Miranda Hayes has lost everything. Her father was killed by raiders and her husband died in the war. Her only family member is her irresponsible brother who moved to Nevada. She is desperate to find her brother and a safe place to live so she decides to sell her family farm and sets out to cross a savage land alone until she finds herself in the path of a wanted outlaw, Jake Harkner.
Jake Harkner is an outlaw who was abused as a child by his horrible father. He ended up killing his father, of course, for a good reason. Without having family and any support, he ended up riding with one of the worst band of outlaws. Although he isn't with them any longer, he is wanted by the law for robbery, murder, and by his band for abandoning them.
Now Jake is passing through Kansas City in need of supplies. That's where he gets accidentally shot by Miranda and ends up in her house later. Miranda is shocked to find the outlaw she shot unconscious in her house, and she feels so guilty she nurses him back to health. While Jake is recovering, Miranda learns he is not really a bad person and asks him to take her West.
OUTLAW HEARTS is the first book in the Outlaw Hearts series and the first book I've read by Rosanne Bittner. This is a long, emotional, and adventurous love story about an outlaw who wants to be a better man for the beautiful and honest widow who is looking for a safe haven.
This is a 600-page book with lots of details and adventures. When I started to read I didn't want to put it down until I finished Part One. Then it was kind of difficult to start again to read more adventures about the same hero and heroine, but the author did a great job writing this book.
Fall in love with the epic, sweeping romance of Bittner's
beloved Outlaw Hearts, called by New York
Times bestseller, Heather Graham "a wonderful,
absorbing read, with characters to capture the heart and
the
imagination".
United by chance, bound by
fate,
consumed by passion.
Miranda Hayes has
lost
everything-her family, her husband, her home. Orphaned
and
then widowed, desperate to find a safe haven, she sets
out
to cross a savage land alone...until chance brings her
face-to-face with notorious gunslinger Jake
Harkner.
Hunted by the law and haunted by a brutal
past, Jake has spent a lifetime fighting for everything
he
has. He's never known a moment's kindness...until fate
brings him to the one woman willing to reach past his
harsh
exterior to the man inside. He would die for her. He
would
kill for her. He will do whatever it takes to keep her
his.
Spanning the dazzling West with its blazing
deserts and booming gold towns, Jake and Miranda must
struggle to endure every hardship that threatens to tear
them apart. But the love of an outlaw comes with a
price...and even their passion may not burn bright enough
to
conquer the coming darkness.
EXCERPT
Miranda watched Jake saddle up while she held the two
gunnysacks full of supplies she had prepared for him. He
gave Outlawβs stomach a light punch. βSuck it in, boy,β
he barked. βYou donβt fool me, filling yourself up with
air like that.β The horseβs belly contracted, and Jake
tightened the cinch. βAll I need is to be on a hard ride
to get away from some marshal only to have my saddle slip
on me.β
Miranda saw him wince, knew he was still in pain. βJake,
canβt you wait one more day?β
Jake kept his eyes on the cinch, thinking about the
restless night he had had, lying awake and wondering what
Mrs. Miranda Hayes would have done if he had gone out to
her cot and planted his mouth on her sweet lips. βNo,
maβam. Too dangerous for you having me here, what with
that sheriff sweet on you and all. Hard telling when he
might show up again.β He let down a stirrup and turned to
meet her eyes. Was that a trace of tears he saw there?
No. He would not believe that. βIf you had any common
sense at all, you would stay here and marry the sheriff
and let him take care of you.β
Miranda stiffened with indignation, glad he had said
something that made her momentarily forget about wanting
to cry. βWhy do all men think a woman needs βtaking care
ofβ? Iβll be just fine on my own. And if I did have
common sense, you would be sitting in prison or hanging
from a tree by now, and I would be five thousand dollars
richer.β
Jake grinned. βYouβve got me there.β
Miranda thought how he looked even more handsome now in
the morning light. It was the best he had looked since
the first day she saw him in the supply store, bearded
and mean-looking, then so sick after that. He had a fine,
square jaw and dark, wide-set eyes that were perfectly
outlined with dark eyelashes. Even his nose seemed
perfectly matched to the rest of his face, and when he
smiled, his teeth were straight and clean. She surmised
that in spite of his cruelty, Jakeβs father must have
been as handsome as his mother was beautiful, for they
had produced a son that was the best of both. How sad
that they had never given that son a decent home.
A faint scar on Jakeβs left jaw and another tiny one on
his upper lip only seemed to make him even more handsome,
lending a ruggedness to his looks that was accented by
his tall frame and broad shoulders. She found herself
wondering how his full, firm lips would feel on her
mouth, how a man like Jake Harkner kissed a womanβ¦β
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