A Place Called Home
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Mass Market Paperback Price varies ISBN: 0515131806 Search for used copies. |
Read an excerpt.
Dear Reader,
My Wyoming ranch was built on the land my ancestors pioneered, so it's more than my home -- it's my legacy. Unfortunately, hard times are forcing me to sell to a millionaire developer who's all business. His attorney Shaye Frazier is another story -- when she showed up on my front porch I could tell she was a woman who's all pleasure.
At first -- knowing she was devoted to winning the case and more than a little devoted to her client -- I figured Shaye was forbidden. To tell you the truth, a little friction can make for a lot of heat between a man and a woman.
But falling in love was about to become the greatest risk I would ever take.
-- Cody Butler,
Medicine Creek Ranch, Wyoming
Medicine Creek Ranch, Wyoming
Reviews and Comments for A Place Called Home
Combining amiable characterizations with humor and charm, A Place Called Home provides a wonderful way to spend a few reading hours.
~ Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times - 4 Stars
Following her smash debut, Judie Aitken delivers another unforgettable romance. Written with fluid narrative, colorful characters, relationships that builds slowly and steadily to a heated climax, and lively dialogue with a dash of humor in just the right places, A Place Called Home is another surefire winner!
~ Tracy Farnsworth, The Romance Reader Connection - 4 Stars
A FIVE STAR read!!
Ms. Aitken writes so descriptively that the first few pages have you feeling exactly what Cody Butler feels and that is just the beginning! This book is one that you don't put down until it is finished…and then you read it again.
The characters step off the pages and into your living room to delight you with their attempts to avoid each other, out maneuver their families and friends and accomplish their personal goals. As much as I enjoyed Shaye and Cody (showers will never be the same, again), the other characters were so much fun that you want to know them better, too. Anyone who enjoys romance will enjoy this wonderful and entertaining story by a very talented writer. I can't wait to see her next book!!
~ A romance reader
A PLACE CALLED HOME is a winner, written with humor, style and grace. Cody is a keenly-etched, hard-working hero devoted to his family -- from his precious twelve-year-old adopted sister to the crusty ranch hand turned cook/housekeeper, to the cowhands riding the range. Shaye oscillates between confidence and wistfulness in a manner guaranteed to touch readers' hearts.
With genuine warmth and laughter, Judie Aitken establishes a strong sense of place in A PLACE CALLED HOME -- a spot well-worth spending time.
~ Megan Kopp, Romance Reviews Today
Excerpt
Cody could smell the tantalizing aroma of Roscoe's brownies as he jogged across the back lawn and up the walkway to the kitchen door. Sometimes when the old cowboy was cooking and the aromas wafted out of the kitchen, if Cody closed his eyes he could imagine his mom working at the stove. His dad would be there too, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and watching her, his love and need for the woman plain as the nose on his face. The two of them would be shamelessly flirting with each other as they had for over thirty years. His father would snag her with his arm as she walked by and pull her down into his lap, and in a few minutes the pot on the stove wouldn't be the only thing heating up in the Butler kitchen.
Nothing less would suit Cody when he married and so far, none of the women he'd dated had come within a million light years of making the grade.
After pulling open the screen door, he burst into the kitchen and joking to rid himself of the lump that memories had put in his throat, he called out a silly greeting to Roscoe. "Hi honey, I'm home!"
Cody stopped dead in his tracks. The honey he'd expected to find wasn't the one sitting at the kitchen table with Maribeth. But he had to admit; Shaye Frazier filled the bill of a honey a whole lot better than Roscoe ever could. He didn't know whether to stand and gawk as the sunlight streaming through the window put a golden glow on her cheek and fiery highlights in her hair, or be angry because she was obviously here to push Glenn Hubbard's proposal at him again.
Damn. What was it about this woman that put him off balance? Doing what he felt was safest; he offered her one of his best scowls and a growl for a greeting.
"Don't go getting all ornery," Maribeth chimed in. "Shaye isn't here to see you, she's here to see me.We're going swimming."
"I've got cattle up near the pond. You can't go."
"We're not swimming in any muddy old watering hole. Shaye's taking me some place real posh."
"Well, isn't that nice," Cody replied, sarcasm dripping from each word. "And why do you suppose she's being so nice to you and taking you anywhere?"
Maribeth's chin moved upward in a defiant tilt as she glared at her brother. "Maybe it's because unlike your old report cards from school, mine always say I have excellent social skills, I'm well liked by everyone and play well with others." She hopped out of her chair and glanced at Shaye with a wide grin on her face. "I'll be right back, gotta get my bathing suit."
In Maribeth's wake, an uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen. Finally, unable to resist any longer, Cody moved to the table, picked up a warm brownie from the plate and popped it into his mouth. Settling into a chair across the table from Shaye, he lifted the half-full glass of milk sitting in front of her. Ignoring her protest, he took a long draught then handed the glass back to her.
He could have sworn she stared at the spot on the rim of the glass where his lips had been. For a moment he even thought she was going to take a sip from the same place. Just thinking about it made his stomach take a silly hop and jump, but it landed with a hard thud when she wiped the rim with her napkin and put the glass back down on the table.
Roscoe was right. He was a little too edgy these days where women were concerned. Well, this one in particular. It had been a while since he'd last taken care of edges and he was long overdue. Maybe he needed to take Bunny Gibson up on the offer she made every time he went into Casey's Buckin' Bar and Grille for a beer.
He'd been in high school with Bunny and even then she'd made it her life's goal to smooth out as many edgy men as she could find. The guys used to joke about doing the "Bunny hop." Maybe that's what he needed, a good, old fashioned, sweaty, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am go'round of bedroom rodeo. Maybe then this green-eyed brunette with the great legs and fabulous tush wouldn't get to him like she did.
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