Texas Hold 'Em

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by Christie Craig


  Violet is fiercely loyal to her Dragon clan, even if it does sometimes flout the law. But when one of her brothers is murdered by a Dragon bent on firing up the clan wars, she has no choice but to go to the Guard for help. There she encounters Kade, whom she attacked the last time he tried to arrest her brother.

  My job as a writer is to throw these two unsuspecting people together in ways that will test their loyalties and their integrity. And definitely test their resolve to resist getting involved with not only a member of another class of Crescent, but a sworn enemy to boot. Juicy conflict, hot passion, and supernatural action—a combination that truly tested my hero and heroine. But their biggest lesson is never to judge someone by their name, their heritage, or their actions. I think that’s a good lesson for all of us.

  We all have magic in our imaginations. Mine has always contained murder, mayhem, and romance. Feel free to wander through the madness of my mind any time. A good place to start is my website www.jaimerush.com, or that of my romantic suspense alter-ego, www.tinawainscott.com.

  From the desk of Kristen Ashley

  Dear Reader,

  While writing MOTORCYCLE MAN I was in a very dark time of my life. An extended dark time, which is very rare. Indeed, it’s only ever happened that once.

  In fact, I wrote nearly an entirely different book for my hero, Tack. He had a different heroine. And it had a different plot. Completely. But it didn’t work for me and it has never seen the light of day. I abandoned it totally (something I’ve never done), gave it time, and started anew.

  I had thought it was rubbish. Of course, on going back and reading it later, I realize it wasn’t. I actually think it’s great. It just wasn’t Tack. And the heroine was not right for him. But never fear, I like it enough; when I have time (whenever that is in this decade), I intend to rework it and release it, because that hero and heroine’s story really should be told.

  Nevertheless, when I finally found the dream woman who would belong to Kane “Tack” Allen in MOTORCYCLE MAN, I was still questioning my work because things in life weren’t going so great.

  You see, sometimes I battle my characters. Sometimes they urge me to take risks I feel I’m not ready to take. Sometimes they encourage me to glide along an edge that’s a little scary even as it is thrilling. And when life is also scary, your confidence gets shaken in a way it’s tough to bounce back from.

  But Kane “Tack” Allen is an edgy, risky guy, so he was pretty adamant (as he can be) that he wanted me to just let go and ride it with him. Not only that, but lift up my hands and enjoy the hell out of that ride.

  But as I was writing it, I still fought him. Particularly the scene in Tyra’s office early on in the book, where they have a misunderstanding and Tack decides to make his feelings perfectly clear and in order to do that, he gets Tyra’s attention in a way that’s utterly unacceptable.

  I fretted about this scene, but Tack refused to let me soften it. I even sent it to my girl, a girl who knows me and my writing inside and out. If I remember correctly, her response was that it was indeed shocking, but I should go with it.

  Ride it out.

  In releasing MOTORCYCLE MAN, I was very afraid that my life had negatively affected my writing and the risks Tack urged me to take would not be well received.

  As you can imagine, I was absolutely elated when I found I’d done the right thing. When Tack and Tyra swiftly became one of my most popular couples. That Tack had rightly encouraged me to trust in myself, my instincts, my writing, and give myself to my characters to let them be precisely what they were, let them shine, not water them down, and last, give my readers the honesty. They could take it. Because it was genuine. It came from the soul.

  It was real.

  And because of all this, MOTORCYCLE MAN will always hold a firm place in my heart. Because that novel and Kane “Tack” Allen gave me the freedom I was searching for. The freedom to ride this wave. Ride it wild. Ride it free.

  Lift up my hands and ride it being nothing but me.

  From the desk of Christie Craig

  Dear Reader,

  Here are two things about love I took from my own life and used in TEXAS HOLD ’EM:

  1. Love can make us stupid.

  Sexy PI Austin Brook is a smooth-talking good ol’ boy Texan. Where women are concerned, he wings it. Why not? He’s got charm to spare. But one glance at Leah Reece and he’s a stumbling, bumbling idiot. First he accidentally blows his horn as she’s passing in front of his truck, causing her to toss up her arms and drop her groceries. Wanting to help, he snatches up a plastic bag containing a broken bottle of wine and manages to douse Leah with Cabernet from the waist up. And since he likes wine and wet T-shirt contests, it only makes her more appealing and him more nervous.

