Sarah McCarty

When you gamble with desire, be prepared to risk everything…

Unlike the rest of the Hell's Eight brotherhood, Ace Parker's home isn't on the range. This restless cowboy craves the hustle of Simple, Texas, a lawless town where he can sate his darker appetites without guilt. At least he could, until Petunia Wayfield arrived. The prickly new teacher is insisting that Ace help her rid the town of drunkenness and card playing. For that kind of miracle, Ace demands a reward the spinster schoolmarm will surely never give.

But Petunia isn't backing down. Not when the intense passion Ace offers shatters her to the core. As soon as she can afford a ticket to California, she'll leave Simple behind for good. Until then, she'll match his sensual challenge with her own, daring him to give up his fiercely guarded self–control. And then real danger claims Petunia, forcing Ace to reveal the man he really is–even if it drives her away forever…

“Another mind–blowing installment of The Hell's Eight...a remarkable story.” –Fresh Fiction on Caden's Vow

His past has haunted him for a lifetime…but one woman could be his salvation

Gunslinger Caden Miller's compadres are becoming a bit too domesticated for his liking. So he's off to Kansas territory to carve out a living and a space of his own–alone, just the way he likes it.

Maddie O'Hare has been drawn to Caden ever since she escaped to the Hell's Eight compound from the brothel where she was born and raised. And she's not ready to let him go so easily…until she's captured by his new neighbors.

When Caden discovers that Maddie is being held by a rival at a nearby ranch, his plan to rescue her backfires, and he finds himself the groom in what's literally a shotgun wedding. As shocked as Caden is by the bizarre turn of events, Maddie's grateful kiss holds a fiery promise that's far more unexpected. But with old enemies catching up with him, Caden and Maddie will face a danger that tests their passion–and will either bind them together forever or break them apart for good.

The Hell's Eight is the only family he's ever needed...until he meets the only woman he's ever wanted.

Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger – definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favour...one Caine's honour won't let him refuse.

From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she's determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it isn't enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her body, her demands...everything. Yet there's still a bounty on Desi's head, and keeping her satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

'Intense, edgy and passionate, this is old–school historical romance at its finest.' – Romantic Times

'Caine's Reckoning is a can't–put–it–down adventure story…Superb writing and characterisation, along with a well–described setting, bring the story alive and pull readers into the action.' – Romance Reviews Today

Texas Territory, 1858

Following the law as they see it, the men of Hell's Eight earned their reputation for ruthlessness. Outlaws dread having the Eight on their trail, mothers hide their daughters when the Eight come to town. They fear with good reason: Hell's Eight are wild, untamed, alluring. And they're all about to meet their matches.

Caine Allen is definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, his honor and his desire for Desi won't allow him to let her go, despite her vow to let no man control her again.

Known for making up his own rules of right and wrong, Sam "Wildcard" MacGregor takes what he wants when he wants it, but fiery Isabella and the secret she carries may be more than he bargained for.

Tucker McCade's learned the hard way that you have to fight to survive, but in order to win the woman he craves, he considers hanging up his guns for good... until his violent past catches up with him.

The stakes have never been higher; the passion has never burned hotter!

Collected here for the first time are the first three novels in Sarah McCarty's New York Times bestselling series, Hell's Eight.

CAINE'S RECKONING – SAM'S CREED – TUCKER'S CLAIM

Marc and Becky leave real life behind for a remote cabin in the woods – no kids, no pets, no television...all they've got to pass the time is a roaring fire, their hottest fantasies and a box of naughty toys designed to please…

He's the last bachelor standing among the men of Hell's Eight, and he'll settle for nothing less than passion…

Unencumbered by wife or family, Luke Bellen is the obvious member of Hell's Eight to lead a treacherous trek across Comanche territory. But Luke suspects he will never know another minute's peace when photographer Josey Kinder joins the wagon train. Whip–smart Josey has a voluptuous figure, a sunny disposition and a knack for getting into dangerous scrapes in pursuit of a perfect shot. She's beyond maddening. Luke thinks Josey's too young, too sweet to be despoiled by the rough life and hard–bitten land he loves.

But independent Josey won't let any man – however commanding – decide what's best for her. Beneath their playful banter is a powerful current of lust – pure, but not so simple. If only Luke weren't so damned proper, he'd see that the years between them don't matter a whit, not when a single touch can set them both ablaze. Josey's hell–bent on keeping Luke in the picture…if the vengeful bandits on their trail don't find them first.

