Spur Award-Winning Author, winner of the 2007 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel for The Horse Creek Incident.

Miss Stout Rice and Mr. Locke McTavishmake an unlikely couple—but one hell of a team.

The West proves wild from the get-go for gentleman farmer Locke McTavish, late of Illinois. Just off the train in Flagstaff, he steps right into a full-scale dustup. The tenderfoot with quick fists wins the brawl—but not before he loses his heart to lovely Stout Rice. She's as skilled a rider and roper as any seasoned cowhand, while a damned sight more pleasing to behold. And though Stout chuckles at McTavish's yen to set up in ranching, she agrees to give the slick-talking dandy a push in the right direction.

The wagon ride to North Cut—where the Rice sisters tend their daddy's ranch—turns into a mighty tug-of-war between the mismatched duo. While Locke labors to court the feisty Stout, she busies herself trying to turn him into a competent frontiersman. Before walking arm-in-arm, though, they'll battle back-to-back against marauding Apaches and a pair of murderous outlaws with sore heads and itchy trigger fingers. Seems that when push comes to shove, it takes more than love to conquer all....

"Dusty's drawl humor makes his westerns larruping-good reads."—Suzann Ledbetter, Author of The Toast Always Lands Jelly-Side Down