Released on: February 10, 2008, 3:27 pm

Press Release Author: Carol McPhee

Industry: Entertainment

Press Release Summary: Struggling to pick up the pieces of her life, widow Brie
Beaumont accepts an invitation to visit the Circle C ranch in Canada\'s Rocky
Mountains. Co-owner Jed Cameron distrusts Brie\'s motives. He is determined to
protect his brother and the ranch from the redheaded gold digger. But when tragedy
strikes, Jed\'s only hope is the woman he vowed to run off.

Press Release Body: One
She shouldn't have come! From the moment two well-worn, black leather cowboy-booted
feet hit the ground and the pilot swaggered around the nose of his plane toward her,
Brienna Beaumont knew she shouldn't invade Jed Cameron's territory. She inhaled
sharply and pressed her fingernails to her palms but still failed to calm the
butterflies twirling in her stomach. The merciless sun beating down on Vancouver
airport's tarmac added to her distress. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead
and hoped her underarms didn't display their discomfort.

The gleaming Cessna 210 drew her attention when she noticed the heat waves rippling
above the metal surface of its bright yellow wings. The plane's engines purred,
poised for take off. Brie hurried to catch up with her new friends and Alaska cruise
mates, Matt Cameron, blind part owner of the Circle C, and his foreman, Hank. They
had begged her to return with them to their ranch in Alberta. Their friendship on
board Holland America's Ryndam had begun to erode her past year's misery. Grateful
for their help, she couldn't back out and disappoint them.

They quickened their steps to greet the pilot, Matt's brother, Jed. When Jed Cameron
removed his sunglasses, Brie's heart flip-flopped. His deep brown eyes twinkled as
he grabbed Matt by the shoulders in a brotherly show of affection. Until his gaze
fell on her.

Brie focused on the tall, lean and--judging by his scowl--surly man standing in
front of her. At six-foot-two, he towered a good six inches over her. His coal black
hair displayed a sprinkling of gray, but an errant forelock dipped low on his
forehead, gave him a boyish appeal. For some indeterminate reason, she had offended
him; his scathing appraisal told her so.

Brie stopped dead in her tracks. She had not even opened her mouth, but she felt as
if she were a piece of meat, inspected by him and found unfit for human consumption.
She inwardly cringed; she had been made to feel like that before.

Brie carried on with her own examination knowing it wasn't as tasteless as his. His
deeply tanned, wind-burned complexion contrasted sharply with the white sparkle of
his teeth. She wished he were toothless to destroy her initial impression of how
handsome this guy was. If she could only get out of this arrangement and climb into
a taxi for the short drive home. At least the jitters wouldn't attack her in her
apartment.

Against her better judgement, she had agreed to this additional excursion shortly
before leaving the ship. She wished she had time to pick up other clothes. Her
suitcases contained feminine, cool-weather duds, perfect for the cruise they had
ended this morning, but suitable for a cattle ranch? Not likely.

Dressed in a dark green, long-sleeved shirt and beige palazzo pants, Brie forced
herself to endure the suffocating heat and humidity. She pushed her long burnished
tresses back from her face and prayed it would be cooler aloft. Why hadn't her
instinct kicked in and goaded her back to The Gallery so she could focus on her
artwork? Then she remembered her instinct had advised her to take the Alaska cruise.
The trip had given her hope that her emotional wounds had started to heal. Maybe
some part of her wanted to accept this further challenge and continue the process.

Matt's introduction carried an uncompromising tone. "Jed, meet our guest, Brie
Beaumont." Had Matt expected Jed's antagonism?

"Ma'am." Jed nodded, but he didn't remove his hat or offer his hand.

"I'm pleased we're meeting after hearing so much about you, Mr. Cameron." She ducked
when a large plane thundered its takeoff overhead. She wrinkled her nose at the
overpowering smell of jet fuel.

"Don't believe everythin' they said. Matthew's been known to exaggerate and Hank's
not a helluva lot better." He winked at Matt. Hank shrugged his innocence and the
pilot grinned. Trying to appear unperturbed, Brie extended her hand. She glanced up
at Jed's face and wondered if this man would refuse to shake it. Was his rudeness a
bluff or her imagination running rampant? He took the bait with obvious reluctance,
but his grasp was firm, too firm. She was glad the handshake didn't last long
because her fingers stung from his tight squeeze, a deliberate show of power. If he
thought he impressed her by his display of strength, he was wrong--she'd had enough
strong-armed tactics used against her to last a lifetime.

"I'm really glad Brie is going to be staying at the ranch, Jed," Matt said. "She
guided me around the ship when Hank was seasick. I think she deserves a longer
vacation since I took up so much of her time."

Brie reached down and patted Matt's hand. "It was a pleasure to help you enjoy the
scenery, Matt. It forced me to look at the landscape in more detail so I could
describe it to you. I felt like I was seeing everything through your eyes and that
made it extraordinary."

"If you two are through fawnin' over each other, we'll get underway," Jed muttered.
"There's a lot of work waitin' and we're burnin' daylight, Miss Beaumont."



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