This Gun for Hire

Goodman (Forever in My Heart) treks to 1888 Colorado for a perfectly crafted tale of a working partnership between two competent, self-reliant sharpshooters. Quill McKenna functions as both lawyer and bodyguard to powerful mine owner Ramsey Stonechurch. When Ramsey worries that his enemies might threaten his daughter, Ann, who has decided to stay at home rather than traveling for her advanced studies, he takes Quill’s suggestion to hire Katherine “Calico” Nash, whom Quill met while she was taking down an abusive outlaw in a brothel. Calico guards Ann under the guise of being her academic tutor, and soon she captures Quill’s heart as well. The two mercenaries are brought together by similar goals on the right side of the law, high mutual regard, and a little bit of fate. Their romance is much more than incidental but doesn’t overshadow the excitement of the bigger story. Goodman balances the pair’s toughness and tenderness, independence and teamwork, and practicality and passion in a way that never lessens one in the service of the other; they become something greater together without ever compromising their individuality. (Apr.)