AUSTIN, TX—Some characters capture an author’s heart. They refuse to go quietly away after “The End” is typed in a novel.

“Coyote Cass” was one of those troublemakers for national bestselling Romance author, Adrienne deWolfe. 

“Cass blazed his way into my heart while I was plotting the love triangle in Seduced by an Angel (Book 3, Velvet Lies Series,)” deWolfe said. “He was supposed to be the villain—a real villain, who kidnaps the heroine and gets shot by the hero.

“But Cass wasn’t happy with this plan. He kept whispering in my ear, ‘Aw, c’mon, I’m not so bad. I’m funny! How many villains do you know with horses named Jelli and Pancake? And what about that jail scene, where I’m losing my shirt to the marshal ‘cause he’s a rat-fink card cheat? I’m adorable! Give me a book and a woman of my own!”

Cass—or rather, “Eros in Spurs, as the rascal is aptly named”—can be extremely persuasive, deWolfe said. “The next thing I knew, I was doing something crazy: rewriting the plots of previously published ebooks in the Velvet Lies series so I could redeem Cass.”

Those revisions let deWolfe star Cass in a new romantic series of Western Whodunits called Lady Law & The Gunslinger. Book 1, Devil in Texas, is deWolfe’s first contribution to the Romantic Suspense genre.

“Cass’s childhood dream was to become a Texas Ranger,” deWolfe said, “but that plan got derailed when the hothead turned vigilante, gunning down the Ku Klux Klansman who murdered the last of his kin. As a result, Cass has spent most of his life on the run. But intrinsically, he’s a good man.

“Of course, he’s also the ultimate womanizer,” deWolfe said, laughing. “He once accepted a bet to seduce a virgin on her wedding day—and won.  Needless to say, this Bad Boy is too canny to be tamed by the average wedding-bell chaser. To create his perfect foil, I had to write a woman who was larger-than-life. She had to be strong enough to survive on the frontier, canny enough to resist Cass’s ‘Coyote Charm,’ and noble enough to inspire him to do good deeds with his guns.”

Enter Sadie Michelson, a fiery-haired, wise-cracking ex-bawd with a Pinkerton badge. “Sadie’s a hoot,” deWolfe said. “She has a temper, and she’s not afraid to use it!  But what I really love about Sadie is she’s courageous and resourceful—a female action hero that modern women can cheer for. She leaps out of a burning building; she demonstrates steely nerve when bullets are whizzing past her ears; she battles armed foes, who vastly outnumber her, so she can rescue a kidnapped child.

“But to make Sadie really interesting,” deWolfe said, “I turned her into Cass’s long-lost love, the one woman he has never been able to forget—even though he thinks she betrayed him to the Rangers.”

In Devil in Texas, Sadie goes undercover to cozy up to a corrupt senator and stop him from assassinating his rivals. But first, she must get past his hired gun, Cass—the one man in Texas who can blow her cover. The sparks fly when the star-crossed lovers reunite, waging a battle of wits and wiles that ranges from Galveston’s seamy red-light district to the glittering health resorts of the “Saratoga of the South” (Lampasas.)

Devil in Texas received high praise from national bestselling Historical Western Romance author, Barbara Ankrum:  “Adrienne deWolfe has done it again with a rousing adventure that’s sure to please any lover of Western novels. Deftly weaving rich characters with a sublimely unique plot, Devil in Texas is the perfect blend of laugh-out-loud storytelling and heartfelt emotion.  DeWolfe delivers a deliciously wicked pair of star-crossed lovers, a Texas-Ranger whodunit, and a rascally raccoon, named Vandy, who will steal your heart. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down!”

DeWolfe’s writing has also been praised by USA Today bestselling author, Julie Ortolon:  “Adrienne deWolfe never ceases to delight.  Her spunky heroine’s and sexy heroes offer an exciting read every time. The subtle levels and dimensions deWolfe gives her stories and her characters are an added bonus to an entertaining tale. She is a true storyteller for anyone who enjoys something above the ordinary.”

Based in Austin, deWolfe is the recipient of 48 writing awards, including the Best Historical Romance of the Year. She has written novels for Bantam Books and Avon Books, in addition to ePublishing Works, which published Devil in Texas and its sequel, Dance to the Devil’s Tune. Both novels are available in print and ebook formats.

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Excerpt

DEVIL IN TEXAS

Book 1, Lady Law & the Gunslinger

By Adrienne deWolfe

Reaching for his six-shooter, Cass waved his 17-year-old sidekick to safety and poked his head around the corner. A bearded figure in a sack suit was climbing through the window. Apparently, Cass had caught a thief breaking into the hotel.

