New Release!!!

Staking Claim is now available from most ebook venues. I'm still working on the print book. I know, moving, grandkids, and building a house have gotten in the way.

This book is more a historical romance than a western. The story takes place on a clipper ship from Liverpool to New York, then by train to Chicago, and on to Oregon.

Here is the blurb for the second book in the Halsey Homecoming trilogy. 

Deceit, contradictions, and lies.

On a ship bound for America, Colin Healy encounters a contradictory woman, whose beauty and grace intrigues him.

Livie Leatherby boards the ship as an imposter to get the information she needs to save her family. Befriending Sir Colin Healy is easy with his chivalrous tendencies. But she soon realizes discovering his past marks him for death.

Forced together to stay one step ahead of the Lord set on killing Colin for his estate, can these two get past the lies and deceit that has brought them together before one or the other meets their demise?

Excerpt

Back up on deck, Colin stood at the ship’s railing watching the dock workers load the cargo destined for New York. A glimpse of bright blue in the periphery of his vision, turned his attention to a small entourage headed to the ship’s gang plank.

There was no mistaking the long, bright blue coat and large, overly-flowered hat.

Where were the people now following her when he came to her aid earlier?

A servant girl followed the young woman. She carried what looked like a hat box and two men followed her carrying two large trunks on their shoulders. While the woman’s stride was self-assured, her head pivoted back and forth, her gaze taking in everything.

Why would someone clearly of gentry, use a sailing ship to travel when not one hundred feet away the Campania, a steamship in the Cunard line, was getting ready to set sail for America as well?

Before he registered his own movements, Colin discovered himself standing beside Captain Whiteside at the gangplank. The jovial captain enjoyed welcoming the passengers.

One of the reasons Colin picked going home by sailing ship rather than the faster steamship was to have fewer passengers to deal with, or in his case, hide from. He wasn’t a socializer like his sister, Shayla. He tended to have his mother’s trait of enjoying themselves just fine when alone or with family. Taking the slower sailing vessel gave him the option of never setting foot in a proper dining room or having to sit through conversations with strangers.

“Welcome!” boomed Captain Whiteside as the young woman stepped from the gangplank onto the vessel.

“Thank you, Captain.” She touched a gloved hand to her hat, then touched her earlobe showing beneath upswept copper-colored hair.

Colin didn’t want to think he was partial to red hair due to his mother’s fiery locks. This woman’s upswept hair was a more subtle hue. He found the shiny copper color mesmerizing.

“Your name?” Captain Whiteside inquired, holding a script with names and cabin numbers.

“Miss Olivia Leatherby.” The woman’s green gaze drifted from the captain to Colin. Her eyes widened, showing she recognized him from earlier. She made no move to thank or acknowledge him, and her gaze quickly returned to the captain.

Why didn’t she at least acknowledge my presence? Colin continued to study the young woman. The more he saw, the more he was intrigued. She was a good head shorter than he, but her curves and the way she set her feet to take the sway of the ship proved she wouldn’t float away in a good breeze.

 

“Miss Leatherby, you will be staying in first cabin twelve.” Captain Whiteside tooted on his whistle and the cabin boy hurried forward.  “Jack, take Miss Olivia Leatherby to first cabin twelve.”

“Aye, Captain.” The young boy waved his hand for the woman and her belongings to follow.

Cabin twelve. That was two cabins down from Colin. Being practically neighbors, bumping into one another would be unavoidable.

He’d moved back to his spot at the railing when his gaze landed on another passenger whose fashionable attire and haughty manner didn’t fit with the usual sailing passenger. He’d come across a few men like this one since his return to England and taking charge of his estate. Why would a man of this class take a clipper rather than a steamship? He was the type who would think the accommodations on a clipper ship beneath him.

The wind didn’t carry the man’s name to him by the railing as Captain Whiteside greeted the stranger. It didn’t matter. He could always ask the cabin boy or the captain the gentleman’s name.

