To find her missing father, Jenna Leigh-Whittington becomes a Pinkerton Operative and takes a job in Utah Territory, but the only sure way she can identify her prey is by a scar on his bottom.
Jenna Leigh-Whittington tracks a train robber form Colorado to Utah Territory, where she believes her missing father can be found. She corners her prey in his camp, but all goes awry when she discovers he doesn't have the scar that should identify him. The man isn't a train robber; he's a bounty hunter after the same outlaw, and he isn't happy about what he thinks is a runt of a boy getting the drop on him and making him drop his trousers. When he discovers his nemisis is not a boy, but a full grown woman, he vows to get even with her. She leads him on a merry chase, taking their mutual quarry out from under his nose. Branch McCauley spends the rest of the story trying to outmaneuver Jenna, and tame this talented she-cat. He's falling in love with her, but McCauley doesn't know she's a Pinkerton, and he hates Pinkertons above all else.
Excerpt
Jenna scowled as she studied the man by the flickering glare of his campfire. He had the right build and appeared close to thirty, Mendoza's age. But something didn't fit.
The Denver police chief had described her quarry as a spoiled aristocrat, too busy wooing Lady Luck and every other female to be much of a train robber, let alone a killer. But the rogue in front of Jenna looked too lean and hard to be spoiled, too wary and aloof to be a ladies' man.
To Jenna he seemed the perfect gunslinger: cold, tough, and ready to spring. Like a big yellow cougar perched on a ledge. Or a rattler, tightly coiled. Either way, his bite would be deadly.
In spite of the cool night breeze, sweat oozed from her pores. She couldn't forget that lightning draw. Why had she come here? How had she expected to take an outlaw Pinkerton's other agents had failed to bring in? No, she refused to think that way. She was every bit as capable as any man to capture Mendoza. She had to believe that, the same way she had to do what she'd set out to do. Only one question remained: Was this Mendoza or not?
"Who are you, mister?"
"Who am I? Hell, who are you? "
Blast! Did no male exist in this empty wilderness who wasn't so taken with himself that he couldn't cooperate for a change?
She took a calming breath. A body could catch more flies with honey than vinegar, old Charley Long Bow used to say. Jenna figured flies might fancy the hairy creature facing her, so she decided to try being friendly. "Listen, I smelled your coffee and hoped you might spare a cup, is all. You can understand me being a mite leery of walking into a stranger's camp without knowing who I'm hooking up with."
Firelight glinted on the man's straight white teeth as his whiskers parted in a cold smile. "Don't recall inviting company, but I'll play your game. Name's Branch McCauley. Now it's your turn."
His smile unnerved her. It held no humor, only a lethal sort of grimness that cannoned her stomach into her throat and made her wish she'd wired William Pinkerton for instructions instead of going off half-cocked this way. "I'm Jim...Jim White," she lied.
"All right, Jim, how about some honesty? You come here looking for me?"
"I'm not looking for anyone named Branch McCauley. If that's who you are, you've nothing to worry about."
The wide, innocent eyes McCauley studied held honesty. He relaxed. "In that case...be glad to pour you some coffee."
He reached for the battered graniteware pot. His visitor's next words froze him in a half-stoop: "I'd feel more welcome if you'd set aside your gun first."
Cool as Montana sleet, McCauley straightened, hand poised above his holster. "Reckon you would. Wouldn't do much for my sense of well-being, though."
So much for trying to be friendly, Jenna thought. What now? She clenched her knees together to still their shaking and swallowed the fear knotted in her throat.
"Look." McCauley shifted his weight to one leg. "Why don't you put your gun away and have a sit? Could be I might know something about the hombre you're hunting.
Hombre. Sounded Spanish. Like Mendoza. It must be him. She had to get his gun away from him. Surprise seemed the best means. She squeezed the trigger of the .44 Starr. The bullet kicked dirt onto the man's scuffed boots. He jumped and let out a yelp as though she'd set his feet afire.
"Dammit, kid, going up against me won't get you anything but a six-foot hole in the ground."
"Shut up and toss over your gun or I'll turn them boots into sieves. 'Course, my sights might be a bit off." She raised the muzzle toward his groin.
"You made your point," he growled as he unbuckled his gun belt and tossed it over.
Instead of the fancy weapon she had expected a gunslinger to own, an ordinary, six-gun lay at her feet. No ivory handle or engraved barrel. Only an ordinary .44 Peacemaker, crafted and worn for one reason—to kill. The thought did funny things to her innards.
