Named Best New Western Author by True West Magazine. It takes more than a badge to keep the peace in a lawless hellhole like Ring Bit, Texas. It takes guts, grit, gunslinging—and one hell of a woman . . . MEET TENNESSEE SMITH: SHE SHOOTS FROM THE HIP. There aren’t many options for an eighteen-year-old girl in the Old West. Especially an orphan like Tennessee Smith. She can either sell her body in a seedy saloon or take her chances as a mail-order bride. Tennie chooses the latter. Joining a wagonload of women across Indian territory, she arrives in the God-forsaken town of Ring Bit, Texas. Her husband-to-be is surprisingly decent. But after tying the knot in a quickie ceremony, he pops even more surprises on her. First, he introduces Tennie to his three young sons. Then he drops dead on their wedding night . . . Some women would hightail it out of there. Not Tennie. She’ll do whatever it takes to save the ranch and raise those boys. Rusty is thirteen, Lucas is ten, and Badger is six. They need a mother. Tennie needs a job. And the town needs a marshal. Sure, the local gamblers, outlaws, and thieves have no use for the law. Then again, they never met a lawman, or woman, like Tennessee Smith . . .

Small town texas. Big time trouble. It's hard to be a woman in the Wild Wild West. And if that woman is wearing a badge and slinging a six-shooter, it's even harder. Especially for any foolhardy man who gets in her way . . . The frontier town of Ring Bit, Texas, has a way of attracting trouble. Shootouts. Showdowns. Shady drifters. But it's never seen anything like the mysterious gunman Hawkshaw. Is he good or evil? As the town marshal, it's Tennessee Smith's job to keep an eye on him. Which is okay because he sure is easy on the eyes . . . Of course, Tennessee needs another man in her life like she needs a hole in the head. This mail-order bride-turned-widow is raising three young stepsons on her own. And now she's taking the boys to Austin to get married again. Between outlaws and in-laws, she's got her hands full. When Tennessee's stagecoach is ambushed—and she's taken hostage—she could use help to shoot her way out. Even if that someone is a dangerously mysterious gunman named Hawkshaw . . .