It was Love from the Start: Cedar Cove Cowboys

By Jenna West

When Cedar Cove is hit by the largest snowstorm it's ever seen, Kittie Jameson ends up stranded, and the only person close enough to rescue her is her mortal enemy, Martin Walker. What will happen when these two must wait out the storm together?

 

While it's freezing outside, the temperature at Walker ranch is rising.

 

Martin

Everything was going according to plan: following the success of my bull riding career, I'm returning to Cedar Cove with pockets full of cash and dreams for the plot of land my grandfather left.

 

Everything is perfect…except for that damned Kittie Jameson.

 

Along with her hippy cohort Marybeth, the two have been thorns in my side from the moment I came to town.

 

Kittie

The daughter of a small-time farmer, I'll die before I see my town commercialized by some small-time celebrity…even if he is more handsome than I expected.

 

Discover how the Walker legacy began.

 

It was Love from the Start is the prequel to the Cedar Cove Cowboys, a six-book series about the irresistible Walker brothers. Lose yourself in the small-town charm of Cedar Cove and its strong-willed, sexy cowboys and the brilliant, sassy, curvy women who tame them.

 

Jenna West brings you SHORT and STEAMY contemporary western romances filled with chemistry, alpha-male cowboys, strong curvy women, and always gives her couples their HEA!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenna West
• Release date: Nov 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215674147

Book preview

Chapter One

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Martin

I’ve done a lot in these short 31 years. Rode bulls, barely escaped goring, been chucked from the saddle, and had audiences of hundreds, even thousands, cheering my name. But the most difficult experience I would face was this 5’0 tall blonde with an attitude and a whole lot of opinions.

It had been a dream long in the making when I made the plans to build the ranch-to-end-all-ranches on the land my grandfather had bought decades before. He had planned to build on it himself, starting the idyllic life he and his wife had always hoped for, but when my grandmother had died young, he never found the desire to do it alone.

My father was a child at the time, but losing his mom so early in life had done a number on him. While he made his small fortune breeding some of the most beautiful horses Oklahoma had ever seen, he hadn’t once set foot in Cedar Cove to see the land his father had so many dreams for. He never explained, but I assumed it was too painful. Too many hopes had died with grandma for his generation, but me... well, I was a different story.

And a different sort of man altogether if I’m being honest.

Showing and selling our mares and stallions at the rodeos had been a weekly event during the spring, summer, and fall for my family, but I quickly lost interest. A horse might buck you, but when the day was done, they loved their owners or at least respected them. Horses were a known factor, unlike bulls.

I had been pressing my face against the bars of the rodeo arena since I had been old enough to walk, often being pulled away by my mother or other concerned bystanders, but I always made my way back eventually. There was one event that had fascinated me for as long as I can remember: bull riding.

I took up the sport as I got older, quickly moving from youth competitions to amateur adult, and finally, the pros. My parents hated it, of course, but they figured the family business would be waiting when I eventually tired of risking my life every week.

Except – I wasn’t just good: I was incredible. As if bull riding was in my very bones. The sponsors, championships, and cash continued to flow in. With it came fame, excitement, and a slew of buckle bunnies, but I also knew when enough was enough.

After a few hard falls, and a concussion that scared the shit out of me, I knew it was nearly time to wrap up my career. When my knees started to crackle in the morning, and my back ached to the point that even the hottest shower couldn’t loosen it up, I realized it was time for my next big venture in life.

After the first big fall, when I had blacked out for the first time, I had decided to start the work on my Cedar Cove property that had sat empty for all these years. Well, hire companies to start the work. I took time off and traveled to the tiny Oklahoma town, making plans, and soaking up all the small-town charm and ghosts of my family's plans.

Everyone was warm and welcoming, just as I had expected from a place my grandparents had adored so much. This seemed like the perfect place to settle down and start the next portion of my life; maybe start a family.

None of the small-time farmers had any problems with my grand schemes, and the first week there, I was sure everything was going to go perfectly.

Until I sat down at a booth in the local diner one fateful morning. Instead of the cup of fresh, hot coffee and kind words I always received from the older waitresses, a lukewarm cup was slammed down on the table in front of me so hard that it sloshed over the side of the mug. I looked up, and instead of one of the women I had become friendly with, there was an annoyed sprite of a girl, her pale eyebrows drawn together and her arms crossed.

I looked at the mug and back up at the girl, raising an eyebrow as she seemed to burn a hole through me with her gaze. Can I help you?

She shifted her weight from hip to hip and looked