When Natalie Smythe moves to the small town of Bagley, Texas to follow her dreams and open a candy store, she has no intention to do anything other than work. Socializing is not on her calendar until the store is up and running. It doesn't even cross her mind that the morning she opens, a man will come into the store, she cannot say "no" to.Caleb McClain knows he's next in line to marry, because his brothers have started the domino effect, and they're falling one by one. The oldest two are married, and he's third in line. He knows he can't avoid it forever, but if he can just avoid meeting anyone new, he's sure it will help. When he follows a sugar craving and checks out the new candy store in town, he keeps his eyes on the display and won't even look at the woman behind the counter. When their eyes meet, he knows he's done for. Will he be able to convince her that she's the only woman for him? Or will he be the first McClain in generations to not marry?

After he failed to find his missing sister, whose remains finally turned up in a bag in an overgrown field, Texas PI Truman Smith retired to become a housepainter on Galveston Island. But when an alligator is killed and its carcass left on display on a family friend's property, Tru is persuaded to search for the culprit. Soon the brooding gumshoe is stumbling over the bodies of dead humans, is shot at and run down by a souped-up four-by-four as he's embroiled in a plot complete with crooked police, a possible land-grabbing sheme and assorted "bad guys".

On the American Frontier in the 1800s, the greatest loss of life on the Oregon Trail was not from Indians, accidents, or weather. The biggest danger was unexpected, silent, and deadly. Josiah and his party come across a large herd of cattle on its way to the California gold fields with drovers that are dying or dead. Read Puz's latest novel, Bride by Mail.The inspiration for my stories draws from my novels and family tales of settlers who journeyed to the American frontier in the 1800s. Their accounts, passed down through the generations, paint pictures of courageous and adventurous people—a hearty lot—who had perseverance, self reliance, and, despite dangers and fears of the unknown wilderness, overcame their misgivings. Most were not famous or widely celebrated, yet they carved out homes, farms, and a life on the frontier, and, in the process, created a great nation. They are heroes in my eyes.From my research, I better understand the plight of early Native Americans. They were ultimately swept aside by the oncoming tide of settlers, despite being fierce and resourceful. There came a time for compassion by the conquering invaders. Too many times, it did not occur. Unavoidably, the stain remains a part of America’s legacy.Thank you for reading my short stories and novels. Richard PuzHere are other books for your review ~Novels in the Six Bulls Series ~Six Bulls-The OhioansRafting from Ohio to Missouri down the big rivers of America, pioneers load their families and possessions on flatboats, seeking a new life on the American frontier. Adventures abound during their exciting and dangerous trip.The CarolinianAbraham learns how to be a man during the Battle of New Orleans and applies those principles on his tobacco plantation in North Carolina. Shunning slavery, he moves his family west. Their adventures produce a riveting account of pioneer life in the wilds of a new country, while battling the ever-present Hooker, the slaver.AvengeThe theft of prized horses sets a young man on a journey of adventure. On the trail of the last outlaw, he roams the vast wild American frontier, following the murder and rapist, as they clash in an epic battle of wits. Only one can survive.Short Stories ~AbrahamYoung raw-recruit Abraham is exposed to the terror of war during the Battle for New Orleans. A frontiersman provides the wisdom to help him become a hero.Arkansas StormPioneers on flatboats are towed by a steamboat when they run into a storm that threatens their lives and the loss of all they own.Beanblossom CreekChief Black Hawk’s men are on the warpath and Captain Custis Cauley and his militiamen are waiting. The battle that follows is epic.Captain Jonathan BuzzardBrazen and courageous, the captain takes on the five outlaws threatening a pioneer’s family—exciting and action packed!Danny BoyWhimsical and humorous, a riverbank tavern is the setting for pioneers quenching their thirst after their long wagon train journey to Indiana. It’s a roaring good time, until a fight breaks out to enliven the evening.NewtoniaSettlers on the frontier are caught between warring armies as the Civil War rages. In the midst, human compassion is extended.SmokePrairies are one of God’s greatest gifts, but these can also be deadly. Pioneers take desperate measures to save everything they have created.Sourdough Wind MineThieves are stealing gold ore and come face to face with the “enforcer.” Deep underground in the mine, the encounter plays out among flying bullets.StainThe government’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 is being implemented and farmer James Stinson and his family are in the cross hairs. This is one of many tragic stories about Indian displacement in the 1800s and remains a stain on American history. Roaring RiverBushwhackers ambush two men, killing one. The survivor leads a posse to track down the band of killers, leading to an epic battle.RunawayTobacco plantation owner Alvin Tolle is confronted with a split-second decision that will effect the rest of his life.Three BellsSettlers prepare for war with Chief Black Hawk and his warriors on remote farms in Indian. What happens one fateful night changes them forever.

