“Any thoughts on our future?” Charlie smoothed his thumb along the pulse point of her wrist. He loved the way her heart still raced at his faintest touch. He had other ways of making her blood pump, and they both knew it, but understated physicality, as opposed to his usual displays of brute strength, was proving another fun challenge.

  An effective challenge. Dylan’s cheeks, naked of toner or blush, colored naturally. “Why don’t you come over tonight and we can discuss it?”

  “Love to.” Charlie let her slip away at last, prepared to claim her invitation as his only victory, when Dylan surprised him by swooping back in for a heady kiss. It was deep, soulful, and over too soon. Charlie groaned when she pulled away.

  “Work before play,” she reminded him as she retreated.

  Why can’t it be both? Charlie thought as he surveyed the eager faces crowding in around him to fill the void Dylan had strategically left.

  He was in love with Dylan Rose, and he was in love with life, but a packed stadium could never compare to the love he had found in Lockhart Bend.

  “Touchdown,” he told the kids who’d gathered for autographs. They threw their arms up exactly as he’d taught them. Long after he retired—long after the roars of the NFL crowd had faded from his memory—he would remember the laughter that surrounded him now.

  “Touchdown!” the kids cheered, and Charlie cheered with them. He had a lot to cheer about—his family was here for him, and the woman he loved. And however long his knee held out, his future looked bright. Charlie Wild was a lucky man, no denying that.

  END OF WILD HEART

  WILDHORSE RANCH BROTHERS WILD RIDE BOOK 2

  Wild Ride, July 27, 2023

  Wild Heart, August 3, 2023

  Wild Dream, August 10, 2023

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  BLURB

  Sometimes love brews where it's least expected…

  Between keeping his brothers in line and looking after Lockhart Bend, Sheriff Trevor Wild has enough on his plate. But he can't pass up the chance to get close to the town's newest resident, Marianne Stanton. She's as delicious as the beer she brews… But as stubborn as a hangover.

  She won't sway from her plans to revitalize the town's beloved honky tonk. But the more time he spends with her, the more he begins to come around to her way of thinking. Maybe Lockhart Bend is ready for a new honky tonk, and maybe its sheriff is finally ready for love…

  Marianne barely escaped Denver with her dignity intact. Lockhart Bend is her chance to start fresh, away from the ex-husband. She's striking out on her own, and she won't accept help from anyone. Especially the town's pushy, opinionated sheriff. The only problem: that sheriff is drop-dead gorgeous. She can't help but let him into her heart. But when a blast from her past puts her dreams on the line, both her love and her ambitions are in jeopardy.

  Will Marianne find a way to have both the boyfriend and the brewpub of her dreams? Or is she headed for yet another heartbreak?

  Grab your copy of Wild Dream

  August 10, 2023

  (Available for Pre-Order Now!)

  www.LeslieNorthBooks.com

  EXCERPT

  Chapter 1

  MARIANNE

  Marianne Stanton absolutely hated dirt, and Lockhart Bend was lousy with it.

  You can do this, she coached herself as she squatted down in her garden plot. Don’t forget you’re a Colorado girl. You love nature, and you definitely don’t shy away from manual labor.

  Still, she wasn’t used to being so personally…entrenched in it. It wasn’t like she could maintain a manicure anyway, working as hard as she did, but today her nails were crusted with soil and positively wrecked. Like mole paws, she thought, one with the grime. What was the point of gardening gloves if all the dirt still got in? Hell, what was the point of gardening, when you got right down to it?

  “Window dressing,” she muttered, and reached for her trowel. If she wanted to bring the crowds back to the Honky-Tonk, she needed the old place looking its best. A whole new façade might just break the bank, especially once she got through bringing the place up to code, but a few potted roses, well, she could rise to that. And what kind of Texan didn’t love a yellow rose?

  She smiled at the thought of the garden in bloom, bright yellow blossoms bobbing in the breeze. This place had been a hot spot in Aunt Celia’s day, country tunes bumping from noon to midnight. Shouts and laughter spilling out into the street. Marianne had been too young to join in the fun, but she’d caught glimpses through the old-fashioned saloon doors. To her five-year-old self, the Honky-Tonk had seemed magic: folks went in sour and dour and came out red-faced and happy, dizzy from dancing and too much cheap beer.

