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Pages: 79
Goes Well With: Flapjacks and sausage with a glass of cool, fresh water
When a man in chains enters the diner with a constable, it’s clear that he’s “a dangerous man.” So why is Mattie suddenly so sure that she’s going to marry him? Dreaming of mountains in Kansas and gentle hearts in rough-hewn exteriors, Mattie’s certainly an interesting character. She might be a little more inclined than her boss to house this prisoner in the boarding house before trial. But will she be safe? “Why did men like that always show up in her life? And why, oh, why did she have to be so drawn to them?”
Mattie has plenty of secrets and verve in this short story. It’s an alluring combination, and the reader is quickly drawn into wondering not only what she will do but what she has done. All will be revealed, of course, with smooth and natural timing, via sensual dream, shock and awe, and sheer feminine grit and determination. Lost hope just might be reborn at the end of a gun... because Mattie also has plenty of nerve.
A Dangerous Man is exciting and fun and convincingly set in the time after the Civil War, when guns were sad reminders of a painful past and women were still the quiet half of every partnership. But times are changing, and Mattie’s changing, too, ready now to stand up for herself and her friends, to make mistakes and move on. The dialogue is smart and sassy in this Western romantic suspense story. The characters are intriguing and fun. And the clothes we wear or the guilts we bear don’t necessarily tell anyone who we are after all. The small town of Blackwater might be “much larger than its true size,” and this short story is larger than its 79 pages too—a thoroughly enjoyable and romantic lunch-time read.
Ed. Note: For more on A Dangerous Man, visit The Wild Rose Press.
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