Bound to the Bounty Hunter (28 page)

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

While writing Sophie and Harlan’s story, I always intended Annie and Zeb’s to follow, but Dug kept calling to me with his panty-melting drawl. He has a story and it needs to be heard. Now. And it involves Arabella. Their story just flowed and it felt right.

I hope you’ll forgive the diversion. Annie and Zeb and Gemma and Thor are in the wings and are impatient for their stories to be out there in the world.

Thank you for reading. It means the world.

Hayson x

Acknowledgments

To Samanthe Beck (my hanging at museums and drinking wine under the pretense of research bestie). Thank you for answering my emails that start with, “You’ve got a cold? Well, I’m in my nurse’s uniform, I’m coming over and I have
thermometers
.” Your willingness to critique my work means the world, as does your friendship, your wisdom, your
everything
.

To Lewis Pollak my editor. This book wouldn’t be what it is without you. Thank you for your patience, your insight, and answering my ridiculous questions that start with, “Wait, what if…”

Thank you to Inara Scott and Christine Bell for taking their precious time in reading an awful first draft chapter one and offering their invaluable advice. To Robin Bielman always. To the amazing supportive Michelle Mazuros who has hung with me since
Wife in Name Only
—I love you girl. To my Southern Hemisphere crew of Tracey Clark, Jo Willet, Kirsten Mcteare, Barbara De Leo, Sarah H, Chetna and the awesome Helen. S, and the fabulous people from the Australian Romance Readers Association, my eternal gratitude.

To Sherry Willingham and Pat Anderson, my Alabama peaches. Thank you for beta reading for me and thank you for being you. I
am
going to tailgate with you one day and there will be Fuzzy Navels.

To Liz, Melanie, and the team at Entangled. Thank you for taking a chance on me.

Big hug to my fake Gordon Ramsay who cooks up a storm while I pound the keyboard.

Thank you to the readers who read my words. You make my world a nicer place. I only hope I can return the favor one day.

About the Author

I love
The Princess Bride
,
Young and the Restless
,
Days of Our Lives
—the drama is deliciously addictive.
Big Bang Theory
but will take Wolowitz over Cooper.
Star Trek
not
Star Wars
.
Undercover Boss
,
Secret Millionaire
—any story that shows the little guy making it. I follow the Buffalo Bills like a religion. I am spellbound by showjumping and equestrian eventing. I love curling up and reading all books—no genre is off-topic. I like ironing, hate peas, love donkeys. I play a killer game of
Scrabble
. I will often be heading towards the fridge for another Diet Coke. I eat nothing with legs and believe wine goes with
everything
, oh and I’m an expert at finding new and inventive ways to avoid exercise.

I live in the sparkly beachside suburb of Redondo Beach in California with my Fake Gordon Ramsay and two boys who speak in mystifying grunts.

I would love if you subscribe to my blog (I promise not to spam you), where I chat about incredibly important issues like lipstick, foster dogs, and the occasional recipe. Oh and there are pictures of smiling bunnies and blob fish.

http://www.haysonmanning.com/

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Also by Hayson Manning…

Wife in Name Only

Trapped in a loveless marriage, Zoe Hughes runs a successful boutique honeymoon resort. No one needs to know she’s married in name only. At least until America’s premier honeymoon magazine wants to publish a feature on her perfect marriage. Now she must convince her estranged husband to rip himself away from plotting corporate takeovers in LA to save her island paradise. To his surprise, the wife he finds in Tonga isn’t the same woman he married. Now she’s so much more… When a storm strands Rory there, will he win back his wife or leave paradise empty-handed?

Winning the Boss’s Heart

Mason Christian has twelve weeks to flip something old into something new. Not even his temporary cook and secretary—the feisty, luscious Billie McLeod—will deter him. Billie has one dream: save enough money to go to college. That’s why she’s agreed to work for hard ass, all-business-no-pleasure Mason Christian. But working with male perfection every day is awesome with a capital A—as long as they can stick to a hands-off policy that gets harder every day…

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