Something to Talk About

Something to Talk About
Joanne Rock

Widowed single mom Amanda Emory wants a fresh start–far away from Los Angeles and her troubling past. All she wants out of her new job is a secure income and a safe haven for her kids. But her matchmaking nine-year-old has other ideas….Horse trainer Robbie Preston has never shied away from risks. And the sparks between Robbie and Amanda are definitely dangerous. Yet her past–and his reputation–stand between them. It will take some serious courting to change Amanda's mind, but Robbie is up for the challenge…even if it does give everyone something to talk about!

Dear Reader,

I grew up just south of Saratoga Springs, New York, site of one of the prettiest racetracks in the country. As a teen, I often worked as a model during “Breakfast at the Track,” tooling around from table to table to tell breakfast patrons in the grandstand’s clubhouse about designer outfits. During that time, I had the pleasure to meet many people from around the country who came to summer in Saratoga for the August racing season. I met jockeys and trainers, horse owners, socialites and die-hard racing fans, all of whom fascinated this farmer’s daughter who grew up on the banks of the Hudson.

So I couldn’t wait to re-create that world for readers in Something to Talk About. Set on a Kentucky horse farm and rooted in the small racing community that transports itself to Saratoga every year, this book has been a pure pleasure to write, evoking lots of fun memories for me. I hope you enjoy the thrill, the beauty and the power of the Thoroughbreds, and, most of all, I hope you enjoy the passion of the people behind them.

Happy reading!

Joanne Rock

Something to Talk About

Joanne Rock

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

JOANNE ROCK

is a three-time RITA

Award nominee who didn’t think to indulge her love of writing when she went to college, instead opting for a communications degree and a business minor involving far too much accounting. Only after venturing into the real world did she realize it would have been wiser to study what she liked best so she could enjoy her life’s work. Heading back to university for a graduate degree in English literature, Joanne penned her first novel while she was also writing her thesis. It took the rejection of six completed novels before she sold her first book, but she never regretted the career choice based on a labor of love. Today Joanne lives in the Adirondack region of upstate New York with her husband and three sons, and she is thrilled to pen contemporary and historical romances for Harlequin Books.

Visit her Web sites, www.joannerock.com or www.myspace.com/joanne_rock to enter monthly contests and learn more about her work.

To my mom and dad

Thank you for allowing me to have so many

cool life experiences at a young age, without which I

wouldn’t have half as much material for my stories!

In particular, for the sake of this story, thank you

for the rides to Saratoga, long before I had my license,

so I could be a part of the glittering horse-racing world

if only for a few hours at a time.

Many thanks to my friend from the Bluegrass State,

Jan Scarbrough, who provided me extra insights on

Thoroughbred racing and horses in general. Any errors

in regard to my horse-trainer hero are strictly my own.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter One

“But you’d really like this guy. Honest.”

Amanda Emory had grown accustomed to fending off suggestions on her love life from girlfriends and her well-meaning mother. But listening to dating advice from her nine-year-old son seriously pushed the limit.

“Kiefer, I’m sure he’s a very nice man.” Distracted by the sight of the movers carrying her sons’ bunk beds up the stairs of the small condo unit they’d purchased, Amanda called instructions for placing the furniture she’d picked out with her husband mere days before he died. And damn it, didn’t those memories still catch her when she least expected them?

“He’s not just nice, Mom.” Kiefer stole a granola bar out of his younger brother’s hand as he settled himself at the island separating the light-filled kitchen and a living room overrun with boxes. “He trains the horses and he can ride like the guys in cowboy movies. He knows everything about horses. Seriously, Mom. Everything.”

Amanda retrieved a new granola bar for Max, her six-year-old, who had already found friends in the condo next door and was happily showing the other kids his latest creation with a building set among the piles of boxes. Amanda gave Max two extra treats for his friends and then tried to focus on Kiefer’s latest matchmaking effort.