The Bad Boy's Wife

Book excerpt: What happens when you marry the bad boy-the reckless, irresistible cowboy who steals your heart and whom you should have dumped after the affair? Cole Thompson, a gorgeous ne'er-do-well horse trainer, shocks everyone when he proposes to Hannah Baker, the daughter of a wealthy Southern family. When after a twenty-year marriage filled with infidelity and other secrets, Cole leaves her, it comes as a shock to no one but Hannah. Now, though, there are no longer just two of them to suffer the consequences: caught in the middle is Mattie, the child who was supposed to settle them down and make them better people. This is the story of a relationship and marriage told in reverse, from its fateful end to its magical beginnings. Can a husband, a wife and their ten-year-old pick up the pieces of their broken past and dare to expect something from the future? In the tradition of books like The Horse Whisperer and Cowboys Are my Weakness, Karen Shepard deals with issues of broken trust, and the damage we cause to the ones we love most.