Download or read book A Marriage of Convenience in the Show Me State written by Jessie Gussman and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-19 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is wonderful to read a book with a warm core of love and values at the center, that still asks important questions. -Amazon reviewerZane Hudson just got custody of his four young children. Only problem is, he can't watch his kids and run his farm, too. He needs a permanent housekeeper. He has every intention of hiring someone until...Waverley Madris is two months behind on her rent and about to lose her house and her children. Getting stuck with handsome Zane Hudson and his four kids in the Diner bathroom seems like just the type of thing that was just her luck. Except she emerges from that bathroom an engaged woman.It's a marriage of convenience only, except, after a hard day of work on the farm, they can't help but look into each other's eyes, the heads of their children between them, the notes of the music they make together fading off into the twilight, and wonder, separately, if the sweet life they've made together might be even more beautiful if they fell in love.If you love toe-curling sweet romance, real, dynamic characters and strong themes of faith and family, you will love Jessie Gussman's Cowboy Crossing series.Read them all:1. Best Friends in the Show Me State2. Sold! In the Show Me State3. A Secret Baby in the Show Me State4. The Beast Gets His Cowgirl in the Show Me State5. A Marriage of Convenience in the Show Me State6. A Second Chance in the Show Me State

Download or read book Stories About Life on the Farm written by Jessie Gussman and published by Jessie Gussman. This book was released on 2024-04-10 with total page 747 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hey, Everyone! I’m Jessie Gussman and I write love stories. I guess some people think that a writer’s life is glamorous. Especially a romance writer. This book was written to disabuse that notion. I’m kidding. That’s not the purpose of this book, although it’s a definite effect. It’s true that I’m a USA Today bestselling author, which, I have to admit, surprises me as much as anyone. My husband and I also own a trucking company. We have two twenty thousand bird free-range laying houses (our eggs are probably in your grocery store!), raise grass-fed beef cattle, homeschool our kids and are on a first-name basis with the Game Warden and the state police (mostly because of the kids and not really my husband). I frequently cook for strangers, occasionally hide from my family and own more fire extinguishers than the average person (for good reason). Sometimes, when I sit down at my computer, instead of writing the next chapter in my latest romance, I write about my life. Sometimes it’s fun. Sometimes funny. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking and sometimes you just see life through the eyes of a farmer, growing older every day and maybe just a little wiser. We do a lot of laughing, some crying and every day is a learning experience wrapped in the love of God and held in His hand. That’s what I share with you in this book. Thanks so much for spending some time with me today! Love, Jessie Reviews for Stories from Jessie Gussman's Newsletter: ★★★★★ "Jessie is an author that can make getting bunted by a cow or helping a cow have a calf interesting and educational. She has so much faith and her kindness always shows thru. Her books and emails just put a smile on your face - she has a way to balance when things may not go the way intended but she has a positive attitude and is a Wonderful Author." - Bets ★★★★★ "Jessie has a way with words that grab you and hold you in each story so much that will have you laughing, wishing you were there to see it in person. When you start this book, be prepared to sit down, get a drink, get comfortable and be sure to have a snack because once you start you won't get up for quite a few hours and it is well worth it." - KRP ★★★★★ "I have never laughed so hard! I have always enjoyed receiving Jessie Gussman's newsletters as they pull me right in, make me feel like I am right there, and make me laugh a lot. I enjoyed this book as it is a collection of those wonderful newsletters with everything from stories about her children, God, her faith, and the farm and farm animals. I will warn you that you will be laughing a lot too. It is just impossible not to." - lori ★★★★★ "I do not review a great many non-fiction or contemporary books but Jessie Gussman is an author I admire. In this charming book, you will be invited into her home. Get yourself a cup of coffee to enjoy as this author share humor and wisdom into what life on the farm really is. Her faith shines through so brightly! I think this was a wonderful book and a big thank you to the author for sharing." - Crystal ★★★★★ "This book had me laughing out loud in parts. Jessie writes in a way that it feels like you're there. You can seriously picture what she's writing!" - Amber Books in the Stories from Jessie Gussman's newsletter series: 1. Chickens in Canaan Land 2. The Farm on Naked Creek 3. Beef Below the Blue Ridge 4. Stories from the Promised Land

