With Open Arms — Cindy Nord

A war-weary ex-soldier. An untamable woman. Love doesn't stand a chance in hell...

The Cutteridge Family, Book 2

Hardened in childhood by the death of her parents, then left to run the family's southwestern territory ranch when her brother rode off to fight for the Union years before, Callie Cutteridge hides her heartbreak behind a mask of self-sufficiency. Breaking horses for the army proves she's neither delicate nor helpless. When a former cavalry officer shows up claiming to own her brother's half of the Arizona ranch, she steels herself to resist the handsome stranger's intention to govern even one single aspect of her life. After all, loving means losing...to her it always has. For months, Jackson Neale has looked forward to putting the bloodstained battlefields back east behind him. Callie isn't the agreeable angel her brother led him to believe, but he's damned well not the useless rake this foul-mouthed hellion thinks he is, either. His quest for calm stability contradicts sharply with her need for control, yet still their heartstrings tangle. But how can these mistrusting partners transform their fiery passion into happily-ever-after?

Warning: Contains a high-strung, tart-tongued heroine who drives the hero past the point of rational thought. If she were a man, he'd be happy to connect a well-aimed fist with her jaw. As it is, he'd be happy to give her foul mouth a good scrubbing with a bar of soap.