This HaBO request comes from Regan, who wants to find their first romance:
This was my first ever romance. My cousins and I read it one summer when we were staying at my grandma’s house and discovered her “stash” of romance paperbacks. It was most likely purchased at a Walmart. This would have been in the early 2000s that we read it.
I know it involves a cowboy and is a historical Western. He is mature and has dark hair and a black mustache. He “feathers” kisses on her body with the mustache. She’s a redhead. Don’t remember much about the plot besides they are married and she is pregnant by the end of the book. I think he fingers her in front of a mirror when she’s pregnant.
It may have been a marriage of convenience, I don’t think it was enemies or friends to lovers, although she was averse to his charms at first.
He calls her his “chit” I think and I want to say his name is Colt because of course it is.
I’ve searched high and low on Google and doubt my cousins would remember anything about it. They were both on the cover from what I recall, she may have been in a light blue dress.
Sound familiar to anyone?
I immediately thought of Jo Goodman. “Feathering” sounds like a term she would use. Could be Forever in My Heart, which is one of her Dennehy sisters books. He’s a rancher named Connor and she’s red-haired. They end up in an arranged marriage. You can’t go by the cover, because it’s changed several times.
https://www.jogoodman.com/forever-in-my-heart/
My guess would be an early Elizabeth Lowell
A hero named Colt would be on brand for Elizabeth Lowell, but I don’t remember any historical Western with a plot like that from her.
Could it be Jill Gregory’s “Cold Night, Warm Stranger”? Looking at the preview, I see the heroine has auburn hair.
@Sandra I don’t think it’s Jo Goodman – I did a re-read of the Dennehy sisters within the past year or so thanks to a HaBO of my own reconnecting me with them! None of this is ringing any kind of bell with me on that front.
Not sure if this fits but if the paperback was stashed away by granny for awhile could it be Johanna Lyndsey’s SWEET SAVAGE THUNDER? The hero is Colt Thunder *snicker* and the heroine is a redhead as well but I don’t remember anything about a moustache. This is a forced proximity story and I remember there being a memorable *ahem* finger scene on a horse. Not in front of a mirror. Oh the things that stick in your mind for years.
That sounds promising, @JudyW. The one I suggested, the hero is Quinn.