Bøker av Maddie James

Evan MacKay is grateful to have his four brothers working beside him at Sweet Grass Ranch. Maintaining their ranch lifestyle is his priority, but the bank is breathing down his neck and he worries the ranch can't support their growing family. Secretly, he waits for the other boot to drop.Turns out the other boots are Jimmy Choo black stilettos worn by the new bank loan manager.Jessica Chase doesn't claim to be an expert on ranching, but she's a whiz in finance, particularly in whipping delinquent accounts into shape. As the new kid on the block, she is driven to succeed, and ready to pull the Sweet Grass Ranch account back into solvency. She is also eager to rebuild her life in South Dakota.The city woman in heels knows a lot about money, Evan admits, but nothing about cattle. He tries to advise her about ranch business, but she dismisses his recommendations. While intrigued by the abrupt rancher who tries to educate her about cows, Jessica feels her resolve slipping. She has a job to do, and it doesn't involve kissing the grumpy cowboy.But kiss him, she does.Can Jessica rein in her growing attraction for Evan while remaining committed to her professional goal? Will love triumph over the bottom line?

One more deadly romantic comedy. Meet Mitzi, Molly, and Marla-three sisters, southern-fried born-and-bred, and the ghosts who love them.Marla Newberry has no interest in dating someone local. She much prefers midnight runs to a biker bar in Shreveport.Cooter Haines, drummer for a Grateful Dead tribute band called Skull Bone, owns the biker bar called The Deadhead. He also happens to be the only guy who can curl her toes like a sprung guitar string.And while she enjoys surrendering to his toe-curling on occasion, she's not interested in bringing the long-haired drummer home to daddy--until the night Cooter tells her he loves her, and then comes up missing.That Saturday night, a rival drummer makes a deal with the devil (aka the Skull Bone's manager) and steals the drummer job away from Cooter. Cooter angrily speeds off on his bike and doesn't return. Marla smells a rat.Later, she wakes up to find a ghostly Cooter sitting at the foot of her bed. Dead isn't so great, he tells her, and those rumors about Southern Rock bands jamming in Heaven? He's seen no evidence. Plus, he's pretty sure someone jacked up something on his Harley making him roll the bike. He needs her help to find out who wanted him dead.But is Cooter really dead, or was Marla only dreaming? And days later, where is he?Can she and her sisters solve this final mystery of the men in their lives, and the ghosts(?) who love them?Read less

Another deadly romantic comedy-three sisters, a smattering of ghost, a touch of romance, a boatload of mystery, and a stitch of southern humor.Molly Campbell had everything-a gorgeous Louisiana mansion, a rich husband, and a lucrative career. Had-not has-because her redneck husband dies in a seven-car pileup on the way to a monster truck pull, setting off a chain of events that leaves her penniless and moving into her deceased Gran's home in Carrington, Louisiana.To say lifestyle change is a bitch is an understatement.She misses Don (and admittedly, his money) but doesn't miss his belittling manner.When he comes to her in ghostly spirit and apologizes for every nasty thing he's ever done (too little, too late), and that he lied to her about the bank account (too little, too gone), and tells her she needs to pay off his casino debt to keep the family safe (too overwhelming, too damn much!), and suggests that the truck accident might not have been an accident after all (too creepy, too murdered?), she gives him the cold shoulder.Molly has no desire to listen to her deceased husband's honeymoon phase sweet-talk and probable lies in death. She'd had enough of that while he was living.But Don insists he was murdered, and when things start happening-eerie phone calls, threatening messages, and bullets whizzing past her on Gran's porch-Molly concedes.With her sisters in tow, and aided by a charming, tattooed private investigator, Molly seeks to uncover the truth. The suspense and hilarity that ensues might make you laugh out loud-seriously. Dead serious.

