He vowed to keep her safe, no matter what it takes.Sheriff's Deputy Rafe Garland doesn't need a wife. But when he's dragged to a meeting at the least terrible saloon in Perseverance, he finds out he's been volunteered to marry one of six mail-order brides. The idea is simple: bring more women to town, and the rougher element will settle down. Rafe reluctantly agrees. After all, he figures he's a better choice than marrying the poor lady off to the town undertaker.The only life Hannah White knows is the orphanage in New York City where she grew up and where she worked. When the orphanage announces its closing, she gathers her friends from the orphanage and places an advertisement for all of them to become mail-order brides. It's a better option than going to work in a factory, and Hannah would give anything to get away from the unwanted attention of a nearby factory owner's youngest son. To her delight, all six women receive a response from men who live in the same town in the Colorado Territory.But the outcome isn't what Hannah expected. Outlaws ambush their stagecoach, her husband-to-be isn't enthusiastic about marriage, and Perseverance seems to have more questionable men than New York.Yet something about Rafe makes Hannah hesitate before calling it all a mistake. He's protective and honorable, and he believes in Perseverance. Slowly, Hannah begins to feel something she never has before: wanted. And Rafe, despite his misgivings, finds himself drawn to the brave woman who surprises him at every turn and somehow fits into his life as if she was always meant to be there.But the life Hannah left behind in New York isn't finished with her. When a danger they never expected arrives in Perseverance, Rafe and Hannah must fight for their life together, or they'll lose each other forever.The Deputy's Promise is the first book in the Stagecoach Mail-Order Brides series. It can be read as a standalone romance, or enjoyed as part of the series.
