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The Crenshaws of Texas #3
Branded
NO OTHER MAN'SShe'd been called Jake Crenshaw's"shadow," the tomboy who'd tagged after her hero for years till the night she'd tried to prove to him that she was a woman…and had been rejected. But not before Ashley Sullivan had tasted Jake's passion in a kiss that branded her his, when she knew he would never take what she wanted to offer.Until now.Now Jake needed her help. And he needed her under his roof. With every white-hot look and touch, Ashley realized that Jake hadn't spurned her because he didn't want her—but because he did. Still did. This time Ashley would see that Jake lost his white-knight complex…and that she lost her virginity to this man.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
17 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Annette Broadrick
215 books42 followersAnnette Broadrick was born on November 26. Her mother read to her until she read to herself. From that time on, books became her closest companions and teachers. She was an only child until the middle of her 16th year when her sister was born.
She married immediately after high school graduation in the middle of her 18th year. Twelve months later she had her first son. She ended up having four sons in seven years. People with children do not need to explain what their life was like for the next 20 years. Those people without children do not want to hear about it. Early on, she became a secretary to supplement the family income. Eventually she became a legal secretary and for 25 years she worked for attorneys in Arizona, Texas, Illinois, and Oregon.
Her love of books followed her throughout her career as a mother and a secretary. By the time her youngest son graduated from high school she decided to write a book of her own. After writing in a spiral notebook for six months, she rented a typewriter and rewrote the book, showed it to a creative writing teacher, who was also a friend, listened to her critique and rewrote her story. Next she showed it to another avid romance reader and carefully listened to her critique. She rewrote her story once again. Next she mailed the manuscript to the Silhouette office in New York. Two months later she received a phone call asking if she'd be willing to do extensive revisions, including cutting one hundred pages. She said yes. This was in January 1984. By the time the book, Circumstantial Evidence, came out in November of that year, she had sold a total of six books.
Since October 1984 Annette has supported herself with her writing. Her career as a published author has also supported her reading habit and in the past five years she has managed to establish a quiet life in the Hill Country of central Texas that soothes as well as stimulates her. She hopes to continue writing the kind of books that readers enjoy.
She married immediately after high school graduation in the middle of her 18th year. Twelve months later she had her first son. She ended up having four sons in seven years. People with children do not need to explain what their life was like for the next 20 years. Those people without children do not want to hear about it. Early on, she became a secretary to supplement the family income. Eventually she became a legal secretary and for 25 years she worked for attorneys in Arizona, Texas, Illinois, and Oregon.
Her love of books followed her throughout her career as a mother and a secretary. By the time her youngest son graduated from high school she decided to write a book of her own. After writing in a spiral notebook for six months, she rented a typewriter and rewrote the book, showed it to a creative writing teacher, who was also a friend, listened to her critique and rewrote her story. Next she showed it to another avid romance reader and carefully listened to her critique. She rewrote her story once again. Next she mailed the manuscript to the Silhouette office in New York. Two months later she received a phone call asking if she'd be willing to do extensive revisions, including cutting one hundred pages. She said yes. This was in January 1984. By the time the book, Circumstantial Evidence, came out in November of that year, she had sold a total of six books.
Since October 1984 Annette has supported herself with her writing. Her career as a published author has also supported her reading habit and in the past five years she has managed to establish a quiet life in the Hill Country of central Texas that soothes as well as stimulates her. She hopes to continue writing the kind of books that readers enjoy.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 24, 2017
This is a beautiful story about Ashley Sullivan who fell in love with Jake Crenshaw from the moment her teenage body had undergone hormonal changes and never stopped loving him even though he'd married someone else and now is a father of a three year-old.
The Crenshaws are wealthy ranchers who've been living in the town of New Eden even before Texas had become a state. Ashley's father, Ken, was the foreman and second in command to Joe Crenshaw, Jake's father. Ashley was born and raised on the ranch and the time she could walk she followed Jake everywhere he went and he was very patient with her.
On her sixteenth birthday, his parents threw a big party for her and it was at the party that Jake noticed his little tomboy had turned into a beautiful young woman. By then Ashley was totally in love with him. She asked him to give her a birthday kiss, but when he went to kiss her on the cheek she turned her face and kissed him on the lips. Caught off guard by the kiss and his arousal for her, Jake yells at her for playing her teenage games with him. He felt he was too old for her -- there was a eight years difference between them. Seeing that Jake's brothers were a witness to her humiliation, a tearful Ashley runs away from there. When his brothers make Jake see that he'd been too harsh to her, he goes in search of her to apologize but she was nowhere to be found.