He turned his attention to the smoke puffing out of the Compania. A dark gray cloud puffed out adding more somber gray to the day. Passengers lined the deck of the steamship, waving at the people on the docks.

He could have been on that ship, surrounded by all the people and traveling in luxury, but he preferred the slower pace of the sailing vessel. He’d used his newly acquired connections in the shipping world to obtain a first cabin on the Americana. While he didn’t need the luxuries one had while on a steam ship, he did prefer traveling on a sailing ship in first class. The rooms were slightly larger, giving enough room to not feel as if he slept in a coffin, and the food, while not being served as elegantly, was filling and tasty.

The quiet, solitude, and time would allow him to go over the ideas his cousin Denis had handed him as he left Meath Hall. Even though he was excited to return to his family in Sumpter, he had become accustomed to riding about the thousand-acre estate talking to the tenants and discussing the best ways for them to grow better crops and livestock. Growing up, all he knew was mining, but living here, overseeing the land, he felt a kinship to both the people and the land.

“I guess you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” He grinned and headed to the first-class section of the ship. There would be a few more hours of spring sunlight streaming through his port hole. He’d best take advantage of the light to read the ideas Denis submitted.

He entered the covered stairwell and stopped. Angry words flowed up the opening.

“I heard you were late.” The steely deep tone sounded like a threat.

“Ah had to say good-bye…”

He knew that soft wispy voice. Colin hurried down the stairs.

Buy Links:  Amazon /  Kobo / Apple / Windtree Press

Wednesday Western - Pinkertons

Pinkerton Agents were a privately owned detective agency founded in 1850 by Allen Pinkerton. 

Pinkerton was born August 25, 1819 in Glasgow. After the death of his father, when Alan was still in elementary school he began working in factories from dawn to dusk for pennies. He later became a coopers apprentice and at the age of eighteen received his journeyman's card as full member of the Coopers of Glasgow and Suburbs Association. He became embroiled in the Chartist movement  which was ironic given the side he was on during the rise of the American Unions. 

In 1842, due to his activities with the Chartists, Pinkerton found himself an outlaw with a price on his head.  He secretly married Joan Carfrae and they headed to America. He set up a coopers shop in Dundee, Ohio.

It was his curiosity, that in 1847, began Pinkerton's destiny. While visiting an island where he cut down the trees he used for his staves and hoops on his barrels, he discovered a camp fire. Curious because no one lived on the island and people didn't just to out camping at that time, he checked on it several days and when that gave him nothing, he staked it out at night. That night he heard the approach of oars dipping in the water and watched several people come ashore, and the fire was lit. He notified the sheriff and they watched the island. They gathered a posse and caught a band of counterfeiters.

After that Pinkerton became more alert and had an sixth sense about people who were not "on the up". He wore a deputies badge as he made barrels and helped to alleviate crime in his area. His detective work of one John Craig, put his name on the lips of everyone and he soon had people from all over the county asking him to do detective work for them. 

Realizing his calling, he moved to Chicago and set up his agency. He used undercover tactics and keeping tedious records on the persons of interest and even doing sketches. It was this meticulous eye for detail that helped to capture many criminals and started the "Criminal Identification" system that is now the basis of the database used by the F.B.I. He was also the first to use "shadowing", surveillance and "assuming a role", going undercover.

Later his sons, William and Robert, joined their father at the agency. They had offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, New York City, and Philadelphia. At the height of the agency it was the largest private law enforcement agency in the world. 

They operated nationwide, working for railroad and stage companies as well as the influential. Their logo is the image of an eye and their motto was “We Never Sleep”. They performed the work done these days by the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service. In 1861 while investigating a railroad case they uncovered and foiled a plot to kill Abraham Lincoln on his way to the inauguration. 

Wednesday Western- U.S. Lawmen

When you write western fiction books whether they're romance or not you're going to end up with a lawman of some sort in them. Below are a few of the lawmen who helped tame the west.   

