Determined to keep her Pony Express station after her father's murder, Helena Gray soon learns that a lot of people want her to fail. Cut off by her suppliers, she brazenly goes after what she needs: a husband. She chooses a loner from the mountains who is known simply as Carrigan—a man whose eyes are flat and unemotional, and whom the folks of Genoa fear. It would be a business proposition, that's all. Now all she has to do is convince him of that. Living in the Sierras with his dog and Colt revolver for company, Carrigan is certain he doesn't need a woman. Then Helena Gray ventures up his way and asks to become his wife. The arrangement sounds beneficial, but a simple partnership gets complicated when Carrigan unexpectedly finds himself wanting Helena on new terms that come unbidden from his heart.
Author
Stef Ann Holm was born in Southern California near Hollywood. With the fantasy worlds of Disneyland and Universal Studios at her doorstep, her imagination was stimulated at an early age. She attended Chatsworth High where Kevin Spacey, Mare Winningham and Val Kilmer entertained on the school's stage. As a semester elective, Stef Ann enrolled in drama and played a Fandango hostess in the chorus of Sweet Charity. It was the beginning and the end of her acting and singing career. She got a "C" in Drama and an "A" in Creative Writing. She sold her first romance in 1987. While waiting for a load of laundry to complete at the laundromat, Stef Ann made up the name for her heroine, Camry, when she saw a Toyota Camry parked outside in the lot. Who knew that model would end up being so popular, making her in-depth research seem so shallow. Stef Ann has had twenty-three novels and one novella published. Her editor calls her contemporary romances, "Slices of life stories about real people." Stef Ann lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, extended family and beloved Beagle.
