The Unexpected Champion, By Mary Connealy

Penny Scott and her siblings and friends are working hard to settle their new land in the high sierra's. They are needing to build homes so that they can maintain their legal homestead. But in the middle of this work they have a problem. An outlaw named Raddo has struck at their family, but they have struck back. Raddo is now dead at the hands of Penny, Trace Riley a close friend and an outsider, John McCall. But just who is this John McCall.

Before Penny can truly find this out she and McCall are kidnapped. They are attacked, bound and hauled out of town by friends of Raddo. They want what he had. But unfortunately Penny and John don't know what that is.

But this propels them into a drawn out mystery and fight for survival that will draw them together as nothing else could. Penny the perfect frontiers woman and John the city slicker, big city detective, are paired together to solve this mystery and keep each other alive as well as Penny's family.

They will come to grips with the staggering evils of a man who struck it rich in the Gold Rush and is doing his best to crush everyone around him that dares to disagree with him.

Connealy does a great job of research into the time period of the Gold Rush of California. The homesteading aspects of frontiersmen in the High Sierra's and well romance. The story is well written and riveting. You want to find out what the outcome will be and thus you won't put the novel down until you finish. This is a perfect addition to the High Sierra series and I can't wait for the 4th novel.

Enjoy!