Laurie Grant - Maggie And The Maverick

Cover Page

Excerpt “You can’t care for a man who isn’t whole. “I won’t let you throw yourself away like that.” Maggie blinked at the vehemence of Garrick’s words. “You’ve seen me. You’ve seen my leg,” he went on, before she could deny his self-description. “I’ll be blunt, Maggie—can you really bear to think of that in your bed? Because that’s what it would mean, sooner or later, if we go on kissing and touching. I’m not a boy to be fobbed off with a few kisses and caresses in the moonlight, Maggie—I’m a man. And I’ll be damned if I’ll open my heart to another woman who’s going to run screaming from my bed.” “I’m far from perfect myself, Garrick. And you are not your leg, Garrick. That is a part of you, yes, but when one loves, one loves the whole person. And there is much in you to love….”

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Entertainment. Escape. Fantasy. These three words describe the heart of Harlequin Historical novels. If you want compelling, emotional stories by some of the best writers in the field, look no further. Award-winning author and native Texan Laurie Grant has really hit her stride with Maggie and the Maverick, the last of her DEVLIN BROTHERS books. Garrick Devlin mistrusts women—with good reason: his wife left him when he came home wounded from the Civil War and she never told him she was pregnant. Now, trying to put a life together for his threeyear-old boy, he hires a newsman to help him start a paper. Only, M. L. Harper is really Maggie—a dainty Texas Yankee!—who wins his respect and shows him how to love again. The Unlikely Wife by Cassandra Austin is a sparkling Western about a flirty, truly unlikely wife and the officer and gentleman who shows her what the love of a good man can do. Margaret Moore returns with The Welshman’s Bride, part of her WARRIOR SERIES, about a roguish nobleman and the shy lady he takes to wife, who prove that opposites do attract! Be sure to look for Hunter of My Heart by talented newcomer Janet Kendall. In this fascinating, multilayered Regency, two Scottish nobles are bribed into marrying in an effort to protect their past secrets. Intrigue and passion abound from start to finish! 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 ® novel. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin 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 Maggie and the Maverick Laurie Grant www.millsandboon.co.uk

Books by Laurie Grant Books by Laurie Grant Harlequin Historicals Beloved Deceiver #170 The Raven and the Swan #205 Lord Liar #257 Devil’s Dare #300 My Lady Midnight #340 Lawman #367 The Duchess and the Desperado #421 Maggie and the Maverick #461

About the Author LAURIE GRANT combines a career as a trauma center emergency room nurse with that of historical romance author, she says living in two worlds keeps her sane. Passionately enthusiastic about the history of both England and Texas, she divides her travel time between these two spots. She is married to her own real-life hero, and has two teenage daughters, two dogs and a cat. Laurie loves to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 307272, Gahana, OH 43230.

Dedication To Ann Bouricius and Carol McFarland, who between them coerced me into writing this book, To Deborah Simmons, fellow Harlequin Hussy, who gave me the title, To the determined and inspiring folk who make up the Amputee Coalition of America, And to my own personal curmudgeon and hero, Michael.

Acknowledgment ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank Dale Starr, who works in the Print Shop at the Ohio Village, Ohio Historical Society, for his guidance in researching the newspaper industry in general and printing presses as they existed in frontier America in the 1800s. I would also like to thank Alvin C. Pike, certified prosthetist, President and Clinical Director of Amputee Rehabilitation Services in Hopkins, Minn., and Ian Gregson, editor of Amputation Online Magazine, for their invaluable assistance in researching the history of leg prosthetics and in understanding the adjustments, both physical and psychological, that amputees must make.

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

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Copyright

“I won’t let you throw yourself away like that.”

Maggie blinked at the vehemence of Garrick’s words.

“You’ve seen me. You’ve seen my leg,” he went on, before she could deny his self-description. “I’ll be blunt, Maggie—can you really bear to think of that in your bed? Because that’s what it would mean, sooner or later, if we go on kissing and touching. I’m not a boy to be fobbed off with a few kisses and caresses in the moonlight, Maggie—I’m a man. And I’ll be damned if I’ll open my heart to another woman who’s going to run screaming from my bed.”

“I’m far from perfect myself, Garrick. And you are not your leg, Garrick. That is a part of you, yes, but when one loves, one loves the whole person. And there is much in you to love….”

Dear Reader,

Entertainment. Escape. Fantasy. These three words describe the heart of Harlequin Historical novels. If you want compelling, emotional stories by some of the best writers in the field, look no further.

Award-winning author and native Texan Laurie Grant has really hit her stride with Maggie and the Maverick, the last of her DEVLIN BROTHERS books. Garrick Devlin mistrusts women—with good reason: his wife left him when he came home wounded from the Civil War and she never told him she was pregnant. Now, trying to put a life together for his threeyear-old boy, he hires a newsman to help him start a paper. Only, M. L. Harper is really Maggie—a dainty Texas Yankee!—who wins his respect and shows him how to love again.

The Unlikely Wife by Cassandra Austin is a sparkling Western about a flirty, truly unlikely wife and the officer and gentleman who shows her what the love of a good man can do. Margaret Moore returns with The Welshman’s Bride, part of her WARRIOR SERIES, about a roguish nobleman and the shy lady he takes to wife, who prove that opposites do attract!

Be sure to look for Hunter of My Heart by talented newcomer Janet Kendall. In this fascinating, multilayered Regency, two Scottish nobles are bribed into marrying in an effort to protect their past secrets. Intrigue and passion abound from start to finish!

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 ®novel.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3