Bound, Branded, & Brazen

Table of Contents

 

 

 

“
Wild, Wicked, & Wanton
starts off with a bang and never lets up!”

—
Just Erotic Reviews

“This is the best erotic novel I have ever read! I absolutely loved it!”

—
Fresh Fiction

“Jaci Burton’s
Wild, Wicked, & Wanton
is an invitation to every woman’s wildest fantasies. And it’s an invitation that can’t be ignored.”

—
Romance Junkies

 

“Burns up the pages.”

—
Romantic Times

 

“Full of intrigue, sexual tension and exhilarating release. Definitely a must-read.”

—
Fresh Fiction

“
Riding Temptation
has it all—action, suspense, romance and sensuality all wrapped up in a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you clamoring for the next story in the Wild Riders series!”

—
Wild on Books

“A sexy, fast-action thrill ride!”

—
Romantic Times

“Kudos to Ms. Burton for creating this exciting new series!”

—
Romance Junkies

“Hot, sexy romantic suspense at its best.”

—Lora Leigh,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Forget about a cool glass of water; break out the ice! Each page will leave you panting for more.”

—
Romantic Times
(Top Pick)

“A wild ride is exactly what you will get with this steamy romantic caper. This sexy and sizzling-hot story will leave you breathless and wanting more.”

—
Fresh Fiction

“A nonstop thrill ride from the first page to the last! Grab a copy of
Riding Wild
and take your own ride on the wild side of life!”

—
Romance Junkies

“What an exciting and wonderful book!”

—
The Romance Studio

“
Riding Wild
is a must-read for anyone who loves sexy romances filled with plenty of action and suspense.”

—
Kwips and Kritiques

 

Further praise for the work of

 

Jaci Burton

“Burton delivers it all in this hot story—strong characters, an exhilarating plot and scorching sex—and it all moves at a breakneck pace . . . You’ll be drawn so fully into her characters’ world that you won’t want to return to your own.”

—
Romantic Times

“Realistic dialogue, spicy bedroom scenes and a spitfire heroine make this one to pick up and savor.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Jaci Burton delivers.”

—Cherry Adair,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Lively and funny . . . The sex is both intense and loving; you can feel the connection that both the hero and heroine want to deny in every word and touch between them. I cannot say enough good things about this book.”

—
The Road to Romance

“Exciting, intense. A ride you don’t want to miss. [It] will leave you breathless.”

—Lora Leigh,
New York Times
bestselling author

“A fabulous read. [Burton] delivers in every possible way.”

—
A Romance Review

“Sizzling-hot sex that will have you panting. I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a hot read.”

—
The Romance Studio

“One hot novel that I could not put down until the last word. This story has it all: mind- boggling sex, unique and unforgettable characters and a wonderful plot that will grip your heart . . . Raw, dynamic, explosive. Wow!”

—
Just Erotic Romance Reviews

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

BOUND, BRANDED, & BRAZEN

Copyright © 2010 by Jaci Burton.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

HEAT and the HEAT design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Heat trade paperback edition / March 2010

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burton, Jaci.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-18593-3

I. Sisters—Fiction. II. Women ranchers—Fiction. III. Ranchers—Fiction. IV. Title.

PS3602.U776B68 2010

813’.6—dc22

2009041103

 

 

To my husband, Charlie,
the roughest, toughest cowboy a woman
ever had the luck to fall in love with.
You are and always have been my hero.

To my editor, Kate Seaver—thank you for the time you spent brainstorming this book. Your ideas and insights are so helpful and I always enjoy plotting books with you.

 

To my agent, Kimberly Whalen—thank you for all that you do to keep me sane, even when I’m a giant pain in the butt. Which I know is often.

 

To the Writeminded Readers—you are all heroines in so many ways. Thank you for always being there when I need a smile, a laugh and a pick-me-up.

 

To some very amazing women who have done some very special things for me: Fatin, Jamie and Azteclady—“thank you” just never seems like enough.

 

To Maya Banks, who talks me down off the ledge more than anyone I know. You have no idea how much I appreciate your always being there to listen.

valerie mcmasters didn’t know if the old adage
“you can’t go home again” was true or not, but as far as she was concerned, the thought of home made her want to turn tail and run like hell. Yet here she was, pulling into the Bar M Ranch, a place she swore she’d never come back to again.

She parked her car under the giant blackjack oak tree, several steps back from the sprawling, two-story white frame house where she’d lived since she was born. It had been two long years since she’d last been here. She wanted to get a full-on view of the place, to take it in like a picture.

The late afternoon sun rained down on the gray-shingled roof, highlighting the three gabled windows arranged in neat order along the second story. Her, Brea’s and Jolene’s bedrooms. When they were kids, all three of them had climbed out those windows at night and sat on the slanted roof to watch the stars and talk.

Shaking off the memories, Valerie grabbed her suitcases out of the trunk, walked through the front door, set her bags down in the gleaming, polished hall and realized that it wouldn’t have mattered how long she’d been gone.

Nothing would ever change at the Bar M Ranch. Not the layout of the house, the dusty ride up the long road, the mooing cows greeting her as she took the winding drive along the property line or the barking dogs that wound through her legs as she maneuvered her way to the front door.

The only thing different today was that her uncle Ronald was dead. She wouldn’t have to deal with his disapproving looks and his condemnation, or hear his lectures about how she should have stayed on the ranch and how disappointed her parents would have been in her for leaving.

Not that his opinion on things had ever mattered to her anyway. He’d always been full of shit and she’d been old enough to know better. Her parents had loved her. They would have wanted what was best for her, would have understood why she left. Uncle Ronald never knew her at all, never understood how hard it was for her to be here. No one understood.

His funeral was tomorrow. Not that she’d shed a tear for the old bastard, even if he was her father’s brother. She’d cried enough when her parents had died, when she and her sisters had to have a double funeral and put both their mother and father in the ground on the same day.