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"A KNOCKOUT STORY!"
From New York Times
Bestselling Cleo Coyle


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To keep his legacy, he must keep his wife. But she's about to change the game.


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A haunting past. A heartbreaking secret. A love that still echoes across time.


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A city slicker. A country cowboy. A love they didn�t plan for.


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The mission is clear. The attraction? Completely out of control.


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A string of fires. A growing attraction. And a danger neither of them saw coming.


Excerpt of Outlaw Mountain by J.A. Jance

Purchase


Joanna Brady #7
Avon
July 2004
Featuring: Joanna Brady
384 pages
ISBN: 0380792486
EAN: 9780380792481
Paperback (reprint)
Add to Wish List

Suspense, Thriller, Mystery Woman Sleuth

Also by J.A. Jance:

Trial by Fire, August 2025
Trade Paperback
Fatal Error, May 2025
Trade Paperback
OverKill, April 2025
Hardcover / e-Book
Den of Iniquity, September 2024
Hardcover / e-Book
Hand of Evil, May 2024
Trade Paperback / e-Book
Blessing of the Lost Girls, April 2024
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Collateral Damage, November 2023
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Blessing of the Lost Girls, August 2023
Hardcover / e-Book
Collateral Damage, March 2023
Hardcover / e-Book
Unfinished Business, July 2022
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Nothing to Lose, March 2022
Hardcover / e-Book
Unfinished Business, June 2021
Hardcover / e-Book
Missing and Endangered, February 2021
Hardcover / e-Book
Fatal Error, April 2020
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book / audiobook (reprint)
Credible Threat, March 2020
Hardcover / e-Book
Trial by Fire, December 2019
Paperback / e-Book
Sins of the Fathers, October 2019
Hardcover / e-Book
Field of Bones, May 2019
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
The A List, April 2019
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Web of Evil, December 2018
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
Field of Bones, September 2018
Hardcover / e-Book
Proof of Life, April 2018
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Duel to the Death, March 2018
Hardcover / e-Book
Proof of Life, September 2017
Hardcover / e-Book
Still Dead, August 2017
e-Book
Downfall, April 2017
Mass Market Paperback / e-Book
Clawback, March 2016
e-Book
Dance Of The Bones, September 2015
Hardcover / e-Book
Stand Down, August 2015
e-Book
Cold Betrayal, March 2015
Hardcover / e-Book
A Last Goodbye, December 2014
e-Book
Remains of Innocence, August 2014
Hardcover / e-Book
Deadly Stakes, December 2013
Paperback
After The Fire, September 2013
Hardcover / e-Book
Second Watch, September 2013
Hardcover / e-Book
Ring In the Dead, July 2013
e-Book
Judgment Call, August 2012
Hardcover / e-Book
Betrayal Of Trust, May 2012
Paperback / e-Book
Betrayal Of Trust, July 2011
Hardcover
Queen Of The Night, April 2011
Paperback
Queen Of The Night, August 2010
Hardcover
Fire And Ice, August 2010
Paperback
Trial By Fury, January 2010
Mass Market Paperback (reprint)
Injustice For All, January 2010
Mass Market Paperback (reprint)
Until Proven Guilty, January 2010
Mass Market Paperback (reprint)
Cruel Intent, November 2009
Mass Market Paperback
Fire And Ice, August 2009
Hardcover
Shoot Don't Shoot, July 2009
Tall (reprint)
Dead To Rights, July 2009
Tall (reprint)
Tombstone Courage, July 2009
Tall (reprint)
Damage Control, July 2009
Tall (reprint)
Cruel Intent, December 2008
Hardcover
Hand of Evil, November 2008
Mass Market Paperback
Damage Control, August 2008
Hardcover
Justice Denied, July 2008
Mass Market Paperback
Hand Of Evil, December 2007
Hardcover
Web Of Evil, November 2007
Mass Market Paperback
Justice Denied, August 2007
Hardcover
Dead Wrong, July 2007
Mass Market Paperback
Web of Evil, January 2007
Hardcover
Long Time Gone, August 2006
Paperback
Dead Wrong, July 2006
Hardcover
Bark M for Murder, February 2006
Paperback
Exit Wounds, February 2006
Paperback
Edge of Evil, January 2006
Paperback
Edge Of Evil, January 2006
Mass Market Paperback
Day of the Dead, August 2005
Paperback (reprint)
Until Proven Guilty, July 2005
Paperback (reprint)
Name Withheld, July 2005
Paperback (reprint)
Minor in Possession, July 2005
Paperback (reprint)
Breach of Duty, July 2005
Paperback (reprint)
Long Time Gone, July 2005
Hardcover
Sentenced to Die, March 2005
Hardcover (reprint)
Without Due Process, October 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Taking the Fifth, October 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Failure to Appear, October 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Dismissed with Prejudice, October 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Payment in Kind, July 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Injustice for All, July 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Skeleton Canyon, July 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Outlaw Mountain, July 2004
Paperback (reprint)
Improbable Cause, October 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Dead to Rights, October 2003
Paperback (reprint)
A More Perfect Union, October 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Rattlesnake Crossing, October 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Lying in Wait, July 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Trial by Fury, July 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Shoot Don't Shoot, July 2003
Paperback
Tombstone Courage, July 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Partner in Crime, July 2003
Paperback (reprint)
Hour of the Hunter, February 2003
Paperback
Desert Heat, July 2002
Paperback (reprint)
Birds of Prey, July 2002
Paperback (reprint)
Devil's Claw, July 2002
Paperback (reprint)
Paradise Lost, July 2002
Paperback
Kiss of the Bees, January 2001
Paperback
Skeleton Canyon, August 1997
Hardcover
Dead To Rights, October 1996
Hardcover

Excerpt of Outlaw Mountain by J.A. Jance

Chapter One Easing the porch swing back and forth, thirty-year-old Sheriff Joanna Brady closed her green eyes and let the warmth of an early-November Sunday afternoon caress her body. Nearby, on the top step, sat Joanna's best friend and pastor, the Reverend Marianne Maculyea of Canyon United Methodist Church. Without speaking for minutes at a time, the two women watched their respective children- Joanna's eleven-year-old Jennifer and Marianne's three- year-old Ruth-at play.