  She’d bring those days back if it was the last thing she did. Rebuild the Honky-Tonk along with her life.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Aunt Celia had asked her, right before she handed over the keys to the bar. Marianne still remembered how heavy they had felt in the crease of her palm, full of the weight of a thousand expectations. “It needs a whole lot of work just to get up to code. That’s why I sold it to you for the price I did—that, and we’re family.” Celia had winked at her. “But this town is close-knit, Mari, and they don’t know you like I do. And you’ll have competition I never did. Since I’ve been shut down, there’s this new joint opened up—”

  “Don’t worry about me, Aunt Celia.” Marianne had shot her aunt the brightest grin she could muster, full to the brim with radiant Colorado confidence. “You just promise to enjoy newlywed life in sunny Florida. I can look after myself here just fine.”

  “I know you can, honey.” Aunt Celia’s face, already looking ten years younger with the excited expectation of the new chapter ahead of her, had collapsed on itself in a moment of unguarded grief. “Oh, Mari.”

  Her aunt had pulled her into a tight embrace then, and Marianne had accepted it, unresisting. She had been anticipating that moment for a while.

  “I can’t help but think how awful it is that my marriage is starting just as yours is ending. It isn’t right!”

  “It’s all right, Aunt Celia, really.” Marianne had rubbed her aunt’s back awkwardly as she assumed the role of momentary comforter. “It’s been more than a year now. My divorce is long finalized. Please don’t trouble yourself. I sure as hell don’t.” Marianne had drawn herself back and beamed to let her aunt know she meant it. “I’m thrilled for you. Now go on—get out of here. And call me as soon as your flight lands.”

  “Will do, honey. I love you.” Aunt Celia had smoothed Marianne’s hair back from her forehead, like she was still the cherished, innocent child that had grown up in Lockhart Bend, and not a divorcée on the cusp of thirty.

  And now here she was, on her knees in the dirt. Talk about rebuilding from the ground up! Two women around her own age skirted around her, and Marianne straightened up to watch them go. Much as she hated to admit it, Aunt Celia had raised a good point. It had been a long time since she’d called this place home. She didn’t know anyone, and no one knew her. No one stopped to greet her when they passed on the street, or dropped by her little house on the edge of town. She’d yet to even meet her new next-door neighbor. She’d heard their front door slam at the crack of dawn, and their car in the driveway late at night, but she’d yet to see hide or hair of them, much less shake their hand.

  Workaholic, she thought, and laughed aloud at the irony. She’d hardly been home herself since she started her renovations. And she wasn’t the only one. Lockhart Bend may have seemed small and sleepy, but it was full of hardworking folk, ranchers and laborers and small business owners. And then there was the hospital, and the staff who worked there.

  Everyone worked hard in Lockhart Bend. And Marianne was determined to be no exception.

  “Fresh start,” she muttered, and blew the hair out of her face. “This is your fresh start. Don’t screw it up.” But it was hard to feel fresh when she was sweating all over, her ratty old gardening clothes clinging to her body. Her cheap cotton dress shirt stuck to her aching back, and her straw sunhat was making her scalp itch. Marianne removed it and wiped the back of one filthy wrist across her forehead to dash the sweat away. Just five more bushes, and phase one was done. Then she just had to grab the rocks from her truck, the big box of fancy ones to edge off her garden. A literal box of rocks—what had she been thinking?

  A peal of shared laughter drew her attention. The Saturday morning farmers’ market appeared to be wrapping up. Aunt Celia had always welcomed shoppers to park in the Honky-Tonk’s spaces during the bar’s off-hours, and Marianne meant to keep that tradition alive, a gesture of goodwill to endear her to the locals. But the giggling couple didn’t seem to notice her at all, strolling back to their car with more produce than either of them could comfortably carry. Still, they were obviously enjoying their day, and each other’s company. A black lab wearing a bandana bounded at their heels, tongue lolling as if he was a third party to their joke. Maybe he was.

  Marianne felt a sharp pang of longing, so strong the shock of it nearly knocked her on her ass. The feeling startled her, and she blinked, stupidly watching as the happy couple assisted one another in loading up the back of their pickup.

  It couldn’t be that she actually missed Simon, could it? No way in hell. The mere thought of her ex-husband was enough to make her ill, and that was absolutely a good sign. No, what she missed was the collaboration, the camaraderie, that came with working toward a mutual goal alongside someone you absolutely gelled with…and that wasn’t something she had ever had with Simon. It had taken getting away from him to realize it, but their relationship had been largely one-sided. Even so, in the early days, it had been exciting, scouting locations, haggling for their equipment. Launching the dream she’d thought they’d shared—their own brewpub.

