Texas Hold Him — Lisa Cooke

As if losing the war to the Yankees hadn't been bad enough, Lottie Mason now needed $15,000 to keep her ailing father out of prison. The only place she could think of to get that kind of money was a riverboat poker tournament. Problem was, she didn't know a thing about playing cards.

Dyer Straights may have been the best cardsharp in New Orleans, but the true goal of this hardened gunslinger was vengeance, not profit. He didn't have time for a beautiful belle who wouldn't take no for an answer. So to scare her off, he upped the ante with a proposition: He'd give her the lessons she was so desperate for. And if she won the jackpot, she'd owe him one naked night in his bed. He didn't realize she couldn't afford to refuse.

As the cards are dealt and the seduction deepens, the two find they're taking a gamble on a lot more than a good hand and a one-night stand--they're betting on a lifetime of love.