Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Becky Lower Author Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: Crimson Romance ISBN-10:  1440578974 Type: Fiction Pages: 232 Copyright: March 16, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781440581977 Price: $3.82 (eBook) Samantha Hughes needs to escape an abusive uncle. She cuts her hair and masquerades as Sam Hughes in 1860 Missouri, where the Pony Express route begins. Valerian Fitzpatrick, who has only ever wanted to ride horses, is about to become one of the fabled riders. Destiny brings them together at an exciting time in American history. Samantha Hughes has one day to escape from her wicked uncle, and a sign in the post office is her answer. She’ll cut her hair to pose as a man and become Sam Hughes, a Pony Express rider.  Valerian Fitzpatrick doesn’t want the weight of responsibility that his brothers have in the family business. Fortunately, the Pony Express offers a chance to make his own way in the world. He assumes his new buddy, Sam, is on the run from the law, until she’s hit by a stray gunshot and he has to undress her to staunch the wound. Friendship quickly turns to attraction—and more—but when Sam’s uncle tracks her down, she is forced to run yet again.  Val’s determined to find her, but will a future with Sam mean giving up the freedom he’s always craved? Excerpt Missouri, March 1860 Chapter 1 If Samantha spent one more night in the tiny cabin belonging to her uncle, she would not be a virgin by morning. Even while she sat beside her aunt the previous evening, leaning over to hear her aunt’s halted words as she dictated a final letter to her mother, Samantha’s panic rose. Her hands shook as she wrote the words her aunt spoke, putting them down on paper to send to Hilda’s mother and Samantha’s own grandmother, who was close to death herself back in Massachusetts. Aunt Hilda had shielded her from Uncle Jack the best she could for the past two years, but her aunt would be of no help now. Before she’d exhaled her last breath, she had reached for Samantha. “Where is Jack?” “He’s in the barn, Aunt Hilda. Do you want me to get him?” Samantha sensed her aunt’s death was near. She dipped a cloth in cool water and swabbed Hilda’s brow in a futile attempt to give her peace. “No, child. Don’t bring him in here. I have nothing to say to him. But reach under the mattress, and be quick about it.” Samantha did as she was bid and pulled out a small bag of coins. Hilda placed it in Samantha’s hands. “Take this, my child, and leave here as soon as you can. I’m sorry I ever brought you into this house, but I didn’t know what else to do.” “It’s not your fault, Aunt Hilda, and I appreciate all you’ve done for me. If not for you, I would have died along with my folks.” “Put a bit of that money out where Jack can find it. He’ll spend it on drink or a whore after I’m laid to rest. That should give you time.” “Please rest, now, Aunt Hilda. I’ll be all right.” Samantha stayed with Hilda until she died, and then prepared the body for burial. She informed her uncle of Hilda’s passing, thinking he might want some time alone with his deceased wife. Instead, he left the house briefly, to inform the cemetery workers that a new body would be coming, and then returned to the barn to complete the casket. The long night faded into dawn, and Samantha still had no idea what to do. The hasty funeral would take place this morning in the town cemetery. Samantha needed a plan, but her thoughts were jumping all over the place. As she prepared herself for the ride to the cemetery, she tried to calm herself and think of the most immediate things to do. She had to get away, and get away fast. And for that to happen, Jack needed to be kept occupied. Although he hadn’t said a word to her as she got his breakfast ready before they loaded her aunt’s body into the wagon his sidelong glances at her made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The first part of her plan came together as she cleared the table, leaving the pouch of coins for him to find. She had kept out enough to pay her way as she ran, and left the rest to keep Jack entertained this afternoon. The ceremony at the cemetery was hardly long enough to be called a service. The minister quoted a bible passage and said some nice things about her aunt, but her casket 7 was lowered into the ground within a matter of minutes. Samantha hesitated at the gravesite, tossing a handful of earth on the crude casket as the graveyard worker pierced the mound of dirt beside the site with his shovel, and began filling the hole he had created the previous evening The scraping of a shovel in the dirt and the scent of freshly turned earth would forever remind her of Aunt Hilda. Jack wasted no time at the gravesite and hurried to the tavern with his pouch of coins. Samantha took the letter containing Aunt Hilda’s dying words to the post office. She would accomplish this final act for her aunt, however futile it may be, since she fully expected her aunt and her grandmother to meet at heaven’s door at the same time. And then she’d be off, leaving this small town, and Uncle Jack, behind. But she still didn’t have a clue where she might head, with little money and no means of transportation. A sign at the post office caught Samantha’s eye. She feigned disinterest as she snuck sidelong glances at the poster about the new Pony Express, reading one line at a time. Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows. She tore her glance from the sign and studied the customers queued up in front of her. Another quick look. Not over eighteen. She posted her letter and turned away from the window, catching the last of the poster’s message. Must be expert riders. Willing to face death daily. Orphans preferred. She was all of what they wanted, except for one basic and glaring fact. She might be young, skinny, and wiry, but she was no fellow. Samantha calmed her breathing as she walked away from the post office, but her mind was buzzing with possibilities. Her ticket out of the nightmare her life had become had just presented itself.

