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A fearless horse gentler turns her skills on the reclusive cowboy protecting her.

Blue Spruce, Montana, 1871-When Caleb Orson’s prize stallion escapes his ranch, Sal Beauregard rides to the rescue, revealing her true identity as  one of the few eligible females in town. She’d do it again if it meant saving an animal from the cruel retaliation of Brendan Doran. The man has no respect for women or God’s creatures.

But the sun’s early setting strands her at Caleb’s ranch. Worse, Sallie’s father unceremoniously leaves her there under Caleb’s protection. However, Doran refuses to lose again to Caleb—first a horse, now a woman. He wants Sallie as his wife, and not even the reclusive ogre of a cowboy can stand in his way. No matter Sallie’s opinion.

Choosing to make the best of a difficult situation, Sallie takes over the gentling of Caleb’s stallion. She believes she can reach Caleb as well. Only, the first blush of friendship grows into something … more. Something that threatens the desires of Caleb’s enemy. And if Doran cannot have a beauty like Sallie, neither can a beast.

A Tale of Tenacity, Romance, and Peace

Discover the origin of Crooked Tooth Ranch in this 1870s western retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

If you’ve read my stories before, you know I write 1930s historical romantic suspense. So when the opportunity to join the Hearts of the West multi-author collection, I wondered how I could fit my brand of story into the parameters: a story set west of the Mississippi River sometime in the late 1800s.

I knew it meant stepping out of my comfort zone.

At the time, I’d just released Refuge for the Archaeologist, in which Silas Ward was the hero. Silas is an out-of-place cowboy helping his family in Wisconsin, but his heart is in the wide-open spaces of Montana—particularly Crooked Tooth Ranch, where he’d worked for ten years.

With that, a lightbulb went on. Why not tell the origin story of the ranch Silas considered home?

Ah, but the 1870s is still not the decade I know well, and I struggled to tell this story. Inspiration strikes in unusual ways, and I am not sure what sparked it for me. Perhaps already writing outside my comfort zone encouraged me to go even further outside my norm.

Whatever it was, as I decided to turn this story into a fairytale retelling and then chose Beauty and the Beast as the foundation, Caleb and Sallie’s story blossomed like spring flowers. From Caleb Orson (whose name literally means “loyal bear” to Sallie, whose last name is of French origin and means “beauty.” Doran’s first name is Brenden, which means king or prince, which seemed utterly fitting.

Of course, I also had to include a reclusive father, a pair of ranch hands, and all the fun twists and turns of Beauty and the Beast.

While the setting is not in my usual decade, the story of love is a tale as old as time. And so I hope you will enjoy this historical romantic suspense as much as I enjoyed writing it.