Karen Rock - A Cowboy's Pride

Old wounds run deep

Only the truth can heal them...

Rancher Cole Loveland has no interest in dredging up the past, but his ex-fiancée, Katlynn Brennon, has other plans. To save her struggling TV show, she’s come back to Colorado to investigate the infamous Cade-Loveland feud. Trusting Katlynn again isn’t easy—she’s already chosen her career over Cole once. But he’s beginning to realize that true love, like legends, never dies.

Award-winning author KAREN ROCKis both sweet and spicy—at least when it comes to her writing! The author of both YA and adult contemporary books writes sexy suspense novels and small-town romances for Mills & Boon and Kensington Publishing. A strong believer in Happily-Ever-After, Karen loves creating unforgettable stories that leave her readers with a smile. When she’s not writing, Karen is an avid reader who also loves cooking her grandmother’s Italian recipes, baking and having the Adirondack Park wilderness as her backyard, where she lives with her husband, daughter, dog and cat, who keep her life interesting and complete. Learn more about her at karenrock.comor follow her on Twitter, @karenrock5.

Also By Karen Rock

Falling for a Rancher

Christmas at Cade Ranch

A Cowboy to Keep

Under an Adirondack Sky

His Kind of Cowgirl

A Heartwarming Thanksgiving

“Thankful for You”

Winter Wedding Bells

“The Kiss”

Raising the Stakes

A League of Her Own

Someone Like You

His Hometown Girl

Wish Me Tomorrow

Bad Boy Rancher

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

A Cowboy’s Pride

Karen Rock

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08588-5

A COWBOY’S PRIDE

© 2018 Karen Rock

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

“I see the way you’ve been looking at Katie-Lynn.”

“What way’s that?”

“Like you’ve still got feelings for her.”

“Dead wrong.” Cole raised his bottle for a drink to shield his expression. Travis was as sharp-eyed as a hawk, reading people and situations in an instant. A good trait for a sheriff. Not so good in a brother when you were hiding something...

“I hope so,” Travis said. “Just remember what happened after she left you.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Except you disappearing for three months.”

“I was driving cattle.”

“Sleeping out on the range, never coming home...”

Cole drained the last of his dark malt and handed it to a passing waitress. “Are we done here, Sheriff?”

Travis pinned him with a steady, hard look before nodding. “You’re free to go...with a warning.”

“Which is?”

“Don’t repeat a mistake you already learned from. Anyone messes up once. Doing it twice is just plain stupid.”

Dear Reader,

Have you ever wished you were part of a fictional family? Growing up, my sisters and I would call, “Good night, Jim Bob. Night, Mary Ellen,” like the Waltons, and we’d braid each other’s hair like the Ingalls sisters. The Cades and the Lovelands in my Rocky Mountain Cowboys series embody what I love most about family: love, togetherness and support...a shoulder to cry on, a forever friend, the person who always has your back, who knows you better than anyone else and loves you no matter what.

In this fourth book, these feuding families are about to be united on the eve of their parents’ wedding. Their temporary truce, however, is threatened when TV show host Katlynn Brennon returns to her hometown and enlists the aid of her ex, Cole Loveland, to solve the scandalous mystery surrounding the kidnapping, murder and priceless jewel theft that began the feud over a hundred years ago. She needs to face her difficult past to score high ratings to save her show. Cole needs to keep the woman who once broke his heart from destroying his father’s happiness. If they dig deep enough, they might just resolve their own history along the way...

I hope this story captivates you and keeps you turning pages. Stay tuned for Jewel Cade and Heath Loveland’s love story, coming soon in 2019!

Until then, with love and thanks,

Karen Rock

To “Beanie”—the best French braider, foreign-film discoverer, homeopathic health experimenter and big sister I could have ever wished for. You’re the yellow heart to my pink.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

“ACTION!”

At her director’s prompting, Katlynn Brennon aimed her sincerest smile into the television camera, stuck out her forehead and tipped down her chin for her best angle. Her weary eyes chased the racing teleprompter all while striving to ignore her “slimming” undergarment’s malicious dig.

What number was this take?

Infinity?

“Babe Paley, the socialite wife of CBS founder, William S. Paley, once said, ‘A woman can never be too rich or too thin,’” Katlynn intoned, voice steady despite the boom mic’s close dip to her head. “However, many of her fellow glamour queens might have added that riches don’t guarantee contentment. Heiresses may even share a unique kind of adversity.”

Beneath blaring lights, Katlynn willed back the damp forming on her forehead.