The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony

McLean’s hilarious second Gunslinger rom-com (after Hitched to the Gunslinger) follows down-on-his-luck gunslinger Adam Brady, who spends his days wandering the late 1800s Colorado wilderness, avoiding the pursuit of Marshal Spurlock. He believes he’s found a haven in the town of Desolation—until he meets Nora Schumacher and, after helping her get her drunk father into a wagon, the pair accidentally stumble into a mass marriage ceremony, are mistaken for a couple, and wind up hitched. Adam refuses to sign the marriage license that would make their union legally binding, but Nora refuses to annul, hopeful that the marriage will prevent her father from gambling away the deed to her home. Meanwhile, Adam must either be married or employed within 30 days to abide by Desolation’s residency rules, so Nora’s friends conspire to make every job he tries his hand at impossible. Eventually, the pair can no longer deny their mutual attraction, with Adam moving from Nora’s barn into her bed—until the day his past catches up with him. McLean keeps the pages flying with plenty of humor and a clever plot. This is sure to charm. Agent: Janna Bonikowski, Knight Agency. (Aug.)