Download or read book Show Me a Marriage of Convenience written by Alexa Verde and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-19 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ex-player cowboy with a little son, the boy's shy plus-size aunt, and a reluctant modern marriage of convenience only the boy is excited about... A sweet, clean, wholesome romance with a happily-ever-after! After three near-death experiences in one day-okay, maybe burning dinner and falling from a tree shouldn't count-Kade Clark worries about his son's future if he's not around to protect him. The last thing he wants is for his son to become a bargaining chip between a con artist grandfather and a ruthless ex trying to get their hands on the family fortune. So Kade agrees to a crazy proposal from the woman his child adores. But as a former foster kid, Kade learned to walk away before getting hurt. Can he now learn to stay and love? Heather Johnson dreams of a real marriage with the man her sister abandoned, not a fake one. But the rumor is Kade might leave their small town again and take her darling nephew with him. She's reluctant to trust a womanizer-husband or not. If she allows love for him to ignite her heart, will her marshmallow-soft heart become roasted and burned? Cowboy Crossing Romances series set in a small town in the Show Me State is about curvy forty-something women and the swoon-worthy single dad cowboys who love them, though sometimes those rugged handsome men might need a nudge-or a push.

Download or read book The Farm on Naked Creek written by Jessie Gussman and published by Jessie Gussman. This book was released on 2021-04-14 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hey, Everyone! I’m Jessie Gussman and I write love stories. I guess some people think that a writer’s life is glamorous. Especially a romance writer. This book was written to disabuse that notion. I’m kidding. That’s not the purpose of this book, although it’s a definite effect. It’s true that I’m a USA Today bestselling author, which, I have to admit, surprises me as much as anyone. My husband and I also own a trucking company. We have two twenty thousand bird free-range laying houses (our eggs are probably in your grocery store!), raise grass-fed beef cattle, homeschool our kids and are on a first-name basis with the Game Warden and the state police (mostly because of the kids and not really my husband). I frequently cook for strangers, occasionally hide from my family and own more fire extinguishers than the average person (for good reason). Sometimes, when I sit down at my computer, instead of writing the next chapter in my latest romance, I write about my life. Sometimes it’s fun. Sometimes funny. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking and sometimes you just see life through the eyes of a farmer, growing older every day and maybe just a little wiser. We do a lot of laughing, some crying and every day is a learning experience wrapped in the love of God and held in His hand. That’s what I share with you in this book. Thanks so much for spending some time with me today! Love, Jessie Reviews for The Farm on Naked Creek: ★★★★★ "Jessie is an author that can make getting bunted by a cow or helping a cow have a calf interesting and educational. She has so much faith and her kindness always shows thru. Her books and emails just put a smile on your face - she has a way to balance when things may not go the way intended but she has a positive attitude and is a Wonderful Author." - Bets ★★★★★ "Jessie has a way with words that grab you and hold you in each story so much that will have you laughing, wishing you were there to see it in person. When you start this book, be prepared to sit down, get a drink, get comfortable and be sure to have a snack because once you start you won't get up for quite a few hours and it is well worth it." - KRP ★★★★★ "I have never laughed so hard! I have always enjoyed receiving Jessie Gussman's newsletters as they pull me right in, make me feel like I am right there, and make me laugh a lot. I enjoyed this book as it is a collection of those wonderful newsletters with everything from stories about her children, God, her faith, and the farm and farm animals. I will warn you that you will be laughing a lot too. It is just impossible not to." - lori ★★★★★ "I do not review a great many non-fiction or contemporary books but Jessie Gussman is an author I admire. In this charming book, you will be invited into her home. Get yourself a cup of coffee to enjoy as this author share humor and wisdom into what life on the farm really is. Her faith shines through so brightly! I think this was a wonderful book and a big thank you to the author for sharing." - Crystal ★★★★★ "This book had me laughing out loud in parts. Jessie writes in a way that it feels like you're there. You can seriously picture what she's writing!" - Amber Books in the Stories from Jessie Gussman's newsletter series: 1. Chickens in Canaan Land 2. The Farm on Naked Creek 3. Beef Below the Blue Ridge 4. Stories from the Promised Land

