Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Gunslinger by Lorraine Heath

Lillian and her little brother are living on a farm that she has inherited.  The rancher's son is not happy about it.  He wants the chunk of land she is on and he thinks she was the man's doxy, so she really has no claim to it.  She won't sell, so he's determined to run her off.

Avon Impulse and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book (thank you).  It will be published in ebook form June 24th, so put your order in now.

There's a gunslinger in town.  He's tired: Tired of fighting, tired of traveling and just plain tired of life as he lives it.  But he needs money, so he goes where he's needed and he does what he must.  When a young boy accosts him on the street and asks him to save his sister, he doesn't want to get involved.  The kid is pathetic, so he finally asks him what he'd pay him for doing it.  The boy says:  "Everything."  As the gunslinger said, nobody ever paid him everything before.

What he finds is a bunch of ranch hands trying to rape Lillian.  She's no young girl but a young woman.  Chance gets rid of the men, but one returns with a gun and he takes a shot in the shoulder.  She takes him home to heal him.  He doesn't want to get to know either of them.  Once he finds out who she is, he realizes that she's the one he's supposed to be running out of town.  How can he do that when he owes he?.  After all, a bent penny, a piece of string and a harmonica (Toby's everything) might have paid him for saving her from rape, but it didn't pay for the care he got from Lillian while recovering from the bullet wound.

Lillian doesn't believe in using guns.  She also doesn't explain why she was living with the old rancher.  Chance doesn't want to talk about his past.  But they both find qualities to like in each other and know there is more to the story.

Both of these characters have had problems in their lives, most caused by other people.  How they resolve it, come to terms and move on helped make this a good read.  I was impressed enough by it I have pre-ordered the ebook so I will have a copy when it comes out.  You ought to give it try, too.

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