Josie Hart watched her father hang for horse stealing only to return to her house and find it set afire by a band of men that includes the town Marshall, her childhood friend, and some other roughs. This gang is now after her and with blood in their eyes.  All she has left is her mule Traveler and a map her father shoved in her hand before they dragged him away to his inglorious end. Josie takes off in a gallop, the men hot on her trail. She doesn’t get far.

Grey Paladin knows where that map leads—to the nuggets of gold Leroy Hart stole from him. When he sees Leroy’s daughter fleeing and men in pursuit, Grey takes matters into his own hands and foils the gang’s attempts while capturing Josie. Only Josie isn’t ready to be captured. It takes a bit, but finally he calms her enough to tell his story and make his case for the map. Josie appears to have more integrity than her Pa and they reach an uneasy alliance against the men trailing Josie and a fragile agreement to find the treasure and split it. Grey is to get 60 percent and Josie accepted 40 percent, or so he thinks.

Thus begins a road trip filled with adventure, mayhem, natural disasters and man-made troubles. This journey will change them both in significant ways, but will it change their distrustful hearts?

This story has everything you’d expect in a western historical including bad guys, hard riding, deprivations and death for some at the end of a gun.  Josie has sand and Grey has a vulnerability about him that belies his tough guy stance. Both characters charm. Despite some uneven pacing, Outlaw Trail delivers a solid nugget of a romance.