Preacher Justin Wells is escaping from hypocritical Boston to start a ministry in the unrepentant town of Rocky Creek, Texas when he comes upon two fellow trail travelers who are in trouble: a hand-cuffed young lady and a dying U.S. Marshal.

Except Sarah Prescott, dressed in denim and as hardscrabble as any man, is no lady—well no ordinary one. She’s a wanted criminal—by association to hear her tell it. Her brothers are the notorious Prescott gang and the arrest warrant, for robbing and a murder Sarah swears they did not commit, includes her.

Justin is faced with a doozie of a dilemma when attempts to save the Marshal, with Sarah’s help, fail. He’s got no stomach to turn in a female to face a lynch mob. But more than even that, he’s attracted to this spirited and plain-spoken woman who’s far more capable of surviving in this difficult land than he is. She’s been dealt a raw hand and yet she has retained a giving heart and caring nature no more in evidence than when, unexpectedly, they are left with an orphaned baby.

The friction between a respectable, law-abiding preacher and a life-hardened young woman sparks an attraction whereby each finds something they need in the other. For the preacher it is Sarah’s openness and willingness to deal with whatever life throws her way. For Sarah it is Justin’s hope and faith in a better tomorrow.

Sarah can’t believe she’s having womanly thoughts about a preacher. She knows she’s not fit for any man, much less a man of God. But that doesn’t stop her from pining for a different kind of life that would include him and the baby she’s come to love.

Justin tries to convince her that she should turn herself in and stand trial to clear her name so she can have the good life she deserves. He exhorts her to trust in God and look for signs. But when he gets to Rocky Creek where Sarah is wanted, he learns that the law in the West isn’t apparently bound by the truth—and the lesson may just cost the woman he’s fallen in love with her life.

Margaret Brownley has written a thoroughly engaging story that will have you alternately chuckling and biting your nails as you turn the pages of this inspirational romance. Even as the ending drew near, I wasn’t sure Sarah was going to escape her outlaw fate and find her happily ever after. Ms. Brownley has drawn two delightful, multi-dimensional characters—a strong, independent, capable woman who desperately wants to believe in a better world than she’s known and a warm-hearted, idealistic hero who’s goal is to make the world better than it is. Definitely a keeper.