United by chance, bound by fate,
consumed by passion.
Miranda Hayes has lost everything—her
family, her husband, her home. Orphaned and then widowed, desperate
to find a safe haven, she sets out to cross a savage land alone…until
chance brings her face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake
Harkner.
Hunted by the law and haunted by a
brutal past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything he
has. He’s never known a moment’s kindness…until fate brings him
to the one woman willing to reach past his harsh exterior to the man
inside. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He will do
whatever it takes to keep her his.
Spanning the dazzling West with its
blazing deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must
struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear them apart.
But the love of an outlaw comes with a price…and even their passion
may not burn bright enough to conquer the coming darkness.
USA Today bestseller and award-winning
novelist Rosanne Bittner is known as the “Queen of Western
Historical Romance” for her thrilling love stories and historical
authenticity. Her epic romances span the West—and are often based
on Rosanne’s personal visits to each setting. She lives in Coloma,
Michigan, with her husband and two sons.
***
This June Rosanne
Bittner’s beloved title, Outlaw
Hearts, will be back in print for the
first time in over twenty years! To celebrate, we’re pleased to
welcome the hero and heroine of the book Jake Harkner and Miranda
Hayes, who will be sitting down with us today for a quick Q&A.
What is your spouse’s
least favorite social commitment?
Jake: None.
She’s a social butterfly, beautiful and smart.
Miranda: Church
– You have to drag him kicking and screaming.
An
Excerpt:
Miranda
watched Jake saddle up while she held the two gunnysacks full of
supplies she had prepared for him. He gave Outlaw’s stomach a light
punch. “Suck it in, boy,” he barked. “You don’t fool me,
filling yourself up with air like that.” The horse’s belly
contracted, and Jake tightened the cinch. “All I need is to be on a
hard ride to get away from some marshal only to have my saddle slip
on me.”
Miranda
saw him wince, knew he was still in pain. “Jake, can’t you wait
one more day?”
Jake
kept his eyes on the cinch, thinking about the restless night he had
had, lying awake and wondering what Mrs. Miranda Hayes would have
done if he had gone out to her cot and planted his mouth on her sweet
lips. “No, ma’am. Too dangerous for you having me here, what with
that sheriff sweet on you and all. Hard telling when he might show up
again.” He let down a stirrup and turned to meet her eyes. Was that
a trace of tears he saw there? No. He would not believe that. “If
you had any common sense at all, you would stay here and marry the
sheriff and let him take care of you.”
Miranda
stiffened with indignation, glad he had said something that made her
momentarily forget about wanting to cry. “Why do all men think a
woman needs ‘taking care of’? I’ll be just fine on my own. And
if I did have common sense, you would be sitting in prison or hanging
from a tree by now, and I would be five thousand dollars richer.”
Jake
grinned. “You’ve got me there.”
Miranda
thought how he looked even more handsome now in the morning light. It
was the best he had looked since the first day she saw him in the
supply store, bearded and mean-looking, then so sick after that. He
had a fine, square jaw and dark, wide-set eyes that were perfectly
outlined with dark eyelashes. Even his nose seemed perfectly matched
to the rest of his face, and when he smiled, his teeth were straight
and clean. She surmised that in spite of his cruelty, Jake’s father
must have been as handsome as his mother was beautiful, for they had
produced a son that was the best of both. How sad that they had never
given that son a decent home.
A
faint scar on Jake’s left jaw and another tiny one on his upper lip
only seemed to make him even more handsome, lending a ruggedness to
his looks that was accented by his tall frame and broad shoulders.
She found herself wondering how his full, firm lips would feel on her
mouth, how a man like Jake Harkner kissed a woman…”
Buy Links:
Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1FPCfAZ
Apple:
http://apple.co/1BtPgu4
Chapters:
http://bit.ly/1JfKxB6
Indiebound:
http://bit.ly/1able78
Kobo:
http://bit.ly/1IgvUi3