  For myself? On a first date with a good ol’ Texan, we were both jittery. I’d dressed up in a short skirt. The guy, thinking he should be a gentleman, pulled my chair out in the crowded restaurant. I had my bottom almost in the seat when he moved it out. Way out. He might’ve looked like a gentleman, but there was nothing ladylike about how I went down. All the way to the floor, legs sprawled out, skirt up to my yin-yang. Laughter filled the room. Snickering in spite of his apologetic look, he added, “Nice legs.”

  Later when he dropped me off at my apartment, I struggled to get the door of his sports car open. Forever the gentlemen—hey, that’s Texans for you—he rushed to open my door, and then shut it. Standing close, he heard my moan, and completely misunderstood. He dipped in for a kiss.

  I stopped him. “Can you open the car door?”

  “Why?” he asked.

  I moaned again. “Because my hand’s still in the door.”

  With a bruised butt, and three busted fingernails, I eventually did let him score a kiss. It’s amazing I married that man.

  2. Love is scary.

  Divorced, and a single mother, I wasn’t looking for love when I met Mr. Craig. Life had taught me that love can hurt. And I’m not talking about a sore backside or fingernails. I’m talking about the heart.

  Neither Austin nor Leah is open to love. Isn’t that what makes it so perfect and yet still so dad-blasted frightening? We don’t find love; love finds us. And like me, Leah’s and Austin’s pasts have left them leery.

  At age six, Leah realized her daddy had another family, one he obviously loved better because they had his name and he called that home. Oh, when older, she still gave love a shot, got married, expected the happily-ever-after, and instead got a divorce and a credit card bill for all his phone sex. It’s not that Leah doesn’t believe in love; she just doesn’t trust herself to know the real thing.

  Austin, abandoned by his mother at age three, passed from one foster home to another, and learned caring about people gave them power to hurt you. His last and final (he swears) heartache happened when his fiancé dumped him after he got convicted of a murder he didn’t commit.

  As scary as love is, Leah and Austin give it another shot. Not to give away any spoilers, but I think it’ll work out fine for them. I know it has for me. I’ll soon be celebrating my thirtieth wedding anniversary. So here’s to laughter, good books, and getting knocked on your butt by love.

  Happy reading!

  From the desk of Laura Drake

  Dear Reader,

  There’s just something about the soft side of a hard man that I’ve never been able to resist—how about you?

  Max Jameson looks like a modern-day Marlboro Man. He’s a western cattleman, meaning he’s stubborn, hardworking, and an eternal optimist. But given his current problems, there’s not enough duct tape in all of Colorado to fix them.

  To introduce you to the heroine of NOTHING SWEETER, Aubrey Madison (aka Bree Tanner), I thought I’d share with you her list of life lessons:

  1. Nothing is sweeter than freedom.

  2. It is impossible to outrun your own conscience.

  3. “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”—Winston Churchill

  4. There are
more kinds of family than blood kin.

  5. A stuck-up socialite can make a pretty good friend when the chips are on the table.

  6. Real men (and bulls) wear pink.

  7. “To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover that the prisoner is you.”—Louis B. Smede

  I hope you’ll enjoy NOTHING SWEETER. Keep your eyes open for a cameo of JB and Charla from The Sweet Spot, and watch for them all to turn up in Sweet on You, the last book in the series!

  From the desk of Rebecca Zanetti

  Dear Reader,

  I met my husband camping when we were about eight years old, and he taught me how to play Red Rover so he could hold my hand. He was a sweet, chubby, brown-eyed boy. We lost touch, and years later, I walked into a bar (yeah, a bar), and there he was. Except this time, he was six-foot-five, muscled, with dark hair, a tattoo, a leather jacket, and held a motorcycle helmet under one hand. To put it simply, I was intrigued. He’s still the sweet guy but has a bit of an edge. Now we’re married and have two kids, two dogs, and a crazy cat.

  People change… and often we don’t know them as well as we think we do. In fact, I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that we never truly know what’s in the minds or even the pasts of the people around us. What if your best friend worked for the CIA years ago? Or the mild-mannered janitor at your child’s elementary school is a retired Marine sniper who didn’t like retirement and has found a good way to fill his life with joy? What if your baby sister was a criminal informant in college?