U.S. Marshals

Marshals

Sheriffs 

Rangers

Bounty Hunters 

Pinkerton Agents 

Range Detectives 

U.S. Marshals were the first Federal organization created in 1789 but George Washington and the Continental Congress. They were appointed, not elected. U.S. Marshals upheld the law in remote, sparsely, populated unorganized territories. As representatives of the Federal Government they were highest ranking officials, giving them both the cooperation and opposition from other lawmen. Their primary purpose was to support and defend the federal courts. They had wide authority in enforcing all aspects of the law. Handling disputes, delivering the U.S. Mail, protection from Indians, safe guarding government property, disbursing and accounting for monies used in running the courts, and even carrying out death sentences. Before 1896 they worked on a fee system, collecting a certain amount of money for a specific task. After that date they were on a salary. Until 1861 the U.S. Marshals reported directly to the Secretary of State. After the Department of Justice was created they reported there. U.S. Marshals could hire as many deputies as they needed to perform their duties.

Marshals were local law officials chosen by the population of frontier towns to bring order. The town paid for the Marshal and any deputies they might choose to help them keep the town safe.

Sheriffs were elected by the citizens of a town and paid by the local officials. They enforced the law within the county they served. They were to keep the peace, uphold the law, and maintain the jail. They worked with the U.S. Marshals but had less authority. Sheriffs hired deputies and formed posses when they were needed. They were also the tax collectors for the county.

Rangers protected life and property, handled special criminal investigations, quelled disturbances, served as officers of the court at a judge’s request, and suppressed criminal activity in any area where local officials are unable or unwilling to maintain law and order. A ranger has authority throughout the state. They are directly under the governor and can act as an army at times and a police force at other times. The Texas Rangers organized in 1823 when Stephen F. Austin brought together men to protect the frontier. Each ranger had to furnish his own horse and firearm. His pay was $1.25 a day. They were usually called upon for the toughest assignments. The Arizona Rangers formed in 1882 under the territorial governor. They worked the same as the Texas Rangers and were abolished in 1909 and reformed years later.

Bounty Hunters were either the good guy or the bad guy depending on the situation. They started out as law enforcers, serving a capacity much like a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Some worked directly with sheriffs in catching the criminals. They freed up the other lawmen’s time so they could concentrate on their normal duties. A good bounty hunter performed a valuable service. However, there were some rogue bounty hunters who tarnished the occupation.

Pinkerton Agents were a privately owned detective agency founded in 1850 by Allen Pinkerton. They operated nationwide, working for railroad and stage companies as well as the influential. Their logo is the image of an eye and their motto was “We Never Sleep”. They performed the work done these days by the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service. In 1861 while investigating a railroad case they uncovered and foiled a plot to kill Abraham Lincoln on his way to the inauguration. It was a family owned operation. They had main offices in the East, Mid-West, and West. Their operatives went undercover and they took invaluable notes on the criminals starting the process now used to keep track of wrongdoers.

Range Detectives- Were men paid by a rancher with a large spread or by several smaller ranchers to keep their cattle safe by arresting cattle rustlers and sheep herders who cut their fences. 

Friday Facts- Virginia City, Montana

Facts about Virginia City, Montana

The first public school in Montana opened in Virginia City in 1866. The Madison County Courthouse was built in 1876. The first company of the Montana National Guard organized in Virginia City in 1885.

The first newspaper in the territory, the Montana Post, printed its first issue in August of 1864. Today's local newspaper, the Madisonian, began publication in 1873.

The displays in Virginia and Nevada Cities differ from other outdoor museums in that they are interspersed within a living community and house the largest collection of old-west artifacts outside of the Smithsonian.

Why am I giving you facts about Virginia City? Because I received a very high compliment this week on my book Improper Pinkerton.  Part of the book is set in Virginia City and a reader asked me if I'd been there because my portrayal of it was so real.

Unfortunately I didn't have the time to go to Montana when I wrote Improper Pinkerton even though the whole book is set in that state. I did, however, use Google Earth, Sanborn maps, and the Montana Historical Society to help me learn about the areas of my story in the late 1800's.  

