Lura writes:
Looking for a historical romance I’d read a few years ago (mid-late 1990’s
or early 2K’s) that *may* have “Cowboy” in the title. I had run across a
large-print edition, if that matters. But onto the actual plot. The male
protagonist is tangled up in dealings that may be somewhat shady (he might
be a spy?) and then runs into the heroine. To continue his charade, he
“marries” her in a ceremony that he doesn’t intend to be “real.” Well,
subsequently, of course the two fall in love and while they’re hiding out
with a wagon train the traveling minister “marries” them again (yet again
only supposed to be half-real) and *finally,* when the young woman gets back
to her hometown and realizes she’s *really* in love with the hero, they
“marry” for real (although considering the bride’s “delicate condition”
at the time I get the feeling her family may have desired she do so,
anyway… 😉 )
There are three wedding ceremonies in total.
I forgot the first one, but the second is the one I mention above performed
by the wagon train’s minister. The book ends with the spotlight on the
heroine getting ready for the third ceremony in her hometown. I also quite
vividly remember the heroine referencing to herself advice her mother gave
her regarding sex, menstruation and pregnancy, especially once she realizes
that the symptoms she’s feeling mean she *is* pregnant. (This is about 1/2
to 2/3 of the way through he book.) I believe the “couple” (as it were) is
running from someone who wants to do him harm, either a rival gunslinger or
a government agent?
I had a large-print edition of this book (if I’m remembering correctly…)
and the cover was the couple hiding behind a rock/bluff with a wagon in
front and the hero’s looking across at something.
There’s blue sky so it’s a daytime scene pictured and I *think* the title
was in a funky “saloon”-type or scriptlike font.
I *REALLY* hope I can find this one, especially considering I’ve been led
down two false trails, though both other books are quite good.
That is so much detail – I bet someone knows this one.
Sunset Embrace by Sandra Brown? The description is:
They were two untamed outcasts on a Texas-bound wagon train. Two passionate travelers, united by need, threatened by pasts they could not outrun…
Lydia Bryant—voluptuous and russet-haired, fleeing from a secret shame, vowing that never again would a man, any man, overpower her…
Ross Coleman—dark, brooding and iron-willed, with the shadow of a lawless past in his piercing eyes, sworn to resist the temptation of his wanton longings…
Fate threw them together on the same wild road, where they fought the breathtaking desire blazing between them, while the shadows of their enemies grew longer. As the wagon train rolled west, the danger to them drew ever closer, until a showdown with their pursuers was inevitable. Before it was over, Lydia and Ross would face death… the truth about each other… and the astonishing strength of their love….
(from: http://www.fictiondb.com/author/sandra-brown~sunset-embrace~6151~b.htm )
Sounds like a good story. I hope someone can find it!
I thougth about the Brown too, but there definitely aren’t three weddings, so I don’t think that’s it. I like the sequel ‘Another Dawn’ better anyway. 🙂
I don’t know this book’s title or author, but I am positive that it is NOT Sandra Brown’s Sunset Embrace. Lydia had been raped and impregnated and had given birth to a baby who did not survive. Ross married her because she was able to feed the baby that his beloved wife had died giving birth to.
Lydia did not have a home to return to.
Kay
Here’s my best guess for you. Keep in mind the large type cover is often different from the regular print cover.
TWICE A BRIDE by Rae Muir
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/rae-muir/twice-bride.htm
Rendezvous Review describes it like this:
All the book needs is one more wedding and a funeral….
And now there’s tea all over my new netbook. When will I learn?
Bravo!
It is not one of the Leigh Greenwood Cowboy books??
ROFL – That is hilarious!
I thought of “Twice A Bride” too, but the protagonists only get married twice. The male character is hiding from his wealthy family, who disapprove of his writing. The main characters are laughably innocent about sex and reproduction.
It sounds vaguely like Leigh Greenwood’s “The Cowboys: Pete”.