Short Westerns

Lovely Lucky made a reckless bet with conniving Caleb - hoping to find a way to handsome Sid's arms. Her betting folly won her a kiss - and an unwelcome sweetheart.

Beth didn't mind being an empty-headed flirt - if her arms were full of Jimmy. Jimmy's intoxicatin' caressin' had her dizzy in the head - until she learned the luscious reason why he was practicin' his technique. One of the most popular settings for romance stories was the old west, where men were men and women were women. As many a swooning damsel could attest, "There's something about a cowboy."

Stories of the old West were filled with bad men who lived by the speed of their gun hands. Well, meet Buck Tarrant, who could outdraw them all. His secret: He didn't even have to reach for his weapon. This original blend of the Western tale with a story of the uncanny, "The Draw" was written by Jerome Bixby, an American short story writer, editor, and scriptwriter best known for his work in science fiction, although he also wrote many Westerns.

A massive swarm of grasshoppers threatens every ranch in the area. There's only one way to save everyone - set fire to one man's land. But they may have to shoot him first.

A motley crew, banished from a Western town, find strength, and weakness, in each other.

When Callie jumped on a plane to Montana and the ranch of her cousin, she couldn't remember ever having done such a reckless deed before, but looking up into the sexy eyes of Joel Masters, she didn't regret a single thing. Callie knew this vacation would be short-lived, she had an established career in music to return to, but she wasn't sure if that life appealed to her any more. After only a few short days in the vast plains of Montana, living amongst people whose values were based on actions and not appearance.

Donald P. Lassiter was sent to Waco, Texas, to get a story on one of the last cowboys to ride the trail behind longhorns. He found Cade Cody "Skeeter" Sawyer. Skeeter spent his early years with a circus, then as a lawman and soldier. He tried to be a mountain man. Follow along as Skeeter tells his story in his own words.

Gather round the campfire for these tall tales and 14 more in this collection of weird Westerns by Paul Victor Wargelin. Saddle up with Doc Holliday, Buffalo Bill Cody, and George Armstrong Custer on uncanny adventures never covered in the history books, and where witches, werewolves, and zombies can be found among the cacti and sagebrush.

In the early 1890s, after the financial panic, Colorado is changing from mining to ranching. A local merchant, Eli, holds most of the money and the power in the county. Then a stranger arrives and starts to court the merchant's daughter - and the problems begin.

As he comes of age, Ed Raleigh disobeys his wealthy rancher father, Pete Raleigh, and escapes to the Bald Eagle Mountains to prospect for ore. When he stops at the town of Sierra Padre, he visits his father's old haunts and meets up with many of his father's old friends. One former friend, Jim Martin, however, is now his father’s sworn enemy who he has vowed to kill Pete Raleigh for taking away the woman they both loved, now Ed Raleigh's mother. Ed Raleigh is shocked and worried, for how will a declared murder attempt on his own father be prevented?

Six stories continuing the search for treasure and the questions of the Old West as seen through various perspectives. Total of 28K words, this is part 2 in the series, and the stories are interconnected.

Sometimes it's tough to be Lucy O'Rourke. Disasters of all sorts seem to seek out this globe-trotting photographer. Whether it's on a raft in Cataract Canyon, a crocodile attack on the Amazon, a hurricane in the Gulf Stream or even the two-legged kind (men), Lucy just can't seem to help making the wrong choice at precisely the wrong moment. This collection of eleven linked stories features the unique blending of romance and adventure that is the trademark of Pam Houston.

Tonight the bullets will fly and rancher or rustler will die. A mystery man will decide whose blood will stain the sick streets of Star.

A demon coyote that's too fast to shoot and too smart to poison is closing in. Will the Wolf Hunter survive?

Anthony Woodbury, strong, athletic, constantly in pursuit of another challenge, is the son of a New York millionaire. Now he is faced with a most difficult challenge. His millionaire father is murdered and Anthony goes West in search of the person who did the killing. An expert marksman and rider, Anthony is well-suited to the West and capable of self-defense. Not only does he discover who the killer is, he also uncovers a mysterious history regarding his mother and father. But Anthony soon learns that he, the hunter, is also the hunted...

When a mysterious man on a white horse robs a series of stagecoaches on their way from the little town of Appleton to the Concord railroad station, everyone in town suspects a young and enigmatic man named Slim Malone. The newly elected mayor decides to bring in outside help, a deadly gunfighter named Lefty Cornwall.

This is a tale of a gentle gunfighter “Slope" Dugan, his pal the roughneck Blondy, and the fugitive boy Red. Slope had walked halfway across the country to sell what he thought was worthless mining stock back to Bonanza Chris, but when Bonanza offered to pay $1,500, they smelled a rat. They concocted a plan to explore the Christabel mine for themselves. If the rumors were true, they would end up millionaires. But they might also wind up dead!

Sometimes a lost gold mine offers up more than just gold. And sometimes a secret should remain a secret. A generational science fiction story from USA Today best-selling writer Dean Wesley Smith. A version of this story by Dean Wesley Smith first appeared in The Secret Prophecies of Nostradamus edited by Cynthia Sternau and Martin H. Greenberg.

In a desert with no trees, it's hard to find a good spot for a hanging. Even harder to find your way home. The story of Canyon in the Clouds twists and turns like a desert rattlesnake and is just as deadly. In this thrilling western tale a moribund sheriff, Clay, discovers the damage done not just to the condemned, but to the man holding the noose.

Greeley, Texas - a frontier town with a bad attitude and a reputation to match. Who lived in such a wicked place? Several compelling answers spring to life in this short story collection spanning more than a century of life, love, and lust in the West Texas dust. The time line stretches from the Civil War to the aftermath of Vietnam. Sin, it seems, never goes out of style...