Spinster's Folly (Paperback)

Winner of the 2013 USA Best Books Award for Western Fiction. Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. This fourth book in the Owen Family Saga is infused with potent heart and intense grit. "The harrowing experiences in early-day Colorado of 18-year-old spinster, Marie Owen, held me spellbound from start to finish. I couldn't put the book down. An incredible story, "Spinster's Folly" is one of the best women's novels of the west I've had the pleasure to read. Ever " Irene Bennett Brown, award-winning author of "Before the Lark," the "Women of Paragon Springs" series, and the Celia Landrey mysteries "From family drama to neighborhood conflicts, cruel abuse and budding romance, a runaway bride and the suspenseful pursuit of a craven criminal, author Marsha Ward spins a suspenseful, fast-paced tale of undeclared love, cowardly deception, and gallant heroism." Rod Miller, Spur Award-winning author "When Marsha Ward presents the reader with a new book about the Owen family, you can bet it will rivet your interest all the way to the end. You can't help but become totally immersed in the character's lives. Charming and earthy, "Spinster's Folly" is a grand addition to the Owen saga." C.K. Crigger, award-winning author of the China Bohannon historical mystery series "With a great sense of time and place, crackerjack dialogue and rich characters, Marsha Ward delivers "Spinster's Folly," a romance, Western and historical novel rolled into one-and one fun read." Johnny D. Boggs, six-time Spur Award-winning author of "Camp Ford" and "Legacy of a Lawman"