Both sets of mothers and daughters were studies in contrast. Joanna's red hair was cut short in what Helen Barco at Helene's Salon of Hair and Beauty called a figure- skater cut. On this Sunday afternoon, Marianne's long dark hair was pulled back in a serviceable ponytail. Jenny's fair, blue-eyed face was surrounded by a halo of tow- headed white hair while Ruth's shiny black pageboy gleamed in the warm autumn sun.

The last week in October, a surprisingly fierce cold snap had visited southeastern Arizona, bringing with it a frigid rain that had threatened to drown out most of Bisbee's Halloween trick-or-treating. Two days later, when bright sunlight reemerged, the cottonwood, apple, and peach trees on High Lonesome Ranch seemed to have changed colors overnight. In the sunny days and crisp nights since, dying leaves had drifted from their branches and had fallen to earth, carpeting the yard in a thick mantle of gold, red, rust, and brown.

For little Ruth, recently rescued from life in a desolate Chinese orphanage, the crackly, multicolored leaves were a source of incredible wonder and delight. Together the two girls raked great mounds of leaves into piles, then dived into them with a chorus of shrieks alternating with giggles.

For a while both of Jenny's dogs-Sadie, a bluetick hound, and Tigger, a comical-looking half pit bull/half golden retriever-had joined in. When Sadie tired of the game, she retreated to the relative quiet of the porch along with Joanna and Marianne. With a sigh, the dog lay down on the top step and placed her smooth, floppy-eared head in Marianne's lap. Tigger, however, continued to throw himself into the festivities with all the antic energy of a born clown.

On Jenny's command to "stay," the dog, quivering with eager anticipation, would lie perfectly still and allow himself to be covered with a mound of leaves. When Jenny shouted "okay," the dog would erupt from the leaves, tuck his tail between his legs, and then race around the yard as though pursued by a pack of ravenous coyotes.

Each time the game was repeated, Ruth clapped her hands in childish delight. "Again, Jenny," she crowed. "Do again!"

Watching the simple game and enjoying the gales of gleeful laughter, Joanna Brady found herself nodding and smiling. She was about to comment on the beautiful afternoon and on the two girls' unrestrained joy. When she looked in Marianne's direction, however, she saw a single tear snake its way down her friend's solemn face. Seeing that tear, Joanna opted for silence. For the space of another minute or so, neither woman said a word while Marianne's hand absently stroked Sadie's soft, velvety muzzle.

"What is it, Mari?" Joanna asked finally. The question wasn't really necessary because Joanna knew exactly what the problem was. In August, Marianne's other newly adopted daughter-Esther, Ruth's twin sister-had died of complications following heart-transplant surgery. It seemed certain to Joanna that watching two little girls at play on this warm, jewel-clear afternoon had reopened Marianne's aching wound.

Joanna Brady herself was no stranger to the grieving process. The death of her husband, Andy, had thrown her own life into a personal hell of pain and loss. She understood how a perfect moment in a gemlike day could darken and then be dashed to pieces by the sudden realization that someone else was missing from the picture, that a certain loved one wasn't present to share that special moment. At times like these, the perfection of the present would fade to a muddy gray, shrouded behind an impenetrable fog of hurt. Watching one daughter at play, Marianne had no doubt been stricken by a terrible longing for the other child, one who wasn't there and never would be again.

Convinced that she knew exactly what was going on with Marianne, Joanna was confused when, after another minute or so, she heard her friend's clipped response. "I'm going to quit," Marianne said.

At first Joanna didn't make the connection. "Quit what?" she asked.

"The ministry," Marianne replied. "I'm going to resign effective immediately."

Somehow Joanna managed to stifle her gasp of dismay. "Surely you don't mean that!" she said at last.

"I do," Marianne said determinedly. "I've never meant anything more in my life. My letter of resignation is all written. It's sitting in the computer waiting to be printed. There's a church council meeting on Wednesday evening. I'll probably turn it in then."

Stunned, Joanna fell silent. Through the turmoil following Andy's death, Marianne Maculyea and her husband, Jeff Daniels, had been never-failing sources of comfort and support. With their help and encouragement, Joanna had slowly battled her way back to emotional stability. They had walked her through months of painful grieving-through the inevitable stages of denial and anger-until she has at last achieved a measure of acceptance.

That summer, when tragedy had visited her friends in the form of Esther's death, Joanna had done her best to return the favor. She had strived to provide the same kind of understanding and strength for them that they had given her. Now, Joanna realized that her efforts had fallen short. She must not have done enough. Why else would Marianne be sitting on the front porch, basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, and drowning in despair?

Excerpt from Outlaw Mountain by J.A. Jance
All rights reserved by publisher and author

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