%20by%20Michael%20J%20Spanhanks.jpg "Prodigal Trail: A Historical Christian Western Romance (Jesse Stalls Series) by Michael J Spanhanks")
Prodigal Son meets the western era.
Jesse Stalls is beyond ready to leave behind his home, family and the father, who worked him plowing fields and much more. But nothing prepared him for the journey through the lengthy cattle trails where the bitterly cold days and cattle rustlers were the least of his problems.
After reaching Fort Worth, where the cowboys he worked with deliver the large herd, Jesse finds himself deeply in a gunfight. When it’s over, a man named Max Tolliver lies dead, and Jesse sits confounded because the man’s death is at his hand.
While at the point of giving up, a man named Montgomery Rowe offers Jesse and a friend, Eli Cole, a job with the Texas Rangers. They cautiously accept the offers and ride away with Montgomery and another man, Tom Hensley, who has just received word that Mexicans have snatched Montgomery’s wife and another woman and are on the trail toward Mexico.
After a long ride, they run upon the Mexicans, who are in a battle with a group of Indians. During the conflict, Jesse encounters a beautiful blond young woman, Hanna Elrod, as she shoots and hits an Indian protecting the women, and they instantly become friends.
During the days the rangers are staying with Montgomery and his wife at their home in Ash Creek, Texas, Jesse and Hanna’s relationship advances until the dreadful occurs. Two gunfighters show up and seize Hanna and her mom, forcing Jesse to engage them. Though Jesse has vowed he’ll never fight again, he and Eli step into the street and kill the two men in a contest to save the woman’s life.
Yet justified, having to employ his gun again, Jesse now must examine himself. Running away seemed the answer, but how can that work when he can’t keep his mind off Hanna? Her prayers and visits with Jesse cause him to know she is the one he must marry. The romance struggles, however, as Jesse’s past emerges still.
Can Jesse ever find the trail back home? Can he ever find forgiveness from his Heavenly Father and earthly father for what he’s done? Will he and Hanna find a safe place to live free from gunfighters who seek to kill him?