  Opening night had been her first clue it wasn’t right, or at least, the first clue she’d let herself acknowledge. Simon had left early, and it had hurt. He’d claimed he was tired, but in truth, he’d looked bored, like to him, their big dream was just an investment—or worse, a side project—to keep Marianne happy. He’d never gone all in, not like she had.

  Marianne wiped her face again, pushing her disappointment away. Could a person really miss something they’d never had in the first place? Maybe I should just get a dog, she thought, as she hefted her box of rocks. A dog is a surefire way to avoid cat lady status, right? And with a dog, you never have to—

  The box’s bottom fell out, spilling rocks everywhere. A big one came down on Marianne’s foot.

  “Shit!” she yelled, drawing attention from the couple, their dog, and the hot hunk of man just rounding the corner. Marianne’s cheeks blazed to match the fire in her toe, and she ducked down quickly to gather her rocks.

  As first impressions went, frankly, this sucked.

  Grab your copy of Wild Dream

  August 10, 2023

  (Available for Pre-Order Now!)

  www.LeslieNorthBooks.com

  Snowed In with the Rancher

  BLURB

  Snowed in at Christmas with the one that got away…

  Olivia Wickham never forgot her passionate romance with a sexy cowboy, Tate McConnell. After a family emergency forced them apart, Olivia searched, but couldn’t find him…not even to tell him she was pregnant with his twin daughters. Now, years later, she and the twins are stranded in the wilderness, with a blizzard bearing down. When a handsome rancher shows up to rescue them, Olivia is shocked to see it's Tate — the girls’ father.

  Time hasn’t dampened Tate’s attraction to the gorgeous Olivia. But he’s convinced himself he’s not cut out for family life, and it’s hard for a stubborn cowboy to change his ways. Still, the more time he spends trapped in a remote cabin with Olivia and his daughters, the more Tate begins to realize they may be just what his life has been missing…

  With Christmas around the corner, Olivia and Tate can’t help but feel like fate is offering them a second chance at love. But can they open their hearts enough to accept it?

  Grab your copy of Snowed In with the Rancher

  Available October 19, 2023

  www.LeslieNorthBooks.com

  BLURB

  The heart wants what the heart wants…

  Web designer Zoe Wilson has two good reasons to avoid Cafferty ranch. First, she’s scared of horses. And second, she absolutely does not want to bump into her first love, Jake Cafferty. Too bad her best friend just happens to be Jake’s sister.

  When she asks Zoe to update the ranch’s outdated website, Zoe agrees—happy to lose herself in the digital world. But the more time she spends near Jake, the more all those feelings from years ago rear up in her heart, kicking like a wild bronco…

  Jake never told anyone, but Zoe broke his heart when they were kids. Now she’s back, and the gruff cowboy vows there’s no way he’ll let that happen again. But there’s something about Zoe that he just can’t resist, and he soon finds himself falling for her all over again… Hard.

  When Zoe gets accepted into a prestigious program, she doesn’t want to give up on their love. But Jake can’t bring himself to leave the ranch.

  Can these two broken-hearted souls finally come together? Or will they be torn apart for good…

  Grab your copy of Wild Love (Cafferty Ranch Book One)

  from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com

  Chapter One

  “Well, we gotta make do, simple as that,” Jake Cafferty said to Dustin Whitlock, his foreman. “No way we can replace it with all of the upgrades we need, so repair is the name of the game.”

  They were headed back from their ride out to the far pasture to check on the stranded and broken-down tractor, the latest in a series of unexpected expenses that were giving him nonstop headaches.

  “I’ll do my best,” Dustin responded with a nod.

  They both turned to the sound of tires crunching up the long dirt driveway that led to Lost Valley Ranch’s main house.

  “Expecting someone, boss?” Dustin asked.

  “Nope.”

  Jake frowned and rubbed his hand down the coppery scruff along his jawline. They weren’t due any visitors that he knew of, and he wasn’t in the mood to entertain whoever was zipping closer, a little too fast for his liking. Jake spotted someone in sunglasses singing along to the radio. A very pretty, very familiar someone, unmistakable even in the two point five seconds he had to take her in as she sped by.

  “Dang it.”

  Dustin glanced at him. “Something wrong?”

  “No. Yeah. Maybe,” he muttered. “C’mon, we need to put these horses up.”

  They urged them into gallops and followed behind the cloud of kicked up dust to the driveway in front of the house.

  “You mind taking care of Indigo for me?” he asked Dustin as he slid off his horse. “I need to deal with…that.”

  They both glanced over at the Jeep.

  “Well, huh,” Dustin said as he leaned over and took the reins from Jake. “I guess you do.”