Rose and Thorn

Every rose has its thorn...

Reece Childs finally has his rose--Lona Rose, that is, a woman from his past and everything he's ever wanted after a lifetime of the kind of transgressions he holds inside the darkest part of him...and never, ever wants Lona to find out about. He'd been as close as a kiss to having her as his wife, too. After a whirlwind courtship, he and Lona flew to Las Vegas to get hitched. Having more than one disastrous divorce already under her belt had shattered Lona's illusions about the institution of marriage and made her superstitious about taking that journey again. So they came back and let everyone in town believe they were married. Now their little daughter Honey is two years old and life seems perfect. Reece never anticipated the thorny, black sins from his past to destroy his present and future happiness.

When Reece came back to Amethyst and fell for Lona Rose, he'd left behind truck driving and everything associated with it. He'd had no clue that Angelina Batista, his "port" in the city he made his most frequent run to, was pregnant. She shows up in Amethyst, demanding in no uncertain terms that he be a father to and provider for their son, who's not much older than Honey. Not only has Angelina picked up and left everything else behind to pursue him, but she has medical proof that the boy is his.

The world drops out on Lona, who confronts secrets about the man she loves that she could never have imagined in her worst nightmares. She's furious and intent on doing everything to drive this overbearing usurper as far from her happily-ever-after as she can. She's equally unwilling to share her man with someone he never loved, regardless of the intimacy in their uncommitted relationship. Yet she soon suspects she's fighting a losing battle because, even to keep her happy, Reece can't turn away from his own son...