The Trail to Temptation

Ann Brownell let herself get suckered into surrendering to a rich son of a ----- , at a party in Washington D.C. Now, 17 months later, all she wants is the freedom she used to have as a youngster following her dad around the country. Saloons, stables and cowboys. She is determined to follow the herd of cattle, that her father bought, on the trail from Texas to his ranch in Temptation, Montana. Brownell doesn't think she will last long and demands that Linares hire a gentleman of good family to escort his daughter. In learning of the van Kelson family, we meet Quentin van Kelson, son of Claude van Kelson who is a lawyer. Quent has two brothers, a banker and a lawyer - sisters - and an uncle, Nickolas van Kelson, with the railroad. Old Nick is quite a character and ------ ? [look for this mystery]. Quent, at 24 doesn't know what he wants to do with his life yet and being a bit of an artist, loves to draw scenes of places and people that he sees. He wants to work and sees the cattle trail as a way to gain more experience of life. Boy, does he ever! The story of Annie's and Quent's meeting leads on to more and more of a darn good story and it is great as he tries to warn young Dan of the dangers of loose women. I can understand his vow of celibacy [not unknown to some men of character] after seeing what his college friends went through after bedding contaminated women. [Smart guy!] Although being promised to Mr. McCann by her father, Annie was having a hard time not recognizing van Kelson as a man with temptations and a danger to her. She would hold to her promise to her father. Quent very soon earned the nickname of "Dunk" from the cowhands and had no problem earning their respect. He took well to their jokes on him and even turn the tables. He even saves the day and helps build a bridge for the cattle to pass over. I love Old Nick's searching out of the families of an ancester, a pirate, no less and had to laugh when Broadbrim announced his name. This is a highly injoyable and entertaining story with great characters and neat plot weaving. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED --? You may want to keep this one.

All Annie Brownell wanted was a taste of freedom before she shackled herself for the rest of her life to a man she barely knew. But the city slicker hired to escort her to Temptation, Montana, was ruining all her carefully made plans and haunting her nights with dreams that had her longing for a happiness she knew was out of reach....