Starla Fairfax has come back to Pride County, but everything has changed. Her best friend is married, she hardly recognizes her beloved brother, and a Yankee owns the bank. Hamilton Dodge is no different from any other man and Starla refuses to let down her defenses. But when Dodge offers to marry her and save her reputation, Starla says yes. But their arrangement wreaks havoc with both their lives... and Starla’s heart.
The last thing Dodge wants is sympathy, especially from a woman as beautiful as Starla. What he wants is to be able to walk on his own, without crutches or a cane. But the bullet lodged next to his spine is a reminder of the dangerous undercurrents lurking in Pride. Dodge wants to protect Starla, but his sense of duty gives way to love…and hope.
The Men of Pride County is a wonderful new post-Civil War series from
Rosalyn West. This is the second book of the series, and the author has brought
back familiar characters and introduces us to some new ones. Dodge is a proud
man who pushes himself hard— both to walk and to gain the trust of the
people of Pride. He is Ms. West’s most realistic— and romantic—
character to date, and readers will love his combination of strength and vulnerability.
For those who wondered what would become of Hamilton at the end of The Outcast,
this book is sweet and satisfying. And if the first two books are any indication,
The Men of Pride County promises to be one of the most memorable series to come
along in a very long time.
"Bittersweet and romantic... a delicious love story! Rosalyn West has outdone
herself!"
"Rosalyn West will touch your heart! The Men of Pride County will
be a series long remembered for its characters. Beautifully written!"
"If Rosayln West is the author, the book is a keeper! Don’t miss this
series!"
-Kristina Wright, The Literary Times
"You could marry me."
Starla turned. She misunderstood him.
"What?"
"I said you could marry me."
A smile quivered upon her lips. "That would be carrying ‘nice' a bit far, don't you think."
"I'm serious."
He looked it, his dark eyes steady in their hold on hers, his features composed in somber lines. She wasn't sure if the sight relieved or alarmed her. A bitter laugh escaped.
"You said you weren't one for games, sir, yet you play them quite cruelly."
"It's no game."
"You'd marry me?"
"Yes."
For a moment, she was too stunned to speak, then the words poured out in a quavering rush. "Why? Why would you do such a thing? Because you feel sorry for me? Well, I won't tolerate your pity, either."
"My reasons aren't quite that unselfish."
She waited to hear them, thinking herself made for even listening, for even considering...
"I don't know anyone here. I'm going crazy with just my own company. I didn't know how bad things were until the wedding. Now I know what I want. I want what Reeve and Patrice have."
"But I don't love you. I don't even know you."
He shrugged off her protest. "But you could like me, couldn't you? Or at least put up with me?"
She went rigid by slow increments. Her tone frosted. "Just because I made a mistake with one man doesn't mean I'm willing to jump into bed with another."
He actually blushed and she found that so surprisingly honest, she began to seriously entertain the preposterous notion.
"I'm not asking you to jump into anything, ma'am." His face was red but the uncomfortable cant of his eyes said he didn't find the idea totally abhorrent. "I'm a banker, not a poet. I'm thinking more a business merger than a . . . a–"
"An intimate arrangement?"
He nodded, gratefully. "Exactly. We're strangers, that's true, but we both want things the other can supply. I'm suggesting a trade off. I'll save your reputation. I'll give you my name and raise your baby as my own."
"And what do you get?" She couldn't help the suspicion edging into that question.
"I get someone waiting for me when I finish at work. I get a meal on the table, someone to ask how my day was, clean clothes. I'm so sick of washing out my own socks."
"You want me to take care of you?"
A fierce defensiveness gripped his features. "I'm not an invalid. I can take care of myself. I don't need a nursemaid."
"I didn't mean–what I meant was, you want me to be your servant."
He relaxed and waved off her flat assumption. "No. No, that's not what I want. I want–ah, hell, I want someone to keep me from being so lonely I want to scream. I want family. I want that baby."
His fervor alarmed her. He was so sure, so enthused, it scared her. But she was thinking about it. Thinking hard and fast, and seeing her susceptibility, dodge hurried on.
"You need security and I need companionship. Most marriages aren't made on more than that, are they?"
Could she trust him? It all came down to that. Trust was something she guarded as zealously as love. Neither had ever applied to more than a few people. She loved her brother but didn't trust him. She'd trusted the man who'd left her with his illegitimate legacy but she hadn't love him. She trusted Patrice and Patrice said she could trust this man who was offering her a much needed salvation.
Or was she making another huge mistake?
Sensing her lingering hesitation, Dodge made a final petition, his words simple, his tone level, his manner completely open.
"It's like this, Miss Starla, I come from a big family. I'm not used to taking a step without falling over someone. I don't want to be alone any more, especially not here, where I couldn't drag a smile out of someone with a team of horses."
"Then why stay?"
It was a simple question but he approached it like it held the complexity of the universe.
"I can do good here. It started out as a favor to a friend but now it's personal. I love a good challenge and I don't accept failure, Miss Fairfax. Not in anything I put my mind to. I'll be a good husband to you and a good father tot hat baby. I'll respect you, I won't hurt you, and I'll never lie to you. If you can do the same, I think we'll have a pretty good shot. What do you say?"
He put out his hand. She ignored it to ask one more thing.
"Why would you want me for a wife? Because of the challenge?"
He grinned at her brittle tone and summed it up briefly. "You make me feel alive."
He kept his hand suspended, the smile lingering on his face with a confidence she couldn't quite share.
But she couldn't argue his logic, nor could she deny that what he offered was far better than any of the alternatives.
She took his hand gingerly. His fingers closed about hers in a careful press, but even so, she was quick to pull away.
"I think you should start calling me Starla rather than Miss Fairfax. What do I call you?"
He grinned. "Call me Dodge. Tomorrow you can call me husband."
Return to Nancy's Home Paranormal Books Booklists
This
page is designed and maintained by The Literary
Times