Ballad Beauty

After ten years apart, Boston schoolmarm Jenny McShanahan receives a letter from her beloved father that instructs her to join him in Texas. She has no idea that he’s become Famous Sam McShan, the Robin Hood of the West. She arrives to find Sam already gone, but he left instructions for Jenny to hire a guide and rendezvous with him in Nevada. Texas Ranger Noah Daniel Webster knows Sam personally because his father, Pistol Pete Webber, was Sam’s longtime partner in crime. When Pete is killed during their last big score, Noah requests the assignment to bring Sam to justice. Going undercover, he volunteers to act as Jenny’s escort across the dangerous prairie, using her to track her outlaw father’s location. As they journey through rough country, love blossoms—but Noah knows the second he arrests Sam, his betrayal will kill Jenny’s love for him. Should the lawman do his duty as a Ranger, or should he let love rule? The choice Noah makes will change their lives forever.From the AuthorAs a native Texan, I can't believe it's taken me this long to write a book about a Texas Ranger! *  I always ask the question What if . . . when I'm starting a new historical romance, and this time was no exception. I'd already created the hero in my mind and given him the name of Noah Daniel Webster, which he's had to defend his whole life. Then I asked myself why* he'd become a Texas Ranger. I thought, "What if Noah was the son of an outlaw?" He could be the polar opposite of his father, Pistol Pete Webber. *  Then I layered it a bit, making my straitlaced Boston schoolmarm heroine named Jenny the daughter* of an outlaw--but unlike Noah, she has no idea her father is a famous criminal. To add to the fun, I made these two outlaws long-standing partners in crime. Naturally, Noah would be assigned to bring the duo to justice and use Jenny as bait to reel her old man in to stand trial for his numerous crimes. *  *The final wrench thrown in? Noah falls head-over-heels in love with Jenny. And when this feisty heroine finds out how he's lied to her? Let's just say that the sparks will fly.About the AuthorLauren Linwood has written six historical romances, two in the medieval era and four set in the American Old West. She balances her diet with salty potato chips and sweet dark chocolate and loves watching Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead. *** **