Ann Hackstetter first met Jackson Martinez while vacationing at Lazy M Dude Ranch with her husband and teenage son. Part of the "dude" package was a night of fun at Boot Bustin' Barn. At the time, Ann suspected that Sage Tanner, owner of Lazy M, bribed Jackson to ask her to dance as a way of making her inattentive husband jealous. On a whim, she danced with him. Little did she realize he would awaken emotions long suppressed. Of course, she ignored those emotions. Now, five years later, she's a widow--a destitute widow. Over the years, her son's friendship with Sage's daughter, Julie, has blossomed, and now they're getting married. Wedding responsibilities have temporarily taken Ann's mind off her desperate situation. At the reception, Jackson asks her to dance again--reawakening those emotions. He makes her feel twenty-one, instead of forty-one.
Jackson Martinez has an easy way with the women, but the one woman who sets his heart to racing is Annie Hackstetter. She's older than him, has a grown son, and probably has an aversion to men after being married to a jerk. When Sage reveals Annie's sad state of economic affairs and says she's looking for a job, Jackson knows his heart is in trouble when he offers her a position managing his household so he can concentrate on running his cattle ranch. Little does he know, or anyone else, that Annie has a secret.
Romance on the Ranch Series: Dream Kisses, Honey Kisses, Baby Kisses, Candy Kisses, Christmas Kisses, Rock Star Kisses, Forever Kisses, Forgotten Kisses, Angel Kisses
Tanner West struggles to protect everything he's ever known when a deadly threat comes for his family, including the love of his life Liana Forbes, who is back in his life after more than a decade apart.
*****
Tanner West has dedicated his life to West Line Ranch. He gave up college, his dreams and the woman he loved to take over the ranch when his mother died. When that same woman walks back onto the ranch twelve years after they broke up, will he take the chance he's been given to make it right, or will he keep walking the path he'd chosen that fateful night when he let her go?
Liana Forbes doesn't mess around. She's tough, smart, and protects her heart no matter what. But when Tanner West is suddenly back in her life, the big brother to her best friend's fiancee, she has to make a choice. Will she resist the attraction to the only man who has ever broken her heart, or will she let him back in, even if it means he puts the ranch before her once again?
Tanner and Liana must navigate through the hurt and memory shared between them as they come face to face with their rekindled attraction. As they grow closer, a deadly threat to the ranch could take everything away, including their chance at happiness.
This is Book 3 of the West Brothers Series. Book 1 - Western Heat and Book 2 - Western Connection are part of the Paid Stories program.