Loving Mercy Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 2005 by Teresa Bodwell
 
In 1867, widowed rancher Mercy Clark agrees to travel with handsome gambler Thaddeus Buchanan as they make their way from Abilene, Kansas, to Fort Victory, Colorado.
 
From Booklist
It's 1867, and Thaddeus Buchanan, a poker-playing Civil War veteran, needs a guide to get him from Abilene, Kansas, to his sister's house in Fort Victory, 500 miles away in the Colorado Territory. Mercy Clark, a widowed rancher, is on her way back to Fort Victory, too, and she also needs a traveling companion since she is carrying quite a bit of cash from the sale of her beef. Mercy needs every penny of it to pay the money she owes her evil, greedy neighbor. Unfortunately, this neighbor will resort to any measure--legal or otherwise--to get her land, and that includes murder. Part of Kensington's new Zebra Debut line, this is an impressive first book. Readers who dote on the spunky heroines in the exciting tales of the Old West by Jodi Thomas (The Texan's Wager, 2002; When a Texan Gambles, 2003; A Texan's Luck [BKL N 15 2004]) will enjoy Bodwell's spirited tale of a courageous woman and the man she tries very hard not to love. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
 
6.2