5 out of 5 for this reader!
This book has now moved this entire series to my REREAD shelf. There now that I got that out I can start what I commonly refer to as "The Becky Lower Gush". LOL ;)

Expressly Yours, Samantha (seriously love this title Becky) is the 7th book of her historical romance Cotillion Ball Series. When one think of historical romance you expect to be swept some where over in Europe, but not this series. Becky mixes it up by placing the setting in 1860's USA. If you have never heard of The Pony Express well that will change once you devour this read.

Samantha Hughes (AKA "Sam") is on the run from her seriously evil uncle. She makes the decision to pose as a man and ride The Pony Express but all positions are filled until she comes across Valerian Fitzpatrick who himself is running in his own way. Val get's her a job working the stables assuming she is a he, and forms a friendship with her. Although Val knows something is off about "Sam", he decides to let "Sam" speak on his own terms about secrets that "he" is hiding. Well fate takes that out of their hands when our twosome endure a gun fight and Samantha is injured. Left with no choice but to search for her wounds, Val discovers a lot more than a gunshot. Suddenly more than a friendship is possible and the attraction is heated. Before they know it though, jerkface uncle reappears and threatens a happy probable future.

So much more to this book, but I don't do too many details! ;)

Becky you are such a vivid writer. I swear I can see the images you write to paper, taste the food, smell the smells, feel the fear and hurt of gun fighting and hear the hearts that pound with anticipation

Fast-Paced Journey to Freedom & Love
Becky Lower has yet to write a book that I can find fault with. Her characters are like old friends, her settings jump out of the page and surround you, and she is meticulous with her historical facts. If you want to know what it was like to live in 1860s America, to ride the horses, taste the food and experience the life of a Pony Express rider (through the eyes of a young woman desperate to hide her identity), you need to read Expressly Yours, Samantha. At a time when the law sided with men, and Samantha needs to escape the clutches of a truly wicked uncle, we join her on a fast-paced journey to freedom and love in the Wild West. If you've read the previous novels in Lower's Cotillion Series, you will be delighted with the appearance of some familiar (and handsome!) characters, but the book also stands all on its own. And what a wonderful world Ms. Lower has created! This book (and the series) is truly not to be missed by fans of historical romance. Highly, highly recommend!

Becky Lower delivers another winner!
Desperate to escape her lecherous uncle, Samantha comes up with a desperate plan. She decides to run away and join the Pony Express. The requirements on the recruitment poster are: young, skinny, wiry fellows; not over eighteen; must be expert riders; willing to face death daily; orphans preferred. There is only one standard that she doesn't meet. But after Samantha cuts off her hair and binds her breasts, Sam is born. The rest is history and adventure and danger and romance. The only reason that I didn't read this book in one day is that I started it at midnight. But I jumped out of bed early the next morning and finished it before breakfast. Expressly Yours, Samantha is a wonderful story.