Every writer has a favorite book and stories as to why. With over 80 publications on my resume, when asked if I have a book I go back to again and again, my answer is unwavering – TEMPTATION’S TRAIL. Released by Zebra Books as the flagship in my five-book Texas historical romance series written as Dana Ransom, it was this unlikely hero who launched a fan club and filled my mailbox with letters (Yes, it was THAT long ago! 30, to be exact!) demanding more. Here’s a peek . . .
HERO FOR HIRE.
When Amanda Duncan headed West to find her missing brother, she knew she was a little out of her element. Her privileged upbringing in a fancy boarding school hadn't prepared her for the perils of frontier Texas. So, she made a plan – all she had to do was hire a hero. But when legendary gunslinger Harmon Bass showed up, he wasn't what she expected at all. True, he was gorgeous beyond belief, but he was also unarmed! What kind of hero didn't carry a gun?
LADY FOR LOVE.
Rugged half-breed Harmon Bass needed a job that paid well and disguised his true mission. What he got was an irritating and irresistible trail partner who could not ride, shoot or keep quiet! Yet with every move she made, he wanted her more! Maybe it was Amanda's sheer pluck...or unexpected courage...or the way her beautiful brown eyes glowed with sensual fire. Here was a woman to tempt and torment him – the woman he'd been waiting for all of his life. Now, as he and the feisty eastern beauty crossed a wilderness dogged by crooked lawmen and avenging outlaws, Harm only prayed they lived long enough to claim the love that waited at the end of . . . TEMPTATION'S TRAIL.
“Harmon.”
He hadn’t heard her approach, too caught up in the rapture of his revenge. He wouldn’t consider what this would look like to her. Her opinion didn’t matter . . . he couldn’t let it matter, not now, not when his blood ran thick and hot in the way of the Apache and his head was full of the sound of past screams and pleas for a mercy that never came. His heart was dark, beating with the full force of his rage and unquenchable hatred, driving it through his veins in a hard, primal rhythm; a current too strong to be curbed by the horror he saw in her face when he looked up.
“Get back to town, Amanda. This doesn’t concern you.”
The tight, controlled tone, the silvery glitter in his eyes; this wasn’t the man she knew. But she’d seen him before as he held a rifle on a helpless man, pulling the trigger without an instant of remorse. It was the face of a man who could kill without care . . . and she was terrified of him.
( . . . and a bit more . . .)
“Harmon.” Her voice wavered in uncertainty.
Seeing her, the cowboy turned all his pleading attentions upon Amanda. “Please, ma’am, I didn’t do nothing. Cut me loose before he kills me.”
Amanda wasn’t a woman of the West. She came from a gentle society where human life was lauded, where one did not act upon violent impulse, where such atrocities would not be borne.
“Harmon, cut him down.” It was a soft request, one she hoped would touch upon the heart of the man she knew.
She was wrong.
Back to 2024 . . . time to get this series back in the hands (and on the app screens, this time!) of readers. But first, to convert the published text into current formats. Thank goodness I have a faithful and far more tech-saavy assistant to make that magic happen. I’ll keep you updated . . .
Happy reading from the snowy center of Michigan!!
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I had a bit of a giggle at the cover, but 30 years .... wow ... that's one mighty effort, even more so 80 books! I'm in awe :-)
ReplyDeleteThe snippet was intriguing, too ;-)
Boy, this truly sucked me right into the conflict and action. Looking forward to the re-release!
ReplyDelete