Austin, Texas - Present Day

Ex-Texas Ranger Clint Westmoreland is madder than hell when he receives an email from the Ranger office telling him that he's still married to his former partner, Alyssa Barkley. Married for an undercover baby smuggling ring assignment, Clint thought the agency had taken care of the annulment and therefore put it out of his mind. Now, here it is five years later, and he learns they are still hitched. When he picks Alyssa up at the airport to finalize the paperwork, he expects the same mousy woman he worked with before, not the beautiful and sensuous woman walking towards him. Damn! It's a good thing they will only be together long enough to sign papers and then be on their merry way, because Alyssa is looking mighty fine. However, due to a snafu, it's not going to be as easy as they both thought or hoped. They must live together for thirty days before the judge will grant an annulment.

Website designer Alyssa Barkley hasn't seen her gorgeous ex-partner, Clint Westmoreland, in five long years. When she steps off the plane, she is shocked to still feel a spark of lust for him. Back when they were partners, Alyssa had a big crush on Clint, but he didn't seem to notice her as a woman, only a partner. Good thing she gets to hop back on the plane and head home to the spectacle of her ex-fiancé and her cousin, Kim, being all over each other. When the director delivers the news about the thirty-day stipulation, Alyssa doesn't know what to think. On the one hand, she knows being in close proximity to Clint for an extended period of time might make her do something unthinkable...like try to seduce the man. On the other hand, it might be good to get away from Kim and Kevin and all that mess at home.

Thirty days sure is a long time. Alyssa and Clint decide to come up with some ground rules...no sex or seduction. Hmm...everyone knows a Westmoreland sees those as fightin' words. <g>

In TAMING CLINT WESTMORELAND, two people, who were once partners and married on paper only, find themselves in quite a predicament. Clint doesn't have time for a woman to complicate his life right now. Not when the horse business is booming, not to mention he's still burning from a past betrayal from a woman who supposedly loved him. Unfortunately for Clint, Alyssa immediately gets beneath his skin, and pretty soon he finds it hard to resist her. That no sex in a bed rule? Well, no problem...the wall, the couch, or even the floor works just fine for him. Alyssa enjoys her work, and the time away from the humiliation she suffered at the hands of her conniving cousin, Kim, is doing wonders for Alyssa. Of course, sharing breakfast with Clint, watching him walk in those skin-tight jeans, that sexy smile he flashes her way...mmm, yep she's going down real fast. Each day it becomes harder to resist temptation, and when the two share a few heated kisses and then play a game called "Playing with Fire," well that's all she wrote. The question is...is it love or simply a case of lust? Secondary characters include Chester, the ranch cook, and sometimes busybody; the Westmoreland clan; and a few of Alyssa's family members.

Once again Brenda Jackson pens a romantic story about my favorite family, the Westmorelands. Simply irresistible, both the Westmoreland men and women go after what they want and hold on to it forever. TAMING CLINT WESTMORELAND is a prime example of that tradition and the fact that it sometimes takes their heads a little bit longer to catch on to what their hearts already know.

Sinclair Reid