GIVE ME A TEXAN by Linda L. Broday, Dewanna Pace, Phyliss Miranda, and Jodi Thomas
Historical romance anthology released by Zebra (Kensington) 1 Feb 08

Last excerpt of this book to rain on you…

     Roots that go deep…men who stand tall…and real women who have what it takes to love and be loved by them. Jodi Thomas, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, teas up with Linda Broday, Phyliss Miranda, and DeWanna Pace to bring you four of the best Texas romances ever…

     Give Me A Texan

     Hank Harris wasn’t even looking for a woman when he ended up with a wife. Their hasty marriage is for appearances only: a capable, intelligent woman like Aggie is exactly who he needs as a business partner–if only she weren’t so damn beautiful, spirited–and in his bed… Payton McCord thought he was one tough cowboy until Amanda Lemmons made him mind his manners. And a woman of her caliber is worth the trouble she causes… Newspaperman Quinten Corbett wasn’t expecting his new apprentice to be female. Boston-born Kaira Renaulde is far too refined for a rough-and-tumble frontier town–and far too pretty for his peace of mind… Briar Duncan knows he needs someone to help him raise his headstrong little daughter. But Mina McCoy is more than he bargained for–much more! The woman has the face of an angel and a very definite mind of her own…

Excerpt of A Shade of Sunrise by DeWanna Pace…

There, in the moonlight near the tree that shaded the small garden Briar Duncan had tried vainly to save, stood Mina.

Hair the color of sunlit plains dipped to the nape of her neck. The angle of her arms as she braced herself against the tree defined the silken slenderness of a woman who valued physical activity. Moonlight shone on the lower half of her face, leaving her eyes in shadow. Yet he witnessed the moment she felt his gaze upon her, sensed that he was watching her.

He wondered if he should turn away, pretend that she was mistaken in believing that he studied her. But just as it had been when she’d stepped off the train, the sight of Mina was far too compelling to look away. The nightdress she wore left little to his imagination, the wind buffeting the cream-colored linen against the curve of hips and generous swell of breast that her pants and tunic had hidden so well. She looked like a ray of dawn shining through the darkness of the night.

“Is that ye?”

Her whisper beckoned him closer and he could do nothing but answer it with one of his own. “Do you need me?”

Her quick intake of breath unnerved him, its intensity urging him to close the remaining distance between them and satisfy the craving to taste her lips. Where had that come from, he wondered, passing the urge off as nothing more than the long drought he’d suffered in satisfying his body with the softness of a woman’s. But this was more than that. He’d known it from the first time he saw her. Sensed it was different than anything he’d ever felt before . . . even with Katie Rose. Briar knew if he took one step closer, he would be lost in the spell the night had woven, in the sound of the wafting wind, in the glow of moonlight and the shadows that promised to hide all his longings. The compelling presence of this woman drew him as if she were rain needed to parch the desolation of his long forgotten dreams.