The Morgan family has fallen on bad times. The year is 1932 and people just can't make ends meet and are faced with losing all they worked for including their homes. The banks coffers are filled with repossessed homes -- so many that the banks don't really know how to manage them.

That's the battle Madge Morgan is fighting daily. Since her father's death the family has had to give the bank much of their land to settle that part of the mortgage. All they have left is their home and it's pretty much a day to day struggle to keep it. Madge will do just about any jobs that are available in her little town including laundry and house cleaning. It's a constant battle with dire circumstances that pits ever present faith in her beliefs that help sustain her mettle against the burgeoning odds.

When a newcomer arrives in town Madge finds herself in an unusual position. An attraction between Justin aka Judd and Madge puts them in an uncomfortable spot since Justin has assumed the role of a tutor to Madge's sister. Unknown to Justin the ad he wound up answering had a hidden agenda, it seems Madge's mother was hoping not only for a tutor but a potential husband for her rather frail daughter Louisa.

Justin is keeping his true identity under wraps. He is there to track down the con man that duped his mother out of her money and left her homeless. Madge harbors doubts about the credibility of Justin's identity almost immediately since he reminds her of a cowboy she literally ran into in town. But she is willing to bide her time as long as Louisa's tutoring needs are being met. Problem is the more time Madge spends with Justin, the more she realizes that no matter what his true identity is here is a man she would love to spend her life with an untenable position that would put her in competition with Louisa.

As Justin starts to reveal more of himself to Madge they realize closeness neither had anticipated nor nurtured. They just clicked. Madge was praying for a guiding hand to see her through these hard times. Is it possible Justin was the answer to those prayers? If so, how could they hope for a future with the possibility of disappointing Louisa and Madge's mother. And even more pressing was Justin's search for revenge against the man who conned his mother. Seeking revenge and coveting someone else's possible match goes against everything Madge believes in.

The first thing I thought of while reading THE COWBOY TUTOR was how time and history has a habit of repeating itself. It is now 2011-2012 and many people are facing the same dilemma that the characters of Linda Ford's book face. True with more modern conveniences but when faced with devastating shifts of economy the common denominator is keeping your head above water. Ford does a remarkable job of recreating a historical time with equal parts angst and hope.