Here are eight paragraphs that form the initial meeting of the hero, Luc Tarrant, and heroine, Carnelian Wendell, of my western historical set in 1868 west Texas titled Lone Star Angel.
“Take a wrong turn, lady?”
The broad-shouldered man’s voice was deep and full of suspicion.
“Easy, Star.” With effort, she pulled the prancing horse back to an uneasy stand and turned her attention to the stranger. His hat shaded his eyes, but couldn’t hide a strong jaw covered with beard stubble and a tight mouth pulled down at the edges.
A loose tendril of hair tickled her forehead. With a gloved hand, she tucked it under the knitted scarf wrapped over her ears and neck to fight off the chilly air. “I’m looking for the Bar-T Ranch. Would you know if I’m on the right lane? Can’t really call this uneven, pot-holed path a road.” She paused, expecting the silent stranger to answer.
Leather creaked at his shift in position, and he rested a forearm across the pommel and stared.
“The stable master in Wayside Gap told me to turn south at the double fencepost. Not that I’m too good with directions, but those were the only double posts I saw.”
“Thought I recognized Einhardt’s mare.”
What? The man commented on ownership of a horse, not about the boundaries for a cattle ranch? She waited for his confirmation she was headed in the right direction. “So, I did take the correct turn?”
5 stars from Brenda at Readers’ Favorite
“Lone Star Angel” is a short but very satisfying historical fiction read. The author packs plenty of detail providing an in-depth story with more than a few twists that kept me quite interested!
Click here to read the entire review onsite.
BLURB
Mischief comes to Wayside Gap, Texas
A repentant ex-outlaw, Carnelian Wendell, visits her sister Amethyst, the cook on a Texas cattle ranch. The deaths of the bandit gang straighten out Carni’s reckless ways and she’s looking for a new life. Solitary rancher, Luc Tarrant, hesitates about adding this spoiled lady to his struggling ranch but soon discovers he can’t resist her irrepressible spirit. A trip to town exposes Carni to the sheriff’s curious eye and she is jailed for suspicion of train robbery. Luc develops a plan to spring her, but when the sheriff calls his bluff, Luc’s plan backfires, leaving the couple with a decision that will change both their futures.
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Links to other authors on the Romancing The 8 are below.
Darlene Fredette – http://www.findingthewritewords.blogspot.ca/
Gini Rifkin – http://ginirifkin.blogspot.com/
Lori Power – https://www.marinerwrites.com/blog
This story sounds interesting and I love the cover!
I can “feel” the moment–the heat, the dust and uncertainty,
Lori
Love Cowboys, and the fact that the heroine is the repentant outlaw. Nice twist. Also the scrunch of the leather as he adjusted his position in the saddle. Perfect.