The Cactus Creek Challenge

Blending laugh-out-loud humor into a story of life on the Texas frontier is a difficult job, but Vetsch (Colorado Dawn) manages to do it with plenty of faith and panache in this historical romance set in Cactus Creek, Tex., in 1888. Cassie Bucknell, the town’s teacher, has been in love with Sheriff Ben Wilder since she was in pigtails. Ben, however, can only see the tomboy she once was. When they become one of the two couples to switch jobs as part of the town’s month-long fund-raising challenge, Cassie’s stubbornness leads her into interesting predicaments. Jenny Hart, a baker in town, is a woman with a young daughter fleeing the past. For her part of the challenge, Jenny takes over the livery, while livery owner Carl Gustafson is put in charge of the bakery with mixed, and hilarious, results. The pair of love stories flow beautifully as the reader is immersed in the joyful adventure of life in a simpler, more faith-filled time. Agent: Rachelle Gardner, Books & Such Literary Management. (July)