The Man From Stone Creek [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin Mills and Boon
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0263865657
• ISBN-13: 978-0263865653
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,265,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In January of 2006, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Linda Lael Miller left the Arizona horse property she's called home for the past five years and listened to the call of her heart. Packing up her work-in-progress for HQN Books; her dogs, Sadie and Bernice, and her four horses, the author of more than 70 novels bid farewell to her home in the desert and returned to the place of her birth, Spokane, Washington.
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda grew up in Northport, WA, a community of 500 on the Columbia River, 120 miles north of Spokane. Her childhood remembrances include riding horses and playing cowgirl on her grandparents' nearby farm. Her grandparents' spread was so rustic that in the early days it lacked electricity and running water.

As delightful as this childhood was, Linda longed to see the world. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she left to pursue her dream. Because of the success of her author career, Linda was able to live part-time in London for several years, spend time in Italy and travel to such far-off destinations as Russia, Hong Kong and Israel. Now, Linda says, the wanderlust is (mostly) out of her blood, and she's come full circle, back to the people and the places she knows and loves.

Before Linda begins her writing day, she takes her first cup of coffee while enjoying the scenic view of the wooded draw behind her new home. The first morning there, a snowfall blanketed the pine trees, something she had missed in the desert outside Scottsdale. Still enamored with the people she came to love in Arizona, she says she will still set books in that starkly beautiful area, and, of course, in other stories the action will take place in Washington.

Devoted to helping others pursue their dreams, the author will launch her sixth round of Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women in May of this year. A talented speaker, she donates all her speaking honoraria to her scholarship fund. The stipends are awarded to women who seek to better their lot in life through education.

It's no wonder the protagonists in Miller's novels are women her readers admire for their honor, courage, trustworthiness, valor and determination to succeed, despite overwhelming odds. 'These qualities make them excellent role models for young women,' Miller explains. 'The male leads possess equally noble traits that today's woman would be delighted to find in her life's mate.'

The author traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she made her first sale.

Although Linda has written successfully in other genres, she is best known for stories set in the West'stories like McKETTRICK'S CHOICE (HQN Books March 2006 paperback); THE MAN FROM STONE CREEK (HQN, June 2006 hardcover) and that very first novel, FLETCHER'S WOMAN, which is being reissued in 2006. Her stories, set in yesterday's world, and today's, are historical romances, romantic thrillers, and other contemporary tales. They consistently score on prestigious national bestseller lists.

Linda has come a long way since leaving her sheltered life in Northport at age 18 to experience the world. 'Growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well,' she allows. 'And I'm happy to be back home.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man from Stone Creek stirs up trouble and romances the whole town, June 3, 2007

By 

D. Merrimon Crawford (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man From Stone Creek (Mass Market Paperback)

The Man From Stone Creek is a historical western romance set in 1903 in the Arizona Territory. The main romance is filled with suspense as the hero seeks to round up cattle rustlers and train robbers. The novel achieves an emotional depth as the heroine's romance heals a past tragedy. Linda Lael Miller's romance, however, is not just a hero-heroine romance --- it is the romance of a whole town where justice is found and the downtrodden find love.

Lawman Sam O'Ballivan has come to town to replace the schoolteacher. The minute he arrives, the local schoolboy fight and the boys learn justice O'Ballivan style. The boy who teased another is himself held by his feet with his head dangling down the well. The disciplined boy's complaints to his mother brings him to the attention of postmistress Maddie Chancelor. The sparks fly. When they collide, circumstances force Maddie into the sight of the most dangerous family in town. With Sam by her side, will she conquer the past or will his secret mission place her in the thick of even more trouble?

Sam may be working undercover to capture the castle rustlers and thieves terrorizing the local area, but his efforts to blend just seem to lead him into more trouble. Just as he realizes Maddie has his heart, his intended bride comes in on the stagecoach. Can it get any worse? Of course! The question is can all this danger change hearts so that romance succeeds?

