The Bribe (Calamity Montana)

“It was a strange feeling to realize how much of your identity was wrapped up in a name, something given to you the day you were born. But I was Lucy Ross. My parents had given me that name with love, and I was the woman they’d raised me to be. Brave. Affectionate. Loyal. Trusting…as warm as this evening’s breeze. As gentle as the slope of the hills rolling up to the mountains.” Until her trust is betrayed and she’s forced to change her name and move to a new town, a new state, and a new home. Hoping to find a new dream and build a new life, Lucy discovers, “There’s no place like Calamity” with bison as its mascot. “A world of its own. A world where good men existed. Where I wouldn’t be exploited or betrayed or despised.” “The smartest thing for me to do would be avoiding men, especially a hot sheriff who was in the public spotlight. But after just hours with him, I knew I’d wonder about Duke. I’d wonder what might have been. He was fantasy fodder at its finest…I hated that he was human. Because right now, I needed a little bit of perfect.” “Duke Evans was as addictive as hot stage lights and a silky, Southern twang…Duke was a wall of muscle, a tower of strength. He held me at his mercy…He was the metronome, the steady beat, keeping my song in time…Since I wasn’t exactly exercising my fingers on the guitar these days, I’d keep them nimble by keeping them crossed…Sheriff Evans…What would you say to a bribe?” A stalker on the loose, a celebrity on the run, a sheriff to the rescue, and bison mascots, paintings, and standoffs, you’d have to induce me NOT to read Devney Perry’s The Bribe!