Sweet Texas Surprise

MULTIPLE COMPLICATIONS Sweet Callahan Homecoming Ashlyn Callahan has always known she would bring danger to Rancho Diablo. That’s why she runs from the cowboy she loves to hide out in Texas Hill Country. But all hell breaks loose when Xavier Phillips finds her…and her four newborn babies. With the future of Ash’s clan at stake, Xav is ready to lay his life on the line to safeguard the family legacy—and create a homecoming worthy of his Callahan bride! The Secret Agent’s Surprises Secret agent Pete Morgan came back to Texas to collect his inheritance and found a family waiting for him—orphaned quadruplets in need of a home! To adopt them, Pete needs a wife. A temporary engagement to Priscilla Perkins could be the ideal solution. Priscilla may not think Pete is husband material, but he knows she’d make a great mom. With five angels stealing his heart, it’s a scenario no man can resist.

Alexander Edwin Sweet (1841-1901) is Texas's own "Sifter," whose humorous columns appeared in the Galveston Daily News in the late 1870s and early 1880s. In his wickedly funny, tongue-in-cheek sketches, readers learned of an astonishing variety of frontier phenomena, some familiar, others downright odd. For example, there was the typical nineteenth-century custom of New Year's Day receptions for bachelor guests only, with refreshments consisting largely of strong drink and equally strong fruitcake. Imbibing a bit more cheer at each stop, according to Sweet, the bachelors brought the last prospective sweethearts they visited New Year's greetings as incoherent as they were heartfelt. At times Sweet parodied the Yankee image of the typical Texan, whom he described as "half alligator, half human," eating raw buffalo and toting an arsenal of weaponry like a "perambulating gun-rack." But he also did as much as any writer to establish and enlarge upon the national image of Texas and Texans. Even the irascible red ant and the other "critters" in Sweet's column were Texas big and Texas-fabulous! In 1881 Sweet co-founded Texas Siftings, a humor magazine that moved from Austin to New York to become one of the most popular periodicals of its kind in the United States. From Texas Siftings, from Sweet's two published books (one called by John Jenkins in Basic Texas Books the "best volume of 19th century Texas humor"), and from many never-before-collected newspaper columns, editor Virginia Eisenhour has assembled an Alex Sweet sampler that presents the very best of the timeless humorist's work. The result—Alex Sweet's Texas—clearly demonstrates why the New York Journal pronounced Sweet "second to no living writer in freshness, originality, sparkling wit, and refined humor." A century later, that wit still sparkles and is guaranteed to delight Texans present as it once did Texans past.

“[Vivian Vaughan]’s knowledge of...Texas is phenomenal...a double bonus for history buffs and Western romance readers." —INSIDE BOOKS Meg Britton arrives in Silver Creek with one purpose: to see the construction of the rail line completed. Fighting against the hell-on-wheels culture of hard drinking and harder living, her own father’s misgivings, and rival railroaders, it is only Meg’s sharp tongue and steadfast determination that keep her mission afloat. That is until she meets the handsome and mysterious Kalib Cheney. For reasons of his own, Kalib is intent on halting the construction of the railroad, and not even beautiful and bold Meg will stand in his way. But he’ll soon learn that her unyielding resolve matches his own, as does her budding desire to surrender to the embrace of her most bitter enemy.

Small town. Big secrets. Welcome to Sweet Ridge. Gage Cooper has always wanted a particular piece of family land. Not only for the oil on the property, but to prove to his father that Gage's past doesn't define his future. When his dad wills the land to stranger Charlotte Wilkinson and all Gage gets is a mysterious key, he's determined to do anything to get his rightful inheritance back. Charlotte Wilkinson never expected to inherit a piece of property in Sweet Ridge, Texas –the Aussie businesswoman is focused on building an environmental analyst career in America. But the moment arrogant oil-man Gage Cooper walks into her office accusing her of seducing his father, all plans for selling the property to him fly out the window. Then fate threatens to send her back to Australia and the dueling duo are forced to accept a fake marriage to keep their dreams alive. But as they discover common ground, and a surprising chemistry together, suddenly Gage must decide what's worth more: the land he's always coveted or a future with Charlotte?

Small town. Big secrets. Welcome to Sweet Ridge, Texas When the Cooper brothers hear what their father left them in his will, they’re surprised to find that the things closest to their hearts were given to three random women. Gavin Cooper had his heart set on owning the house the family had grown up in, and when his old high school rival inherits it, he’s devastated. But she can’t sell the house for one year, and that’s plenty of time for him to find a way to get it back. When Macy Young said goodbye to Sweet Ridge and left to pursue fame and fortune, she never thought she’d return. After losing her best friend, Macy went on a downward spiral of pain and shame. Living in the inherited house where she’d spent many happy hours might just soothe her weary soul. Macy and Gavin will have to find a way to forgive themselves and each other if they’re ever going to be happy. Can this country star and veterinarian forget their pasts and start a life together?

A Lady and the Scoundrel Romance (#1) From Romantic Times Career Achievement Award Winner and New York Times bestseller Victoria Thompson, a sensual tale of historical romance in the Wild, Wild West... “Ms. Thompson imbues her characters with strength, eloquence and dignity.” –Romantic Times INSOLENT ROGUE Pretty Maggi Colson is backed into a corner—either sell Colson Ranch or accept Jack Sinclair’s loathsome marriage proposal! Jack may have the rugged handsomeness that other women desire...but Maggi refuses to give him what he wants. While Maggi swears that selling Colson Ranch is the one thing she will never do—every time his smoldering eyes rake over her, she can barely contain her desire...and the desperate need for another one of his demanding kisses... STUBBORN SPITFIRE Jack admires the stubborn little spitfire—there is no quit to her. But to get what he wants, he’ll have to resort to marriage, the one thing he swears is not for him. If it takes until dawn, he’ll subdue her sweet lips and watch her sea-green eyes deepen to emerald with passion. He’ll turn her words into cries of exquisite pleasure, begging him to make her his own Texas Vixen.

A Lady and the Cowboy Romance (#2) What starts as a marriage in name only is just one hot, sweet kiss away from Paradise.... Nothing is more important to Miss Rachel McKinsey than the Circle M—even if it means taking a near-stranger as husband to scare off rustlers. Still, marrying the towering, rugged, Cole Elliott may be every bit as dangerous—especially if she can’t control her own wayward urges. Ranch foreman Cole Elliott just can't say no to his enticing boss Rachel McKinsey: he’s had his eye on her since he first hired on! And though he's promised to protect her property and not lay a finger on her...this promise is going to be near impossible to keep.