Reissued from 2000, when Patricia Hagan was writing under
the name of Maggie James, this lively historical romance
starts in the Shenandoah Valley where the bitterness
wrought by the Civil War still divides communities. Kitty
Parrish has just been orphaned and finds herself almost
friendless. She decides to up stakes and leave for the
Arizona Territory, where in a town named Tombstone her
stepfather is prospecting for ARIZONA GOLD.
Ryder McCloud is a half-Apache scout, who hopes to lead
some people fleeing a reservation across the border to
Mexico. Here they can lead their own lives. His father, a
partner with Kitty's father, had struck gold but both
prospectors have been killed. If Ryder can find the gold it
might make all the difference to his family. He rides in to
Tombstone looking for clues. Boot Hill, the cemetery for
ordinary folks, is busy as rowdiness causes fights and
shootings nightly. Opal Grimes, the lover of the dead man
Parrish, works at the saloon owned by Wyatt Earp. She's not
looking for another man, and she's sent a map of the claim
to Kitty. But Ryder learns that Kitty is on her way to
Tombstone.
I was cheering for Kitty from the start, as she dresses
like a boy and calls herself Kit to journey without
trouble. She's a good shot with a pistol and endures the
hardship of the stage trail. She's used to handling horses
at home, but the good horses are changed for mustangs then
mules as they cross the broken country. Life out here isn't
gentle but she is determined to cope. Then the valiant girl
- who refused to condone slavery at home - is captured by
Apaches and enslaved in her male guise.
A girl dressing as a boy in historical times always makes
for a great tale. Life among the Apaches is hard work and
at times brutal, but the well-researched details give us an
appreciation of the skills that it took to live off the
land. The life of miners, with basic food and dynamite in
their brush camp, isn't easy either. There is good contrast
and character development in the carefully written tale by
Patricia Hagan, with an adult romance between two people
who have both led double lives. Try ARIZONA GOLD to look
behind the scenes and find a heroine to love.
On the hunt for a killer, they find passion along the way…
Left all alone after her mother’s death, Kitty Parrish
receives word that her beloved uncle has been murdered in
far-off Arizona. With nothing left to tie her to her
hometown, Kitty embarks on a long journey to Arizona in
search of revenge.
Handsome half-breed Ryder McCloud is on a mission of his
own. His father was half-owner of a gold mine, and both he
and his partner—Kitty’s uncle—were murdered as a result.
Worse yet, it seems they took the location of the gold mine
to the grave with them. Desperate to claim his birthright,
Ryder anxiously awaits the arrival of the one person who may
have the key—Kitty Parrish.
United in their quest for revenge and riches, Ryder and
Kitty soon find themselves in the thick of danger,
adventure, and a growing passion they cannot resist.
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