Ginger Simpson, Sparta Rose

Ellie Fountain is the apple of her father, Ben's eye. Her mother died young and she has grown up as his right hand man in his attempt to make their ranch, Fountainhead, one of the most successful in the territoryEllie may have tended toward tomboyish ways as she grew up in a world populated by ranch hands, but she loved it. Life wasn't always easy, but Ellie and Ben managed well between them, until a stranger rode over the hill and asked Ben for work.From that first day, Ellie felt Tyler Bishop was a threat. Ben embraced him and his abilities like a son, even deferring to him on the future of the ranch. Ellie tried even harder to keep her father's attention, but suddenly, he changed. He began insisting she behave more like a lady, wore feminine clothes and stopped hanging round so much with the ranch handsWhat her Pa also seemed to forget, were there were others in the district who cast covetous eyes on Fountainhead. The Bryants were a bad, father and twin sons both, who took a delight in taunting Ellie with the fact they intended running her and Ben from their landWhen a series of odd things happen, Ellie is forced to look at her enemies in a different light and the lines between the two become clouded. Trust becomes harder when she doesn't know who is on her sideSparta Rose is a story filled with all the flint and vinegar of the old west, with some healthy ambition, jealousy and revenge thrown in. The bad guys are unredeemable, well some of them, and Ellie is the heroine we all want to be, beautiful, modest, courageous, determined and ambitious. As the story unfolds, and Ellie fights for her future, she becomes the woman she didn't know she wanted to be, and finds an ally in a man she didn't realise she wanted.