Phoenix, Arizona Territory, and Heaven, California - 1878

Seth Wright, former county sheriff and ex-ranger, has been offered a job with the newly formed Peacemakers Alliance. Now his boss, Athens Garrett, has asked Seth to perform his first task. Athens wants him to go to California on a mission to deliver an official message to a Very Important Person. Important VIP? Seth thinks Athens has gone round the bend when he learns that the VIP in question is a librarian living in Heaven, California...and that the official message is Athens's proposal of marriage! A widower with two small children, Athens has decided that Emily McBride will make a decent mother for Zach and Zoe. And, since Athens's sister, Paris, is Emily's best friend, bringing Emily to Phoenix is like killing two birds with one hit. Seth decides to refuse Athens's request, that is, until Paris begs him to help Emily, who she says is in dire financial trouble. Paris is married to Seth's best friend, Joshua Grant, and Seth just can't ignore her pleading, not when she's heavy with child. And so it is, and with much foreboding, that Seth agrees to visit Heaven, posing as the dandy poet, Phineas Pinkerton.

The shy little librarian Seth is expecting to find in Heaven is, instead, a very independent lady. No quiet little woman here, Emily is anything but meek. She's outspoken, dresses in men's clothing, and totes around an old rifle (all the better to practice her sharp shooting). Her tongue cuts deeper than the sharpest knife, and she can be demure if she desires, quoting the Bible as it suits her. Seth doesn't know what hits him when he meets Emily. This woman doesn't need a husband (and she certainly doesn't want one!), but it's clear that she just might need somebody to keep her out of trouble. Emily is tough all right, but underneath that verbal suit of armor, she's a vulnerable and frightened young woman. Can Seth stop himself from falling in love with the her in time to deliver Athens's proposal?

ROMANCING THE WEST is a humorous look at love in the untamed West. Though an honorable man, Seth is an alley cat -- flitting from woman to woman, bed to bed, and taking his pleasure wherever and whenever the mood suits him. Emily, having seen what love and marriage did to her parents' romance, wants no part of the institution (unless of course it's with Rome Garrett, whom she fancies herself in love with). Emily is getting along just fine without a man in her life, thank you very much. And she's turned down no less than two proposals since her father, Preacher McBride, died. What if she takes in the occasional boarder to help with expenses? It's honest work and shows she's making her own way. What she can't reveal is her real job as the notorious dime novelist, I.M.Wilde, who writes those risqué novels the entire town is talking about. But no matter, just as soon as she can figure out who's blackmailing her, she'll be home free.

Several secondary characters important to this story include Athens Garrett and his brothers, Rome & Boston, who are Wells Fargo Detectives, and London, who owns a theater in San Francisco. This story becomes a tangled web when Athens discovers himself falling in love with the new owner of the Cafe Poppy, Kaila Dillingham, after he dispatches Seth to propose marriage to Emily. And in California, Seth is likewise falling hard for Emily. Although some of the details in this story are not historically correct, the pages of ROMANCING THE WEST weave a believable fantasy. This novel is the second book in The Wild West Romance Series. The first, LASSO THE MOON (February 2006), is the story of Emily's best friend, Paris Garrett, and her romance with Joshua Grant. Next up is Rome Garrett's story in THE FALL OF ROME due in July 2008.

Be sure to check out ROMANCING THE WEST and settle down for a madcap ride!

Diana Risso