Mary Baxter: Saddle Up

Cover Page

Excerpt He Must Have Pulled The Craziest Stunt Of His Entire Life By Marrying That Woman. Jeremiah had never responded so strongly to anyone in his life, nor had anyone ever responded that way toward him. But he had to let Bridget have her freedom, chalk last night up to a fantasy and get on with his life. Yeah. He’d tell her she was right, that what had happened was insane. Besides, his feelings weren’t the only ones he had to consider. He had— “Jeremiah?” He was so deep in thought that he had no idea his privacy was being invaded until he heard the husky female voice. He swung around and stared at the woman who was now his wife and knew with a certainty born of old that he could never willingly let her go.

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Can you believe that for the next three months we’ll be celebrating the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire? That’s quite a milestone! The festivities begin this month with six books by some of your longtime favorites and exciting new names in romance. We’ll continue into next month, May, with the actual publication of Book #1000—by Diana Palmer—and then we’ll keep the fun going into June. There’s just so much going on that I can’t put it all into one letter. You’ll just have to keep reading! This month we have an absolutely terrific lineup, beginning with Saddle Up, a MAN OF THE MONTH by Mary Lynn Baxter. There’s also The Groom, I Presume? — the latest in Annette Broadrick’s DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS miniseries. Father of the Brat launches the new FROM HERE TO PATERNITY miniseries by Elizabeth Bevarly, and Forgotten Vows by Modean Moon is the first of three books about what happens on THE WEDDING NIGHT. Lass Small brings us her very own delightful sense of humor in A Stranger in Texas. And our DEBUT AUTHOR this month is Anne Eames with Two Weddings and a Bride. And next month, as promised, Book #1000, a MAN OF THE MONTH, Man of Ice by Diana Palmer! Lucia Macro, 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 Saddle Up Mary Lynn Baxter www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To my aunt, Bess Hinson, for all the years of love and support.

About The Author MARY LYNN BAXTER sold hundreds of romances before she ever wrote one. The D&B Bookstore, right on the main drag in Lufkin, Texas, is her home as well as the store she owns and manages. She and her husband, Leonard, garden in their spare time. Around five o’clock every evening they can be found picking butter beans on their small farm just outside of town.

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Saddle Up was such a fun book to write, as marriages of convenience are one of my favorite reads. I hope they’re one of yours, too. The story involves a rancher in Utah, Jeremiah Davis, who is a widower and lonely. Yet he’s leery of making another commitment—until he enters an auction for charity and is won by a stranger in town, Bridget Martin. Their attraction is hot and instantaneous. And through circumstances seemingly beyond their control, they end up marrying the day they meet, making the secrets each harbors as lethal as their attraction. I’m honored to be counted among the Silhouette Desire family. Writing for Desire is like anticipating a Friday night date; it’s thrilling, titillating and highly entertaining. Saddle Up is a part of the Desire Celebration 1000, which makes this book extraspecial to me. I hope you, as a reader, will find it just as special.

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

Epilogue

Copyright

Jeremiah had never responded so strongly to anyone in his life, nor had anyone ever responded that way toward him. But he had to let Bridget have her freedom, chalk last night up to a fantasy and get on with his life.

Yeah. He’d tell her she was right, that what had happened was insane. Besides, his feelings weren’t the only ones he had to consider. He had—

“Jeremiah?”

He was so deep in thought that he had no idea his privacy was being invaded until he heard the husky female voice.

He swung around and stared at the woman who was now his wife and knew with a certainty born of old that he could never willingly let her go.

Dear Reader,

Can you believe that for the next three months we’ll be celebrating the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire? That’s quite a milestone! The festivities begin this month with six books by some of your longtime favorites and exciting new names in romance.

We’ll continue into next month, May, with the actual publication of Book #1000—by Diana Palmer—and then we’ll keep the fun going into June. There’s just so much going on that I can’t put it all into one letter. You’ll just have to keep reading!

This month we have an absolutely terrific lineup, beginning with Saddle Up, a MAN OF THE MONTH by Mary Lynn Baxter. There’s also The Groom, I Presume? — the latest in Annette Broadrick’s DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS miniseries. Father of the Brat launches the new FROM HERE TO PATERNITY miniseries by Elizabeth Bevarly, and Forgotten Vows by Modean Moon is the first of three books about what happens on THE WEDDING NIGHT. Lass Small brings us her very own delightful sense of humor in A Stranger in Texas. And our DEBUT AUTHOR this month is Anne Eames with Two Weddings and a Bride.

And next month, as promised, Book #1000, a MAN OF THE MONTH, Man of Ice by Diana Palmer!

Lucia Macro,

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

To my aunt, Bess Hinson,

for all the years of love and support.

sold hundreds of romances before she ever wrote one. The D&B Bookstore, right on the main drag in Lufkin, Texas, is her home as well as the store she owns and manages. She and her husband, Leonard, garden in their spare time. Around five o’clock every evening they can be found picking butter beans on their small farm just outside of town.

Dear Reader,

Saddle Up was such a fun book to write, as marriages of convenience are one of my favorite reads. I hope they’re one of yours, too. The story involves a rancher in Utah, Jeremiah Davis, who is a widower and lonely. Yet he’s leery of making another commitment—until he enters an auction for charity and is won by a stranger in town, Bridget Martin.

Their attraction is hot and instantaneous. And through circumstances seemingly beyond their control, they end up marrying the day they meet, making the secrets each harbors as lethal as their attraction.

I’m honored to be counted among the Silhouette Desire family. Writing for Desire is like anticipating a Friday night date; it’s thrilling, titillating and highly entertaining.