Renegade by Diana Palmer released on Jul 25, 2004 is available now for purchase. A young victim of repeated rapes by her apathetic mother's boyfriend, actress-model Tippy cringes whenever a man comes near her. Having literally bought her younger brother, Rory, from her drug-addict mother five years earlier, Tippy now centers her life around her nine-year-old sibling and her work. Cash Grier, sheriff of Jacobsville, Texas, formerly of special ops, also has a deep-seated distrust of the opposite sex. His father exiled Cash to military school when his duplicitous stepmother lied about him. Now these two damaged souls have found each other, but their respective childhood traumas keep their trust, and their ability to love, at bay. In a book loaded with emotions, the popular Palmer has penned a compelling tale of two separate but parallel journeys toward trust, healing, forgiveness, and, ultimately, self-acceptance. Readers who enjoy stories by authors who know how to pack an emotional wallop, such as Kathryn Shay, Dee Holmes, and Francis Ray, will add Palmer to their list of favorites. Shelley Mosley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved The prolific author of more than one hundred books, Diana Palmer got her start as a newspaper reporter. A New York Times bestselling author and voted one of the top ten romance writers in America, she has a gift for telling the most sensual tales with charm and humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, Georgia. Renegade By Diana Palmer Harlequin Books Copyright ©2004 Diana Palmer All right reserved. ISBN: 9780373770045 IT WAS A LAZY MONDAY MORNING. Not much was going on at the Jacobsville, Texas, Police Department. Three patrol officers were fixing coffee at the small refreshment table in the main lobby. A sheriff's deputy had stopped by to drop off a warrant. A local citizen was writing out a statement against a perpetrator who'd just been brought in by one of the patrol officers. The secretary who usually sat at reception was missing. "That's it. That is it! I don't have to work here. There are jobs going right now at the Save-A-Lot grocery store, and I am going right over to put in my application!" Heads turned at the unfamiliar sound of the police chief's secretary yelling at the top of her lungs. There was a quick muffled reply, and then the sound of something metallic hitting the floor. Hard. A furious, spiky-haired teenaged girl in a short skirt and deep-cut blouse sprinkled with glitter came stalking down the hall, eyes flashing fire, long earrings jangling like alarms. Men in uniforms moved quickly aside. She went to her desk, picked up her overstuffed purse, and started for the front door. A tall, darkly handsome man in the chief's uniform came down the hall just as she reached the door. His hair and clothes were liberally covered with coffee grounds, pieces of discarded tape, and two sticky Post-it notes, while a tissue was stuck to the top of a big, highly polished black shoe. There was another Post-it clinging to the long black ponytail at his nape. "Was it something I said?" Cash Grier wondered aloud. The teenager, whose lipstick was black, like her fingernail polish, groaned under her breath and stalked out the glass door, shutting it furiously behind her. The uniformed officers tried valiantly not to laugh. Many sounded as if they'd just developed bad coughs. The man filling out the statement almost choked with mirth. Cash glared at them. "Go ahead. Laugh. I can get another secretary anytime I want one!" Judd Dunn, his assistant chief, was lounging against the counter, his black eyes twinkling. "That was the second one since you were appointed chief." "She worked in a grocery store before she came here," Cash muttered, removing sticky things and coffee grounds from his immaculate uniform. "She only got this job because her uncle, Ben Brady, is the acting mayor and he said I'd never get funding for those new bulletproof vests I need if she didn't get hired." He sighed angrily. "He's shady, that man. He wouldn't be the acting mayor if Jack Herman hadn't had a heart attack and stepped down. I have to put up with Brady until next May when we get a special election to choose Herman's successor." Judd listened without comment as a scowling Cash continued ranting. "The city election won't come too soon to suit me," Cash snapped. "Brady's giving me fits about making drug cases, and he won't listen to any ideas about improvements in our department. They say Eddie Cane's going to run for mayor against him." "He was the best mayor we ever had and I think he'll win," Judd said. "More's the pity we have to wait until May to vote Brady out." Cash winced as he pulled the sticky note from his ponytail. "If he suggests a new secretary to replace that last one, I'm resigning." "You'll have to find somebody to replace her, and quick, before he finds you a new candidate," Judd ventured. "If you can get anybody sane to work for yo