The Drifter

Schmidt, best known for her inspirational and Amish romances, tackles a different genre with this predictable historical western, which opens the Last Chance Cowboys series. In 19th-century Arizona, Maria Porterfield has inherited a modest ranch from her father and is desperate to make it succeed, though she already owes more to the bank than she can repay. Even worse, she’s being hounded by a shifty foreman and a conglomerate that wants to take over her land. Feeling friendless, Maria is suspicious but grateful when Chet, a handsome and mysterious cowboy, comes to town and takes temporary employment on her ranch. Chet quickly becomes the one person she can trust, but headstrong Maria is determined not to lose her heart to a man who’s unwilling to settle down, especially one with a secret in his past. Readers will be disappointed by the shapeless plot and a heroine who talks a good game about being independent but lacks decisiveness and logic, spending much of her time yearning for a strong male shoulder to lean on. (Sept.)