The Runaway Mail-Order Bride

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Anne will be awarding an eBook copy of The Runaway Mail-Order Bride to a randomly drawn commenter in their choice of format at each stop during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Remember, the more stops you visit and comment, the better your chances to win.

She thought she’d met the man of her dreams. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

His letters had won her heart. Leaving everything behind, Lisa Hanlon is ready to start a new life in the West. Sheriff Donald Skroch is attractive, influential, and eager to wed his mail-order bride. Shortly after arriving in Tate City, Lisa discovers that he's also short-tempered, violent and possessive…and she’s soon fleeing for California, desperate to escape the man she’s promised to marry.

Arriving at a broken-down ranch in the middle of nowhere, Lisa is only seeking a place to hide. She’s dismayed to discover a rugged drifter, Pearce Folsom, in one of the outbuildings. Burdened with secrets of his own, Pearce hides the truth of his past but not his attraction to Lisa. When he steals a burning kiss during the middle of a midnight storm, Lisa knows this handsome cowboy wants more from her than she is ready to give. She can’t truly offer her heart until she is finally and forever free from Donald.

Then, one terrible day, a telegram arrives: FOUND YOU.

Now enjoy an excerpt:

Lisa had to accept the darker reason why she wanted Pearce to remain nearby.

I can’t be alone when Donald arrives.

Presented with an audience, Donald pretended to be who he wasn’t. He shook hands and slapped backs, presenting himself as everyone’s favorite good fellow. It was only when the audience drifted out of sight that he smiled his shark’s smile.

Only in the shadows that he felt free to do as he wished.

Warned by his telegram, she knew Donald would arrive in Wyatt Ridge shortly. There would be a badge on his chest, likely granting him a few favors from the town’s officials, but he carried no legal authority in this part of the country. In this place, he couldn’t indulge his appetites and expect that others would pretend indifference to his behavior.

When he rode up to the ranch, he’d expect to find her there alone. He wouldn’t be prepared to meet Pearce Folsom. Whatever else he might be, Pearce wasn’t a man who frightened easily. When her derringer was at his throat, he didn’t flinch. His voice didn’t quaver and his hand didn’t tremble.

He wasn’t afraid of danger. She suspected he wouldn’t be intimidated by the gleam of a silver badge, either.

If she could convince him to stay at the ranch, his presence alone might buy her some time. Time enough, perhaps, to convince Donald to leave her in California. If her pleading didn’t work – and she doubted it would – a few extra days might give her the time she needed to build her courage.

Because, if all her other options failed, she had one last, desperate plan:

Kill Donald.

A collector of vintage Barbies and younger boyfriends, Anne Glynn currently resides in the American Southwest.

The truth is a little more complicated. I'm Anne and my S.W.P. (Significant Writing Partner) is Glynn. Together, we write as 'Anne Glynn'.

However, I am a collector of vintage Barbies and I have, on occasion, collected the younger boyfriend. Not so much these days.

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