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Category: Erotica/Erotic Romance/Historical Fiction
Description: For Danika Stanislaus, going west has brought her a dream come true. She's always dreamt of loving a cowboy. And on one summer day, in the middle of a cattle stampede, she is swept into the strong arms of an irresistibly handsome rancher. What more could she want when he always looks ready to kiss her? Only Danika's afraid his intentions are set on getting her farm, the very land her family died to keep. Alex McClaric doesn't want a wife, and he doesn't feel stealing a kiss from a beautiful woman is a reason to get married. However, not only does Danika need his help, she has set his heart ablaze with unbridled lust. When his archrival begins to show an interest, he's prodded into making a decadent claim on the sweet surrendering virgin. Enamored by Danika's affection, Alex proposes, except she refuses, and he fears he may lose the only woman he's truly loved. Not one to give up easy, his obsession forces him to desperately pursue his Range War Bride.
eBook Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press, 2006
eBookwise Release Date: September 2006

21 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [167 KB]
Words: 39617
Reading time: 113-158 min.

"...a touching story involving a couple who finds love with each other despite the chaos that reins around them."--Chrissy Dionne, Romance Junkies

"In times where mysteries, romance and suspense rule the bookshelves, comes a western using all three elements to entice the reader."--Lea Schizas, The Muse Book Reviews

"...From the first page, I was drawn into this beautifully romantic story and didn't stop reading until it ended. The intensity of their feelings for each other made me smile, laugh, and at times, cry. I highly recommend reading this book. "--Kerin, Two Lips Review

"Range War Bride is an intense story full of struggle and strife as well as a lot of sexual tension...The two main characters are well developed and likable ... enjoyable, easy to read story that definitely delivers."--Dan Russell, Wild Child Publishing Reviews

Chapter 1

Danika's nipples went taut. She loved the sensation that reading a romance could stir in her. Carefully, she turned the page in the worn dime novel. She had brought a dozen from the city and didn't anticipate finding new ones in the untamed west.

"Danika, what are you doing?" her brother, Nicholai, yelled.

His voice startled her, and her most cherished possession dropped from her hand.

"It's called reading," she grumbled, bending down and retrieving the book.

He came near and plucked it from her fingers.

"Nicholai, give it back."

"You're supposed to be hoeing weeds from between corn."

He flipped the pages and then closed it to look at the cover. She swallowed the dryness causing a lump in her throat. The picture on the front had a somewhat provocative drawing of a saloon girl with a cowboy.

"What is this about?"

She lifted her hoe and tapped it around a cornstalk seedling to avoid looking at him.

"Nothing of interest to you."

"Read at home, not in field." He grunted and held the book to her.

She put it under her arm and kept working the garden implement along the row. She looked at the others working. Out of nearly a dozen people, only she and her younger brother, Anton, knew how to read English. It was a good thing, since the book she read was about the love between a cowboy and a saloon girl.

She turned her back on Nicholai and slipped the book into one hand to start reading again.

She walked along the furrow, getting further away from the distractions of her family. They could get more done without having to keep prodding her into working.

"Come on up to my room," Rose, the saloon girl said.

"You know just how to treat a man, little lady."

"No, I think I'll be thanking you for how you treat a lady, cowboy."

Danika closed her eyes. She hugged the book to her aching bosom. Her body tightened and she dreamed about the cowboy. She always thought about him and what it would be like to have herself a real cowboy.

She imagined him touching her naked flesh while she watched his handsome features. She could feel the way his fingers touched her breasts. Her hand went naturally to her left nipple and she rolled it around, delighting in the hardness. She dropped her arm down, holding the book. Her other hand left her breast and skated over her midsection.

She lifted the book and fingered open the pages to a familiar place.

The cowboy kissed Rose. She liked the way his hands moved all over her. A workingman had a knack for using his hands.

Danika moaned softly. Her body clenched and leaked so she felt the warm trickle glide down one thigh. It soaked into the cotton of her underdrawers. The tremors continued longer than normal, and she tried not to move or attract attention.

Her breathing slowed and her body cooled to the heated stimulation. She still felt a thunder rolling toward her. Turning to the long drone of noise, she watched the cloud of dust on the warm Wyoming plains. Like a tornado that didn't touch the sky, the billowing dirt tumbled toward her. The tranquil blue heavens held no threat of a storm and yet, thunder came with an increasing clarity.

She'd heard of dust storms and their severity. She never imagined she'd see one barreling across the prairie as if the world were a dirty carpet rolling up into a ball. She coughed and glanced around for her brothers.

"Nicholai?" She dropped her hoe in the furrow and lifted her skirt. Nicholai!"

The day turned to a haze of brown. The thickness to the air clogged her throat and she only made out silhouettes of workers in the rows of tender emerging cornstalks. She ran toward the shadowy movements of those people, her feet trampling the small sprouting plants.

"Nicholai!" she shouted.

The outlines dimmed and fear erupted from the pit of her stomach. The cloud enveloped her in the dust. She had no idea where everyone went or which way she should go. Her eyes strained to see the tree line floating in the distance. In a stumbling frenzy, she fell in the furrows of plowed soil. When the air thickened, she choked on the gritty particles she inhaled, garroting her lungs.

"Nicholai!" she cried weakly, unable to breathe in enough air to scream.