When a Cowboy Loves a Woman
by Jennie Marts
Publication Date: 3/30/2021
About the Book:
They both know the pain of loss and how to protect their hearts...but fate has a way of stepping in...
When a kitchen fire forces young widow Elle Brooks to move in with her friend Bryn and her motley collection of rescue animals, she doesn’t foresee ending up in the muscled arms of handsome cowboy and veterinarian Brody Tate. But she can’t deny the feelings that being close to Brody are stirring in her. Spending time with the hunky cowboy and his adorable young daughter as they rehabilitate rescued horses reminds Elle of all she lost in a car crash years ago.
As a widower himself, Brody is
devoted to being a good dad for his spirited daughter. He hasn’t let romance
even enter his head. But now he’s met Elle. Spending time with her is shaking
up the calm he’s worked so hard to achieve, and he can’t seem to get this woman
off his mind.
Elle and Brody have both lost people they loved, but their mutual attraction and growing feelings are too strong to ignore. The hope of a future together is a beautiful possibility, but can these two wounded souls take a chance on each other and find the courage to love again?
Jennie Marts is the USA Today bestselling author of award-winning books filled with love, laughter, and always a happily ever after. She is living her own happily ever after with her husband, two dogs, and a parakeet that loves to tweet to the oldies, in the mountains of Colorado.
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Read an Excerpt:
Everything hurts, thought Elle Brooks as she sank
lower in the bathtub. Her back and shoulders ached from carrying bales of hay
and brushing the horses that morning at the Heaven Can Wait Horse Rescue, where
she volunteered. Although she preferred the physical labor over the headache
she got from spending the afternoon with her financial advisor, going over the
trust and through her finances. Between his company and his considerable life
insurance policy, her beloved Ryan had left her with a substantial amount of
money. But she’d give it all away for one more day with him.
She
pushed a bubbly pile of suds across the spacious garden bathtub as the final
strains of one of her favorite Pink songs faded in her ears. Usually the pop
star’s music could energize her, but tonight she felt more like a sinking stone
than any kind of rock star. With a sigh, she pushed the drain release with her
toe and pulled the earbuds from her ears.
That’s
when she heard the sirens.
Hair
raised on the nape of her neck, and a chill that had nothing to do with the
cooling bathwater raced up her spine. She slammed her eyes shut against the
onslaught of memories. It had been over a year since Ryan died, but the images
of the ambulance’s throbbing lights and the mournful sounds of the sirens were
as vivid as if it had happened the day before.
She caught
the first whiff of smoke as she heard the fire trucks pull up in front of her
house. Water sloshed over the side as she stumbled to get out of the tub.
Grabbing a towel, she scarcely had time to run it over her body before she
heard the slam of her front door and raised voices.
Reaching
for her pajamas, she pulled on the cotton shorts and wrenched the tank top over
her head.
Move, her brain screamed. Get
out.
The
fabric clung to her damp skin as she snatched up her short robe and raced out
of the bathroom. From the landing, she could see a flurry of men in yellow
coats dragging a gray hose across the Italian marble of her foyer toward her
kitchen.
She
choked on the acrid smoke filling the air. There were no blazing flames, but
the smoke scorched her throat, and she blinked against the sting of it to her
eyes.
An
older fireman caught sight of her. “You need to get out of the house, ma’am.”
Panic
gripped her as she wildly looked around at the chaos invading her home. Then
her gaze caught and held on the familiar eyes of the tall cowboy who’d just
stepped into view. He was dressed in jeans and boots and a black Stetson hat,
and the sight of his broad shoulders filling the doorway somehow grounded her.
She
didn’t really know him—she’d briefly met him a few weeks ago. But that one time
had shown his ability to stay calm and steady in a crisis situation. His name
was Brody—Doctor Brody Tate. He was her best friend Bryn’s
veterinarian. But why was a veterinarian at a house fire?
A
plume of dark smoke billowed out of the kitchen, and Elle caught the distinct
sound of the crackle of flames. She coughed, then turned around and ran back
down the hallway.
She
heard the older fireman’s voice yelling, “Get her out of here, Tate,” followed
by the sound of cowboy boots sprinting up the stairs as she raced to the closed
door at the end of the hall.
She
pushed through, ignoring the rush of emotions that normally flooded her when
she opened the door to the room decorated in pink-and-white stripes. A
hand-knit pink blanket lay in the seat of the rocking chair. Elle grabbed it
and clutched it to her chest. If she could only save one thing, it had to be
this.
She
turned back to see Brody in the doorway. He didn’t say anything, just reached
for her hand and led her quickly back down the hallway.
They
reached the top of the stairs, and she froze again at the commotion below—the
rush of the firefighters’ feet, the commanding tone of their voices as they
shouted orders, the pulsing flash of red lights against the white walls of her
entryway.
Brody
pulled at her hand, but she couldn’t move. He turned back and must have seen
the panic in her eyes. His tone was soft as he swept her up, cradling her to
him as if she weighed nothing at all. “It’s all right, darlin’. I’ve got
you.”
She
buried her face in his chest, clinging to him, as he carried her down the
stairs and out the front door. Elle lifted her head and gulped at the fresh
air.
“Is
there anyone else in the house? Any pets?”
She
shook her head. “No. Only me.”
“You
remember me? We met a couple of weeks ago at Bryn’s?”
“Yes,
I remember. But what are you doing here?” And why was she clutching his neck
like he was a life preserver? A handsome, tall cowboy life preserver.
***
Excerpted from When a Cowboy Loves a Woman by Jennie Marts. © 2021 by Jennie Marts. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. a Rafflecopter giveaway
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