Download or read book Havoc A forced proximity age gap marriage of convenience written by Laramie Briscoe and published by Laramie Briscoe Books. This book was released on 2022-07-25 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, Laramie Briscoe, comes the special edition of a fan favorite series. Nobody writes blue collar romance like Laramie Briscoe, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the Moonshine Task Force: Special Edition Series. This edition includes a never-before-released short story, as well as all the slices of life scenes and text messages I've written for this couple. When a marriage of convenience turns into the passion of a lifetime… Holden “Havoc” Thompson My job as the leader of the Moonshine Task Force is my life. I eat, breathe, and sleep it. The men under my command mean the world to me. Knowing they count on my guidance has kept my demons at bay for longer than I care to admit. The control I have over myself is an iron fist that sometimes threatens to squeeze the life out of me. What I want more than anything is to live again – let go of the hurt smothering every bit of light I have in this darkness. I don’t expect it to come in the form of a Moonshiner’s daughter needing my protection. Leighton Strather My whole life has been defined by who my family is. In the state of Alabama, we’re number one with a target on our backs. The danger and prestige isn’t for me. I don’t care about the money, and I care too much about the families we’ve ruined. My brother and my dad are proud of it. They wear their arrest records like a badge of honor. Me? I want as far away from the lifestyle as I can get. It’s the only reason I ask Holden to marry me. At least that's what I tell myself. I never expect his whispered yes to cause such upheaval in my life. Even though I resist, I learn some havoc is good – and this one? It’s a whirlwind of lust, hope, and love and all I can do is let it sweep me away.

Download or read book Sold In the Show Me State written by Jessie Gussman and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-02 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The town outcast buys a date with Cowboy Crossing's own A-List movie star.Ivory Haines is the daughter of the town's resident retired prostitute and possibly the town drunk, although her mother wasn't entirely certain. She resents her position in the town - and especially resents the teasing she'd been subjected to - and has vowed to show everyone that she is just as good as they are. She can hardly believe her luck when Chandler Hudson donates a month of his time to the highest bidder at the charity auction to benefit local victims of the recent tornado damage.Chandler wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he'd offered a month of his time to charity. Maybe for a young woman to buy him and make him her one-month temporary boyfriend. Possibly his brothers would buy him and work him to death for a month. Worst case would be some elderly lady purchasing him just to decorate her dinner table with his presence for a few weeks.It never occurred to him that Ivory Haines would buy him and drag him out to her run-down, ramshackle, snake-infested bunkhouse for a month of labor on her dirt-poor farm.But as he gets to know her and sees beyond the reputation the town has given her- undeserved - he changes his focus from one of enduring to one of ensnaring.Can they put the past behind them and step into a bright new future...together?Books in the Cowboy Crossing Series1. Best Friends in the Show Me State2. Sold! In the Show Me State3. A Secret Baby in the Show Me State

Download or read book Marriage of a Thousand Lies written by SJ Sindu and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “What a gorgeous, heartbreaking novel.”—Roxane Gay ​​ A necessary and exciting addition to both the Sri Lankan-American and LGBTQ canons, SJ Sindu's debut novel offers a moving and sharply rendered​ exploration of friendship, family, love, and loss. Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met. As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky—an outsider no matter what choices she makes—is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

Download or read book Married Blind A Marriage of Convenience Hollywood Romance written by Morgana Bevan and published by Morgana Bevan. This book was released on 2022-12-29 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A steamy reality TV romance from Welsh romance author, Morgana Bevan. ✓ A suspicious but hilarious Irishman ✓ Shenanigans with a reality TV film crew ✓ An unplanned Marriage of Convenience ✓ two total opposites in every way ✓ and of course, a Hollywood romance. Will it be love at first sight, or are they fated to hate? Abi Some people go for dinner or coffee for their first date. I got married. Time and opportunities to meet Mr Right are slim, since I'm working three jobs. It's ridiculous to think a reality-TV husband might be the one... but it will mean a break from my regularly scheduled life. And what if he is? Finn To rehab my image — one I've cultivated for years, thank you very much — my agent has given me the hardest role I'll ever have to play. A 24-hour loving husband, on reality TV. It's just 3 months. I can handle that. That's all it will take for my latest sexcapade to be forgiven and forgotten, and instead of finding myself on the D-List, I might salvage my career. I just have to stay strong and not fall for the perfect woman they've chosen for me. That's the problem with reality TV. It's so hard to know when it's TV and when it's real. Married Blind is a standalone marriage-of-convenience Hollywood romance set in the Kings of Screen world and within a reality tv show.

