The Farrier of Dry Creek Valley
A Western Historical Romance

About this book:

In the sun-baked valley of 1883 Montana, Nora Hall has spent a decade forging shoes and taming fractious horses at her father's anvil—work that leaves her hands scarred, her ledger thin, and the townsfolk skeptical. When a wagon arrives from High Ridge Ranch demanding John Hall's hammer, Nora climbs aboard instead, hauling her tools toward the territory's most formidable horseman. Silas Sterling built his empire on Kentucky bloodlines and iron discipline, and he has no use for a woman at his forge—least of all one who meets his glare with steady green eyes and a rasp sharp enough to shame his best hired men.

But Sterling's prize Morgan stallion is lame, his cavalry contract hangs by a thread, and his regular farrier lies broken in bed. Three days. Forty remounts. One volatile stallion worth five hundred dollars. Nora asks for three dollars a head and a cold forge to heat herself; Silas counters with scorn and a wager he expects her to lose. Neither expects the quiet understanding that passes between them in the stall's dim light, nor the way respect strikes hotter than attraction when a woman proves she knows a horse's mind better than the man who owns him.

As autumn closes over the Bridgers and rumors turn to sabotage, Nora and Silas find themselves bound by more than a contract. In a land where a woman's skill is borrowed and a man's word is law, they'll have to decide whether trust can be forged as strong as steel—or if pride will shatter what the fire has tempered.