A southern-fried comedy with a touch of romance, a side of mystery, a smattering of paranormal, and three crazy sisters....All Mitzi Winston wants is enough money to pay this month's mortgage payment. That is the only reason she even considers the phone sex job. Ever since her husband's disappearance, she has held things together nicely-until recently. And now, well, she just needs the money.Biting the bullet, she goes for the interview, only to find that the phone sex job isn't real and she's too late-not for the interview, but to save her husband. For there he is, dead on the floor, a bullet to the back of the head. To make matters worse, his ghost is hovering around and chiding her for being late. Not to mention he is horny as hell and trying to cop a feel.Which only begs the question, "Do dead men still want it?"

When Emma Lavender is called to corporate headquarters at the end of her first week of employment at WestInn Hotels, she is shocked at the proposition offered by the company CEO. So shocked, in fact, she takes him up on his offer. Emma Lavender is your average college graduate-eager to make a go of her first job and pay off those student loans. Fresh out of a relationship going nowhere, she leaves Charlotte, North Carolina, behind and heads for the wild west-Billings, Montana. But in Montana, no one takes her seriously or appreciates her southern belle upbringing, except for one man-CEO of WestInn Enterprises, Gage Parker-and he seriously appreciates what Emma has to offer. Corporate executive by day, rancher by night, Dom all the time-Gage Parker is an Alpha male with an insatiable sexual appetite and a fundamental need to control women sexually. When Emma crosses his line of vision during her work orientation at his hotel, he engineers a meeting and presents Emma with a proposition that literally rocks her southern belle upbringing to the core-and one that Emma learns she is powerless to refuse.

Leaving Noah is a heartwarming tale of love, loss, second chances, and the power of the written word. When a rodeo accident leaves Rock Creek Ranch shorthanded, Connie MacKay travels from South Dakota to Montana to visit her daughter and help with the neighboring ranch's cattle roundup. Raised on a ranch and comfortable in the saddle, she is determined to help. After decades of working ranches throughout the northwest, Noah Parker heads home to Rock Creek to stay-maybe. That all depends on the reception he gets from family. When he arrives, the last person he expects to see there is Connie. Several months earlier at Sarah MacKay's wedding, Noah and Connie shared a clandestine night together. Neither have seen nor spoken to the other since.It's been a little over a year since Connie's husband's death, and no matter how attracted she is to the rough stock cowboy, she can't let herself get swept away by Noah's charm and old-fashioned cowboy ethics. Figuring out the next chapter of her life is her priority-and one she must do alone. Noah has baggage of his own he's not sure he can get past, let alone heap on top of hers. He has known love, and lost love, and doesn't want to live out the rest of his days alone. He loves her, but following Connie to South Dakota is not the answer, so he tries another tack-old fashioned love letters designed to share his story, and perhaps woo her heart.

As local celebrity chef Suzie Hart starts to step out of her regional fame and into the bigger world, she launches her debut cooking show with some local flavor-a blind date matchmaking sketch with a friend that goes south quicker than geese in winter…. Becca North doesn't want a boyfriend-she is so off men. Her best friend Nora, however, makes boyfriend hunting a sport. When Nora, owner of the Harbor Falls' bookstore, Nora's Novel Niche, meets Suzie the matchmaking chef during a book signing at her store, she finagles her way into a romantic picnic blind date lunch on Suzie's new television show. Nora drags a reluctant Becca along for moral support. Thing is, Nora's blind date would rather check out Becca. Sam Ackerman understands the hazards of being childhood friends with Suzie Hart. Suzie has a way of convincing friends to do her bidding-whether they want to or not. How the landscaper gets finagled into this blind date scenario with a local book store owner is all Suzie's doings-and the fact that he is caught up in a matchmaking scheme is not lost on him. Still, Suzie is persistent and he caves-but only as a favor. He's not interested in dating right now, let alone get joined at the hip with some blind date, husband-hunting, boyfriend-seeker. He's off women. And then he spies Becca.

