LANEY by Author Vickie McDonough **Book Birthday** **Prairie Roses Collection 2022**

Today we continue our wagon trail journey with the third book in this year’s Prairie Roses Collection, Laney, by Author Vickie McDonough.

A woman fleeing her past runs straight into her future.

Laney Dawson is desperate to leave Council Grove, KS. Her abusive father is getting out of prison in a week, and she refuses to allow him to hurt her again. With few options available for a young woman, she poses as Lane, a teen boy, and hires on with a family traveling the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico.

Laney regrets lying to the kindhearted Buckley family, especially Ethan, the oldest of the five siblings. As her feelings for Ethan grow, she knows she needs to tell him the truth, but will he leave her at the next town when he learns she's a woman?

Laney (Prairie Roses Collection) is available on Kindle Unlimited

Council Grove, Kansas 1869

With a shaky hand, Laney Dawson marked another X on the calendar. Just one more week, and he would be returning. Everything would change. She plopped down in the chair beside the small table and tapped the pencil against the scratched wood top. “I should have left town sooner. What am I going to do? God help me.”

She couldn’t go through what she had before. She wouldn’t. Somehow, she needed to get out of town, but with little money, no horse, and few supplies, how would she survive? No one wanted to hire a woman, except for places that she would never enter. She stood and paced the small cabin, praying, then she dropped onto the bed. “Help me, Lord.”

A loud pounding pulled Laney awake. She bolted up, a hand on her heart, staring at the door. Pa? Had he returned early?

“Laney, are you there?” Another quick knock sounded.

Relieved to hear her best friend’s voice, Laney jumped up and hurried to let her in. She eyed Esther, whose arms were filled with clothing. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be working at the trading post?”

“Pa said I could take off, although I should be preparing our noon meal. I can’t stay long, but I’ve got some things for you.” She made a beeline to the table, set down the stack of clothing, then whirled to face Laney, her eyes bright. “I’ve got an idea.”

“What kind of idea?” Laney’s stomach clinched. Her friend was well-known for her hare-brained schemes. She warily eyed the flannel shirts and overalls stacked on the table, wondering what her friend was thinking.

Esther clapped her hands together. “A man from the wagon train that’s camped by the river came to the trading post this morning, looking for a man or teen boy to travel with them and help with the stock.”

“But what does that have to do with me?”

“You can hunt, shoot like a man, and I know you can ride. All we have to do is make you look like a man—or rather, a boy.”

EPCA/CBA & Amazon Best selling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She lives out her childhood dream by penning romances set in the Old West.

Vickie and her husband live in Oklahoma. They have been married forty-five years and have four grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and a feisty granddaughter. When she's not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, gardening, watching movies, traveling, collecting antiques and doing stained glass projects.

Vickie's Website ~ Amazon Author Page ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

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You can find the entire Prairie Roses Collection on

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Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please come back again tomorrow for a peek at the next book in the series.

Blessings,

Nancy