In Leigh's winning second Old West romance about the Fraser brothers (after The Frasers: Clay
), Colt Fraser, a former Confederate soldier, is riding a stagecoach to California, where he plans to visit his brother, when he takes a bullet in the shoulder while attempting to foil a holdup. Forced to wait a week for the next California-bound stage in tiny Arena Roja, N.Mex., Colt is made a temporary deputy after the holdup gang returns and shoots the local sheriff. A more delightful diversion is pursuing Cassie Braden, the sheriff's strong-willed daughter, who strides around town in men's attire. Engaged to Arena Roja's schoolteacher, who, after five years, still hasn't returned from fighting in the Civil War, Cassie initially rejects Colt's advances. Only when bank robbers show up and place Cassie in mortal danger does she accept the true feelings of her heart. Leigh has written a very 21st-century light romance in a 19th-century setting with characters speaking freely about sex, love, psychology and even Hindu philosophy. (Jan.)
