Under Western Skies

A Spanish-speaking mamacita and her crusty, Irish-decent old codger husband?prone to daydreaming about his glory days as his main method of escape from her sharp tongue?are travelling to Texas with their beautiful, lovely daughter Diane when the wagon breaks down in a sudden Kansas storm. Who should come riding up over the hill with his best friend Dusty (his horse) to rescue them, but a handsome young stranger, a rodeo-ridin?, guitar-playin? singin? cowboy. After the rescue, of course there?s got to be some resistance to love, some ghosts of the past to deal with, a bar brawl or two?some killer bullets, naturally?before the eventual courtin? can commence. The familiar elements are all there, seasoned with humor and a few surprise turns in the road as they head toward the romantic sunset; the fun is in the ride. A Western romance right out of the old Saturday matinee, this isn?t rocket science. The dime novel (although it costs twelve bucks these days), is just the unpretentious macaroni and cheese comfort-food of reading. It comes with everything you need to lighten your day and warm your soul; calories not included. Excerpt: Gene?s body was wrapped in cold sweat as the razor-sharp edges dancing before him held him captive in their spell. He saw the cold meanness in the steel blue eyes of the man that held the death weapon. Hearing the taunting hatred in his animal-like voice as Bull had his pleasure before the kill, Gene knew that the man was indeed totally insane. Gene?s insides curled and tightened into hard knots as he watched the bottle dart to and fro. He knew at last the end was near...the West had caught up with him and he would die as many a man had before him?die here in this dirty, smelly saloon, his body cloaked and covered in his own blood, drawn by the hatred of a man who was a stranger to him.