"The Burnett Brides"
Zebra Ballad trilogy

Travis Burnett is one worked up cowboy! His mother has been taken in by a young woman that is nothing short of a con. Rose Severin, better none as Desireé, travels around as a spiritualist. She longs to become an actress but until that time she performs seances to help the loved ones of dearly departed souls make peace with their grief. Travis does not accept what this woman pratices as a job for one minute. And he vows to expose her fraudulent business and has her arrested for fraud, then run out of town.

His mother wants to see her sons wedded and she longs for grandchildren, so she sets out to make this happen, starting with her oldest son. The scheme she pulls is certainly effective, which sends Travis roaring out of town to bring back the thief that stole his mother's wedding ring. Oh boy, the fireworks explode in this Texas town!

This story kept me amused as the gypsish heroine went all out to keep the hero in a constant state of upheaval. Much to my delight, as he was a tad arrogant and needed to be brought down a peg or two and this heroine did it quite nicely. Her antics had him falling for her in spite of what he thought of her wrong doings. They were great together! I do look forward to the rest of this trilogy as I am curious to see what lengths Mama Burnett will go to to have her other sons wedded as well. She is definitely an interesting character!

Mama Burnett is at it again! The second story in the Burnett Brides trilogy is great!. Eugenia Burnett loves her sons and she is determined to find wives for them. After her success with her oldest son she decides to find a mate for her other son Tucker. So with the help of the postal service she sets in motion for him a mail order bride. Her plan does not work out as she expected as the stage coach her son's intended bride is traveling on is held up by bank robbers. Fate has a much stronger hand!

Beth Anderson is on her way to Forth Worth, Texas to be wed. Her life was ruined by the war, making her undesirable for marriage to anyone in her own Georgia hometown so she makes the decision to become a mail order bride. During the robbing of the coach she is accidently shot and the handsome stranger that helps her is much more than he seems. However he is gentle, kind and handsome. He saves her life by taking her on to a doctor as the coach continues on it's journey.

Jackson aka Tanner Burnett is an outlaw and he was in cahoots with the very gang that had robbed the coach and shot the beautiful young woman he had admired prior to the hold up. As he feels it is his fault she was shot, he must do whatever he can to save her. But he has a mission to accomplish, he can not afford to fall in love. He is a wanted man and emotionally wounded from the ravages of war and spending the last ten years away from his family. A family that believes him to be dead.....the same family that is expecting Beth's arrival so she may wed another Burnett man.....only he does not know this before he succumbs to her temptations and neither does she.

What a wonderful reading experience! This was a great second story in Ms McDaniel's Ballad trilogy. It was very absorbing and moving as Mama Burnett accomplishes much more than finding a wife for her son, she also has her long lost son returned to her after his abscene of a decade. And quite expertly the third and final story is introduced.....I am definitely anxious for it's release in the summer of 2001.

Mama Burnett has one more unwed son to coax into marriage!

Dr Sarah James arrives in Fort Worth worried about her elderly grandfather's health. It is not long before she realizes things are not as crucial as she believed. And seeing Tucker Burnett again is an unexpected surprise. Even though they had been childhood friends, their one night of passion three years ago has changed everything, especially when Sarah knows the last thing he wants is a commitment.

I read this great story in less than one day...I did not want to put it down. I enjoyed visiting the whole Burnett family again and the conclusion of this Texas saga was wonderful. By the end of the story I really felt bonded with all the Burnett family members especially the youngest and newest. I hated to see the saga end....it was fantastic!!

THE RANCHER TAKES A WIFE August 2000
THE OUTLAW TAKES A WIFE January 2001
THE MARSHAL TAKES A WIFE July 2001