A couple of years later, Jake married Tiffany, a rich Dallas socialite he'd been besotted with, but their marriage only lasted four years. He had such a bad experience in the marriage that he decided he would never to marry again. What he didn't know that his ex-wife had discovered she was pregnant with his child after the divorce was final and when she would have aborted the child her grandmother had talked her into having the child, promising to help raise her. Even though, Tiffany was a mere visitor to her child, she'd decided not to tell Jake about him being a father as she felt he was mean to her during the divorce proceedings.
Now, almost four years later, while Jake was at a late-night poker game, his cousin, Jordan, tells him that his ex-wife was waiting for him at the ranch. He was shocked when Tiffany tells him about his daughter whom she'd already left sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Her grandmother apparently had a sudden stroke and wasn't in a position to look after the child anymore and Tiffany was about to marry another rich guy, who wasn't keen about raising another man's child.
On Jake's ultimatum that if the child stays it would be on a permanent basis, Tiffany leaves the child with him. Jake then begins to panic about the sleeping child waking up in few hours and facing a strange man since she'd never seen him before. He had no clue what to do. He then recollected Ashley was the only girl growing up on their ranch. They hadn't seen much of each other ever since that kiss nine years ago. She's a veterinarian now and lives in an apartment in town. He calls her up and asks for help on the basis of the friendship they once shared.
Ashley was at first reluctant to go because she hadn't stopped loving Jake and knew she was too vulnerable where he was concerned. After his rejection of her when she was sixteen, she went through another heartbreak when she saw him at the altar with besotted eyes only for his new bride. But, after hearing the desperate plea in Jake's voice and the fact that she loved children and this was Jake's child she goes to his ranch. Like Jake had foreseen, Heather, his daughter, who was used to only women in her life, only interacted with Ashley. She was afraid of him --since he was a man, that too, very tall-- and it broke his heart (broke mine too), which was why Ashley had to extend her stay at the ranch until the time Jake was able to find a good nanny to look after her. It was at times sad, at times amusing to see Jake, supposedly one of the roughest, toughest guys in Texas, panicking over the little girl's cries and her wariness about him.
Heather was such an adorable doll. Once she got comfortable with someone she'd turned into a chatterbox. She started by referring to Jake as 'him,' and saying things like 'what he's going to do?' or 'does he read?' even though Jake was in the room, but once she opened up to him she clung on to him and never let him go. The scene in the barn between her, Jake and Jordan was sweet and also had me laughing especially when she calls Jordan's thoroughbreds ponies and decides to call Jake - Jake Papa.
She edged closer to Jordan. “He’s going to take me riding on a pony.”
“He? Don’t you call him Daddy?”
She dropped her head and shook it slowly. “We haven’t gotten around to that, quite yet,” Jake said easily. “It’ll come.”
“Well, you can call me Uncle Jordan, if you like. How about it?”
“Unca Jordan. Okay.” She looked at Jake and he saw the flash of mischief in her face before she added, “And I’ll call him Papa Jake!”
Jordan laughed and Jake joined in, shaking his head ruefully. “She’s a character,” Jake said, “I’ve already discovered that.”
“Mommie calls me a pest sometimes,” she nonchalantly shared with them. “Is that like a char—a chara—” She stopped, obviously frustrated. “I can’t say it,” she said, disgustedly. Jordan picked her up, hugged her and set her back on her feet. “You’re a darling, is what you are. How come your daddy got so lucky, getting a little girl like you?” Jake swallowed a couple of times in an effort to get the lump out of his throat
Living under one roof only escalated the sexual tension between Jake and Ashley. She was relieved when Jake cleared the air about the kiss nine years ago explaining how he was taken off guard and was aroused by her. Knowing that he would never marry again, she was open to them giving in to their attraction for one another so as to ease the tension between them. Jake, however was not okay with them getting involved when there was no future for them. But, he found it very difficult to keep away from her. When he found her one evening asleep in her bathtub, he finally succumbed to his desire, but unfortunately their love-making was interrupted by Jordan, who'd came over to the house to drop Heather back as she was with him. It was amusing how he kept yelling out their names, wondering where they were and the two of them were scrambling to hide the fact they were together in Ashley's bathroom.
