Defiant Debutant — Shirl Henke

RUNAWAY HEIRESS' PASSION IS TEACHING SCHOOLBorn in a socially prominent eastern family, Sarah Farmington defies her greedy father by refusing an arranged marriage. Finding the rich men who court her are only shallow fortune hunters, she flees to the west to become a humble schoolmarm in the Cherokee Nation. Sarah adapts to the challenges of frontier living. She is happy and fulfilled in her role...until a wickedly handsome stranger rides into her life...GUNMAN HAUNTED BY PAST SINS IS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCELucero Alvarado spurns his hate-filled family, lured by the violence and adventure of civil war. As an imperial contra-guerilla, he revels in death and destruction until one noble act saves him from a firing squad. He is transformed into Luke Chance, an American federal agent sent to find the hidden Confederate Treasury. The trail leads him to the Cherokee Nation where he encounters the willful and witty schoolmarm.SARAH FINDS AN EVEN GREATER PASSION IN LUKE'S EMBRACERiven by guilt over his criminal past, Luke sees in Sarah everything pure, unselfish and good. Although she appears plain and prim to others, he sees hidden beauty beneath ill-fitting clothing, glasses and hair pulled into a tight bun. As he unravels the mystery of her unflattering disguise, he falls deeply in love with a woman he feels totally unworthy to touch. But the strong-willed Sarah again defies convention to convince him he is the only man she will marry.