Blurb for Improper Pinkerton

An impetuous Pinkerton agent is out to prove to a righteous US Marshal that she's the best "man" to complete the assignment and the only "woman" who can capture his heart.

Mae Simon is on her first assignment as a Pinkerton operative and determined nothing will stand in her way of accomplishing her task. When the simple assignment turns into a murder and kidnapping, she has to stop hiding behind her disguises and trust a man she’s betrayed.

U. S. Marshal Beck Harlan can’t afford to befriend anyone. Not with a vengeance seeking outlaw killing off his intimate acquaintances. Yet, he falls hard for the French prostitute he talks into being an informant, not realizing she is a Pinkerton operative after the same man.

Excerpt:

Beck couldn’t believe his luck. The French girl stood at the top of the stairway. Sally had said she’d send the woman to him when she was available, but that was fast. He started forward, and she scampered down the stairs. He caught her from behind, sliding an arm around the curve of her waist, and hauled her back up to the room he’d just left.

“Unhand me you buffoon!”

He spun her and lowered his head, covering her mouth with his—just to keep her quiet. She stopped fighting. Her body went lax, and he molded her soft contours to his, drawing out the kiss. His heart hammered in his chest. Her arms entwined his neck. His hands roamed up and down her clothing. There were no restraining garments underneath. Only thin fabric between his skin and her round bottom. He reached around to the front and cupped her breast. She was a hand full.

Her palms flattened against his chest, and she pushed out of his grasp. He let her go physically, but his mind was back kissing her.

“Monsieur, you have not paid for that privilege!” Her golden brown eyes lacked the scolding of her words. He peered down at her moist lips and wanted to drag her back into his arms. He hadn’t needed a woman in some time, but this woman…lured him.

She spun away and stepped toward the door. She couldn’t leave. They still had to talk. He stepped around her, blocking her exit. His arms crossed over his chest to avoid reaching out to her again. Staring down at the top of her head, he waited. She slowly lifted her chin and stared at him.

“I must find Sally.” She raised her hands as though to push him aside, then dropped them to her hips when he didn’t budge.

“I just need a few minutes of your time.”

She held out a hand, palm up.

“What?”

“You, monsieur, wish my time. You will pay for it.” She wiggled her fingers.

He narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know what game this woman played. A moment ago she’d participated in a steaming kiss just as much as he had, and now she wanted paid for her time?

“Now listen here, I’m not paying to talk to you.”

“But, monsieur, you did more than talk when you,” her face blushed prettily, “dragged me into this room.”

“I only did that to keep you from screaming.”

“Screaming? I did not scream.” She cocked her head to one side as though sizing him up.

“You were about to.”

“Non. You took lee-ber-tees.”

He ran a hand over his face. Was she about to scream or did he take liberties? Now, he wasn’t so sure he didn’t kiss her because he’d been thinking of it all night as she flirted with Lamont.

That was the cold water he needed. Knowing she’d been with Lamont moments before.

“I need you to do me a favor.”

There she went with the palm and waggling fingers, again.

“I don’t need that kind of favor.” He pulled his badge out of his vest pocket. “I’m a U.S. Marshal.”

Her eyes widened, and her full lips formed a perfect ‘O’ before she uttered in her breathy sigh, “But monsieur, surely I have done nothing wrong.”

Her seductive voice and eyes feigning innocence played havoc with his control. He knew she flirted. He felt it in every inch of his body. And damn if he didn’t want to flirt back.

“I’d say working in this place gives me grounds to suspect…” She stepped closer, pressing her body against his and igniting desires he’d held at bay the last three years.

“S’il vous plait, do not take me to your jail. I would get cold and lonely there.” She ran her hands up his chest and looped them around his neck, stretching her body the full length of him.

He wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her against him. His body responded to her unlike any other woman. He rested his forehead on hers and took a deep breath.

Business. He had to keep this a business arrangement. For her sake. And his.

Purchase Links: Kindle, Smashwords, Nook 

www.patyjager.net

Fact Source: http://www.virginiacity.com/#fun_facts