Cloudcastle

Book excerpt: In this sizzling historical romance set in the majestic Colorado Rockies, USA Today–bestselling author Nan Ryan brings to life the tempestuous passions of a beautiful, strong-willed ranch owner who can’t help loving a mysterious drifter she is not sure she can trust One minute, Natalie Vallance is safely ensconced in the stagecoach taking her from Santa Fe to her ranch in the Rockies. The next, a shot rings out, and the coach is surrounded by marauding Apaches. Facing certain death, Natalie is stunned when a blue-eyed stranger comes to her rescue. She ends up sharing a night of forbidden passion with him. When the virile drifter, Kane Covington, reappears at her ranch, Cloudcastle, Natalie wonders what he is after and who he really is—an outlaw, a swindler, or a charming rogue? Natalie has reason to be suspicious, for she is the protector of sacred Indian ground and the guardian of a treasure in buried gold that unscrupulous men will kill to claim . . .