Heartbreak

This is my first series set in Oklahoma (though the first individual title to take place in the state was HIS OVERNIGHT ALIBI). I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write next, and my editor, Leslie Wainger, said, “Write me a cowboy series set in Oklahoma.”

Hmm. I knew Oklahoma, of course – I was born and raised there. And I had a fine appreciation for cowboys. But ranching? I didn’t know nothin’ ‘bout ranching. Lucky for me, BF Margaret E. Reid did. She hooked me up with the biggest ranch down in her neck of the Oklahoma woods, and I got loads of information, just the sort of stuff I needed to give a feel of authenticity to the stories.

The original name for the town of Heartbreak was Sixkiller, but New York didn’t consider the name “Oklahoma-y” enough. (My apologies to all the Sixkillers who call our state home.) The second name was Heartbroke – which I loved and still do – but (ahem) New York thought it sounded too small town/country music/cryin’ in your beer. Uh . . . that’s exactly what my town was! But we settled on Heartbreak. And I still call it Heartbroke myself.

CATTLEMAN’S PROMISE, 1999

When Olivia Miles’ estranged husband dies, he leaves her with nothing but twin daughters, Elly and Emma, a mountainload of debt and part ownership in a small Oklahoma ranch, so she packs up the kids and they head out west. It’s a bitter surprise when she learns that the sale was a scam. Now she’s hundreds of miles from home, broke, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. But rancher Guthrie Harris can’t turn his back on Liv and her daughters; after all, it was his half-brother who scammed her husband. He makes a place at the ranch for the small family, and they make a place in his heart.

THE HORSEMAN’S BRIDE, 1999

Rodeo cowboy Easy Rawlins left Heartbreak in a hurry years ago, taking Shay Stephens along with him on the eve of her wedding to Guthrie. Their passionate fling didn’t last, though, and Shay returned to Heartbreak with her own broken heart. Now Easy, out of the rodeo business for good following a near-fatal accident, has come back, too, seeking isolation while he deals with his injuries. Shay’s never gotten over him, though, and she’s not one to take no for an answer easily.

ROGUE’S REFORM, 2000

Ethan James was Heartbreak’s quintessential bad boy: wild, irresponsible, a charmer and a con artist. His wake-up call comes when sister-in-law Olivia informs him that the woman with whom he had a one-night stand on his last visit home is pregnant. Abandoned by his own no-good father, he returns home, determined to do right by Grace Prescott and their child. Grace, however, isn’t anxious to be tied to bad-boy Ethan. These last few months have been the best, the most normal, of her life. She’s made friends, succeeded in business and gained some respect. Ethan’s not the the man her mind wants . . . but he’s the only one her heart wants.

SHERIFF’S SURRENDER, 2001

When Sheriff Reese Barnett’s cousin, Kansas City cop Jace, asks him to help protect a witness in a murder trial, Reese agrees. When he learns the witness is Neely Madison, it’s too late to back out. He and Neely share a past – one that ended badly for both of them. But he gave Jace his word, and now he has no choice but to keep it. Before long, all those old feelings are stirring again, and soon Neely is once again the most important thing in his life. He’ll be damned if he’ll let anyone take her from him again.

LAWMAN’S REDEMPTION, 2002

Three-times married – and three-times divorced – Hallie Madison comes to Heartbreak for sister Neely’s wedding and shares a wicked one-night stand with a handsome cowboy. Imagine her surprise when Tall, Dark and Handsome turns out to be wedding party member and Undersheriff Brady Marshall. Brady carries scars, both physical and mental, from his upbringing and his failed marriage. But when a tattooed, pierced, purple-haired teenage girl shows up, claiming to be his daughter, he has no one else to turn to but Hallie, who helps him and Lexy become a family. No one has ever needed Hallie the way Brady and Lexy do, and no one has ever loved them the way she does.

ONE TRUE THING, 2004

Disillusioned with the justice system, Jace Barnett resigns from the Kansas City Police Department and goes home to Heartbreak while figuring out his next move. Next door to him moves in Cassidy McRae, beautiful, skittish, wary and full of lies. Cassidy’s been on the run for months after witnessing her husband’s murder by the very marshal assigned to protect him. Danger follows her, though, and she’s soon in need of a hero. But Jace is out of the hero business . . . isn’t he?

THE BLUEST EYES IN TEXAS, 2005

Logan Marshall has one goal, and he doesn’t care what it costs him: avenging the deaths of the elderly couple who took him in when he ran away from home. Private investigator Bailey Madison has promised her new niece, Lexy, that she’ll find Uncle Logan, no matter what, and she does that. He won’t be dissuaded by his mission, though, so Bailey tags along and soon finds herself caught up in intrigue and danger . . . and falling in love. If only they can live long enough to make the most of it.