Liz Ireland - Prim And Improper

Cover Page

Excerpt “That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard.” “Come now,” he said. “Don’t tell me you haven’t given the subject of marriage a little thought recently?” As recently as a minute ago! More than anything, Louise wished she could leave this man, crawl back home and hide. “I swear, if you aren’t the most infuriating, confusing man I’ve ever met!” Ty laughed. “I do it on purpose, you know.” She tilted her chin haughtily. “You would! ” “You can’t tell me I’m not having an effect on you.” The man was outrageous! “Nonsense. I only wonder that you don’t see how futile your efforts are.” His light chuckle was a feather tickling up the bowed tautness of her nerves. “Maybe because every time I’m around you, you seem like a person sitting on a powder keg, looking at me as if I’m about to throw a lit match at your feet…!”

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Liz Ireland writes both historical and contemporary romances for Harlequin, and is fast becoming known for her special brand of humor. Her lively storytelling shines through in her new Western, Prim and Improper, an adorable book about a spinsterish young woman who falls in love with a brazen cattle rancher who she thinks is in love with her sister! The ever popular Ruth Langan returns with Malachite, the final book of her THE JEWELS OF TEXAS series. In this emotional story, the wild heart of Malachite, long-lost Jewel brother, is captured by a gentle widow and mother. Be prepared to laugh and cry when you read Susan Spencer Paul’s Beguiled, an endearing Regency about a much-sought-after earl who learns the power of unspeakable love when he’s blackmailed into marrying a silent beauty. Our final selection this month is My Lady’s Desire, a medieval tale by Claire Delacroix. This sequel to Enchanted has earned “5 Bells!!” from Bell, Book and Candle, and is the story of a handsome swordsman and an exiled noblewoman who marry to reclaim a lost estate, and together find an unexpected passion. What a terrific lineup we have for you this month! Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historical®. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor 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

Title Page Prim and Improper Liz Ireland www.millsandboon.co.uk

About The Author LIZ IRELAND lives in her native state of Texas, a place she feels gives her a never-ending supply of colorful characters. Aside from writing romance novels and tending to two very demanding cats and a guard dachshund, she enjoys spending time reading history or cozying up with an old movie.

Prologue

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

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Copyright

“Come now,” he said. “Don’t tell me you haven’t given the subject of marriage a little thought recently?”

As recently as a minute ago! More than anything, Louise wished she could leave this man, crawl back home and hide. “I swear, if you aren’t the most infuriating, confusing man I’ve ever met!”

Ty laughed. “I do it on purpose, you know.”

She tilted her chin haughtily. “You would! ”

“You can’t tell me I’m not having an effect on you.”

The man was outrageous! “Nonsense. I only wonder that you don’t see how futile your efforts are.”

His light chuckle was a feather tickling up the bowed tautness of her nerves. “Maybe because every time I’m around you, you seem like a person sitting on a powder keg, looking at me as if I’m about to throw a lit match at your feet…!”

Dear Reader,

Liz Ireland writes both historical and contemporary romances for Harlequin, and is fast becoming known for her special brand of humor. Her lively storytelling shines through in her new Western, Prim and Improper, an adorable book about a spinsterish young woman who falls in love with a brazen cattle rancher who she thinks is in love with her sister!

The ever popular Ruth Langan returns with Malachite, the final book of her THE JEWELS OF TEXAS series. In this emotional story, the wild heart of Malachite, long-lost Jewel brother, is captured by a gentle widow and mother. Be prepared to laugh and cry when you read Susan Spencer Paul’s Beguiled, an endearing Regency about a much-sought-after earl who learns the power of unspeakable love when he’s blackmailed into marrying a silent beauty.

Our final selection this month is My Lady’s Desire, a medieval tale by Claire Delacroix. This sequel to Enchanted has earned “5 Bells!!” from Bell, Book and Candle, and is the story of a handsome swordsman and an exiled noblewoman who marry to reclaim a lost estate, and together find an unexpected passion.

What a terrific lineup we have for you this month! Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historical®.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

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

www.millsandboon.co.uk

lives in her native state of Texas, a place she feels gives her a never-ending supply of colorful characters. Aside from writing romance novels and tending to two very demanding cats and a guard dachshund, she enjoys spending time reading history or cozying up with an old movie.

New Mexico Territory, 1852

A gunshot shattered through the noise in the small smoky barroom, effectively ending conversation and several card games.

The place suddenly quieted as about twenty rough, dusty men all turned in unison to gape at the tiny woman who had fired her rifle at Ed Peter’s ceiling.

“Say!” Ed cried. The woman was just a little mite of a thing, all decked out in a yellow dress, and that gun looked near as big as she was. At first, Ed was prepared to give the lady a piece of his mind for shooting off firearms in his drinking establishment, but at the sound of his voice she turned his way, preventing his rebuke. Her blue eyes were two narrow slits of ice boring right into him, Ed thought, startled.

“The name’s Purdy, Lida Purdy, and I’m lookin’ for a man by the name of Atticus Purdy,” she said. What with hat yellow dress, her straw-colored blond hair and her intense expression, the woman resembled a very mean canary. “Anybody seen him?”

Murmurs rippled through the room. All down the long bar, the men glanced up at Ed, as if questioning how he was going to handle this crazy little woman. But they really shouldn’t have wondered. He was a saloon keeper, not a sharpshooter. Ed hadn’t lived to the ripe old age of sixty-two by arguing at gunpoint, even if the gun was being held by a pint-size lady in a yellow dress.