Linda Lael Miller's magnificent romance is more than just Sam and Maddie. The reader sees problems that plagued the American West: the terrorists of the day, sickness, brothels which were often the only way for a woman to survive, children left orphaned or in need, and those left behind in the huge expansion of the West. The author does not shrink from the unpleasant realities of the historical setting, but she creates a romance where hearts are healed. Orphans and lost souls (children, adults and animals) find goodness, and justice is served. When her characters dare to opens their hearts and expose their vulnerabilities, love is found, and the lost or neglected who surround them get found.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page-turner from start to finish, June 19, 2006

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man from Stone Creek (Stone Creek, Book 1) (Hardcover)

There's a new schoolmaster in Haven, Arizona, and he's making waves. While the current teacher is the bookish wimp of a man the residents of Haven expect to find doing woman's work, his replacement is something else altogether. Sam O'Ballivan may be a schoolmaster but he's not like any this town has ever seen. In fact, he's big and he's broad and he's armed and he has the women of Haven, from housewives to ladies of the evening, swooning.

One woman who is immune to his sterling qualities, however, is postmistress and merchant Maddie Chancelor. Already overprotective of her younger brother, Terran, Miss Chancelor doesn't take kindly when the new schoolmaster upbraids him for a boyish but potentially harmful prank within minutes of riding into town. Maddie is determined to keep the undercover lawman at arm's length, but that proves harder and harder to do as they are repeatedly thrown together.

While Sam is taking on the local children as well as working undercover to round up a local band of train robbers and rustlers, Maddie Chancelor is a complication he didn't anticipate. He may be engaged to the girl back home, but it's Maddie who fills his mind and heats his loins even as she's railing at him for his shortcomings. He can't help but be enchanted by this woman's beauty and personality even as she hides her inner tenderness under a tough exterior designed to help her provide for herself and her brother in a man's world.

It doesn't take long for Sam to hone in on possible suspects for wrongdoing when he encounters the wild and wanton Donagher family. The patriarch, Mungo, is a stern and scowling man who keeps his four sons in line with fear and physical violence. Too bad he doesn't have the same effect on his hot-to-trot wife, Undine, who has developed a strong attraction to Sam.

It's hard for a man to get any work done, however, when there is a constant stream of the needy dropping in on him in the schoolhouse. From little Violet Perkins who needs to be taught to bathe and could use some new clothes, to Oralee Pringle, the proprietress of the Rattlesnake Saloon and a puppy in need of a home, everyone seems to need a piece of Sam's time. Even fancy woman Bird of Paradise comes bearing food and offers of other sensual delights enough to tempt a man. Somehow though, Sam manages to stick to his business even if his mind tends to wander to more pleasurable pursuits.

THE MAN FROM STONE CREEK by Linda Lael Miller is an absolutely delightful romance with plenty of action that transported me to the Old West and kept me there page after page as I got to know the endearing residents of Haven. It's a definite keeper for my bookshelf and one I'll take time to reread even when I'm tempted by the plethora of new books that constantly vie for my attention. It's one of those books that makes you wonder, long after you've read the last page, what the people you've come to know and love are doing.

--- Reviewed by Amie Taylor

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ROMANCE AND SKULLDUGGERY WITH A WESTERN FLAVOR, August 28, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man from Stone Creek (Audio CD)

With an impressive number of audio book titles to his credit stage actor Buck Schirner has established himself as a first rate narrator. His reading of the story of Ranger Sam O'Ballivan is arresting (no pun intended) and vital as he effectively captures Sam's first impression of Haven, Arizona, as well his gradually growing attraction to postmistress Maddie Chancelor.

Sam arrives in the border town of Haven in search of a rough gang of thieves who have been wrecking havoc throughout the surrounding territory. He comes disguised as a school teacher whose first order of business is to straighten out the ranchers' undisciplined children who have been creating a little havoc of their own. One of the most unruly young ones is Terran, Maddie's younger brother.

The self-sufficient Ranger is in for a surprise when he meets Maddie, a very pretty and proper young woman who has a temper and toughness all her own. She doesn't take kindly to his comments about her brother, yet finds the newcomer strangely appealing.

Before long Sam becomes aware of a planned train robbery and pulls out all the stops to capture the brigands before they make off with a load of Mexican gold. The surprise is in who the robbers turn out to be.

For those who like romance and skullduggery served with a Western flavor, this one's for you!

- Gail Cooke