When cholera strikes San Antonio in 1843, Aurelia Ruiz discovers that she might have the power to heal-and also to curse. Meanwhile, Joseph Kimmel, a schoolteacher in Missouri and the son of a Polish Jew, learns of his brother's death in San Antonio-and sets off for Texas. Along the way, a runaway slave steals Joseph's horse. He is rescued by Henry Castro, a man who is importing immigrants to populate his planned city, Castroville-and then Joseph...

In this opposites-attract Texas Ranger romance, circumstances throw together a Texas Ranger with trust issues and a confident full-figured heroine who assumes the best.

"Where family bonds are made and broken, and where young love sparks as old flames grow dim, Ransom Canyon is ready to welcome--and shelter--those who need it"--

1850s. Ten years after her parents were killed, Evelyn Radcliffe is once more homeless: the orphanage where she worked has burned to the ground. Only she and a young orphan girl escaped. They flee to Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country and find shelter in the home of Wyatt Clark, a horse rancher whose plans don't include a family of his owe. But trouble has followed her to Mesquite Springs. Can Wyatt keep Evelyn safe from the man who wants...