Dear Reader,

We all make deals with those we love. For instance, when my husband and I were first married, we made a pact to alternate nights cooking dinner. Whoever cooked did not have to clean up. That worked great until careers became demanding and we had kids. Then we had to come up with a new plan—one that was flexible enough to accommodate our busy lives. And more importantly…always meet the needs of our kids and honor our lasting commitment to each other.

Ellie Fitzgerald and Joe McCabe have also made a deal that has lasted well over a dozen years. After their botched elopement, at age 18, they knew certain things. They would always love each other. They still wanted to be together whenever possible, as intimately as possible. But for them, marriage was not really necessary. Especially when they could have all the benefits of a lasting relationship, without all the hassle of a legal union.

Ellie and Joe love having their freedom. She has her satisfying life in their hometown of Laramie, Texas, and is now the new owner manager of her family’s generations old Sugar Love bakery. Joe is a Special Forces soldier, who serves wherever in the world his missions take him. They see each other as frequently as they can. Doesn’t matter whether it is December or July. It feels like Christmas every time. They tell each other it is enough.

Until…a surprise happens. One that forces them to consider the fact that their current arrangement will no longer work. Neither wants to renege on their long-lasting deal. They also know their life is changing. And there are many more ‘Christmases’ ahead. Can they make a new pact with each other that will be just as satisfying? Without ruining everything? Only time will tell.

I hope you have a very merry holiday season and enjoy reading this book…the first of a brand new McCabe series.

Best wishes!
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Read an EXCERPT of A Double Christmas Surprise and check out the other books in the MARRYING A MCCABE series.

For more information on my other books, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.

Dear Reader,

During our marriage my husband and I have moved cross country four times, and locally five. What do I hate about it? Packing and unpacking. What do I love? The excitement of finding a new place to live, and the joy of making it ours.

Veterinarian Tess Gardner is moving to Laramie, Texas, the place where her family is rooted. She has an exciting new job. And she’s inherited a house that is a bit more than what she expected.

Enter CEO Noah Lockhart. He has also moved back to Laramie, in the wake of his wife’s death several years before, to be near his family. Life for him and his girls is finally settling down and getting back to normal. Or it will, he is certain, once the latest member of the ranch menagerie is born.

All Noah wants from Tess is help getting through the birth, and the first week or two of their new pet’s life. In exchange, he will give her a private guest suite and a place to live, rent free, while her house is renovated.

He doesn’t expect to get close to her. She doesn’t expect to fall for him. But you know what they say about ‘love’—it’s what happens when you are busy making other plans.

I hope you enjoy this last book in the Lockharts Lost And Found series. Join me on Facebook.

And thanks for reading! You, dear readers, are what make all the hard work, creating every fictional family and their stories, worthwhile!

Cathy Gillen Thacker

Read an EXCERPT of A Temporary Texas Arrangement and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.

For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.

Dear Reader,

Christmas is the season of unexpected miracles. Gift giving and receiving. Making impossible wishes and having them magically come true. And putting our hope and faith in the days and nights to come.

Freedom loving Travis Lockhart, however, doesn’t have anything in particular on his wish list. The part-time cowboy and full-time handyman has plenty of family in Laramie County to spend the yuletide with. He’s content helping clients make their holiday dreams come true. While keeping his own commitments and possessions to a minimum….

Twice orphaned Skye McPherson yearns to have a family of her own again. And a permanent home to go to. She’s given up on it ever happening, until a sudden inheritance, tied to an arranged marriage, is presented to her and Travis. All they have to do is enter into a 120 day marriage, and the Winding Creek ranch will be theirs! Skye sees this as a chance of a lifetime and wants to go for it. Travis says, “Not so fast.” Marriage was serious business, even one in name only.

Had it not been for their love of the couple who willed the property to them, they might have remained in a stalemate. But they did want to honor Walter and Willa Braeloch’s crazily romantic last wishes.

So Skye and Travis said “I do” and entered into a Christmas season neither would ever forget!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones. And that all your yuletide dreams come true!

Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Read an EXCERPT of Their Texas Christmas Match and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.

For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.