  What if the calm and always-in-control man you married is one of the deadliest men alive?

  And what if you’re now being threatened by an outside source? What happens to that calm control now? That was the main premise for FORGOTTEN SINS. Josie Dean, a woman with a lonely past, married Shane Dean in a whirlwind of passion and energy. Then he disappeared two years ago. The story starts with him back in her life, with danger surrounding him, and with the edge he’d always partially hidden finally exposed.

  Of course, Shane has amnesia, and in his discovery of finding himself, he reveals himself to the one woman he ever truly loved. He’d always held back, always treated her with kid gloves.

  Now, not knowing his deadly training, there’s no holding back. The primal, arousing man she’d believed existed has to take the forefront as he protects them from the danger stalking him from his past. Yeah, he’d always been fun and sexy… with hints of dominance in the bedroom. Now the hints disappear to unveil the true Shane Dean—the man Josie hoped she’d married.

  I hope you truly enjoy Shane and Josie’s story.

  Best,

  RebeccaZanetti.com

  Twitter, @RebeccaZanetti

  Facebook.com/RebeccaZanetti.Author.FanPage

  From the desk of Kate Meader

  Dear Reader,

  FEEL THE HEAT is the first in my smokin’ Hot in the Kitchen series, about an Italian restaurant–owning family and the sexy, sizzling chefs who love them. And don’t we all want a hotter-than-Hades, caring, alpha chef like Jack Kilroy in our lives? A man who cooks, defends his lady, and knows how to treat her right both in the kitchen and in the bedroom is worth his weight in focaccia (and the British accent doesn’t hurt). But sometimes we’ve got to work with what the gods have given us. So if you have a husband/boyfriend/sex slave who believes guy cooking = grilling, but outside of the summer months, you won’t catch him dead in an apron, read on.

  “But he just makes a mess” or “I’m a better cook,” I hear you whine. Who cares? The benefits to encouraging your man to cook are multifold.

  1. Guys who cook know how to multitask. If he can watch a couple of bubbling pots, chop those herbs, and pour you a glass of wine, all while you put your feet up, it’ll eventually translate to other areas. Childcare, taking out the trash, maybe even doing the dishes as he whips up that coq au vin.

  Guys who cook know how to get creative. You might ask your man: “Is this made with sour cream, babe?”

  *Cue worry crease on guy’s brow that looks so adorable.* “No, I didn’t have any so I used Greek yogurt instead. Does it taste okay?”

  *Hold praise for a beat* “That’s so creative, babe, and less fattening.”

  (Positive reinforcement is key during the early training phase.)

  2. Guys who cook have a direct correlation to a woman’s TBR list. He’s brought you that glass of Pinot and he’s back in the kitchen where he belongs. Now you can get down to the important stuff—making a dent in your stories about fictional boyfriends who probably cook better than your guy. (In the case of Jack Kilroy, Shane Doyle, and Tad DeLuca, the sexy heroes of the Hot in the Kitchen series, this conclusion is a given.)

  3. Guys who cook will evolve into guys who shop for groceries. Nuff said.

  4. Guys who cook make better lovers. Chefs have very skillful hands, often callused and scarred from years of kitchen abuse. Those fast-moving, rough hands are going to take your sexytimes to the next level! As long as your guy is burning himself while he learns, it can only be beneficial to you further down the road.

  So get your guy in an apron and let the good times roll. Remember, chefs do it better…

  Happy cooking, eating, and reading!

  www.katemeader.com

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  Contents

  COVER

  TITLE PAGE

  WELCOME

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  EPILOGUE

  AUSTIN’S THICK-CRUST PIZZA RECIPE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A PREVIEW OF ONLY IN TEXAS

  ALSO BY CHRISTIE CRAIG

  PRAISE FOR THE HOTTER IN TEXAS NOVELS

  THE DISH

  NEWSLETTERS

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 by Christie Craig

  Excerpt from Only in Texas © 2012 by Christie Craig

  Cover design by Christine Foltzer

  Cover art by Claudio Marinesco

  Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electr
onic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First ebook edition: January 2013

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