Ridin' the edge of lust is fun until someone falls in love. Goody-two boots AJ Foster has waited her entire life for her dream cowboy Cord McKay to see her as more than the neighbor girl in pigtails. Now that she's old enough to stake her claim on him, she's pulling out all the sexual stops and riding hell-bent for leather straight for his libido.

Divorced rancher Cord has sworn off all women until innocent AJ suggests he teach her how to ride bareback—and she realizes she doesn't mean horses or bulls. Between his responsibilities running his massive ranch, missing his young son, and dealing with the sexual shenanigans of his brother and cousins, Cord is more than willing to take AJ up on her offer. On a trial basis.

The fun and games tie them both up in knots. AJ isn't willing to settle for less than the whole shootin' match with her western knight. But for Cord, even though the sexy cowgirl sets his blood ablaze, he's determined to resist her efforts to lasso his battered heart. Sweet, determined AJ has the power to heal or heel the gruff cowboy—unless Cord's pride keeps him from admitting their relationship is more than a simple roll in the hay.

Deploying invulnerable twenty-fifth-century soldiers called Skins, Zantiu-Braun's corporate starships loot entire planets. But as the Skins invade bucolic Thallspring, Z-B's strategy is about to go awry, all because of:

Sgt. Lawrence Newton, a dreamer whose twenty years as a Skin have destroyed his hopes and desires; Denise Ebourn, a school teacher and resistance leader whose guerrilla tactics rival those of Che Guevara and George Washington; and Simon Roderick, the director who serves Z-B with a dedication that not even he himself can understand.

Grimly determined to steal, or protect, a mysterious treasure, the three players engage in a private war that will explode into unimaginable quests for personal grace...or galactic domination.