Synopsis:
Three abandoned cowboys, born in heartbreak and bonded by brotherhood, are brought together by the fierce love of the grandparents who took them in and the ranch that’s the only home they’ve ever known…
Surly cowboy, Ford Lassiter, named after the truck his dad was driving when he’d left him and his mother, has only known abandonment and doesn’t trust relationships—until he shares an intimate weekend at a wedding with a woman he met by chance. Now he can’t stop thinking about her and what could have happened if she hadn’t driven away from him too.
Tall and curvy, Elizabeth ‘Bitsy’ Cole, who is anything but bitsy, has spent her adult life wishing for change but is afraid to take risks. Then a crazy hot weekend with a cowboy finally gives her the courage to make some big changes in her life. She quits the family business to start her own accounting firm and buys a rundown farmhouse in the mountains with a yard for her dog, finally leaving her dinky apartment in the city that’s never quite felt like home.
So what happens when the handy-man she hires to help fix up the farmhouse turns out to be the same cowboy she spent that steamy weekend with? She thinks he was only with her out of pity and as a favor to the groom, but the looks he’s giving her now makes her wonder if there might be a chance for something more. If she has the courage to find out…
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Three Excerpts to choose from for Love at First Cowboy by Jennie Marts
Excerpt 1:
Ford’s body was shaking as he strode back to Elizabeth. “That took everything I had not
to punch that conceited jerk in the throat.” He softened his tone and expression as he took her by
the shoulders. “Are you okay? He didn’t touch you, did he?”
She shook her head, too stunned by Ford’s reaction to say anything. He was pissed. But
was he really this angry because of the way Chad treated her? Or did he just not like the guy in
general?
“Shoot,” he said, letting out his breath and scrubbing his hand across the whiskers on his
jaw. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said all that. That guy just made me so frickin’ mad. I heard
the way he was talking to you, and I couldn’t let that stand.”
“It’s okay. I appreciated it.”
“Did you know he was coming over here?”
“No. I just walked down the stairs, and he was standing in the kitchen. Scared the heck
out of me. My phone was in my purse, and he was standing between me and the door. And then
the stuff he was saying was really starting to freak me out. I hadn’t really thought about how
isolated I would be out in the country.” She pressed a hand to her heart as she imagined what
could have happened. “I’ve never had an unwanted man in my house like that. I mean, sure I’ve
had my landlord stop by, but he never made leering remarks or insinuated that I should offer him
sexual favors for fixing the garbage disposal.”
A growl sounded in the back of Ford’s throat as his hands tightened into fists. “On second
thought, I should have punched that guy.”
“No. You handled it just right. Getting him out of the house and discouraging him from
coming back was what I was trying to do. He just wasn’t getting the hint from me.”
“That’s what I was trying to do, too.” He frowned. “But I probably shouldn’t have told
him I was moving in here. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I wasn’t. Thinking, I mean.
I just reacted. But I didn’t want him thinking you would be out here alone or that he could come
back by when I wasn’t here.”
“I appreciate that. And I was doing the same thing by telling him I had a boyfriend.”
Ford’s lips pulled together as he eyed her. “Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Have a boyfriend?”
A nervous giggle bubbled out of her. Dang. She’d forgotten how many times that had
happened to her the last time she’d been with Ford. “No. I do not have a boyfriend.”
She liked the way his lip twitched, as if he were trying not to smile. He cocked an
eyebrow and offered her a sheepish grin. “Well, apparently, you do now.”
Excerpt 2:
What the hell had he just done?
Ford was going for funny, trying to make a joke about him now being her boyfriend, but
he feared that came out a little more serious sounding than he’d meant for it to.
Especially since Elizabeth’s eyes just went round, and she gave another one of those little
giggles that he knew happened when she was nervous.
“At least as far as Chad’s concerned, I mean,” he said, trying to backpedal.
The sparkle in her eyes dimmed a little.
Uh…what was that about?
She was the one who’d walked away…er, make that drove away…from him. After what
he’d thought was a spectacular weekend. Without even telling him goodbye. She’d made it pretty
clear she was obviously not that interested in him. She hadn’t even given him her number.
Yeah, he probably could have gotten it from Brody. But then he’d have to admit that he’d
felt something more for her than he was willing to consider. Even though he’d liked her from
pretty much the first minute he’d met her.
She made him laugh. And something about her made him feel like he could be himself
around her. And not the grumpy cowboy his brothers were always accusing him of being, but a
better, kinder version of himself.
He’d fallen for her that weekend—fallen for her whip-smart sense of humor, her silly
giggle, the kindness she’d shown her dog, the goofy way she’d bellyflopped into the water when
he’d taken her swimming, and the soft kitten sighs she’d made when he’d pressed his lips to the
deliciously smooth skin of her inner thigh. Which meant that it was probably a good thing she
had driven away from him without giving him her number. Because she was too good for a guy
like him, too sweet, too tender-hearted. He would have only hurt her in the end when he took off
running. Which he would do. Because that’s what he always did. Leave before giving anyone a
chance to leave him first.
He swallowed as he looked at Elizabeth, all the memories of their weekend now flooding
his senses. Memories of her naked and straddling his waist in the bed of his truck, of waking up
naked and wrapped around each other, of her naked except for a pair of strappy silver sandals the
night of the wedding. Damn. Why did so many of his memories of that weekend have to do with
her being naked? And now he couldn’t get the idea of getting her naked again out of his mind.
Bad idea, Lassiter.
Hadn’t he just reminded himself of why she was too good for him? And how he was only
going to hurt her?
Excerpt 3:
“I don’t understand. You just said that you think about me…” A hard realization dawned
on her, and a knot of shame twisted in her chest. “Oh. I get it. You just don’t think about me like
that. Because I’m, you know…” She couldn’t bring herself to say fuller-figured or curvy or any
of the other words she used to describe her thicker thighs and wider hips. “I know you’re
probably used to being with women who are more like my cousin, the real Elizabeth.”
He frowned. “First of all, you are the real Elizabeth. You’re the one I always wanted to
be with. The only reason I agreed when Brody asked me to hang out with his cousin for the
weekend was because I’d already met you and liked you. It was his mistake that he was thinking
of Liz. Not mine.”
“Oh.”
“And also, I do think of you like that. Exactly like that. I think you’re beautiful…” He put
his hand on her waist and slid it over her hip. “And your amazing body is what has me thinking
about that with you every day and every night.” He frowned and pulled his hand back to scrub it
across his head. “But there is no kind of woman I’m used to being with, because I’m not used to
being with women long enough to know what kind of woman they are. That’s what I’m trying to
tell you. I’m not the guy who stays. I’m the guy that women have fun with, then when things
start to get too serious, I cut and run.”
“You mean you leave before someone else can leave you?”
Ford shrugged. “I guess.” He looked away. “Whatever. My point is that I think you’re
remarkable. You’re sweet and kind and smart and funny. And so damn beautiful. I’ve never
known anyone like you. That’s why I can’t let this really happen between us. Because no one’s
ever made me feel like you do, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t.”
“But I will. I know what I do.” He rolled away from her and sat up on the side of the bed.
“Wait,” she said, sitting up next to him and reaching for his hand. She pulled him back
around, so he was facing her then pointed to the pendant at her neck. “Do you remember when
you gave this to me?”
A sheepish grin played across his lips. “Yeah. I do. And I couldn’t believe it when I saw
you wearing it yesterday.”
“You told me that this shooting star was to remind me of the night we watched the meteor
shower. Which, by the way, ranks as one of the top ten best nights of my life. But you also said it
was to remind me to go for the things that I want and to just do one brave thing at a time.” She
pressed her hand to his cheek. “Well, you are what I want. And this is me doing one brave thing.
I don’t care about what happened with the other women in your life. I care about us. And tonight.
And I guess tomorrow. But I’m not asking you for anything more than that. Just one day at a
time.”
“But—”
She pressed her fingers to his mouth. “No buts. I’m not asking you for any promises. I’m
not asking you for a relationship. I’m making changes in my life and taking risks. And this is a
risk I’m willing to take. I’m not standing on the sidelines of my life anymore. I’m going for what
I want. If it works out, great. If not, at least I tried.”
His brows knit together as if he were in pain as he reached up and touched her cheek.
“What if I hurt you?”
She shrugged and drew closer to him. Her voice was a whisper. “What if you do?”
“I couldn’t take it.”
“I can’t take not having your hands on me, your mouth on mine. The ache I feel for you
right now hurts way more than the pain you may cause me later.”
He let out another of his anguish-filled sighs as he stared at her, looking into her eyes as
if trying to see into the very depths of her.
She held her breath as she waited for him to answer.
He didn’t say anything.
Instead, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, then crushed his
mouth against hers. Instead of words, he conveyed his answer by satisfying his earlier desire of
filling his hands with her and kissing every part of her.
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