Ethan's Abby — Elizabeth Fackler

In the first of this one-volume trilogy, Off Across the Plains, after surviving the massacre of her family, Abby Tate is rescued from slavery by Ethan Wood, a young outlaw on the run from having avenged his father's unjust execution. Ethan accompanies Abby on her search for her younger sister, Rene. The search leads them from the high Rockies of Colorado to a thriving border town in Sonora. Marshal A.J. Ledbetter defers his arrest of Ethan to help Abby, resulting in a friendship that both threatens and aids her attempts to reconcile Ethan with the law.In Orphans Wharf, motivated by jealousy, Rene tries to destroy her sister's marriage. As Abby struggles to sustain a household with a husband home only often enough to keep her pregnant, Rene flaunts her bordello expertise to inspire Ethan's defense, thereby jeopardizing his freedom. Liliana, Ethan's lesbian sister, and Abby are targets for his enemies but hold their own against nefarious lawmen and malevolent witchcraft that threatens Abby's unborn son. Through a profound deception, Marshal Ledbetter intervenes to become the family's ally.In the trilogy's conclusion, By the Hands of Men, Ethan has been declared legally dead, jeopardizing his income from the family trust. To prove his survival means appearing in court and risking his freedom. Caught in the dilemma, he tries to maintain the well-being of his family while avoiding the encircling noose of the law. When his grandfather arrives to confirm his identity, Ethan is forced to face the truth about the crime he committed at the age of fifteen. Driven to distraction by the growing tension, Abby fights her son's demonic possession, creating a breach between herself and Ethan when he needs her most. Their reunion is born when Ethan learns to stop hating what he has already killed.