Eventually, they did end up making love where Jake finds out that Ashley was a virgin. The very next day he proposes marriage, which Ashley thinks it's because he'd taken her virginity and that if he marries her he wouldn't have to guilty about making love to her. Although, Jake did say he loved her, it sounded casual "Of course I love you and you love me." She thought he loved her like he used to love the girl who followed him everywhere and that he was still in love with Tiffany. When she rejects his proposal, Jake is upset, which brings back the angst between the two. It was Ashley's father who clears the misunderstanding between the two. Loved the father and daughter relationship.
It was a sweet, funny story. Just needed a little bit more zest to it. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable. The epilogue was very sweet too - Heather's fourth birthday party and she wouldn't leave Jake's arms
The Crenshaws are wealthy ranchers who've been living in the town of New Eden even before Texas had become a state. Ashley's father, Ken, was the foreman and second in command to Joe Crenshaw, Jake's father. Ashley was born and raised on the ranch and the time she could walk she followed Jake everywhere he went and he was very patient with her.
On her sixteenth birthday, his parents threw a big party for her and it was at the party that Jake noticed his little tomboy had turned into a beautiful young woman. By then Ashley was totally in love with him. She asked him to give her a birthday kiss, but when he went to kiss her on the cheek she turned her face and kissed him on the lips. Caught off guard by the kiss and his arousal for her, Jake yells at her for playing her teenage games with him. He felt he was too old for her -- there was a eight years difference between them. Seeing that Jake's brothers were a witness to her humiliation, a tearful Ashley runs away from there. When his brothers make Jake see that he'd been too harsh to her, he goes in search of her to apologize but she was nowhere to be found.
A couple of years later, Jake married Tiffany, a rich Dallas socialite he'd been besotted with, but their marriage only lasted four years. He had such a bad experience in the marriage that he decided he would never to marry again. What he didn't know that his ex-wife had discovered she was pregnant with his child after the divorce was final and when she would have aborted the child her grandmother had talked her into having the child, promising to help raise her. Even though, Tiffany was a mere visitor to her child, she'd decided not to tell Jake about him being a father as she felt he was mean to her during the divorce proceedings.
Now, almost four years later, while Jake was at a late-night poker game, his cousin, Jordan, tells him that his ex-wife was waiting for him at the ranch. He was shocked when Tiffany tells him about his daughter whom she'd already left sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Her grandmother apparently had a sudden stroke and wasn't in a position to look after the child anymore and Tiffany was about to marry another rich guy, who wasn't keen about raising another man's child.
On Jake's ultimatum that if the child stays it would be on a permanent basis, Tiffany leaves the child with him. Jake then begins to panic about the sleeping child waking up in few hours and facing a strange man since she'd never seen him before. He had no clue what to do. He then recollected Ashley was the only girl growing up on their ranch. They hadn't seen much of each other ever since that kiss nine years ago. She's a veterinarian now and lives in an apartment in town. He calls her up and asks for help on the basis of the friendship they once shared.
Ashley was at first reluctant to go because she hadn't stopped loving Jake and knew she was too vulnerable where he was concerned. After his rejection of her when she was sixteen, she went through another heartbreak when she saw him at the altar with besotted eyes only for his new bride. But, after hearing the desperate plea in Jake's voice and the fact that she loved children and this was Jake's child she goes to his ranch. Like Jake had foreseen, Heather, his daughter, who was used to only women in her life, only interacted with Ashley. She was afraid of him --since he was a man, that too, very tall-- and it broke his heart (broke mine too), which was why Ashley had to extend her stay at the ranch until the time Jake was able to find a good nanny to look after her. It was at times sad, at times amusing to see Jake, supposedly one of the roughest, toughest guys in Texas, panicking over the little girl's cries and her wariness about him.
Heather was such an adorable doll. Once she got comfortable with someone she'd turned into a chatterbox. She started by referring to Jake as 'him,' and saying things like 'what he's going to do?' or 'does he read?' even though Jake was in the room, but once she opened up to him she clung on to him and never let him go. The scene in the barn between her, Jake and Jordan was sweet and also had me laughing especially when she calls Jordan's thoroughbreds ponies and decides to call Jake - Jake Papa.
