The Rancher's Surrender - Jill Shalvis

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       In the first book of New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis’s classic series, The Heirs to the Triple M, three women practically raised as sisters discover one of them has inherited a ranch. But which one?

      Zoe Martin vowed not to let the Triple M ranch slip into Ty Jackson’s hands. Although his smooth charm brought most women to their knees, Zoe didn’t trust him. After all, he’d wanted the ranch for himself, and Zoe wasn’t about to let him take what could be her only chance for a true home.

      It’s obvious to Ty that Zoe needs help—the woman is a complete greenhorn. But working side by side with Zoe is dangerous. She makes him feel strong and wild and crazy. Crazy enough, maybe, to offer her the home she craves….

      The Heirs to the Triple M:

      Three foster sisters vow to make their inherited ranch a home.

      “Why don’t you save us both a bunch of trouble and admit how you feel about me, Zoe?” Ty asked.

      She managed a laugh. “It’s not flattering.”

      

      That infuriatingly sexy smile of his stayed put. “You’re crazy about me.”

      

      “Crazy, definitely.” Zoe flipped her precarious ponytail back, using annoyance to cover her fear. Had she given herself away? He couldn’t have guessed her deepest, darkest, most secret fantasy, could he?

      

      Her secret little hope that someday he would be the crazy one. Crazy for her. Not for the land, but her.

      Dear Reader,

      

      It’s summertime. The mercury’s rising, and so is the excitement level here at Silhouette Intimate Moments. Whatever you’re looking for—a family story, suspense and intrigue, or love with a ranchin’ man—we’ve got it for you in our lineup this month.

      

      Beverly Barton starts things off with another installment in her fabulous miniseries THE PROTECTORS. Keeping Annie Safe will not cool you off, I’m afraid! Merline Lovelace is back with A Man of His Word, part of her MEN OF THE BAR H miniseries, while award winner Ingrid Weaver checks in with What the Baby Knew. If it’s edge-of-your-seat suspense you’re looking for, pick up the latest from Sally Tyler Hayes, Spies, Lies and Lovers. The Rancher’s Surrender is the latest from fresh new talent Jill Shalvis, while Shelley Cooper makes her second appearance with Guardian Groom.

      

      You won’t want to miss a single one of these fabulous novels, or any of the books we’ll be bringing you in months to come. For guaranteed great reading, come to Silhouette Intimate Moments, where passion and excitement go hand in hand.

      

      Enjoy!

      

      Yours,

      Leslie J. Wainger

      Executive Senior Editor

      The Rancher’s Surrender

       Jill Shalvis

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      JILL SHALVIS When pressed for an answer on why she writes romance, Jill Shalvis just smiles and says she didn’t realize there was anything else. She’s written over a dozen novels so far and doesn’t plan on stopping. She lives in California, in a house filled with young children, too many animals and her hero/husband. Readers can write to Jill c/o Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, 6th floor, New York, NY 10017.

      To Kelsey—

      you may be my oldest, but you’ll still always be my baby.

      Table of Contents

       Prologue

      Zoe Martin squeezed her foster sisters’ hands tightly, but only because she thought Delia or Maddie might be scared of the dark.

      She wasn’t scared, she was scared of nothing. Nothing at all.

      A cricket burst into melody, and she nearly leaped out of her skin.

      Delia and Maddie scooted closer, until they were practically in one another’s laps, reminding Zoe she wasn’t alone. They were all the same age: the quiet, withdrawn Maddie, the bossy Delia, and herself. And they were all very different. But the three of them had pledged to be sisters forever, and that was all that mattered now.

      Cranking her neck back, Zoe stared at the city sky littered with fog and pollution, and forgot her six-year-old bravado. Forgot that her eyes burned from lack of sleep due to bad dreams, her cheek burned from where she’d been smacked by an older child in their group home, one of the bullies.

      She forgot everything but what she and Delia and Maddie had crept out here for—their dream.

      As they huddled on the damp grass, holding on to one another, she stared at the faint stars and offered up her one and only wish—that they would be kept together, forever.

      * * *

      One thousand miles away in Idaho, Constance Freeman hung up the phone and sighed deeply with painful regret. If her heart felt as though it were cracking open, she knew it was no one’s fault but her own.

      She’d let her son get away, though that wasn’t what tore at her now, for he’d been mean, dishonest and selfish. A bad seed.

      What she regretted with all her heart was that he’d gone without telling her the one thing she so desperately needed to know.

      Where her young granddaughter had been taken.

      For six years, since the birth of the child, Constance had been begging her son for information. Cruelly, he’d withheld it, saying only that his ex-girlfriend, the child’s mother, had vanished. And so had the child. Tracing her was difficult, for her son hadn’t married the girl’s mother, and Constance had no idea what the mother’s name was. Heaven only knew what name was on the birth certificate.

      But Constance would find her, she vowed with renewed determination. She’d search everywhere if she had to, spend every last penny she had. It would be worth it.

      She’d find that child and shower her with all the love and attention Constance was so certain she wasn’t getting now.

      * * *

      She’d leave that child her legacy, though she knew others might not see it as a legacy so much as a burden. Certainly

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