Forgetting the past, facing the future
Stephanie Phillips is sick of charm. And Clint Morgan, the newest resident of Covenant Falls, has it in spades. Stephanie knows she should run the other way because the former Blackhawk pilot is too good-looking, too charismatic…and much too sexy.
As the town veterinarian, Stephanie has truly found her home here. Clint, on the other hand, is staying for only a short time while he recovers from an injury. But when he starts to fit seamlessly into the close-knit community, the irresistible risk-taker makes his way into her heart.
“What are you afraid of?” Clint asked in a low, gentle voice.
Stephanie couldn’t answer. She couldn’t say “you” because that would be admitting there was something there between them, something so strong that she still hadn’t moved when she should be running like hell.
“I don’t want to get involved with anyone,” she finally said.
“Why?”
“You’re here just for a short time,” she said, seeking a more logical reason than fear. “It makes no sense to start something. It’s not…practical.”
His fingers moved to the back of her neck again. “And you’re big on practicality?”
Go. Go. Go…
She swallowed hard, then summoning all the self-control she had left, she moved away from him and stood on trembling legs. “I try to be,” she said in what she feared was not a very convincing tone.
“I don’t give up easily,” he said.
When I first envisioned my previous book, The Soldier’s Promise (Mills & Boon Superromance April 2014), and created the fictional Colorado town of Covenant Falls, I thought it would be a stand-alone book, a story about a wounded soldier returning home and a military dog with PTSD and how they healed each other.
But I fell in love with the town and its citizens who believe baked goodies cure all ills, who have an infinite curiosity about newcomers and who band together in times of trouble. From Maude, who runs the diner, to Doc Bradley, the irascible town doctor, they did not want to go quietly into the night.
Most of all, I fell in love with Stephanie, the town’s veterinarian with the big but very cautious heart. It would take a very special guy to break the barriers she’d constructed against the opposite sex, and Clint Morgan, an army helicopter pilot with a mild traumatic brain injury, was just the man to do it as he tried to rebuild his life.
And no story in Covenant Falls would be complete without a cast of animals. Braveheart is back and plays no small part in matchmaking.
Enjoy!
Patricia Potter
Tempted by the Soldier
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
Patricia Potter
PATRICIA POTTER is a bestselling and award-wining author of more than sixty books. Her Western romances and romantic suspense novels have received numerous awards, including an RT Book Reviews Storyteller of the Year Award, a Career Achievement Award for Western Historical Romance and a Best Hero of the Year Award. She is a seven-time RITA® Award finalist for RWA and a three-time Maggie Award winner. She is a past president of Romance Writers of America. Patricia is also a passionate animal lover, which is reflected in many of her books, but never more so than in her Covenant Falls series. She believes curiosity is the most important trait of any writer, and she’s often led far astray when researching a subject.
Dedicated to the volunteers in our society, from the volunteer firefighters, to the search-and-rescue teams, to people who deliver meals to the homebound.
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