Journey to High Lonesome — Rosanne Bittner

In 1868 Gainesville, Texas, Ashley Vale, 22, welcomes home Nick Calhoun, the man she loves and who has been missing for six years after marching off to war. But events involving an escape from a Union prison have left Nick a wanted man, and he has come home only to say good-bye again. Believing Ashley deserves a better life than he can give her, Nick heads to Outlaw Country without her.

Her heart shattered, Ashley leaves Gainesville to start a new life under the Homestead Act, but circumstances lead her to being framed for a soldier's murder. Nick learns of Ashley's fate and bravely risks his life - and prison - to rescue her. Long-neglected desires explode into white-hot passion as, together, Nick and Ashley challenge a lawless land in search of peace . . . and a place to escape from a past that tore them apart.

A thrilling read set against the magnificent western landscape of America's historic Outlaw Trail.