Leslee Breene, Leadville Lady

Leadville Lady

Leslee Breene

Five Star, November 2006, $26.95

ISBN: 1594145466

In 1880, bookkeeper Sky Saunders leaves her Placerton home with scandal hanging over her head, as her banker husband Thomas embezzled funds. She travels to Leadville, Colorado at the invitation of her cousin, Deputy Marshal Ned Saunders, who is away on his honeymoon. Ned's boss Marshal Cody Cassidy takes Sky into his home that he shares with his dad.

While waiting for Ned to return home, Sky is determined not to depend on any man anymore. Following a tip from Saunders' housekeeper, she accepts a position with room and board as a bookkeeper at Bartram's Gaming House. Cody is concerned with her living and working in a gaming house, as he believes strongly that is no place for a lady like her. However, he is also as concerned, if not more so, that she co-owns a silver mine, as someone is killing or running off claimants to steal mines. Finally, the most frightening thing about this obstinate woman in the marshal's musings is he wants her.

Sky is an interesting protagonist who learned her lesson about male dependence form her crooked former husband. Thus, her need to take care of herself drives Ned up a wall, as he feels he must protect her beyond just his law enforcement position. Their relationship makes for a fun western romance, with some late suspense caused by a nasty too stereotypical villain.