A reluctant rancher. A lonely librarian. A family in shambles. Can the rancher risk a second chance at love and heal his family at the same time? When John Rankin's wife dies, leaving him with two children to raise, he wonders how he can he take care of a family and run a working cattle ranch, too. Annie's domain was home, hearth, and the kids. Her dying put a hole in his day-to-day existence like nothing he'd ever before experienced-not only in his rancher lifestyle, but also in his heart. As the months roll on, his heart is only one of his problems when eleven-year-old Callie rebels. Missing her mom and unsure how her life is unfolding, Callie pushes back at every turn, and John is unsure how to help her. Then his friend and farm manager, Buck McGinnis, suggests John seek the counsel of a woman for advice dealing with a moody pre-teen female. He wants to introduce John to his friend, Abby Cooper. John is reluctant, but eventually caves to Buck's advice. Suddenly, life becomes more complicated. The Parker Ranches, Inc. series launches with the novella, The Rancher's Second Chance, establishing the historical perspective of the original Parker Ranch, the patriarch of the present-day family, John Rankin, and his second chance at love and healing his family.****The Parker Ranches, Inc. series is a contemporary western romance series written by award-winning and bestselling romance author Maddie James.Linked by strong family relationships, these stories take place in multiple ranch settings in Montana (Rankin's Rock Creek Ranch; The Branded Filly Ranch), South Dakota (Sweet Grass Ranch), Texas and Kentucky (Remington Ranches). The Parker and Rankin families-Montana ranchers for generations-anchor the series and lay the foundation for stories to come. As families grow, forming new ranch partnerships, you'll also meet the MacKay and Remington families, among others.Parker Ranches, Inc. books are romance stories with happily-ever-after endings. Some are sweet, most are steamy, and a few are romantically erotic. These novels and novellas always feature cowboy heroes and the women who love them-often with complicated relationships and external challenges. Welcome to the world of Parker Ranches, Incorporated.

She's the maid of honor. He's the best man. Both are keeping secrets. The long-requested sequel to Maddie James' first published novel, Roses & Rawhide is now available!Readers wanted to know... What happened to Jillie and Mack's relationship at the end of Roses & Rawhide?Why did Jillie go back to Kentucky?Will they get back together?What's their story? While Kim Martin and Thad Winchester find their happily-ever-after in Roses & Rawhide, their best friends, Jillie Abernathy and Mack Montgomery, end their sleeping bag sharing relationship during the rugged, two-week pack trip into the Colorado San Juan mountains. But when Kim and Thad host their wedding at Thad's Colorado ranch a few months later, Mack and Jillie must come face-to-face with reality-and with each other. She's the Maid of Honor. He's the Best Man. Both are harboring secrets-secrets that could break a potential future relationship if they both keep avoiding telling the truth. Can they reveal those secrets to each other? And if so, can they get past the withheld truths to plan a future together?

What's a small town cop to do when the love of his life runs away when he pops the question? Call in the matchmaker for backup, of course! Katie Long is not about to be saddled with commitment. She has dreams, plans, and she's working hard to fulfill them. Her relationship with local Harbor Falls police officer Chris Marks is fine just the way it is. Why does he think they need to change it up? She knows why. She just doesn't want to deal with reality. But when Chris pops the question, reality hits her square in the face and she panics. After Chris exhausts all hope of reasoning with Katie, he hires Suzie Hart to set him up with a romantic dinner for two, hoping she will work some of her matchmaking magic. Suzie does all she can to set the mood but Katie isn't about to be wooed. Then Suzie learns something about Katie and supplies Chris with a couple of items that might tame her wild heart, after all. Will Katie react differently this time, when Chris pops the question?

She rescued a cat and gave the feline a furever home. Did she find her forever man in the process?The peaceful town of Brownsfield, Texas, is the perfect place to start a new veterinary practice--newcomer Dr. Caleb Wyatt decides--until the morning he opens the doors of his animal clinic. His office is disorganized and he should hire part-time help but the animals of Brownsfield are not cooperating. Mrs. Pierson's poodle is looking for love in all the wrong places. A colicky calf keeps him awake. A yellow-tinged iguana, a cursing Lorikeet, and a bird-eating cat seem hell-bent on wreaking havoc with his business. In short, chaos! Until the lovely and quite organized, Samantha Jamieson, steps into his clinic. Sammi wasn't out to find a job. She only wants help for a flea-infested and newly-rescued cat she'd given a furever home. But the disorganized veterinarian needs help so she decides to put her school secretary skills to good use. She agrees to work for Caleb, but the job soon becomes more than a summer distraction. Sammi fears she is falling for Caleb, something this plain Jane girl thought she would never experience. It's time to retreat. And fast. Caleb finds that convincing Sammi to work for him was the easy part--convincing her that he's her forever man is quite another. Can he do it?"The characters in Taking a Chance ring true. Delightful story!" A reader.

Can lost souls reunite across time, when all hope at love has been abandoned and demons of the past refuse to go away? Pitched from a ship during a violent storm in the year 1746, Victoria Porter washes ashore, soon to be rescued by a man on a strange mechanical beast who whisks her away into a world beyond anything she could have imagined. In 2014, Colton MacKenzie fears he has written his last bestselling horror novel until he discovers two things-The Cult of Teach and a tantalizing nymph wandering an Ocracoke Island beach. Fascinated by the history that surrounds the Legend of Blackbeard's Chalice, he seeks to learn more about these modern-day pirates and hopefully write a bestseller using the premise. He'd planned on riding this ride solo until the strange waif on the back of his Harley touches him in ways his demons hadn't let anyone touch in a long, long time….

The Forever Trilogy, Book 1Can souls touch through time and hold on when all odds are against them? Claire Winslow vacations on an East Coast barrier island, content with her life and her potential future-until the illusion of a man walking the misty shore haunts her. Then one kiss-a beautiful, soulful, stolen kiss in the night-and her life changes forever. Nearly 300 years past, Jack Porter is in hot pursuit of his kidnapped wife. Not an easy feat considering the year is 1718 and the kidnapper is the notorious pirate Blackbeard aka Edward Teach. Determined to rescue his wife and take the pirate's head in the process, Jack steals aboard the pirate's ship to save her. His Forever Kiss sends Jack and Claire on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness-the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard's skull.

When Callie McKenna's New York future collides head-on with her Montana past, she is faced with making a life-altering decision.Callie McKenna is going home. Her father has suffered a fall from his horse and she is needed back at the ranch. She temporarily leaves New York and her promotion behind to be with her family in Montana, planning only to stay until her father is well again.What she doesn't expect is to rekindle an old relationship with ranch hand, Murphy Reynolds.Nothing goes according to plan. Callie must face her past, to not only mend some family fences, but to figure out what is happening between her and Murphy. She knows the choices she makes now will shape her future. But will that future be with Murphy and her family on the ranch, or will it be back in New York, where her promotion waits along with that quaint little brownstone she adores?

The last thing Parker Rankin expects the day of his father's funeral is for life to throw him another curveball--especially a red-headed, no-nonsense, curveball like Reba Morris. Parker expects life on Rock Creek Ranch to change. He is unsure how much his stepmother, Abby, has influenced his father's final wishes. Although Abby has been a part of his life for years, her goals for the ranch differ from his. All Parker wants is to continue his way of life--running the Montana ranch until the day he dies, just like his father.Having recently relocated to Montana, and living in a cabin near Rock Creek Ranch, Rebekah (Reba) Morris decides to do the neighborly thing and help at the Rankin home when everyone gathers after rancher John Rankin's funeral. With her late husband's passing of several months earlier on her mind, she knows how difficult it can be handling the small things, so she hopes the Rankins will be appreciative of her neighborly efforts.What Reba doesn't expect, however, is a glimpse into a cool and aloof--albeit sexy-- Montana rancher's personal life. A glimpse that both intrigues and stops her in her tracks. She came to Montana to heal and to focus on the next phase of her life. The last thing she wants is to fall in love.

