Joan Johnston transports us to rugged present-day Texas--a place of wide-open prairies and unbridled ambitions--where two ranching families, the Blackthornes and the Creeds, are locked in a bitter century-old feud. Here, Johnston brings to life a breathtaking love story--between the Blackthornes' oldest son and the Creeds' beautiful daughter--a magnificent novel of passion, vengeance, and star-crossed love. Trace Blackthorne was taught from the cradle to take what he wanted. And he wanted Callie Creed. Eleven years ago, the feud between their families had torn them apart. But now Trace has come home, a ruthless hard-eyed stranger, making her an offer she couldn't refuse: marry him and save her struggling family from financial ruin. But the secrets of the past return to haunt them. And Callie is once again compelled to make an impossible choice--between the family who desperately needs her and the only man she has ever loved.
Joan Johnston, the New York Times bestselling author of The Cowboy , casts her beguiling spell once again in her breathtaking new novel. Set against a majestic backdrop of sprawling modern-day Texas, The Texan weaves a tale of two feuding families--the Blackthornes and the Creeds--and of two extraordinary people, loner Owen Blackthorne and beautiful, headstrong Bayleigh Creed, irresistibly drawn to each other despite the desperate odds against their love. Owen Blackthorne was a lone wolf, a man who didn't need anyone. Until Bayleigh Creed appeared on his doorstep, demanding his help in locating her missing brother. They headed into the desolate West Texas wilderness together, a Blackthorne and a Creed, mortal enemies obliged to join forces to survive. Neither counted on the unwanted attraction that drew them together, or the bitter truths that would force them apart. Until the ruthless wilderness compelled them to make life- and- death choices--between family . . . and duty . . . and love. Joan Johnston is the bestselling, award-winning author of fourteen historical romances and twenty contemporary romance novels. She received a master of arts degree in theater from the University of Illinois and was graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. She is currently a full-time writer who lives in South Florida.
The Blackthornes and the Creeds. Two powerful Texas dynasties–and lifelong enemies. Set in the heart of the modern-day West, New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston brings to passionate life the clash of wills between Blackthorne and Creed . . . as a man and woman discover a love stronger than the forces trying to tear them apart. Summer Blackthorne swore she’d never forgive Billy Coburn for running out on her and their future together. But that was before she found out she wasn’t Jackson Blackthorne’s child–Billy was. And now the “Blackthorne Bastard” has come home for a final day of reckoning...to the town that damned him and the woman he had always wanted. Only Summer can satisfy the hunger burning deep within him. Only she can help him hold on to his own unwanted son. It will be a marriage of expedience only. Until doubts and mistrust vanish in the heat of passion...and a man and a woman who never stopped loving each other fight bitter blood and impossible odds for a glorious second chance....
Joan Johnston presents the thrilling saga of two dynastic families, the Blackthornes and the Creeds, with this powerful New York Times bestseller -- a novel of intrigue, passion, ambition, and love set amid Houston's towering skyscrapers and the majestic plains of South Texas ranch country. Luke Creed has sacrificed everything for his career at the prestigious law firm DeWitt & Blackthorne: a chance to run his family's ranching empire, his marriage, even time with his two daughters. Defending a major client in a wrongful death case, Luke crosses paths with his high school sweetheart, Amy Hazeltine Nash, an advocate for the bereaved plaintiff. Now, Luke and Amy are divided by forces beyond themselves -- and overcome by an all-consuming desire. But when the case takes a deadly twist, Luke delves into a dangerous web of corruption that may place his life in jeopardy -- and may also target the one woman who loves Luke for who he really is: rebel, cowboy, loner, and lover.
New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston brings to life an unforgettable love story between two strong-willed people from different worlds in her thrilling new novel featuring the Blackthornes of Bitter Creek, Texas, and their formidable rivals, the Grayhawks of Wyoming. Juggling single motherhood and her job as deputy sheriff of Teton County, Sarah Barndollar hasn't lost hope of solving two cold cases of missing young women. When a third vanishes, all hell breaks loose -- because she's the illegitimate daughter of Texas scion Clay Blackthorne and the granddaughter of his mortal enemy King Grayhawk. The crisis pits the two powerful families against each other in a race against time. Playboy Drew DeWitt, a Blackthorne cousin, insists on taking part in the search -- putting him on a collision course with Sarah. Her cop instincts tell her the sexy Texan is trouble. But when evidence emerges of a conspiracy against the U.S. government, Sarah accepts Drew's high-powered help as she negotiates a shadowy landscape of hidden rivals and ruthless greed where every moment counts in saving lives, including her own.
A lavish summer wedding is being planned at Bitter Creek ranch. In one month, Clay Blackthorne will wed socialite Jocelyn Montrose. But when she hears stirrings of a corporate takeover by the family's archrival, North Grayhawk, Jocelyn covertly heads to North's ranch to offer a valuable commodity -- herself -- if North will call off his plans. Striking a deal to spend the summer with the steely, seductive North, Jocelyn fails to see that her sacrifice to protect the man she loves may have dire consequences. Stunned by his fiancee's rejection, Clay, a newly appointed federal judge, begins presiding over an incendiary terrorism trial, which brings him face to face with his first love, Libby Grayhawk. As tensions mount, forces beyond Clay's control threaten the women most precious to him in the past and the present. And only in a daring act of sacrifice will he know which woman will become the next Mrs. Blackthorne.
From New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston comes a dazzling new Bitter Creek novel that features all of the passion and intrigue in Texas high society that her readers know and love, mixed with an explosive, spine-tingling tale of murder, wrongful imprisonment, and a woman who counts no cost too high to see a killer brought to justice. FBI Special Agent Breed Grayhawk has the hottest sex in his life with a stranger who calls herself Grace Smith, only to discover early the next morning that her real name is Merle Raye Finkel -- and she's a convicted double murderer who broke her parole a year ago and disappeared. Now she's his prime suspect in a terrorist threat against the U.S. president. Grace Caldwell is determined to find the killer who framed her for the murder of her father and stepmother -- and make him pay. She burgles the home of her #1 suspect and nets a surprising haul: a hot-pink, silk-covered diary -- the record of a sex-addicted wife's adventures -- which suggests that Grace's #1 suspect isa serial killer. But her theft has been caught on tape, and the man she's been chasing becomes the hunter...with Grace as his prey. With just five days until the president arrives in Austin, Texas, the last thing the FBI needs is a serial killer on the prowl...and a terrorist suspect who will stop at nothing to clear her name. The clock is ticking down, and Agent Grayhawk is racing time to discover the truth about his dangerous lover.
Joan Johnston is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty award-winning historical and contemporary romantic novels, including her Bitter Creek series featuring The Rivals, The Price, The Loner, The Texan, and The Cowboy. Johnston received a master of arts degree in theater from the University of Illinois and graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. She lives in south Florida and Colorado. Visit her website: www.joanjohnston.com.
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