Itโs Texas-style drama, scandal, and corruption set in the world of ranching, when the death of a powerful man leaves families at odds, a high-stakes reining competition in the balance, and forbidden attractions in the mix ...
Frank Culhane may be the wealthy patriarch of one of Texasโs most prestigious families, but his party-girl daughter, Jasmine, is only interested in the money the ranch brings inโand the cowboys. Until the day she heads to the stables in search of their hot horse trainer and instead discovers her daddyโs body in their prize stallionโs box stall.
Roperโs rodeo career was cut short by an injury. Now, heโs hungry to compete in reining events, like the prized forthcoming Run for a Million. In the meantime, until his family can afford their own breeding business, heโs got to work for the rich ranchers who snub themโincluding the Culhanes. But when an autopsy reveals Frank was murdered, Roper lands on the list of possible suspects.
City outsider Detective Sam Rafferty is propelled into a tangle of simmering rivalries as he undertakes the investigation. For the ranch is now in the hands of an explosive partnership: Frankโs young, glamourous second wife, Lila, and his scorned first wife, Madeline. Lila has a genuine passion for ranching. Madeline is determined to destroy her.
Through Samโs interviews, more tensions surfaceโthere are Madelineโs grown children whoโve been bypassed for control of the ranch, the socially dismissed McKennas, and the breeders, politicians, and neighbors ready to profit from Frankโs death. But tricky alliances are also brewing. While Lila and Roper clash, they discover a fire beneath their sparring. And with a killer still at large, the heat between Jasmine and Sam could put the case, and all their futures, on the line ...