Download or read book Best Friends in the Show Me State written by Jessie Gussman and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2020-07 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She's the girl next door. He's always just out of reach. When violent weather sparks an unexpected attraction, has love's lightning finally struck? Marlowe Glass happily accepts the responsibility of bringing up her orphaned niece. But the struggling stepmom reaches the end of her rope when a terrifying storm destroys her house. So she doesn't hesitate to accept her sexy-but-forbidden neighbor's offer of temporary lodging. Handsome farmer Clark Hudson longs to be free from his ex-wife's manipulations. Although preparing to fight for custody of his son, he jumps at the chance to help out his best gal pal from way back in high school. But when their "forever-friends" bond turns complicated as desires become too hot to handle, the upstanding man fears giving in to his heart might ruin a beautiful connection. As Marlowe grapples with rebuilding or cutting her losses, she worries she'll mess up the relationship she holds most dear. And when Clark's former spouse makes money-grubbing demands, the single father must risk it all to guarantee them both a loving future. Can a history of close companionship unite two souls for a lifetime? Best Friends in the Show Me State is the wholesome first book in the Cowboy Crossing Western Sweet Romance series. If you like Christian-themed stories, delightful discoveries, and true devotion, then you'll adore Jessie Gussman's clean courtship. Buy Best Friends in the Show Me State to sow the seeds of love today!Enjoy all the Cowboy Crossing books:1. Best Friends in the Show Me State2. Sold! in the Show Me State3. A Secret Baby in the Show Me State4. The Beast Gets His Cowgirl in the Show Me State5. A Marriage of Convenience in the Show Me State6. A Fairy Tale in the Show Me State

Download or read book Marry in Secret written by Anne Gracie and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rugged and ruined naval officer comes to claim his bride in an unforgettable tale of love, revenge and redemption from the national bestselling author of Marry in Scandal. Lady Rose Rutherford—rebel, heiress, and exasperated target of the town's hungry bachelors—has a plan to gain the freedom she so desperately desires: she will enter into a marriage of convenience with the biggest prize on the London marriage mart. There's just one problem: the fierce-looking man who crashes her wedding to the Duke of Everingham — Thomas Beresford, the young naval officer she fell in love with and secretly married when she was still a schoolgirl. Thought to have died four years ago he's returned, a cold, hard stranger with one driving purpose—revenge. Embittered by betrayal and hungry for vengeance, Thomas will stop at nothing to reclaim his rightful place, even if that means using Rose—and her fortune—to do it. But Rose never did follow the rules, and as she takes matters into her own unpredictable hands, Thomas finds himself in an unexpected and infuriating predicament: he's falling in love with his wife....

Download or read book The Charm Offensive written by Alison Cochrun and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A MOST ANTICIPATED ROM-COM SELECTED BY * BUZZFEED * LGBTQ READS * BUSTLE * THE NERD DAILY * ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT * FROLIC MEDIA * AND MORE! A BEST BOOK PICK BY * HARPER’​S BAZAAR * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY “The Charm Offensive will sweep you off your feet.” —PopSugar ​​​​In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer. Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star. Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off. As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

Download or read book The Marriage Effect written by Karla Sorensen and published by . This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Logan Ward drives me just a little crazy. It's the only reason I can explain how I ended up fake-married to him. He's got those dark eyes and broody stares, totally unflappable, which is a good trait in a star defensive football player. Maybe it's because I don't always think things through, or because he does drive me crazy, but when I find out he needs a wife to keep custody of his four younger sisters, I have no problem volunteering for the job. I have my own reasons for needing a husband, and striking a mutually beneficial bargain with Logan is the perfect solution. Plus, it can't be that hard to wrangle four young girls and a big grumpy football playing husband, right? Wrong. Our simple solution creates a whole new problem. Logan and I aren't as different as we thought. My reluctant groom has fire inside him, and I can't wait to light the match.

