TRAVIS - Georgina Gentry
The Texans, Book 4
Zebra
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-2168-1
February 2013
Historical Romance

Kansas and Texas, 1889

Texas Ranger Travis Prescott is badly injured in a gun fight in Red Run, Kansas.  He killed the outlaw, but took a bullet in the wrist that has permanently damaged his shooting arm.  He's not sure what to do; he loves being a Ranger, it gives him the respect he craves from men who normally look down on his mixed heritage.  The son of a Comanche warrior, Travis was adopted by Colt Prescott when Colt married his mother, Hannah.  Travis became one of the fastest guns in the Rangers, but now his skills are useless if he can't hold his weapon and shoot straight.  He can't go home; his parents' ranch can't support another mouth to feed.  He has one choice; he'll join the run into Indian Territory, grab some of that free land to settle on, and start his own ranch.

Violet LaFarge is walking away from the man who keeps her under lock and key and forces her to solicit men and grant favors she detests.  On her own following the death of her mother and brother in Memphis when she was barely fourteen, Violet did the only thing she could to feed herself and put a roof over her head.  She's been planning her escape for months, but running away from Duke Roberts will surely get her killed if she can't get of town quickly.  At the train station, she comes upon a group of four orphans.  They plead with Violet to take them along with her before they have to board a train taking them back to the orphanage in New York City.  They are rejects.  No one wants a two-year-old who wets her drawers (called Boo Hoo); an ugly little girl with aspirations of joining the suffragette movement (Kessie), a lame boy with one leg shorter than the other (Limpy), or a boy of Oriental descent (Harold).  Four rag-tag children plead with Violet, and she cannot turn away.  Wasn't she one of them not so long ago?

Earlier, Violet spotted the Texas Ranger heading out of town, and when she finds him camped along the starting line of the land run, she instructs the children to gather around his campfire and settle in.  Like it or not, they belong to him now.  Violet knows this man is kind and good, and she has already decided she might like to marry him one day.  But first, she has to persuade him to go along with her plans.  For now, he must believe that she's only thirteen years old.  With her hair in pigtails, her youthful looks and gingham dress make her look younger than her twenty years.

TRAVIS wakes to find five young orphans sharing his campsite.  What he doesn't need is a bunch of kids tagging along with him, but it seems that even his dog, Growler, has taken their side.  Travis is going to join the race into Indian Territory; he can't be worrying about kids.  But circumstances and some quirky tricks of fate have him taking the kids along when they finally reach a small town in Texas where Travis finds a job and a house for them all to live in.  Travis is ashamed of his feelings for the girl, Violet, she's only thirteen, but he feels a spark of attraction between them, so he goes into the local saloon to satisfy his desires.  Meanwhile, Violet is afraid to confess her lies.  Travis was quite clear how he feels about women who lie and cheat.  How can she tell him she's been a whore in a saloon?  Violet has managed to dig a deep hole with her tangled web of deceit.  The children know her secrets, but they won't tell.

TRAVIS is the fourth novel in The Texans series by author Georgina Gentry. The books each stand alone, but the stories connect in some way to each other, although only in minor details. Previous titles are DIABLO (February 2010), RIO (February 2011), and COLT (February 2012). These books are chock full of historical facts and actual events which bring the stories to life.  They are great reads!  TRAVIS and Violet's story is one of excitement, mystery, and romance, as two people battle toward their destiny against insurmountable odds.  You will love TRAVIS...enjoy!

Diana Risso