New Release — ADDIE AND THE GUNSLINGER and ANGEL AND THE COWBOY by Celia Yeary — @PrairieRosePubs

Ex-gunslinger Jude Morgan lands in jail in a far-flung West Texas town. On the fourth day, the sheriff ushers in a beautiful woman dressed in men’s pants and toting her own six-shooter. Adriana Jones claims he is her worthless husband who married her, but never came home.

The young woman makes a bargain with Jude in front of the sheriff. Jude is to come home where he belongs, and she will have him released. Once they’re alone, she explains his job is to pose as her husband to thwart the marriage advances of her neighbor, wealthy rancher Horace Caruthers. The older man wants her ranch to join with his; the Pecos River runs through her property.

To seal the bargain, Jude wants a kiss. During the next few weeks, however, Jude and Addie learn that the kiss meant more than they intended. Then, when Addie's life is in danger, will Jude rescue his Addie? Or will Addie save herself and her gunslinger?

EXCERPT

     As he stood and hitched up his loose pants, he watched the sheriff walk down the corridor toward him and the jailer. The man himself was nothing to look at. Skinny as a rail and strutting along like he owned the world. Damn, he hated the law.

     Instead, he riveted his attention on the woman trailing the man with the silver star on his chest.

     That is one good-looking woman.

     He watched her stride down the slanted corridor, her long legs encased in men's pants, boots fit to kill, and a Colt strapped around her firm, rounded hips. She'd pulled back her dark hair into a severe bun at the base of her long, smooth neck. With her black hat in her left hand, she slapped it on her leg once, twice as she neared the cell.

    "This him?" asked the sheriff, as he turned and looked directly at her.

     She looked right into Jude's eyes and cursed. The tall, slender woman actually let out a string of words he'd never heard a woman utter in all twenty-four years of his life. He wanted to laugh, because her voice was sort of soft and sweet, but she tried with all her might to sound tough, calling him every name in the book. Who the hell was she?

     She glanced at Jude. "That's him, all right, Sheriff. I'm sure grateful you kept him for me a few days. Otherwise, I'd be traipsing all over the country trying to find him."

     "Morgan, you have anything to say to your missus, here?"

     Jude's mouth went dry, and he tried to figure out exactly what he was to say. She saved him, though, because she began to rant and rave. Placing one hand that held the hat on a hip, she pointed with the other hand straight at him.

He needs a wife…Because the sheriff summons him, U.S. Marshal Max Garrison rides to town. He resents learning he must supervise a young man just out of prison who will work at his ranch for a time. But when he meets the beautiful young woman who owns the teashop, he knows his trip is not wasted. Max decides she's the one for him.

She faces another lonely Christmas…Daniella Sommers lives alone above the book and teashop her English parents left her. When U.S. Marshal Max Garrison walks in and asks for tea, she almost laughs. Soon, her merriment turns to hope. Then Daniella learns a shocking truth about herself. If she reveals her past, will Max still love her?

Christmas is near, the time for miracles and surprises. Will the message of the season bring Max and Daniella the best gift of all?

EXCERPT

     The big man stumbled, and then chased after Diego. She jumped up, whirled about, and scurried up the alley. Back doors opened, people looked out, and the golden glow of lanterns lit the ground, creating scary patterns, wavering over barrels and crates and piles of garbage.

     Under the small back porch of the bookshop, a small space waited for her. She dropped to her knees and crawled under, into the hidey-hole Diego had scraped out, just big enough for her to curl into a ball and rest her head on her arm. She shivered with fear. Would Diego come back to take her home?

     After some time, a soft, small hand reached in, and the sweet sound of a woman's voice said, "Here, child, take my hand. Don't be afraid. Come with me, now."

     She crawled out. The pretty woman knelt in front of her and held her arms.

     A man said, "Who is she, Beatrice?"

     "The little urchin, Edward. The one who follows her brother around in the alley. She can't be much more than four years old."

     "Ask her name," he said.

     "What is your name, sweetheart?"

     As Diego had taught her, she whispered, "Angel."