The Rugged Cowboy

Two HOT cowboys. Two tough-as-spurs heroines. These two previously published, newly revised and expanded, smoking hot stories by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh will leave readers breathless and begging for more! COWBOY AND THE CAPTIVE Melina is one of two gorgeous twin daughters, the clever and considerate one who always spared her parents the humiliation of what her sister Maria had wrought. But now, Melina is finally ready to stand up for herself and seize control of her life?until she is kidnapped by a cowboy, named Jardin, who is dead-set on settling the score with her family. There’s only one catch: In capturing Melina, this tough, rough, hunk of a man has actually found a way to unleash her greatest fantasies, body and soul. . . COWBOY AND THE THIEF Beautiful, spirited Angel Manning has always longed to experience the power of her ancestors’ most precious heirloom. Her mother once told her that the legendary Irish torque would lead Angel to the one man worthy of possessing her heart. But when Angel learns that her father, now a widower, has sold the torque to the notorious two-timer Jack Riley, she is furious. Of course she plans to take back what is rightfully hers, by whatever means necessary. But the fate of the ancient Druids works in mysterious ways. . .Could it be that this slick, smooth-talking cowboy was destined to satisfy Angel’s deepest desires all along?

He's a cowboy mechanic with two kids and an ex-wife on the run. She connects better to horses than humans. Can Dallas and Jess find their way to each other at Hope Eternal Ranch? Dallas Dreyer was once a decorated surgeon. After getting involved in insurance fraud and then spending thirty months in a low-security facility, he gets released only to learn his wife of fifteen years has left their two children at her sister's and fled the state. He's determined to figure out how to be a single dad and do right by his kids, and he goes to Hope Eternal Ranch to attend the wedding of one of his best friends. He meets Jessica Morales, the stable master at the ranch, and he's instantly attracted to her. She has a big heart, a wide smile, and she's great with his kids. Jess likes him too, but she's wary of the rugged cowboy mechanic who doesn't seem to know when it's okay to take calls from his ex-wife and how to juggle all of his new responsibilities. Her horses, though, she gets, and since she's never had a relationship that's lasted longer than two months, she's not sure she wants to take a chance with her heart. When Dallas finds himself dealing with thugs who want him to pay off his ex-wife's debt, he has to make difficult decisions to keep himself, his children, and Jess safe. That means dealing with his ex-wife and paying whatever price necessary to get dangerous men away from Hope Eternal Ranch. Can Jess be patient with Dallas while he deals with so much? Or will the family she's started to build with him and his children disintegrate right before her eyes? Cowboys looking for a second chance at life, love, and happiness.

He has an ax to grind with his high school nemesis, and dating that nemesis's younger sister might just be the revenge he needs. Cassady Knott vowed a long time ago that she would never date a cowboy. It wasn't a tough promise to keep, considering there are only seven cowboys in her town, and she's related to three of them. It hasn't come up all that much since she's never seen a cowboy she found attractive. Until now. Tucker Trotter left Cupid Ridge behind fifteen years ago. After a decade of traveling around the West as a wrangler, he's forced to come home temporarily. Within minutes, he spots Cassady, little sister of his high school nemesis, Phoenix. He comes up with a clever way to get revenge. He might think Cassady has no idea what he's doing, but she's on to him. She likes the idea of getting back at her older brother for throwing his weight around all their lives. But over time, they both find themselves developing feelings that have nothing to do with their pretend relationship. The Cupid Ridge Cowboys series is a sweet, clean contemporary western romance series filled with swoon-worthy cowboys in a small-town setting.

**Jade: I wasn't sure what to expect when I came back to my small hometown in east Texas, but it certainly wasn't the tall, chiseled, too handsome ranch foreman, Noah. I never thought I'd be back here after moving to Denver four years ago, but when I got the call that my daddy died unexpectedly, it was up to me to tie up loose ends and sell the ranch. Except the ranch is a mess and Noah keeps hanging around and checking on me and wiping away my tears as I work through the complicated emotions of being back home. Home. This place has never been home, but one look in Noah's warm, brown, understanding eyes, and I think maybe I've found where I belong. **Noah: I remember Jade from when I first started working at Rivera Ranch four years ago. She was too young for me to appreciate then, but now that she's back, I can't take my eyes off of her fiery red hair, soft curves, and bright eyes full of depth and sorrow. She had her reasons for leaving, though I don't know what they are. I'm determined to find out all of her secrets, including whatever she's running from back in Denver. She might not be ready for a cowboy like me, but I'll help her fight through her demons and prove to her we belong together. **Her Rugged Cowboy is the first book in the Roped in by Love series and can be read as a standalone. Jade thinks she has to fix everything on her own, but Noah proves to her again and again that he'll always be there. There's plenty of steam, a sweet happily ever after, and enough drama to keep things interesting!

