Meet the Texas Hardts in a new series from E.E. Burke

The Hardts of Texas survived wars, droughts and pestilence to build a ranching empire. Loyalty, they understand. These cowboys still have a few things to learn about love.

Texas Hardts: The Series 

Texas Hardts, a heartfelt, humorous contemporary romance series set in Texas, takes on issues like trust and family bonds, loyalty and sacrifice, and, of course, finding true love. 

Maybe Baby is Logan's story. He's next to the youngest in a ranching family with five sons. The self-described peacemaker is "slow and steady" -- but once he meets Jen Chandler, he is anything but slow, and even his steady nature is challenged during his unexpected romance with this uptight workaholic, who tries to convince him she needs only one thing--his ability to give her a baby. Love isn't part of the deal.

Here's a blurb and excerpt:

No matter how many hours she puts in at work, Jen Chandler can’t ignore the urgent ticking of her biological clock. The nesting instinct has kicked in big-time, and she wants a baby. After too many failed relationships, plus an issue with intimacy, she isn’t looking for a husband. Instead, she sets out in search of a sperm donor to make her dream come true.

Logan Hardt, a laid-back cowboy who shows up at her Atlanta home one day, turns out to have the right genes, as well as a pressing need for cash. But he’s seduced by more than Jen’s generous offer, and the closer the time comes to say goodbye, the less willing he is to honor a contract that would require him to walk away and never look back.

Will a contract between them lead to more than a baby? Maybe.

~~~

While Jen is practicing yoga on her back porch...

Exhaling, Jen gazed upside down between her legs at the rear of the renovated Tudor. It looked like a transplant out of Stratford-Upon-Avon, and the yard reminded her of a secret garden out of a book she’d escaped into when she was a child. Her dog wasn’t the only one who favored the new digs over their last home, a trendy apartment in New York City. What a relief to inhale fresh air that smelled of grass, not garbage.

She’d made the right decision in taking over the agency’s Atlanta office and moving into an historic neighborhood close to her job downtown, yet with a low crime rate and top-notch schools; the perfect place to raise a family. 

The challenge now would be to find the perfect donor. She distrusted sperm banks. After all, she wouldn’t purchase a car without driving it, or a house without walking through it, or even produce without having a chance to touch it. No, that wasn’t a good analogy. She had a lengthy list of requirements, but touching wasn’t one of them. 

She knew business associates who were bright, successful men, reasonably good-looking and seemingly healthy, one of them might donate. Except, seeing the donor on a regular basis would make business meetings awkward. Ideally, the man would be someone she could meet, investigate thoroughly, but have no ties to him. How could she go about finding this Mr. Right? Rather, Mr. Y, who could provide the chromosome she needed, as well impressive DNA.

A throat-clearing sound came from behind. 

Jen snapped her eyes open, head down and looking between her legs. She stared in confusion at scuffed cowboy boots, topped by worn jeans, covering manly legs that seemed to go on forever. 

With a gasp, she leapt out of the pose and spun around—bad enough to be caught off guard by a total stranger, much less with her ass in the air. Instinctively, she assumed a defensive stance, and looked up…and up… At five-six, she wasn’t considered short, but the intruder had to be well over six feet. She was forced to tilt her head to look him in the eye. 

Her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth. 

The color of his eyes reminded her of endless skies stretched across wide-open spaces. Tanned, chiseled features were softened by a growth of brown stubble a few shades darker than his collar-length sandy hair. 

His gaze flickered over her body—over the sports bra and skin-tight yoga pants she wore only when she was at home by herself—before returning to her face, reflecting his blatant appreciation. 

“Didn’t mean to startle you, miss. Would you mind if I trimmed your bush?” His resonant Texas drawl distracted her a second before the bizarre remark registered. He’d been staring at her—

“My what?”

He blinked, as if her question surprised him, a moment later a dark stain flooded his face all the way to his cheekbones. She’d never seen a man blush so deeply. “The bush next to your fence,” he quickly clarified. “I, uh, thought you might not have the right tool.” 

“The right tool?” She followed a line of Western snap buttons down the front of his faded chambray shirt, past a Texas-sized belt buckle—only then did she notice the gas-powered hedge trimmer clutched in his left hand.

She jerked her attention to his face. He meant the shears, for God’s sake. How had she missed the fire engine red lawn tool? And he had to have noticed where she looked to start with. Flustered, she shot back. “Do you make a habit of strolling into people’s backyards looking for work, cowboy?”

His answering smile landed like a punch to her solar plexus. God help her, a dimple, visible even through the scruff.  “Only if I leave my horse at home.”

~~~

“If you want a good, fun romance that makes you laugh until your sides hurt, this is the book for you.” ~Linda Broday, NYT Bestselling author

“E.E. Burke’s Maybe Baby just catapulted itself into the front runner as my favorite.” ~ Amazon reviewer

“Maybe Baby fills all the spaces in our heart with a warmhearted story of two people finding love in the most unexpected ways.” ~ Goodreads reviewer

Pick up your copy of Maybe Baby at the following online retailers:
Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo

Texas Hardts: Origins

To purchase

Logan Hardt, one of the main characters in Maybe Baby, is a direct descendant of two of my historical characters in The Bride Train series. Ross and Susannah Hardt. You can read their story in Seducing Susannah, Book 4, The Bride Train.

When all else fails, try seduction.

Ross Hardt must marry a proper lady to reclaim his inheritance. Among the few remaining prospects is a beautiful, sassy widow who hastantalized him from the day they first met--the same day she slapped his face. 

Susannah Braddock journeyed west on The Bride Train in search of agood father for her young son, but on the lawless frontier few candidates meet her requirements, least of all the arrogant, demanding, unfeeling railroad agent.

As Fate—and Ross’s scheming—draws them closer, Susannah glimpses unexpected tenderness beneath his harsh exterior, and she’s tempted by the fiery passion that flares between them. But when a secret comes out that threatens to destroy their budding relationship, passion isn’t enough. Only love can weather the oncoming storm. 

Find out more about Maybe Baby and other books in The Bride Train series at my website: www.eeburke.com/books. 

I love researching family history, so I thought it made sense to give the Hardt family their own tree. If you've read some of my earlier books, you might recognize a few names on this chart. I love creating series that interconnect with other series. 

In Maybe Baby, you'll meet Logan's four brothers. Each of them will be featured in the next four books, as the brothers must come together to save their family's ancestral ranch.

Today, I'll give away an Amazon gift card worth $10--enough to purchase both these books and have some left over! 

Just take a shot at answering the question and enter the Rafflecopter.

Can you guess why the ranch is called the Double H? Both Hardt men explain in  Seducing Susannah and Maybe Baby. The shape of the brand might give you a hint as to the meaning.

a Rafflecopter giveaway