"The Love Struck"
CHARACTER :
.Angela Lindsay
.Simone
.Rita
.Jec-Lu
.Tante Marie
.Jake
.Paul
.Maman
.Mignon Levasiuer Lindsay
.Jean-Luc
.John Lindsay
.Matt Pena
PROLOGUE
Angela Lindsay enjoyed a pampered existence among French society , but she has had to trade it all and agree to live on her father's New Mexico ranch in order to collect her inheritance .
While the wide- open land my boast a rugged je ne sais quoi , it's a certain insolent man in uniform who is the first irritation of her new life - and an irresistible lure to her heart .
Captain Jake has little tolerance for an fancy rich lady ill - prepared the rigors of a territory rife with danger .
He may have to escort the city miss from New Orleans to New Mexico , but he doesn't plan any concessions for his charge's delicate sensibilities. Yet when they finally arrive at the hacienda , Jake wants to protect Angela from the shock of meeting Rita . . . the beautiful half sister Angela had never known existed . And Rita is claiming to be his fiancée ! But the sapphire sparks of defiance shooting from Angela's eyes and her breathless fury will challenge his cool indifference - until the savage western skies kindle their passion into a liquid fire that roars out of control .
CHAPTER 1
Even though it was early April , Angela shivered in a cold wind the blew icy air into her bedroom and banged the loose shutter in a loud clatter over her window . Fierce gusts blew her hair into a coppery tangle over her face as she leaned out to grab the shutter , and she muttered a curse she had heard her cousin Simone use. " Merde ! " what a wretched night , not fit or man nor beast .
Stretching farther , at last she succeeded in wrenching the shutter away from freedy fingers of wind to fasten the latch firmly . Then she pushed the hair from her eyes and into a clumsy twist on the nape of the neck , and moved back to stand before the welcoming fire . What cold winds . Every winter into spring they swept down from the Vosges Mountains near the border between France and Germany , cutting to the bone and making her long for the warmth of summer .
She stared into the flames , her violet eyes narrowed against the bright glare . The wind rattled the shutters in a relentless rat-a-tat-tat . Curling her arms around her slender body , she stood shivering on the small hearth rug . A glimpse of her blurred reflection in the polished brass firedogs showed a distorted image that seemed all red-gold hair atop bare feet . Her toes curled into the warm wool of the rug , and her fine cambric nightdress shifted around her body as she held out her hands to heat them at the fire .
Oh , it is cold here , she thought .I would much rather be in the soft sunshine in the south of France where the sea winds blow off the ragged rocks and over my face...they will smell of salty water and adventure , of places I have not seen and may never see , Oh , there is so much I want to see and do in life , yet I have always been so isolated from the world .
