t have to admit any such thing, and Wade