Gambling Hearts

1875- Kansas

On her mother’s deathbed, Madalyn Sullivan promised to live an exemplary life, especially when it came to matters of the heart. Because her charming, gambling addicted father had abandoned his wife and daughter, she understands her mother’s dying wish.

Ten years later, Madalyn has become a schoolteacher. But she never expects her carefully ordered world to be rocked off it’s axis by Caine Sinclair, while sitting on a crowded, dusty stagecoach. The charming southern gentleman with the sinister good looks and gunmetal gray eyes is a professional gambler, and he intends to ply his trade in her hometown of Southwell, Kansas. Instantly, the two spar while dealing with their unwanted attraction. When their stagecoach is robbed and Madalyn is kidnapped, it is Caine who rides to the rescue with the aide of a deck of cards! It isn’t long before their attraction sizzles to the surface, and Madalyn must decide if she can trust a gambler with her heart!

• Finalist- New England Romance Writers 2003 First Kiss Contest

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Taming the Wolf

1878- New Mexico Territory

Taylor Anderson has been raising her younger siblings and running a small cattle ranch for eight years. Afraid to trust a man, she has kept the ranch successful by hiring teenaged ranch hands, and occasionally adopting the disguise of her fictional foreman, Wolf Santiago. When a local cattle baron rustles some of her herd, Taylor turns to her disguise and reclaims her stock without drawing a single shot. Shortly after, she and her ranch hands are investigated for cattle rustling by U.S. Marshal Cole Spencer.

Both frightened and fascinated by the tall, arrogant marshal, Taylor fights her attraction with what she believes to be her greatest weapon, Wolf Santiago. However, she soon learns that Cole Spencer has vowed to not only rid her life of her trouble-making foreman, but to tame her fears and make her his lover, his confidant, and ultimately, his wife.

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An Unlikely Countess

1330- Linden Manor- England

On a fine day in June, Alexandra Martin is beyond the boundary of the manor she’s required to serve. Disguised as a young man, she risks discovery when she saves the life of Julian Trehern, 3rd Earl of Rexford, the lord of Linden Manor. Instead of the punishment she expects, the earl offers to elevate her from a villein to his squire. Fascinated with the arrogant, devilishly handsome earl, she agrees.

Alexandra soon recognizes that she must confess her identity, but a rival exposes her first. Frightened and beaten by the manor’s bailiff, she manages to run away to a neighboring town. However, Julian has already vowed to catch her, heal her, and make her his mistress. Reluctant at first, she is seduced by his unquestionable strength and intense lovemaking. But she soon wonders if their love is strong enough to breach the boundaries between nobles and commoners, and give way to a marriage of the heart.

• Second Place - Utah Chapter of Romance Writers of America-
  Heart of the West 2004 Writer’s Contest