Code of the West Series

Tap Andrews knows that to stay alive in the Old West he needs three things: a fast horse, a quick hand, and enough smarts to know when to get out of town! Pepper Paige is sick and tired of fighting and emptiness that surround her as a dance-hall girl. And tired of fearing Jordan Beckett, a violent patron who has turned his attentions on her. Pepper gets her chance to escape when an injured woman in a stagecoach wreck dies in her room. The stranger, a refined and educated Christian, informs Pepper she was on her way west to marry a rancher she knew only through his letters. Pepper decides to assume Suzanne's identity and get a fresh start in life. But unknown to Pepper, the fiance is not really Zachary Hatcher, the Christian man who corresponded with Suzanne. He's been killed by Indians and a prison escapee named Tap Andrews decided to pass himself off as the rancher. What happens when the pair meet? When the smoke clears on this western adventure, will they end their charade and embrace the truth about each other's past?

Tap Andrews always managed to find trouble even though he tried his hardest to stay away from it. Fed up with his past, he's sick and tired of fighting off every gun-toting bounty hunter who wants to make some quick cash by dragging him back to the territorial prison in Arizona. He's innocent. He knows it. His fiancee Pepper Paige believes it. All he has to do is prove it. But Pepper isn't about to sit around doing nothing and let Tap go off to set things right without her. She's determined to follow him anywhere--until she hears where he's headed. She can't return to Denver and face her past. Not for Tap or anyone. Not ever. That is, until Carter Dillard reappears. Pepper has no choice but to strike a deal that makes her face hard truth she'd rather forget. In the bargain, she's forced to Denver and an unexpected, awkward reunion with Tap. What happens when their paths collide?

It's not a home on the range Pepper Paige is worried about. It's getting Tap Andrews to the altar on time and in one piece! In only two weeks Tap will tip his hat goodbye to bachelorhood. That should be enough time to take care of business and finalize wedding plans. But considering Tap's knack for finding trouble behind every tumbleweed, it may take him that long to deal with the growing hassles. A gang of rustlers invading his ranch. A missed bank payment he didn't know about. A sniper taking potshots at him. And problems at the local dance hall. In fact, there's so much trouble it's possible he'll miss his own wedding. But Tap's word is good, even if his timing's not. If only his fiancee can get him to stay in one place long enough to get hitched.

Just when Pepper thought life settled down to a normal pace, she had to prepare for a rocky ride, now that she was hitched to the unpredictable Tap Andrews. Married life isn't turning out quite the way they planned. The ranch is gone. They've moved to Cheyenne. And Pepper has been feeling rather poorly. But at least Tap has found a job as deputy marshal that takes what he's got: integrity, nerves of steel, and a fast draw. Then Tap suddenly is appointed acting marshal in a town that has little regard for the law. He soon discovers how hard it is to simultaneously hold off a vigilante crowd hungry for a lynching, control a wayward deputy who thinks he should be in charge, keep his pretty wife from worrying herself sicker, and uncover who's behind the trouble in Cheyenne. When the city council relieves Tap of his duties and Pepper of her worries, it's time to move on. But Tap can't let things go.

Why is it when a gunman decides to call it quits, no one seems to listen? All Tap and Pepper want to do is settle down, buy a small, out-of-the-way ranch, get a few head of cattle, and start raising a family. After all, a baby's on the way. But it's not that easy for an ex-convict and former dance hall girl trying to break with their pasts. No matter where they go or what they do, they collide with the past and plenty of problems in the present. Meanwhile, Tap's current job as brand inspector for the cattle association keeps him smack dab in the middle of conflict. One day its holding off rustlers and avoiding ambushes. The next day it's babysitting Texas ranchers and trying to clear himself of murder charges. Or keep from getting shot and Pepper from having the baby too early. And his new horse won't stay still long enough for him to get on and stay on.

Tap and Pepper are ready to settle down. Too bad no one else is. Now that Tap's a husband and soon-to-be father, he'd like to settle into a quiet routine. But with him, it's more like riding a bucking bronco down a sheer cliff without a saddle. He's no longer an escaped fugitive running from his past. Or a Wyoming lawman backing down a riotous mob. Or a brand inspector dodging rustlers' ambushes and bullets. Now he's just Tap Andrews, rancher and family man. And he's moving a very pregnant Pepper and their eleven-year-old ward Angelita to a new life in Montana. Awaiting them is the sprawling Slash-Bar-4 ranch and 50,000 acres of rolling range land and timbered valleys. Tap will operate in a partnership with Stack Lowery. So perfect. But the new location and occupation do hold a couple surprises. Cattle grazing in their living room. Indians camped in their yard. A notorious pack of outlaws plaguing them. A pair of inept bank robbers bumbling around. And a pacifist family being violently forced off their homestead. Tap still needs courage and his gun skills to settle this part of the West.