Book excerpt: “Sometimes trail dust is thicker than blood.” There's nothing Just Jimmy wants more than to fit in with his new outfit on the McKinnon Ranch, and it's what Doctor Rebekah LaRoche needs, too—another piece in the puzzle of her returning to the Omaha Indian Reservation. But jealousy, a pressing contract with the U.S. Calvary, and soap soup quickly put Jimmy at odds with Steve Bowers, the new head wrangler. Still shy of the horses they need and facing the looming contract deadline, Steve makes the bold suggestion to catch and break wild horses—except Jimmy and Steve aren't the only ones taking care of business in the rugged heart of the Medicine Bow Mountains. When Jimmy stumbles upon orphaned triplets surviving off the mountain with their flock of sheep and trusty border collie, he must face not only their uncle’s drunken rage and false accusation of rustling sheep—but a dark shadow from his own past. Jimmy has a kind of wound Rebekah can’t begin to heal until she understands what shaped the young man who has become her loyal companion. But are either of them prepared for a day when he will no longer be by her side? *** About the Doc Beck Westerns series: Of Omaha Indian and French descent, 34-year-old Doctor Rebekah LaRoche goes by Doc Beck, which gets her foot in doors before her patients and patrons realize she’s a woman. A sophisticated spitfire with remarkable people skills, a foot in the door is all Rebekah needs to do her job. Traveling the West in the 1890s to lend aid and cure the sick, Doc Beck finds herself solving problems and setting straight more than just broken bones. But the work doesn’t fill the longing in her heart for a place to truly call home—and someone beyond herself to believe in. Books in the series: Canyon War (Book 1) Mission Bandits (Book 2) Grave Robbers (Book 3) Desert Captive (Book 4) Ranch Feud (Book 5) Bronc Buster (Book 6) The Gunman (Book 7) Ape Man (Book 8) The Return (Book 9) (Coming May 2023) Lost Legacy ((Book 10) (Coming July 2023) Prairie Shadows (Book 11) (Coming September 2023) The Judgment (Book 12) (Coming November 2023) Doc Beck Westerns Boxset (Books 1 - 4)