Harlequin Afternoon

Sometimes living in the middle of nowhere has its perks. Take, for example, my drive home yesterday afternoon. The sun was starting to dip lower on the horizon and was turning everything a lovely shade of gold as I turned onto the dirt road that winds its way toward my home. I pulled over to open the gate that deters casual tresspassers and noticed there was a rider on horseback approaching me. At which point I was promptly transported straight into an odd Harlequin-esque scenario.

A handsome man, bare chested and blonde, was riding up to me on a chestnut horse. And he was carrying in one hand a fistful of wildflowers plucked from the side of the road, yellow and blue blooms resting against his thigh. He smiled at me, teeth perfectly white and straight, and said, "Hello" in exactly the voice you would imagine.

Being ever the charmer all I managed to sputter was a confused, "Hi." I think it was the flowers that pushed it all over the edge for me.

He smiled again and began to ride past me. I just watched him go, my head cocked and mouth hanging open. At the last moment he turned to me and said, "I like your hat," before riding off down the road (into the sunset per se).

This, ladies, could be taken as a story to illustrate the importance of the perfect fedora in everyone's waredrobe. Or, alternatively, an illustration of how social skills atrophy when you live in an isolated corner of the mountains. But I choose to think of it more as a story that demonstates how just about anything can happen if you wait long enough. The old adages of truth being stranger than fiction, and life imitating art, come to mind. So as you kick back this summer, perhaps enjoying a book in Old Town Square, be sure to wear that perfect hat or pair of shoes. You never know who might wander across your path, flowers in hand.

-t

Some Summer Romance Reading: (all reviews reproduced from the bookcovers)

Her Officer and Gentleman

No ordinary highwayman...

A mere whisper of the name "Gentleman James" sends chills throughout the ton (and thrills the ladies who have heard rumors of his amorous exploits). But the dashing brigand never dreamed that the passing of the father he never knew would leave him with a title, a fortune...and a mission.

Savage Skies

Shirleen has always been self-reliant and adventurous, but after dealing with a husband who beat her, the disappearance of her four-year-old daughter and kidnapping at the hands of the notorious Comanche renegade Big Nose, shes almost given up hope. When the most handsome man shes ever seen sweeps in to rescue her, she sees a man in whom she can finally put her trust. Her troubles might seem an overwhelming burden, but Chief Blue Thunders broad shoulders are equal to the task. And his hard body promises to lift her on wings of pleasure and send her soaring amid - Savage Skies.

Feather in the Wind

Praying for the strength to guide his people, Native American leader Black Wind sees the image of a strange white woman, twentieth-century writer Susannah, who is transported back in time to help his cause.