Her Texas Cowboy

Crooks returns to Texas in the spicy second Blackstone Ranch romance (after A Cowboy and a Promise). Lucienne Dunn could be facing jail time after her powerful father’s erstwhile girlfriend falsely implicates Lucienne in her embezzling scheme at the New York City hospital where they both work. Lucienne’s father believes that if they raise the money to build the hospital a new wing, it might be persuaded to drop charges against both women. To get the money, he sends Lucienne to Texas to buy a ranch from the Paxton family—unbeknownst to the Paxtons, it sits atop massive mineral reserves. Brock Paxton hasn’t had the best luck with relationships, and he doubts that will change just because a beautiful, Jaguar-driving Manhattanite rolls into town hoping to buy a ranch that’s not for sale. As they spend time together, however, opposites attract—but will their romance survive after Brock learns Lucienne’s secret? While it’s difficult to believe that the Paxton family could be unaware of a lucrative source of income on their property, readers will appreciate the headstrong heroine and strong, silent hero. Tightly plotted and sexy, this contemporary western should please Crooks’s existing fans and earn her new ones. (Feb.)