He marveled at the irony. All his life, he’d wanted to be a Ranger, to fight for right and make the world a safe place for little kiddies to play. Even though that dream had been derailed when he turned vigilante, Cass’s altruistic side couldn’t let some desperado barge into the building and loot innocent folks.

Stepping into the moonlight, he confronted the burglar.

“What’s the matter, mister? Stairs aren’t enough exercise? “

The thief went rigid.

“Hands,” Cass barked, cocking his .45.

Slowly, reluctantly, the burglar spread his gloves in the universal sign of surrender.

“I’ll frisk him,” volunteered 17-year-old Collie. The kid looked ridiculous when he lurched forward in his widow’s weeds, which he’d stuffed with a matched pair of cantaloupes. They thumped together in his corset.

Cass wanted to wallop the kid for such a lousy stakeout disguise. “Confound it, Birdie” — he improvised the name — “is that how your mama taught a lady to behave?”

His prisoner chuckled. The sound was low and husky, reminding Cass of whiskey, scarlet, and sin all rolled into one.

“Looks like Birdie found Admiral Farragut’s lost torpedoes.”

“Mind your manners, cockroach,” Cass growled. “You’re talking to a lady.”

Straight white teeth flashed in the thief’s graying beard. “Somebody’s got his facts all tangled.”

Cass’s brow furrowed. Something about that voice wasn’t right. For one thing, it wasn’t scratchy enough to be old. For another, it reminded him poignantly of Sadie.

Cass cursed himself. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted by grief. Sadie had betrayed him. She’d told the Rangers about his murder warrant. After a hurt like that, Cass shouldn’t have cared that the golden-eyed hellion had vanished in a fire.

But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about those long-lost days of star-gazing, berry-picking, and sharing secrets in the hayloft with Sadie. A yawning emptiness consumed his soul. The nights had lost their thrill because he could never love, war, and make up again with the Devil’s Red-Haired Daughter.

He dragged his thoughts back to his prisoner. “What’s that bulge under your coat?”

The ghost of a dimple peeked beneath the thief’s derby. “The usual.”

“Want to be more specific?”

“See for yourself.”

Cass frowned. This conversation was familiar—macabrely familiar. But his memory had to do with Sadie and a skimpy negligee that had nearly stopped his heart.

“Take off your hat,” he commanded suspiciously.

Another saucy dimple peeked. “You want it? Come and get it, hotshot.”

Cass’s patience was rapidly unraveling. Defying knives, blinding powder, and whatever else the thief might throw, Cass stalked closer. A tepid breeze stirred the draperies. The masculine scents of leather and horse wafted past his nose, along with the feminine fragrance of rosehips.

Sadie’s favorite tea.

Now Cass was close enough to notice anomalies beneath the burglar’s bowler: a mustache that was just a hair off balance. Lips that were pink and kissably soft.

Cass’s brain told his senses they were liars, but his heart couldn’t give up the hope. With a shaking hand, he knocked off the thief’s hat.

Eyes as hot as golden brands burned into his.

In the next instant, a boot sent his gun flying. A second drop-kick plowed into his midsection.

“Son of a—” Cass stumbled to his knees, winded.

Collie reached for his revolver.

“No!” Cass tackled the boy. They hit the carpet in a tangle of limbs and lace. “That’s Sadie!”

“Are you loco? Sadie’s dead!”

They flopped like a couple of beached whales, Cass’s spurs shredding the boy’s petticoats. Sadie glanced over her shoulder, that wicked dimple flirting with her lips. One last smirk for his embarrassment. One last sigh for all that might have been.

Then, with an audacious wink, she fled.

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Book Description

DEVIL IN TEXAS

Book 1, Lady Law & the Gunslinger

By Adrienne deWolfe

Pinkerton Agent Sadie Michelson poses as a casino singer to investigate a Texas Senator. Before she can cozy up to her quarry, she must get past his bodyguard, William Cassidy, her long-lost lover.

An outlaw seeking redemption, Cass was lured to Texas by the promise of a Ranger badge. But he hasn’t forgotten the sassy siren, who toyed with his heart. When Sadie proposes a truce, Cass suspects she’s hiding something.

With assassins dogging their heels, Cass and Sadie uncover a murder conspiracy in the senate. To stay alive, they must do the one thing they’re dead set against: trust each other.

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