The Hard-To-Tame Texan

The Hard-To-Tame Texan
Lass Small

THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS BEAUTY'S BEASTLY CHALLENGE She thought she'd been invited to the Keepers' Texas ranch to do her family a favor, but feisty redhead JoAnn Murray was beginning to sense a fix-up. Was she really there to tame cantankerous Andrew Parsons… or to be asked to throw caution to the wind and marry the arrogant beast?No little lady was gonna make him change his ways! Or so Andrew thought… until he got a look at the beguiling beauty those blasted Keepers had sicced on him. With one pout of her pretty lips, Andrew's gruffness disappeared, replaced by a grim determination to make JoAnn see him as something other than a challenge… and perhaps a potential groom?THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS: Every book's a keeper in this sexy saga of untamable Texas men and the stubborn beauties who lasso their hearts.

Letter to Reader (#u64787561-95d8-53ee-8b02-18dea20584ac)Title Page (#u3d1b95c9-6852-5cc6-b149-6ed66fc4c24c)LASS SMALL (#u2927597a-e573-5b41-bc76-54926aca071c)Chapter One (#u8811c04a-9239-5271-b08c-02e40f527cf0)Chapter Two (#u0cf439c3-220a-5051-a0e0-3f95f1b0fc35)Chapter Three (#u316ddebb-906a-5764-aa7b-16391baa6d66)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

You won’t want to miss any of the memorable

characters in this newest series by bestselling

author Lass Small. While each of

THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS books stands

on its own, the continuing saga of the

Keeper family and ranch will surely keep you

coming back for more!

You met Rip and Lu in Taken by a Texan (Desire #1137). And they are back again, and prepared to stir up some trouble for Lu’s brother...

ANDREW PARSONS: He was the houseguest from hell! The arrogant, rugged Texan just wouldn’t leave the Keeper ranch, nor would he learn any manners. As a last resort, Mrs. Keeper called in some favors and asked for the much-needed help of family friend...

JOANN MURRAY: It was said she could tame any man, though she hadn’t yet let one into her bed. Until she met a certain cantankerous cowboy. Was that love in the air...or just frustration, say for another Texan bachelor....

TOM KEEPER: The heir to the Keeper ranch just seemed to meet woman after woman that he couldn’t have. Well, he was bound and determined not to fall in love again. But it wouldn’t be that way for long, not if a certain set of parents have anything to say about it....

The Keeper family saga will continue in September with The Lone Texan, Lass Small’s fiftieth book for Silhouette! Don’t miss any of the fun and romance you’re sure to find with THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS.

Dear Reader,

This month, Silhouette Desire celebrates sensuality. All six steamy novels perfectly describe those unique pleasures that gratify our senses, like seeing the lean body of a cowboy at work, smelling his earthy scent, tasting his kiss...and hearing him say, “I love you.”

Feast your eyes on June’s MAN OF THE MONTH, the tall, dark and incredibly handsome single father of four in beloved author Barbara Roswell’s That Marriageable Man! In bestselling author Lass Small’s continuing series, THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS, a feisty lady does her best to tame a reckless cowboy and he winds up unleashing her wild side in The Hard-To-Tame Texan. And a dating service guarantees delivery of a husband-to-be in Non-Refundable Groom by ultrasexy writer Patty Salier.

Plus, Modean Moon unfolds the rags-to-riches story of an honorable lawman who fulfills a sudden socialite’s deepest secret desire in Overnight Heiress. In Catherine Lanigan’s Montana Bride, a bachelor hero introduces love and passion to a beautiful virgin. And a rugged cowboy saves a jilted lady in The Cowboy Who Came in From the Cold by Pamela Macaluso.

These six passionate stories are sure to leave you tingling... and anticipating next month’s sensuous selections. Enjoy!

Regards,

Melissa Senate

Senior Editor

Silhouette Books

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

The Hard-To-Tame Texan

Lass Small

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

LASS SMALL

finds living on this planet at this time a fascinating experience. People are amazing. She thinks that to be a teller of tales of people, places and things is absolutely marvelous.

One

Prologue

Back, some time ago, Andrew Parsons had intruded onto the TEXAS tableland of the Keepers. He just clipped the herd-restraining fence and entered where he chose. He didn’t mend the rip he’d caused in the barbwire.

As Andrew had ridden along, his horse had been silently shot from some awesome, silent distance. At the time, Andrew didn’t even know the horse had been shot. He thought it had a heart attack or something similar.

After Andrew’s leg had been hopelessly trapped under his dead horse for just past two days, it was Andrew’s dog who searched for help. The lost dog had eventually been seen by Tom Keeper.

Tom had used his cell phone to contact the pilots to see where the earnest dog wanted to go and why. And the pilots did find the trapped Andrew.

Rescued, Andrew was in the hospital for some time. One of the ranch pilots, Rip, had taken care of Andrew’s dog. And Rip had taken the dog to see his master. That was how Rip had met Andrew’s logical, normal, alluring sister, Lu Parsons.

Now Andrew was to be released from the area hospital, out there on the TEXAS tableland. However, Andrew—the obsolete man—was perfectly comfortable, in hospital, living as he chose, being cared for by others.

He slept in the daytime and visited with the nurses and watched TV in the night. His time was askew; the hospital was tolerant. People are people. Some are strange.

The time came when Andrew was able to walk. He could eat by himself and he could shower alone. He was capable of sharing his time with other people. The doctors scolded the staff. Andrew was not to be pampered, the room in the hospital was needed for other patients.

That was said sternly. It was all vocally underlined. No one mentioned the night nurses had spoiled him.

Andrew did not want to leave the hospital. It was a haven. When told he should go, he’d said, “Not yet.”

The staff was adamant, “There are others who need the space in the hospital.” They told Andrew he could use his leg, which was healing. “It is time for you to leave us,” they told him.

Andrew was irritated and turned stubborn. He repeated, “Not yet.”

So what was to be done with him? He was alone. There was no place for him to go. His father refused him.

Having been unable to reach any agreement with Andrew’s family in Houston, the staff at the hospital contacted those who had brought the pilgrim to them. They talked to the Keepers who lived out and beyond. Their land seemed endless.

The Keepers recommended the hospital contact the Parsons family again and gave them another phone number. Unfortunately the hospital person contacted Mr. Parsons who was very odd. And, with hostility, he declined sharing stress with his son.