Westerns
RAILS AND ACES: A New Western with a touch of romance and mystery
On a train to Rawlins, Wyoming, Jace Keeler plays poker with four strangers and a mysterious woman, Deliah Cade. Mid-game, train robbers strike. When Jace chases after bandit, Willie Starks, who is fleeing with the payroll money, lawmen mistake him for one of the outlaws. He rides off wounded, is rescued by Deliah, and is taken to a robber’s roost tucked away in the cliffs. Meanwhile, Starks, pursued by lawmen, stashes the loot in the canyon. When the money turns up missing, the robbers suspect Jace and Deliah of a double-cross instigated by Deliah’s “intended”, the wildest outlaw of all, Jonas Grisby. Jace must win Deliah, even if it means a showdown with Grisby. He must find the missing money or face vengeance from both the law and gangs of rival outlaws.
Rails and Aces--Five Star Review Reader's Favorite
"Rails and Aces is a fast paced action novel that makes a pleasant read. Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton creates an interesting drama with cold blooded outlaws, an unethical sheriff and a few well meaning characters. There is a good amount of suspense to keep readers guessing who the double crosser is. Although Jace is attracted to Deliah, there is very little romance as the authors did not elaborate on the relationship. Their writing is more focused on the action filled drama that goes well in a western setting. Rails and Aces has a nice looking book cover. The story is one that will appeal to readers who like westerns."
DEATH COMES IN PAIRS
Jack Liege was acquitted of murder in the deaths of two sheepherders, but that hasn’t stopped the people of Douglas, Wyoming, from treating him as if he’s guilty. And so Jack hits the road, hungry for peace and a fresh start in the small town of Ellis Crossing. But a quiet life isn’t in the cards: shortly after his arrival, he breaks up a gunfight between sheepherder Andrew McGarwin and cattleman Tobe Kranston. In return for saving his life, Kranston offers Jack a job on his sprawling ranch…assuming he can stay alive long enough to claim it.
Because here in Ellis Crossing, a war is raging, a cutthroat battle for dominance in a rapidly changing world. And when McGarwin invites Jack to join him for a fateful poker game, the outsider finds himself trapped in a violent conflict that threatens the lives of everyone he has come to know—and the woman he’s grown to love.
REVIEW
"Death Comes in Pairs" by Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton is a true “Cowboy Caper”. The story takes place in 1888 in the small town of Ellis Crossing. Jack Liege is the cowboy hero and the suspected bad guy. Jack arrives in town after being acquitted of murdering two men on the last ranch he worked. He looks forward to a clean slate but soon finds himself in trouble again. After an innocent barroom card game and a trip into the mountains to search for sheep, Jack is once again the suspect in a murder case. The main characters are Tobe Kranston, a rancher who befriends Jack, the McGarwin brothers who are the murdered men, Sanger and Laird who are the mystery men and Vida Wray, the woman he loves, and Dale Willis, the town lawyer in love with Vida. The sheriff is sure Jack is the man responsible for the murder of the McGarwin brothers and the recent fires on Kranston’s ranch and is out to prove his theory correct. "Death Comes in Pairs" is a history lesson, suspense story, mystery and a light romance book. Jackson and Britton have written a book that emotionally attaches you to each character, captures your imagination and pulls you right into the story. "Death Comes in Pairs" had me staying up way too late to discover if Jack was the man “who did it” or the “innocent victim”. "Death Comes in Pairs" is a five star book that I would love to see as a movie. Jackson and Britton have surely made a winner. --Trudi LoPreto for Readers Favorite, Readers Choice Books online, November 2012
THE DEVIL'S GAME: THE LUCK OF THE DRAW SERIES BOOK 1
THE DEVIL'S GAME
Drew Woodson thought he was running a lucky streak. First he won a claim from Blackjack Logan in a poker game, and then it yielded a lucky strike. But the feeling turned when his stash of gold and his young partner, Tommy Garth, turned up missing. Drew realized that Blackjack Logan, who threw in with Reno Slade's gang, had taken revenge by capturing Tommy and stealing his gold. Drew dreaded telling the beautiful Celene, Tommy's fiancé, that Tommy had been kidnapped and probably murdered. But he keeps his doting feelings for her to himself as he delivers the crushing news. In pursuit of the robbers, Drew finds, not Tommy, but one of the bandits hanged, and he must face the possibility that his own partner has betrayed him. Determined to discover the truth, Drew is forced to become a player in the Devil's Game.
"An exciting book set in the conttext of a time of struggle on the semi-civilized frontier...
If you are pretty sure that you have it all solved, best to keep it to yourself for awhile, in case someone else in the family is reading along with you--there might be another opion along toward the end. Remember, you are an active player in The Devil's Game."
Professor Emeritus Glenn M. Busset--Manhattan Mercury
THE FIFTH ACE : THE LUCK OF THE DRAW SERIES BOOK 2
A friendly poker game at the Red Elk Saloon ends with gubernatorial candidate Oren Perley dead at the table. The other three players claim a disguised stranger shot Perley from the doorway and fled. The only clue is a fifth ace found near the dead man's feet. Fierce gunmen swarm into Leland intent on avenging Perley's death. Drew Woodson's mining partner, Tommy Garth, is wrongfully blamed, but the remaining poker players, afraid to tell the truth, are sticking to their fabricated story. Woodson must save Tommy and find the real killer before the witnesses are eliminated one by one or an innocent man is hanged. The vigilantes soon find that Woodson, too, has his reasons for wanting Perley dead. Now that he's saved Tommy, will he be able to save himself from the hangman's noose?
The Midwest Book Review
The second novel in the "Luck of the Draw" western series, The Fifth Ace is an exciting, action-packed adventure capturing the roughshod spirit of the Old West...a thrilling tale of old-style justice (and injustice!), The Fifth Ace is highly recommended."
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"Set in Colorado during 1876, THE FIFTH ACE is a classic western murder mystery with gilded cages, wooden sidewalks, and gold mines. The story centers around Drew Woodson, Garth's partner, as he follows clues through twists and turns while unraveling a mess that could take his partner's life and threatens his own. THE FIFTH ACE is a marvelous read for any reader of westerns, mysteries, or a person who loves a good book.
Michael Thal, Author
THE WILD CARD : THE LUCK OF THE DRAW SERIES BOOK 3
Drew Woodson's arch-enemy, Matt Ferris, becomes his new mining partner when Tommy Garth gambles away his share of the Lyra Shay mine in a fateful game of poker. Ferris, wasting no time trying to gain full control of the mine, attempts to sink Drew so deeply in debt that he will be forced to sell out. When Tommy's step-daughter, Marlene, is kidnapped, Drew is forced to borrow heavily against his share to pay the ransom.
Tommy, distraught over his step-daughter's kidnapping and insistent that Ferris cheated him, is vowing revenge. Soon, the situation erupts in violence. Just when Drew thought poker was the worst of his troubles, Tommy turns out to be the wild card in an even more dangerous game.