Veil of Sand — Ann Boyle

As impetuous and quick-tempered as her red hair implied, Nola Drake had joined the Park Service to get away from the city and from Dan Osburn. Anxious to leave, she had accepted a post as an assistant ranger at the Anza Borrego desert ranger station, run by tough, demanding Vance Fletcher.

Once there, however, Nola discovered that desert life was not as uncomplicated as she thought it would be. First, there was the challenge of proving to Vance Fletcher that a woman could be a good ranger. Then, there was the even greater challenge of adapting to desert living--to the harsh, and sometimes cruel, realities of life in that vast terrain.

Nora also discovered that she couldn't get away from the complications of romance even in the desert. The other assistant ranger, Miguel Sanchez, seemed determined to capture Nola's heart in his jab of lighthearted romance and tender love songs. And Corabeth, Vance's wife, in whom Nola found it easy to confide, did everything to help the romance along.

But Nola could not confide even in Corabeth the secret of her discovery of the enigmatic Todd Marshall living hidden in the desert. Was he really the artist he claimed to be? Or was he there for more sinister reasons--reasons that connected him with the poaching that was decrimating the endangered bighorn sheep that found refuge in the park? Yet even as she struggled to uncover the truth about him, Nola found herself irresistibly drawn to this mysterious stranger.