Showing results by author "Paula Peckham" in All Categories

Abby and Manny Blair anticipate the birth of their first child. Nausea plagues Abby every morning, and fears keep her awake at night. Orphaned at age eighteen, she prays daily for a safe delivery and a future with her child. Now more than ever, Manny yearns for guidance from his own father. Good news can’t be shared with a man who’s been dead for years. Sheriff Williams delivered the devastating news of Mark Blair’s death at the hands of an unscrupulous card shark when Manny was only five years old.

Against the backdrop of the Civil War, spirited Quenby Martin despises the monotony and restrictions imposed on women. Then, San Antonio’s most respectable widow befriends her. Unbeknownst to Quenby, her genteel companion harbors a life-threatening secret.

Disaster strikes a wagon train en route to Texas, leaving 18-year-old Abby in charge of the survivors—all children younger than her. After an attempted kidnaping, the others convince her to disguise herself as a boy. Initially reluctant, Abby soon realizes life on the trail is much easier without bulky skirts. The disguise allows her to do things as "Abner" she couldn't do as Abby. It's intoxicating.