This exciting début novella from Jocelyn Cross is a western romance set in the frontier town of Gillette, Arizona, 1873. Amanda Mann, the firebrand 18-year-old daughter of rancher William Mann, has been used to getting her own way in life for far too long. But that comes to an end when a mysterious stranger shows up in town. Unshaven after his journey, his clothes caked with thick dust, he still stands out from all the rest as a man with presence and authority, and beneath the grime is a handsome cowboy that the sassy Amanda falls head-over-heels in love with. But during the process she finds herself on the receiving end of his hard hand, a switch and a strap - for James Thomas is not a man to let recklessness go unpunished, and Amanda is sorely in need of his discipline to help curb her waywardness and feisty temper.

James arrives in town at a time when everyone is talking about the recent stagecoach robberies, and it isn't long before Amanda begins to suspect that the handsome cowboy might be implicated in some way. Ignoring advice, she decides to do some investigating of her own, and runs right into trouble. Fortunately for her, James shows up with his Colt.45 ... but who really is this enigmatic stranger? Why has he come to Gillette? And does he stand any chance of a future with the little hellion, Amanda?