Sunshine Springs, Oregon - Present Day

At just under five-foot-four and possessing a figure most women envy, Carlene Daniels is a dynamite female in a tiny package. At least that's what wealthy rancher Win Garrison is thinking when he opens his front door to find her standing there on his porch. Win likes women. And he's had plenty, but they're a disposable commodity in his eyes, not worth the trouble or the pain they cause. Carlene is applying for the job as his housekeeper, and Win knows she doesn't have one bit of experience, but he hires her anyway, simply because she looks as if she walked right out of his dreams, she has a mouth full of sass, and is bossy as all get out. Win thinks she'll fit in just right cooking for his crew of ranch hands, and he hopes she'll be a soft touch to warm his lonely bed in the evening.

Carlene needs this job. After a scandal in her home town sent her running from Texas all the way to Oregon, she's taken the first job to be had as bartender at a local hangout called the Dry Gulch. Win Garrison's ad for a housekeeper is the first decent position she's been able to find after the bar job, and Carlene needs at least one respectable job title on her resume if she has any hope of getting a teaching position. The school board certainly wouldn't hire an ex-barkeep to teach English Literature to their teenagers.

White hot passion and flying sparks fill the pages of HOUSEKEEPER TO THE MILLIONAIRE. Carlene just wants to put her shameful past behind her and start again. The attraction between her and Win is palpable, and she certainly isn't looking for an affair, but Win keeps trying to change her mind by endlessly pestering her. It doesn't help that her knees go weak whenever he's around, and Carlene's afraid it's only a matter of time before he manages to crumble all her defenses. She could very easily fall in love with this sexy rancher, but Win isn't interested in marriage or happily-ever-after, and in Carlene's professional and personal life, that's all that counts.

The secondary characters move the story along, although the focus of the story is on Win and Carlene and their explosive passion. Win's ranch hands, Shorty and Lonny, provide humor and angst, and Win's sister, Leah, gives us some heartwarming distractions when she leaves her two children at Win's ranch.

HOUSEKEEPER TO THE MILLIONAIRE is a first rate choice for April -- don't miss it!

Diana Risso