[The Cowboys 10] • The Mavericks

The bawling of the longhorns, the lonesome night watch beneath a vast, starry sky – they got into a man’s blood until he knew there was nothing better than the life of a cowboy … except the love of a good woman.

Hawk and Zeke have been inseparable ever since boyhood—two loners, outsiders, as free as the wild horses they chase across the Arizona desert. So when they join up with two misplaced dancehall girls on the trail, they react about the same way as unbroken mustangs to the saddle. Kicking and bucking at every step of the way, the bachelors are gentled by soft touches and warm caresses until each finds himself riding the range with a brand-new partner.

“Greenwood's compelling western romance offers cameo appearances of characters from his earlier series, including Seven Brides, and it is chock-full of action and adventure, brimming with colorful scenery, and bristling with clashes between well-developed characters.”

From BooklistIn Greenwood's latest he catches up with Hawk and Zeke, who banded together as the two misfits in the Maxwell clan. Hawk is the son of a Comanche chief and a white woman, and Zeke was a black slave sold to the same farmers who abused Buck in The Cowboys: Buck (1998). Resigned to a future as bachelors and social outcasts, they sink all their money into a small Arizona ranch and a string of horses they plan to breed. As they bring the last of the mares, heavy with foals, home, they spy a broken-down wagon and stop to help. It's full of saloon girls, and Hawk and Zeke elect to escort them on the trail, although their lives are complicated immeasurably by the attraction they feel for two of the women. Greenwood's compelling western romance offers cameo appearances of characters from his earlier series, including Seven Brides, and it is chock-full of action and adventure, brimming with colorful scenery, and bristling with clashes between well-developed characters. Lynne WelchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved