Western Womens Fiction

Years in the Army equipped Bailey Masterson for many things: target shooting, rappelling off cliffs, dodging grenades. She's lived through horrors that still give her nightmares. But nothing in Bailey's life-or-death training prepared her for caring for the tiny terror that is five-year-old Olivia Hale. Or how to control her raging attraction to Olivia's father, Streeter, the rugged, green-eyed cattle rancher who undermines her every move even when he stars in her dreams.

Maverick Callahan lives up to his reputation as a freewheeling cowboy. But a year ago he fell head-over-heels for an extraordinary woman he met while on vacation, a woman he was convinced he'd never see again. So when she appears on his doorstep like a Christmas miracle, Maverick is determined not to waste his lucky break.

Ariana loves her life as a schoolteacher in a little frontier town. But one evening after classes are done and she prepares to hurry home, her life changes in an instant when a band of rough outlaws abduct her and take her far away from all she has ever known. Trapped in a small shack, Ariana prays and waits, her emotions swinging between terror and boredom as days stretch into weeks. Still, the outlaws refuse to tell her why they've taken her or what they plan to do. Then the boss' son appears in the doorway of her cabin.

Lainie Capshaw has been servicing injured cowboys long enough to know that a charming Western drawl combined with a fine physical form doesn't mean you should fall for a man. As a sports therapist, she travels the rodeo circuits patching up riders-and fending off their sweet-talking, swaggering advances. So no one is more surprised than Lainie when she finds herself involved with not one, but two men on different circuits....

Mari Tucker is a wildlife biologist who scoops bunnies and endangered tortoises out of harm's way on construction sites. Still haunted by her past, she takes the most remote jobs in the Mojave Desert to avoid people and hide from her ex. It's a simple, quiet life filled with sweet animals and solar-powered baking until she ends up assigned to Jack Wyatt's crew.

Jane Tanner’s friends are settling down, while she’s been settling for less. She longs for adventure and the big city, but caring for her ailing grandfather means she's shackled to her small town. She’s excited her vintage gift shop is finally up and running, but it’s not enough. Longing to fulfill at least one dream—to become a mother before her biological clock ticks out—Jane drunkenly propositions the worst possible candidate for Dad.

Tanna Barker is a world-champion barrel racer. But her personal life has been less of a success, and she's feeling adrift. After her mother's unexpected death, her father has remarried and sold the Texas ranch she called home. Now a rodeo injury has left the restless spitfire holed up in Muddy Gap, unsure what her next move should be. Veterinarian August Fletcher has always put his job first. He's never found a woman who could handle his on-the-road lifestyle. But when sassy, sexy Tanna blows into town, he finally finds the woman of his fantasies.

Tess Champion knows better than to trust Brock Tolman, the rancher who once swindled her late father in a land deal. But with the Alamo Canyon Ranch in foreclosure, Tess is forced to accept Brock's offer of a partnership. Brock claims he only wants to breed the Champion bloodline into his own herd. In exchange, he offers Tess one of his own young bulls. Soon enough, Quicksand is the rising star of the rodeo circuit, which only proves Tess is better at picking bulls than she is men. Because she's way too tempted to surrender to her attraction to Brock.

She'd come to Alaska on the promise of marriage, only to find herself on the run from her would-be husband. Lost and alone in the wilderness, Emily Hunter nearly weeps with relief at the sight of a small plane in the distance - until the rugged bush pilot makes his way through the brush to help her. Can she trust this stranger any more than the menacing predator on her trail? But there's something in John Wolf's dark eyes that wills her to believe in him, something about his gentle nature that allows her to accept his offer of protection.

In this first collection of short pieces, including two novella-length works, since his western anthology Tonto Woman, Leonard demonstrates the superb characterization, dead-on dialogue, vivid atmosphere, and driving plotting that have made him a household name.

Mayme sets off for a new life in Bear Creek, hopeful that Thomas might be the man she’s looking for, but she’s nervous - will he be as interested when he meets her in person? While they have an instant connection, Mayme’s self-conscious of every move she makes. She’s eager to help out on the farm and blend in, but can she trust that Thomas truly wants a life with her? When disaster hits Bear Creek, Mayme is faced with her biggest challenge yet. Can she prove herself to be the capable woman she longs to be?

Ten years ago, Jack Everett left his family's ranch without a backward glance. Now, what was supposed to be a quick trip home for his father's funeral has suddenly become more complicated. The ranch Jack can handle - he might be a lawyer, but he still remembers how to work with his hands. But turning around the failing vineyard he's also inherited? That requires working with the one woman he never expected to see again.

Wearing a too-tight “Santa Baby” costume held in by a double pair of Spanx, Paige MacGregor runs headlong into a gorgeous, grey-eyed hunk of a long, tall cowboy. And not just any cowboy, but country-Western star Cash Colton, visiting Twilight to perform in a charity concert. Most women would melt at his feet, but Paige knows all too much about self-assured men with cocky attitudes, so she tells him to get lost. Cash is in town, nursing his own broken heart, but Paige has knocked him off his feet. He’s convinced she’s perfect.

When her tinsmith father and brothers head West, Polish immigrant Marie Kotlarczyk has no choice but to go along. Family, after all, is family. The Dakota Territories are anything but welcoming to the Kotlarczyks, and as the months trip by, Marie must pick up the hammers she’s secretly desired but also feared. When she faces the skeptical people of Flats Town, the demands of the local Army commander, and her public failures, her inner voice grows destructively, forcing Marie to decide exactly who she is and what it means to be a woman smith.

Banished by her grandfather at the age of 18, Spring Lee has survived scandal to claim her own little slice of Paradise, Wyoming. She’s proud of working her ranch alone and unwilling to share it with a stranger - especially one like Garrett McCray, who makes her second-guess her resolve to avoid men. Garrett escaped slavery years ago and is now a reporter in Washington. He’s traveled west to interview Dr. Colton Lee for an article, yet it’s Lee’s fearless sister, Spring, who captures his interest.

Cattleman Bran Turner is left shorthanded during busy calving season when a bull tramples his hired hand. Rural Wyoming isn't exactly a hotbed of qualified candidates, and the only applicant for the position is the pampered town beauty, Harper Masterson. The curvy cowgirl gets under Bran's skin at every turn, but with no other options, he reluctantly hires her.

The born rancher who stole her heart, her ex-husband, the tough, tender father of her child. Tori Tyler can't let Will Tyler go to prison for a crime that was a simple accident. But she can't deny that her feelings for the man run much deeper than loyalty, and her desire for his strong, sure embrace has never died. Protecting him is second nature until an unexpected terror threatens to shatter them both - and Tori needs Will's fierce love more than ever before.

Emma Brinkman is the most eligible bachelorette in town and staying that way. After learning twice that romance is a lie, she’s focused only on making the mine she and her sisters inherited a booming success. To do that, she’ll need to put her trust in a notorious scoundrel. But no matter how flirtatious, handsome, or persistent he may be, Emma is interested only in his expertise in coaxing gold from the earth. The illegitimate son of a duke, Beranger North is a reputed playboy and a self-made man who found his fortune excavating the rich and profitable American West.

Barrel racer Celia Lawson knows better than to tangle with bull rider Kyle Gilchrist. The sexy cowboy's love 'em and leave 'em ways have earned him a reputation on the rodeo circuit, and he's always seen her as his best friend's kid sister. But one wild tequila-fueled night later, and Celia wakes up to find out she's gotten herself hitched - to the one man she never should have married! When Celia insists on an annulment, Kyle has no good reason to say no - except he isn't ready to let go of his new bride. Especially not after their incredible wedding night.

Raised by guardians in Philadelphia, the Brinkman sisters have suddenly been bequeathed more than the truth about their late, estranged father - they've also inherited the Five Sisters Ranch, the dynasty he'd built for them in Eden, Colorado. It's theirs on one condition: to claim it, they must live on it for six months - a wilderness worlds away from the comforts of the city. For Belle Brinkman, her father's last wish could fulfill a dream she never knew she had.