When private detective John Wesley Tucker is hired to do a routine background check for an aspiring politician he finds himself stalked by evil. John Wesley Tucker is neither an ordinary detective nor an ordinary man. There is more about Tucker than meets the eye, but is he even human?Evil lurks in the shadows of our lives. John Wesley Tucker is a private investigator who risks his life in service to others. When he takes on a simple background check, for a wealthy oil man, a series of other cases complicate the investigation. While seeking to locate kidnapped children, he’ll follow the strange clues of a deranged homeless man. After he’s sent to bring home a teenage girl lost to the mean streets of Dallas, Tucker becomes the target of a professional assassin. He finds himself being followed by an unknown agency. As the disparate threads of the seemingly unconnected cases coalesce, Tucker and those around him are drawn into a trap from which few will walk away.A detective mystery, a thriller, and an exploration of current conflicting ideas and beliefs, with action, intrigue and a distinctly spiritual twist. ANGELS & IMPERFECTIONS is contemporary, suspenseful, relevant and at times violent, offering a unique cultural point of view rarely depicted.

He's smart, he's attractive, and he has a special vision: whenever he sees the blood marks on a woman—marks only he can see—he knows what he must do. Kill her. Brutally. And not leave a trace of himself behind.

When disgraced bull rider Ty Sloane agreed to take a job as foreman at Falcon Ridge Ranch, he didn't count on having to share his job or his cabin with twenty-one-year-old rising star barrel racer Maybelle Johnson. She tests his patience by day and drives him to distraction by night, but she's off limits—too young and innocent for the likes of an ex-con like him. As far as Maybelle is concerned, Ty Sloane can go jump in a lake. The cocky bull rider is a thorn in her side, both at the ranch and on the road. But he makes her feel things no man has ever made her feel, and as she learns about his past, she can't help but develop a soft spot for him. When trouble finds Maybelle on the rodeo circuit, Ty puts it all on the line for the sweet young woman who's captured his heart, even though it may cost him his freedom.

Sheriff Dan Rhodes is back again in Bill Crider's thrilling Dead, to Begin With."Readers will cheer Rhodes along as he sorts through a tangle of old secrets and personal relationships en route to the satisfying solution." Publishers WeeklyIn Clearview, Texas, a wealthy recluse has joined the community and is leading the restoration of an old opera house. When he falls to his death, Sheriff Dan Rhodes suspects that he's been murdered, but there doesn't seem to be a motive. Who would want to kill someone who's helping the town and hasn't been around long enough to make any enemies?The Sheriff's suspicion proves to be true, however, and he begins to look for motives buried in the past, meanwhile having to deal with people fighting over baseball cards at a yard sale, writers who want to talk to him about his sex life, and the Clearview Ghost Hunters, headed up by Seepy Benton, who believes that the old theater is haunted. Clearview...

When former Texas Ranger John Everett Sage took off on foot to catch a runaway horse from the train depot, he put his foot into something that would either change his life forever, or end it quicklyWhen former Texas Ranger, John Everett Sage, steps off a train to stretch his legs, he puts his foot into something that will change his life forever. A run away horse leads him in a new direction, one that will pull all the disparate elements of his life together. John will find his family, only to see them travel away in search of their own destiny. He’ll face new responsibilities, his personal limitations and the evil intentions of desperate men whose souls are lost to greed. Along the way he’ll win the trust of a community, the support of a governor and the love of a woman. Even though the newspapers will probably get it wrong, as Colorado prepares to enter the twentieth century, John Everett Sage will become part of the legend of the west.

WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE Champion cowboy Ben Smith is on trial for assault and battery, destruction of property, and intent to commit murder. His real troubles are just beginning. One of the last of the great American cowboys, Ben Smith is a three-time rodeo champion with one last chance to take a stand. Injured in a rodeo fall, he heads home at the age of forty to the Little Brawny Ranch, where he befriends the son of the Big Brawny's owner. Ben agrees to show little Jimmy the ropes: the rigors of ranching, the rewards of hard work, and the awe-inspiring beauty of the wild mustang herds running free. But when they learn the horses are being rounded up—for the slaughterhouse—the rawhide cowboy and skinny greenhorn strike back, each in his own way, to save the mustangs. But there is the inevitable, violent, historic showdown. Ablaze with action, humanity, humor, and a noble cause, The...