Free spirit Viv Kendrick has felt like and outsider in her high-achieving family her whole life. Looking for a direction in her life, she jumps at the chance to make her own way by taking a temporary job as the spa manager at the Buchanan Ranch. Viv is quickly swept up in ranch life, including the antics of a mischievous goat named Gilbert Goatfried and a sexy cowboy. Loner Wade Buchanan has been an outsider ever since he was orphaned and adopted by the Buchanan clan when he was a child. Now the ranch manager for their spread, he feels more like and employee than a family member. When Viv shows up as a breath of fresh air, she settles into the family as if she was born there. Caught between resentment and admiration, Wade tries his best to ignore his deepening feelings towards her. After all, she’ll be moving on soon—just like everyone else in his life. But as summer ends and her time draws to a close, will Wade take a chance and ask Viv to stay, or will he let her go when her family calls?

For an element so firmly fixed in American culture, the frontier myth is surprisingly flexible. How else to explain its having taken two such different guises in the twentieth century—the progressive, forward-looking politics of Rough Rider president Teddy Roosevelt and the conservative, old-fashioned character and Cold War politics of Ronald Reagan? This is the conundrum at the heart of Cowboy Presidents, which explores the deployment and consequent transformation of the frontier myth by four U.S. presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Behind the shape-shifting of this myth, historian David A. Smith finds major events in American and world history that have made various aspects of the “Old West” frontier more relevant, and more useful, for promoting radically different political ideologies and agendas. And these divergent adaptations of frontier symbolism have altered the frontier myth. Theodore Roosevelt, with his vigorous pursuit of an activist federal government, helped establish a version of the frontier myth that today would be considered liberal. But then, Smith shows, a series of events from the Lyndon Johnson through Jimmy Carter presidencies—including Vietnam, race riots, and stagflation—seemed to give the lie to the progressive frontier myth. In the wake of these crises, Smith’s analysis reveals, the entire structure and popular representation of frontier symbols and images in American politics shifted dramatically from left to right, and from liberal to conservative, with profound implications for the history of American thought and presidential politics. The now popular idea that “frontier American” leaders and politicians are naturally Republicans with conservative ideals flows directly from the Reagan era. Cowboy Presidents gives us a new, clarifying perspective on how Americans shape and understand their national identity and sense of purpose; at the same time, reflecting on the essential mutability of a quintessentially national myth, the book suggests that the next iteration of the frontier myth may well be on the horizon.

Have you ever dreamed about owning your own business? Maybe becoming a market disruptor? Would you know where to start? Do you have a coach, a mentor, or a teacher who can show you how? Well, now you do. If we are lucky, we have been taught to dream since the time we were very young. If we are luckier still, we have also been taught to establish a sturdy foundation for those dreams to stand upon. When building the business you’ve always dreamed of, you must first establish a rock-solid foundation, something I’ve learned from many years of experience as a Rugged Entrepreneur. What is a “Rugged Entrepreneur”? It’s what I call a special breed of entrepreneur. Ruggeds make the leap toward success in a way that separates them from the millions who fall short because they invest the time and effort to develop and hone the specific set of powerful skills you’ll discover in these pages. I’ve identified four elements to becoming a Rugged Entrepreneur. These elements can be developed by anyone and are helpful to every type of entrepreneur. But all four of them are necessary to do the job well. The Four Foundational Elements of being a Rugged Entrepreneur are: A fervent work ethic A humble and healthy pride (what I call “Rugged Pride”) Fortitudo mentis (aka, mental toughness) Faith The Rugged Entrepreneur provides a roadmap to your journey of lasting self-discovery. It’s about identifying and acquiring the skills to achieve sustained success and to build on top of that success. It’s about passionately pursuing a productive business life for yourself and your family using the economic engines accessible to us all. But be warned: do not read this book if you do not want to be challenged.

An inside look at a cable titan and his industry John Malone, hailed as one of the great unsung heroes of our age by some and reviled by others as a ruthless robber baron, is revealed as a bit of both in Cable Cowboy. For more than twenty-five years, Malone has dominated the cable television industry, shaping the world of entertainment and communications, first with his cable company TCI and later with Liberty Media. Written with Malone's unprecedented cooperation, the engaging narrative brings this controversial capitalist and businessman to life. Cable Cowboy is at once a penetrating portrait of Malone's complex persona, and a captivating history of the cable TV industry. Told in a lively style with exclusive details, the book shows how an unassuming copper strand started as a backwoods antenna service and became the digital nervous system of the U.S., an evolution that gave U.S. consumers the fastest route to the Internet. Cable Cowboy reveals the forces that propelled this pioneer to such great heights, and captures the immovable conviction and quicksilver mind that have defined John Malone throughout his career.