Every Texan woman knows the men of Hell's Eight offer wild no–strings attached pleasure. Well, almost every woman...

Known for making up his own rules of right and wrong, Texas Ranger Sam 'Wild Card' MacGregor takes what he wants when he wants it, especially when it comes to women. But seduction is the last thing on his mind the moment he stumbles across a Hispanic beauty crouching in fear beside a burned–out wagon. And it doesn't take long before he realises the woman the townsfolk have labelled as 'cursed' is hiding secrets too dangerous to face alone.

Isabella may look feminine and unassuming, but she's hell in a bodice with gun slinging skills to match any man's. Though she knows not to give Sam her heart as readily as she offers him her lush body, Isabella is certain she sees in Sam what he can barely glimpse in himself – a virtuous man dropped deep into a hard country bent on breaking him. A man who, under it all, craves a passionate woman willing to risk everything...

'McCarty continues her Hell's Eight series with this solidly plotted tale. There's wonderful chemistry between Sam and Bella, and the witty banter between them makes the story come alive.' RT Book Reviews (4 stars)

Shadow Ochoa is lying low in the western Kansas Territory, waiting for his fellow Texas Rangers – the Hell's Eight brotherhood – to clear his name.

That is, until he's unjustly strung up for horse thieving...and pretty Fei Yen intervenes. Invoking a seldom–used law, the exotic lady prospector claims Shadow as her husband and rides off with the bridegroom shackled to her buckboard.

Savvy, fearless Fei is single–mindedly devoted to her hidden claim and all it promises: wealth, security and freedom. A husband is just a necessary inconvenience, and a name on paper to hold the claim she cannot.

Shadow isn't a man to take orders from anyone, especially from lovely Fei – except that the daily friction between them ignites into nightly blazes of all–consuming passion. Soon Shadow is dreaming a little himself: of the life they could have if only Fei could see past the lure of independence. If only bounty hunters weren't closing in on him. If only he's left standing when the impending showdown has ended...

Before his trade became his name, Tracker Ochoa was a scrawny Mestizo runaway. Now as fearsome as he once was frightened, he's joined the notorious Hell's Eight and they have a job for him. He must rescue kidnapped heiress Ari Blake and deliver her safely to the Hell's Eight compound by any means necessary. It turns out that includes marrying her!

Sarah McCarty turns up the heat with books 4–6 of the irresistibly steamy Hell's Eight series…

Tracker's Sin

Tracker Ochoa has one job: rescue kidnapped heiress Ari Blake and deliver her to the Hell's Eight compound by any means necessary. It turns out that includes marrying her, if he means to escort her across Texas territory…

Shadow's Stand

Captured and wrongfully accused of horse thievery, Shadow knows there's no way out for him–until mysterious female prospector Fei Yen intervenes by claiming him as her husband and riding off with him shackled to her wagon. Shadow is not accustomed to taking orders from anyone, especially Fei, but the passion that ignites between them has him questioning his resolve…

Caden's Vow

Caden and Maddie have always been drawn to each other, and when Caden discovers that Maddie is being held captive, he is determined to rescue her. But Caden gets far more than he planned on, and Maddie's grateful kiss holds a fiery promise he can't help but fulfill–

Sarah McCarty's Hell's Eight series, Volume 2: Tracker's Sin, Shadow's Stand & Caden's Vow

Tucker McCade has known violence his whole life: orphaned in a massacre, abused as a "half–breed" child, trained as a ruthless Texas Ranger, he's learned the hard way that might makes right.

So even he is shocked when he falls for Sallie Mae Reynolds, a Quaker nurse. Unable to resist Tucker's charm, character and chiselled body, she throws herself into their torrid affair, indulging every one of her wildest sexual fantasies. Tucker's occupation, however, is the one thing about him she can't embrace. A staunch pacifist, Sallie Mae can't understand how his strong, caressing hand can clench in fury or pull a trigger to take a life. In this lawless land, Tucker knows you have to fight to survive. But when Sallie Mae becomes pregnant, he's willing to do whatever it takes to have his family; including hanging up his guns. Every night they spend together binds them ever closer; until the day his past comes callin.