Ghost Town by S J Bounds

Phil was a cop, a good cop.  The fact that he couldn't be bought off was an admirable trait but one that almost got him killed.  He turned in his badge and went back to school.  After learning how to be a dentist, he heads out west.  He's just traveling through when the widow who owns the local restaurant catches his eye. There's not much left of the old mining town but there are plenty of vacant buildings.  He decides to stay.

Endeavor Press/Pioneering Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published.

Phil finds plenty of strange characters in town and lots of competition for the woman he has his eye on.  Alice, a strange woman whose husband left her, is busy trying to protect the widow.  She tells her men are no good.  Mary-Jane listens but doesn't necessarily take her advice.

The two major players in town are a rancher and a mine owner.  The mine owner intends to buy up the whole town.  He's got info a railroad is coming near and it will make the land worth money.  He's also determined to get Mary-Jane into his bed.  

When the local town folk start getting riled up, they ask Phil to be their sheriff.  He has no real desire to do so, but he's had a few run-ins with the crews of the big landowners and he agrees.  Now things really heat up!

This is a good old-fashioned western where most things are settled with a gun and, if you're lucky, you're the one still standing at the end.

The last paragraph is the one I enjoyed the most.  Let me know what you think when you read it.