"All right," she said, getting back to business. "You aren't going to like this, mister, but I don't know any other way to be sure who you are. Drop them trousers to your ankles."
"Do what?"
Professional Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars "SIZZLING ROMANCE, INTRIGUING, AND ENTERTAINING!"
Jenna is one extraordinary woman, who stands out in the crowd, one who fits the description of 'You've Come A Long Way Baby!' She's brave, independent, and tough. After Jenna and her mother were deserted by Jenna's father, she is determined to find him, ready to have him answer all the questions that haunted her for years. However, Jenna is also determined to find a train robber, while she prepares to set out on a mission as a Pinkerton agent. During her journey, while on her man-hunt, she finds Branch McCauley, a hired gun. It turns out that Branch is also searching for the bank robber, and wants to find this criminal as much as Jenna does.
Branch realizes that Jenna is not only filled with courage, but doesn't take too kindly to the opposite sex as they get involved in more-and-more arguments. Jenna is blind at first to the romantic sparks that continue to fly across the room, every time she sets her eyes on Branch. Does Jenna find out about Branch's haunted past? Does Branch find out why Jenna treats him the way she does? Will they both discover hidden secrets, and will Jenna come to terms with her father? Will love bring Jenna and Branch together?
Best-selling author Charlene Raddon delivers a historical romance with suspenseful twists and turns in an adventure made for the big screen. The setting of the old wild west is picture-perfect, the intriguing story is filled with hot romance, and the colorful characters bring the story to life. "TAMING JENNA" is seductive, as romantic as Runaway Bride, and as entertaining as Sleepless in Seattle. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy historical romance!
great hot romance for those cold Winter nights!
Not a shrinking violet by any means, Jenna is a tough gal trying to prove it in a man's world in the Wild West. She is tracking a dangerous outlaw, Modena, and instead stumbles upon yet another hired gun and perhaps even more dangerous Branch McCauley.
The writing is fast paced and fun. Set in the romantic and rugged Wild West, the character of McCauley is everything a romance reader could ask for. He is a take charge, swoon-worthy man who isn't afraid of Jenna's spunk or determination.
Charlene Raddon creates yet another fun story filled with likable characters and quick, witty dialogue. If you are looking for a great romance to read this Winter, Taming Jenna will heat things up nicely.
Saddle Up for Romance in the Untamed West
Travel back to the days of the wild west, where men often lived or died by the speed of their gunhand, and women knew their place in the kitchen. Apparently Jenna, a female Pinkerton Agent didn’t get that memo and, disguised as a boy is scouring the countryside in search of a train robber who can be identified by a scar on his backside, while also looking for the father who deserted her when she was a child. When Jenna comes up on a man who fits the robber’s description, she ambushes him and forces him to prove he has no scar. Oops, wrong guy, but Branch McCauley is going to teach this young lad a lesson, returns the ambush and oops, he is a she - very angry she. Turns out they are searching for the same man, and both are determined to be the one to bring him to justice. Like two stubborn mules, they bicker and banter and snarl most of the way through the story, fighting the obvious attraction they have. Jenna would never trust a man with her life, she has worked too hard to be independent, all because of the disaster her father’s disappearance made of both her life and her mother’s. She needs closure, she wants answers from the man she barely remembers. What both Jenna and Branch find will shake them to their core as they uncover far more truths than they ever bargained for!
Taming Jenna by historical romance writer extraordinaire, Charlene Raddon will take you back to yesteryear, where baths are a treat, sleeping under the stars is normal and the law is not necessarily just. I swear I could hear the horses’ hoof beats, taste the dust and smelled the wood smoke from the fires. Jenna is a woman ahead of her time, with her sense of independence, her toughness, and yet, all of the women portrayed in Taming Jenna had backbone, no shrinking violets in the mix! Branch is damaged by his past, but fair, tough, a little hot-headed, and totally befuddled by what Jenna is doing to him. Gotta love when the big man gets thrown off his game by the “little lady!”
Filled with adventure, great dialogue and enough twists to tangle your lasso, Taming Jenna is a fun ride back into the past with enough romantic tension and fateful twists to almost make me wish I were there for real-almost!
A story set in 10 years time where two bodies are found in the river NITH in Dumfries, south west Scotland. One is a blind musician and police informant while the other is Poppy, a young girl. It brings Mark and Carla together with different views i