Download or read book Kiss Her Once for Me written by Alison Cochrun and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ+ Romance A Best New Holiday Romance by PopSugar, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and more! The author of the “swoon-worthy debut” (Harper’s Bazaar) The Charm Offensive returns with a festive romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement with her landlord…only to fall for his sister. One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money. Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real. Perfect for fans of Written in the Stars and One Day in December, Kiss Her Once for Me is the queer holiday rom-com that you’ll want to cozy up with next to the fire.

Download or read book A Second Chance in the Show Me State written by Jessie Gussman and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-05 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They were high school sweethearts, but money and pride came between them. Can their twin sons trick them into falling in love again?Reid Hudson would be happy on his Missouri farm except he'd always thought he'd be sharing it with his soulmate, Emerson. Instead, he gets six months with each of his boys and splits the holidays. Not the life he'd planned.Emerson Mahoney hadn't expected her family to fall into a fortune. When her new husband flatly refused to use any of their money to ease the financial burden from the birth of their twins, she couldn't believe how hard-headed he was. She'd taken the opportunity to fly to the Swiss Alps and become a temporary member of her father's new business team, never expecting it to last eight years.When one of their boys deliberately misses his flight to stay on the farm with his twin brother in Missouri, Emerson is forced to come back to the states and confront the husband she is still married to and the man she'd never fallen out of love with.When fuel shortages ground all airplanes, she's forced to spend a month on the farm. Can their twins trick them into falling in love again?

Download or read book A Mistletoe Mishap in the Show Me State written by Jessie Gussman and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-31 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A man who hides fear with courage. A woman who needs a house but longs for a home. And the dog with anxiety issues who brings them together. Fire Chief Andrew Coleman has two rooms for rent. Reagan Boyle and her little brother need a place to stay, and fast.It should be cut and dried - she rents the rooms, he lives his life.Except for the memories of the mistletoe kiss they shared.But he's still dealing with the death of his close friend and because she was weak and trusting she's carrying another man's child. Except, as they slowly make their shared house into a home of love and laughter, they start to realize that maybe fear is the natural result of death, but love is the supernatural result. And Christmastime and the birth of a baby is the perfect time to allow love to overcome fear.Books in the Cowboy Crossing series:1. Best Friends in the Show Me State2. Sold! In the Show Me State3. A Secret Baby in the Show Me State4. The Beast Gets His Cowgirl in the Show Me State5. A Marriage of Convenience in the Show Me State6. A Second Chance in the Show Me State7. A Mistletoe Mishap in the Show Me State8. His Best Friend's Sister in the Show Me State

Download or read book Secularisms in a Postsecular Age written by José Mapril and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-02-24 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume ethnographically explores the relation between secularities and religious subjectivities.As a consequence of the demise of secularization theory, we live in an interesting intellectual moment where the so-called ‘post-secular’ coexists with the secular, which in turn has become pluralized and historicized. This cohabitation of the secular and post-secular is revealed mainly through political dialectical processes that overshadow the subjective and inter-subjective dimensions of secularity, making it difficult to pinpoint concrete sites, agents, and objects of expression. Drawing on cases from South America, Africa, and Europe, contributors apply key insights from religious studies debates on the genealogies and formations of both religion and secularism. They explore the spaces, persons, and places in which these categories emerge and mutually constitute one another.

Download or read book Ralph Compton The Robber Barons written by Craig Barstow and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-08-23 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Pinkerton agent’s cushy assignment turns out to be anything but in this exciting installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series When Luke Lessing drew the assignment to guard the gifts at a big important wedding in New Mexico, everyone at the Pinkerton Agency waited to see what he’d do next. Some coworkers figured the bosses wanted Luke to refuse, quit the agency, and take his cowboying ways to some rinky-dink sheriff job where he’d grow fat or get shot. His pals saw the assignment as a fair reward for his last job, when he recovered a stolen Ferris wheel for a circus. But one individual shook his head, dashed out of the Pinkerton office to the nearest Western Union, and sent off an urgent warning: Fly in the ointment. Name of Lessing. Stuck between mountain crevices in southern New Mexico, Salsipuedes has grown into a place where criminals, politicians, and grifters can retire according to their fondest dreams. For Luke, what starts off as a week of high quality eats, booze, and civil—if corrupt—conversation turns into the case of a lifetime: the ambitious heist of the secret booty of some retired but still very dangerous crooks…