Snowbound in a secluded cabin. Lost in ghosts of the past. Driven by a life unfulfilled. All Blaire Kincaid wants is to make her own way in the world. Using her newly acquired PI skillset, she sets out on an eighteen-year-old cold trail to find the missing nephew of heiress, Reva MacGlenary. But Darian MacGlenary doesn't want to be found. When he spies the young woman stumbling into his Appalachian hollow, he panics. The bearded mountain man has tucked himself deep into the backwoods for the past decade on purpose, and the last thing he wants is a woman nosing around. When Blaire arrives a few hours ahead of an early winter snowstorm, things begin to heat up. Snowbound together, Darian battles ghosts of his past looming large in the small cabin, while Blaire haunts his every hot and bothered night. Tormented by her unwelcome attraction to Darian-the man who pushes her away at every turn-Blaire convinces herself she wants nothing but to complete her task, go home, and collect her final paycheck. Until the snowstorm changes the plan-and both surrender to close quarters, long nights, and necessary body heat....

When Suzie Hart's success as the matchmaking chef hits the national foodie scene, her publicist produces a list of requirements totally unrelated to Suzie's newfound cooking show success. Interested more in Suzie's matchmaking talents, Patricia Plum presents, The Husband List. Patricia Plum knows she's attracted to commitment-phobic men. Worse, they are attracted to her. Unlucky on her own in the couples department, she asks her new client for help. If Suzie Hart is as good as everyone claims, Patricia feels confident this hot new chef-turned-matchmaker will deliver the husband of her dreams. Just to move things along, Patricia presents Suzie with a specific list of husband requirements. Ames Cooper is Patricia's commitment-phonic ex-boyfriend who screwed up royally in the past (both literally and figuratively) and watched her walk out of his life. He's a dozen years her junior and doesn't meet any of the requirements on her husband list because he's the exact opposite of every point on her list-not to mention the reason she compiled the list to begin with. When photographer, Ames Cooper, steps into the photo shoot for Suzie's new cookbook and sees Patricia again, he realizes why his heart felt so empty these past three years. He regrets his past indiscretions and wonders how he can make things right with Patricia. Will Patricia let him get close enough to prove he can be husband material, after all? And can matchmaker, Suzie Hart, really deliver Patricia's perfect mate to order?

New Year's Eve is just around the corner and Emma Jo Baker has tried every trick in the book to land a date for the annual New Year's Eve Bash at Falls Lake Lodge. This year she doesn't want to go alone. She even tries setting up a kissing booth at the Harbor Falls Elementary Winter Carnival to meet a potential new date (under the guise of a school fundraiser, of course) until the school principal promptly shuts her booth down, deeming it inappropriate. She would love to show him inappropriate! After eight years of teaching and five more in his role of principal, Will Craig knows he has just about seen it all. Between the students, their parents, and occasionally his teachers, school life is never dull. When he spies the kissing booth in the corner of the gym during the winter carnival, he knows things are about to get interesting-and he's not at all surprised that Emma Baker is behind the supposed fund-raising effort. That woman has both intrigued and frustrated him for far too long. It's about time he does something about it. There is one thing Will knows for certain-if Emma is passing out kisses, candy or real ones, he intends to be the first, and last, in line to sample the goods. And he definitely doesn't want to sample them in front of the student body.

The Forever Trilogy, Book 3 Can souls touch through dreams and find their way home again? Jackson Porter seeks to fulfill his mother, Claire Porter's, dying request, and find answers about the imaginary lover who haunts his nights. His future, he learns, is in a place called Ohio, miles and centuries away from his barrier island home in 1745. The land, his dying mother tells him, is his legacy. She urges him to claim it.In the year 2038, Kari Upton is driven to fight federal sanctions to save her land and her valuable poppy crops. Her upcoming marriage is one of convenience. Marrying Tye Gentry will save her Ohio farmland. There is no other way to gain power than to marry him and ride on his father's political coattails to the state legislature. And all would be perfect if it weren't for those erotic dreams of a man with long dark hair who haunts her day and night....

When Jasmine Walker returns to Harbor Falls after a fifteen-year absence-she expects to tie up some legalities of a will and head back to her home in Atlanta that same day. What she doesn't expect is for her troubled teenage past to collide with her well-planned, professional future. When Ms. Leinie Harbor Crockett dies and leaves something for Jasmine Walker in her will, Jasmine returns to Harbor Falls to meet with the attorney of the estate and learns she has inherited the contents of a safety deposit box. A letter explains Ms. Leinie's wishes and the stipulations around Jasmine's inheritance-stipulations and requests that Jasmine may not be able to fulfill. Ms. Leinie's wishes do not align with Jasmine's busy life in Atlanta, nor does running into her old high school boyfriend, Jack Ackerman. The last person Jack expects to see at the bank that day is Jasmine Walker-but once he does, he knows he is not going to let her leave without a conversation. Fifteen years fell away in a heartbeat, and he needs to understand why she left Harbor Falls in the first place. Jasmine's confessions leave him confused and angry but he refuses to believe she no longer has feelings for him. When Jack learns his inheritance is intertwined with Jasmine's, things suddenly become clearer.With her passing, is Ms. Leinie orchestrating a star crossed reunion from the grave, bringing two young lovers back together after fifteen lonely years of hurt, secrets, and misunderstandings?

When master chocolate taster, Scott Matthews, escapes to Harbor Falls to visit his brother and sister-in-law, Brad and Suzie Hart Matthews, he has only one request-no talk about work, and that includes any discussion of chocolate. He knows Suzie is a celebrity chef and warns them away from any fanfare, or discussion of his professional work with the Italian-based, world-renowned chocolate company, Bianchi Chocolates. All he wants is an uneventful few weeks to get away from chaos and relax. What Jillian Bass wants is to make a success of her new business in Harbor Falls. This Manhattan transplant really wants to make it big in the small southern town. Forget New York, she is starting over small with her chocolate shop, Bittersweets, and setting out to impress the locals. Start small, think big, is her motto. What she doesn't share is that chocolate runs in her veins, or that she has recently inherited her grandmother's famous chocolate business-Chocolates by Jeaneva. This time she is doing things on her own terms, without help or influence from family. Bittersweets is her baby and hers alone. It's time to prove herself. All is fine until Jillian smacks straight into Scott outside of her shop, and he takes a whiff of her Belgian truffle… What follows is a flurry of spontaneous sexy encounters, a scandal, a couple of untruths, and a carefully orchestrated reunion by Suzie Hart guaranteed to result in no sweeter match than the one between Scott and Jillian. Whether love comes with chocolate truffles, syrups, creams, or covered in sprinkles, this humorous and quirky story of dueling chocolatiers might leave you craving chocolate (and more!), all the while begging the question, "Is there anything better than chocolate?"

When yet another acting rejection stuns Wynter Holly, she decides to give up acting altogether-until her friends set her up for potential success with an unconventional, and perhaps unsuitable, intervention. All Wynter Holly, aka stage name Wyn Hall, wants for Christmas is to be cast in a significant role in the upcoming Harbor Falls Actor's Playhouse production. What she gets is a gig playing nanny to four children who happen to be attached to the casting director of the play-the casting director who doesn't think she's suitable for any role in the play. All Rob Black wants for Christmas is happy children and to be home. After all, he promised his brother and sister-in-law he would take good care of their kids while they enjoyed a second honeymoon, and that he'd provide them with a special Christmas. His niece and three nephews deserve a great Christmas but unfortunately, Rob has to fly off to California to satisfy his business partner, and can't deliver on his promise. Can the nanny come to his rescue? And can Wyn play-act her way through this nanny business? A series of twisted tales set both Wyn and Rob on a path of untruths they finally have to face. Have they both been cast in unsuitable roles? Or are they each exactly where they need to be?