Colorado Dawn

Praise for

CHASING THE SUN

“A satisfying conclusion with this sweet nineteenth-century western…Fans of the series will enjoy another visit to the Wilkins clan, while new readers are sure to admire Warner’s vivid descriptions of love and life in the land of enchantment.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Coming to the end of an enjoyable saga is like bidding far-flung relatives and friends good-bye after a holiday or vacation. If the reader is immersed in the tale, tears and a feeling of sorrow follow the turning of the last page. And that’s exactly how I felt reading the last paragraph of the Wilkins brothers’ story…Without a doubt, Kaki Warner is a writer to watch, an author with a promising future. She’s definitely an addition to my must-buy authors list.”

—
All About Romance

“What an excellent series she has written…Kaki Warner really hits all the angles and makes this series such a warm, romantic read.”

—
Smexy Books

“Warner does a superb job…[She] swept me into the lives and hearts of the rugged men and strong women of the Wilkins family…Through her exquisite writing, I’ve come to know and love these people.”

—
The Romance Dish

“A true page-turner,
Chasing the Sun
is full of action and adventure described with Warner’s trademark detail. Once again, her characters’ relationships provide a story filled with emotional, humorous, and gut-wrenching moments.”

—
Romantic Times

OPEN COUNTRY

“Warner earned readers’ respect as a strong western writer with her debut, the first book in the Blood Rose Trilogy. With the second, she cements that reputation. Her powerful prose, realistic details, and memorable characters all add up to a compelling, emotionally intense read.”

—
Romantic Times

“A thoroughly enjoyable historical romance.”

—
Night Owl Reviews

continued…

“Vivid imagery…[A] beautifully spun tale that will leave readers satisfied, yet yearning for Jack’s story.”

—
The Season

“A wonderful historical tale starring a strong ensemble cast…[A] superb Reconstruction era romance.”

—
Genre Go Round Reviews

PIECES OF SKY

“A wonderful read I couldn’t put down…Reminds us why New Mexico is called the land of enchantment. A truly original new voice in historical fiction.”

—Jodi Thomas,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Romance, passion, and thrilling adventure fill the pages of this unforgettable saga that sweeps the reader from England to the Old West. Jessy and Brady are truly lovers for the ages!”

—Rosemary Rogers

“Readers may need a big box of Kleenex while reading this emotionally compelling, subtly nuanced tale of revenge, redemption, and romance, but this flawlessly written book is worth every tear.”

—
Chicago Tribune

“In her auspicious debut, Warner kicks off the Blood Rose Trilogy…Warner develops [the] romance with well-paced finesse and great character work…Warner makes great use of the vivid Old West setting.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Generates enough heat to light the old New Mexico sky. A sharp, sweet love story of two opposites, a beautifully observed setting, and voilà—a romance you won’t soon forget.”

—Sara Donati, author of
The Endless Forest

Berkley Sensation titles by Kaki Warner

Runaway Brides Novels

HEARTBREAK CREEK

COLORADO DAWN

Blood Rose Trilogy

PIECES OF SKY

OPEN COUNTRY

CHASING THE SUN

K
AKI
W
ARNER

BERKLEY SENSATION, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2012 by Kathleen Warner.

Excerpt from
Bride of the High Country
by Kaki Warner copyright © by Kathleen Warner.

Cover illustration by Alan Ayers.

Cover design by Lesley Worrell.

Interior text design by Tiffany Estreicher.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / January 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Warner, Kaki.

Colorado dawn / Kaki Warner.—Berkley Sensation trade paperback ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-425-24522-4 (pbk.)

1. Women photographers—Fiction. 2. Scots—United States—Fiction. 3. Colorado—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3623.A8633C65  2012

813’.6—dc23  2011036421

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Heather, Adeline, Kenzie, and Jackson
With all my love

Prologue

LISTER HOUSE, OUTSIDE LONDON
SEPTEMBER 1868

M
addie turned the key in the lock at her parents’ small stone cottage, paused for a moment to gather her courage, then opened the door and stepped inside.

Silence greeted her. That oppressive kind of silence that came when a house has been left empty too long and the life and energy once trapped within its walls was slowly draining away. A fanciful notion. But funerals always made her melancholy.

Still wearing her coat and clutching her reticule in cold, numb fingers, she walked slowly through the rooms.

Everything looked the same, like a tintype frozen in time—her mother’s bonnet draped over the arm of the settee, the same array of photographs lining the walls, a book left open on the table beside her father’s chair. Even the air smelled familiar—a subtle blend of old smoke with a hint of her father’s pipe tobacco and her mother’s sachet. But beneath it, barely detectable, hung the damp mustiness of an empty house and the beginnings of decay.

And they had only been dead a week.

In the kitchen, she dropped her reticule on the table and stripped off her coat and gloves. Moving by rote, she set a fire in the cookstove and lit the lamp sitting on the table, then went through the
rituals of preparing tea. Once she had the kettle heating and the tea caddy and sugar bowl on the table, she set out her mother’s favorite cup, a napkin, and a spoon.

Then she sat down in her father’s chair, dropped her head onto her folded arms, and wept.

An hour later, she was still sitting there, her tears long spent, nursing her third cup of tea and trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life.

Her parents were dead. Her marriage was a failure. She would probably never have children or a home of her own. Even this house would have to be sold to cover the cost of her parents’ funerals. With no other family and no resources, her future stretched bleak and empty ahead of her.

So what was she to do? Go back to Scotland? To a father-in-law who couldn’t abide the English, and a mother-in-law who rarely left her room? Angus’s sister, Glynnis, was so busy running the Kirkwell lands she had little time for a husband, much less a friend, and his two older brothers were so involved with their own pursuits they were rarely at home, and when they were, they called her the English girl because they couldn’t remember her name. With her husband gone years on end, what reason had she to go back?