has returned home to Colorado, hoping to become Fairplay's second doctor . . . and to find healing for her reoccurring consumption. Spirited and independent, Astrid doesn't want her illness to be a burden to those she loves, so she has resisted getting serious about any man.

As the current doctor of Fairplay, Logan Steele is seeking to hire a male physician to take over his clinic after he goes back East. When Astrid, his childhood sweetheart, insists that she's the one for the job, he offers her a bargain she can't refuse: pretend to court him to appease his mother and he'll give her the doctor position on a trial basis.

Astrid accepts the arrangement even though she's reluctant to be in a sham relationship with a man who'd once broken her heart. She tries to keep herself from falling for Logan again but soon finds herself getting much more than she bargained for. With the clock ticking for both of them, can they commit to real love before it's too late?

• Pretend courtship
• Fake engagement
• Childhood sweethearts
• Meddling mother
• Co-workers in proximity
• Bargain benefits both

"This one's worth rounding up." -Booklist, on Falling for the Cowgirl

*All of the books in the Colorado Cowgirls series are sweet, closed-door romances with plenty of sizzle. The inspirational themes are light, and the romance is the main focus of the books.