Rose Red by Caroline Lee

Christmas is in the air!

Take it away - Caroline Lee

99-cent buy link: http://amzn.to/2dVOLXT

A wounded bear is more than he seems... even during an Everland Christmas! 

Shy Rose dreams of wild adventures-- gunfights and moonlit chase scenes--and the day when she can sell her novels to make enough to support her family. But her writing reflects her lack of experience, and she's determined to find a way to learn about the grittier side of life. So when a wounded outlaw shows up in her barn two weeks before Christmas, the opportunity is too good to pass up. While she nurses him, Rose can learn from his escapades... but how long will she remain unaffected by his dangerous good looks? 

US Marshall Barrett "Bear" Faulker might look like a dangerous bandit, but he can't give away his real identity until he knows that the gang who attacked him is behind bars. He needs to keep his distance from his beautiful young savior, but her winning smile and her probing questions about his life and missions makes him defenseless against her charms. And when the gang decides that Everland's Christmas celebrations are an easy target, Bear realizes that he'll do just about anything to save the woman he's come to love.


Here's a teaser:

“Well, let’s see that wound of yours, Bear.”

His sharp glance told her that she’d surprised him, and she set her jaw and tried to look firm. “Surely you didn’t think I was just going to let you walk—hobble—out of here, leaking blood?” No, she needed him here, to tell her all about being an outlaw. “There’s not a lot of medical supplies out here in the barn.” An understatement. “But by the time I get back with some from the house, I figure that you can have your pants off.”

The man on the ground made a sort of choking noise. “What?”

Rose felt her cheeks heat as she realized what she’d said, but was determined to push forward. She couldn’t let this man die, not when she planned to interview him…and then turn him over to the law. “I said that you need to take your pants off. That’s where the wound is, after all. No need to be squeamish, Mr. Bear. I’ll leave you alone to disrobe.”

“…Alone to…?”

“Disrobe.” Heavens, maybe he’d lost more blood than she knew. “To take your clothes off. Your pants, sir.”

Another choking noise. “You want me to take my pants off.” It wasn’t a question, and Rose didn’t bother repeating herself.

Instead, she clucked impatiently and crossed to his horse, praying that she could remember what to do with the big animal. “I’ll leave you the lantern while I go back to the house for supplies. I expect to be able to examine and work on your wound when I get back.” She fiddled with the strap under the horse’s belly. “And just to make sure you’re still here…” She nodded, satisfied, when the saddle slipped off the gelding and hit the floor. He wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. Not with a bum leg and a saddle-less horse. 

And just to be doubly-sure, she scooped up the guns on her way past. He’d be defenseless without them, and she herself could use one to bolster her courage. Since she was taking on the role of lawman—law-woman?—after all.

As she hurried towards the barn door, she called back to the man who somehow managed to be a thick shadow in the middle of the pool of lantern light. “Your pants, sir. Remove them posthaste.” 

She closed the barn door on his curse, and resisted the urge to do a little dance on her way up to the house. An outlaw! A real, live outlaw, in her very own barn! Soon, just as soon as he was stitched and not bleeding to death any longer, she’d have her answers! Already, new scenes for Murderous Mitch and his nemesis, the heroic and dashing Sheriff Caraway, were flitting through her mind. Her fingers itched to begin writing again…but first she had to ensure that her new source would survive the night.