Secret fires

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....From the Paperback edition.

In the midst of the vast, windswept Texas plains stands a ranch wrested from the wilderness with blood, sweat and tears. It is the shining legacy of Thomas McBride to his five living heirs. But along with the fertile acres and herds of cattle, each will inherit a history of scandal, lies and hidden lust that threatens to burn out of control. Chase knows he has no legitimate claim to the Circle M. After all, his father made it painfully clear he wants nothing to do with his bastard son or the Comanche girl he once took to his bed. But Chase has his own reasons for answering Tom McBride's deathbed summons. He has a job to do as a Texas Ranger, and a woman to protect. A woman whose sweet innocence gives him new faith that love born in the darkest night can face the dawn of all his tomorrows.

In the midst of the vast, windswept Texas plains stood a ranch wrested from the wilderness with blood, sweat and tears. It was the shining legacy of Thomas McBride to his five living heirs. But along with the fertile acres and herds of cattle, each would inherit a history of scandal, lies and hidden lust that threatened to burn out of control. Lauren McBride had left the Circle M as a confused, lonely girl of fifteen. She returned a woman--beautiful, confident, certain of her own mind. And the last thing she would tolerate was a marriage of convenience, arranged by her pa to right past wrongs. Garret Lassiter had broken her heart once before. Now only a declaration of everlasting love would convince her to become his bride.