Own the Night. Debbi Rawlins
Can’t get enough cowboys?
Popular Mills & Boon® Blaze® author Debbi Rawlins takes readers on a great ride with her new miniseries
MADE IN MONTANA
The little town of Blackfoot Falls hasn’t seen this much action since… well, ever.
Stay up till dawn with
Barefoot Blue Jean Night
(October 2012)
Own the Night
(December 2012)
On a Snowy Christmas Night
(January 2013)
And remember, the sexiest cowboys
are Made in Montana!
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to Blackfoot Falls! In the second book of this series we revisit the cozy Montana town, the Sundance Dude Ranch, the McAllister family and sexy sheriff Noah Calder, who’s so popular with the female visitors, he’s ready to lock himself in jail just to get away from them. But once he finds mysterious Alana Richardson, Noah won’t let her out of his sight.
You’ll also meet Dax, Noah’s lovable mutt, who is based on one of my rescues. Dax is a Border Collie mix who is full of love and mischief. And just like me and my Dax, Noah can’t imagine a life without his four-legged buddy.
Many of the Blaze® authors and editors have come together to support pet adoptions via the Blaze Authors’ blog. Come visit blazeauthors.com/blog/blaze-authors-pet-project to see the many incredible ways we humans can band together to help our furry friends.
I’d also like to invite you to spend your Christmas holiday with the McAllisters and all the folks from Blackfoot Falls by picking up On a Snowy Christmas Night, which will be out in January 2013.
I hope you’re having as much fun with the gorgeous cowboys of Montana as I am!
Love to you all,
Debbi Rawlins
About the Author
DEBBI RAWLINS lives in central Utah, out in the country, surrounded by woods and deer and wild turkeys. It’s quite a change for a city girl who didn’t even know where the state of Utah was until a few years ago. Of course, unfamiliarity has never stopped her. Between her junior and senior years of college, she spontaneously left her home in Hawaii and bummed around Europe for five weeks by herself. And much to her parents’ delight, returned home with only a quarter in her wallet.
Own the Night
Debbi Rawlins
Prologue
RACHEL MCALLISTER STARED at the Sundance Ranch website she’d created, feeling more helpless and overwhelmed than she cared to admit. Three months ago she’d taken the first reservation, her fingers crossed, prayers murmured in earnest that opening a dude ranch would help pull her family out of the hole. Now they were so swamped with business she didn’t know which end was up. It would’ve all been good except they didn’t have the room.
Sure, the ranch spread out over three thousand acres, but they raised cattle first and foremost, and she’d promised her brothers she’d keep the guests separate and under control. So much for that. The women had gone nuts over Cole, Jesse and Trace, and the other young cowboys who worked and lived at the Sundance.
Now, after the first few waves of visitors had sampled life under the clear blue Montana skies, they were writing fantastic reviews. Cole’s new girlfriend, a former guest, was a popular travel blogger and she’d talked up the Sundance on her site.
All of it was terrific for business but brutal on Rachel’s stress level. Already she’d oversold one weekend and pissed off two women. They had nobly offered to take up residence in the bunkhouse with the hands for the two overlapping days, but that would’ve pissed off everyone else on the ranch.
Rachel clicked on the latest batch of reviews, skimmed down and smiled when she repeatedly saw Noah Calder’s name. The sheriff was Cole and Jesse’s best friend and like another brother to her. He wasn’t going to be happy about his fifteen minutes of fame—especially if women started swarming his office.
Well, that would be his problem. Rachel had enough on her plate. She hoped she wouldn’t regret accepting guests until three weeks before Christmas. Initially they were going to close from the first of November until the first of May. But it was just too damn hard to turn away the business.
Naturally, she’d have to come up with other activities to offer the guests. Summer was easy, with hiking and camping trips, white-water rafting, cattle drives, fishing, rodeos. Early fall could include some of those things, at least before the first snow, but up here in Blackfoot Falls, Montana, almost two hundred miles from the Canadian border, the temperatures dropped early.
Her computer dinged with the receipt of an email, and she was surprised to find a last-minute cancellation. Well, that worked out great. She had just been about to turn someone down for a week’s stay starting tomorrow night. Quickly, she did the paperwork, and feeling magnanimous, returned the deposit, then booked the new guest. And that was it for the night. She was exhausted.
Before she turned off her computer, two more reviews caught her eye. More Noah fan club members.
Review by: Tammy from Chicago
**** 4 out of 5 stars
I spent a week at the Sundance in August. Sheer heaven. Never thought I’d like going to the Wild West but could’ve easily stayed a month. My friend dragged me. I totally owe her flowers. Beautiful scenery. The food was way too good. Best of all, the cowboys were smokin’ hot, and not just the brothers on the website, who were even better-looking in person. Lots of cute wranglers, and if you go, get a load of the sheriff, a man who knows how to fill out a uniform. I’m saving up to go back next year. I would’ve given the place five stars if someone had hooked me up with that hunk wearing the badge.
Review by: Miranda from San FranciscoM
***** 5 out of 5 stars
OMG I just had the best vacation ever! I like horseback riding and hiking and I’m basically an outdoors kind of gal. All the activities the Sundance offers are super fun, and the best part—Trace, the McAllister brother with the tan Stetson in the home page photo, was totally hands-on and yes, he’s as gorgeous as he looks in the pic. But don’t overlook Sheriff Noah Calder. Make a point of visiting Blackfoot Falls, about half an hour away. There’s a quaint bar there called The Watering Hole. And did I mention the sheriff?
Rachel grinned. Trace ate up the attention, but poor Noah. He was going to head for the hills.
1
ALANA RICHARDSON HAD PRECISELY one hour to vacate her office. She kicked off her new Christian Louboutins, swung her stockinged feet onto her desk and stared out the large glass windows at her perfect view of Madison Avenue and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The autumn sky was more gray than blue, but the trees compensated for the drabness with their orange and yellow brilliance. Normally October was her favorite month. But not this year, not with the move from Midtown to Tribeca, with which she was in total disagreement.
She was the newly appointed vice president of marketing for an ad agency that had laughed in the face of recession.