She edged closer to Jordan. “He’s going to take me riding on a pony.”
“He? Don’t you call him Daddy?”
She dropped her head and shook it slowly. “We haven’t gotten around to that, quite yet,” Jake said easily. “It’ll come.”
“Well, you can call me Uncle Jordan, if you like. How about it?”
“Unca Jordan. Okay.” She looked at Jake and he saw the flash of mischief in her face before she added, “And I’ll call him Papa Jake!”
Jordan laughed and Jake joined in, shaking his head ruefully. “She’s a character,” Jake said, “I’ve already discovered that.”
“Mommie calls me a pest sometimes,” she nonchalantly shared with them. “Is that like a char—a chara—” She stopped, obviously frustrated. “I can’t say it,” she said, disgustedly. Jordan picked her up, hugged her and set her back on her feet. “You’re a darling, is what you are. How come your daddy got so lucky, getting a little girl like you?” Jake swallowed a couple of times in an effort to get the lump out of his throat
Living under one roof only escalated the sexual tension between Jake and Ashley. She was relieved when Jake cleared the air about the kiss nine years ago explaining how he was taken off guard and was aroused by her. Knowing that he would never marry again, she was open to them giving in to their attraction for one another so as to ease the tension between them. Jake, however was not okay with them getting involved when there was no future for them. But, he found it very difficult to keep away from her. When he found her one evening asleep in her bathtub, he finally succumbed to his desire, but unfortunately their love-making was interrupted by Jordan, who'd came over to the house to drop Heather back as she was with him. It was amusing how he kept yelling out their names, wondering where they were and the two of them were scrambling to hide the fact they were together in Ashley's bathroom.
Eventually, they did end up making love where Jake finds out that Ashley was a virgin. The very next day he proposes marriage, which Ashley thinks it's because he'd taken her virginity and that if he marries her he wouldn't have to guilty about making love to her. Although, Jake did say he loved her, it sounded casual "Of course I love you and you love me." She thought he loved her like he used to love the girl who followed him everywhere and that he was still in love with Tiffany. When she rejects his proposal, Jake is upset, which brings back the angst between the two. It was Ashley's father who clears the misunderstanding between the two. Loved the father and daughter relationship.
It was a sweet, funny story. Just needed a little bit more zest to it. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable. The epilogue was very sweet too - Heather's fourth birthday party and she wouldn't leave Jake's arms
March 1, 2016
Wow what a find! This one is the first I wonder how good the others will be in this series?The story is about a girl Ashley falling for her hero Jake from childhood and he coming to the realization that he wants her as a woman. The question of love was not there as they were always together as kids teens and adults. They lost touch because he stupidly marries some blonde slut who has his kid without telling him and then dumps it on him to go off with a new guy! Mom of the year that one! Not!!! Anyways Hero calls heroine to help him with his daughter who is the blonde picture of the hero Jake. Ashley is thorn as she has always loved him and wanted more then anything to marry. It goes from there. Spicy! Very Diana Palmerish and hot sex scenes made it worth it for me to keep on my keeper list.
August 30, 2023
In my opinion if he didn't want the h just lust for her and married the OW because he was so besotted with the OW that he took no time to marry her, he didn't deserve the heroine. That the h has always loved him and being faithful to the H just make the heroine a dumb doormat that still loved the slopping seconds. Why more than 90% of the hs in HP always love in the beginning and many of them love the Hs for years when they are whoring and even falling in love with slut gold-diggers. I don't see anyhting that is worth to love in these kind of men. It just make the hs stupids doormats.
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March 30, 2024Splendid
December 13, 2010
sweet story - nice romance and a cute little girl. I liked the family and the writting but there wasn't mutch depth.
Saying that i would read the rest in the series so it was pretty good.
Saying that i would read the rest in the series so it was pretty good.
November 30, 2015
Fun
A Feels good read.The kind of book that makes me want to come back for more.It's a good thing I bought more than one.
A Feels good read.The kind of book that makes me want to come back for more.It's a good thing I bought more than one.
May 1, 2016
D1604 Sep04 Crenshaws of Texas #3. Jake's ex drops off his 3-yr old daughter, the daughter she hadn't told him about!
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November 29, 2016Used - Good (Moderate wear along edges of spine, front cover)
May 31, 2009
#1 in The Crenshaws of Texas series. I really like this series. It's a story about five brothers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews