Redemption, Texas - 1881

Lucille Firr has lived her entire life in Hell. Literally. The daughter of the devil himself, Lucy has one last chance to escape the underworld's darkness and live on earth forever. But first, she needs Jedidiah Caine’s soul. Even though standing here on the auction block in front of a bunch of smelly, lecherous men is downright humiliating, Lucy is determined to leave this room on Jed’s arm. But Jed isn’t bidding at this wife auction, and the only reason he’s standing up here in front of everyone is that Lucy embarrassed him enough in front of these men that he had to step forward and defend his name. When Lucy finally guilts Jed into laying down the bride price and leaving the room with her, she’s ecstatic. Until he heads for the church. There’s no way in this mortal man's world that his God will allow her to walk inside those doors, not without striking her down first! Instead, Lucy pleads with Jed to take her to the courthouse where they are married straightaway. Mission accomplished. Now all she needs to do is secure his soul, that of his sister-in-law, Maggie, and her unborn child. When she does, these humans will cease to exist, her father will have the baby's pure soul to corrupt, and Lucy will be free.

Jedidiah Caine is trying his best to scratch a living out of a barren patch of acreage. The pile of boards he calls a house is actually a broken down shack, but, he lives in the barn and sleeps on a pile of straw! All Jed has ever wanted is a woman to help him work the ranch, raise his children, and maybe they might find a smidgen of love along the way, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t. Once, not long ago, Jed thought he had found that woman, but instead, Maggie fell in love with his brother, Sam. Now, Sam has vanished off the face of the earth and the pregnant Maggie is quickly slipping out of reality. The town's people call her crazy and the only reason Jed went near the wife auction was to get a strong woman to take over Maggie’s chores. He never expected to be married to a beautiful woman like Lucy. But now that the deed is done, he can’t wait to put her to work. Jed welcomes an extra pair of hands to help, even if they come attached to a beautiful package with long black hair and fiery emerald eyes.

Lucy is outraged! Jed expects her to collect buffalo chips, build a fire, and cook dinner! And to top it off, he insists she take off her beautiful green silk gown and put on a drab cotton dress. Neither Jed nor this so-called ranch is quite what Lucy expected, but she figures she has to make some concessions in order to gain the man's trust. Once she can bed him, he’ll think he’s in love; Lucy will take his soul, and Jed will be no more.

THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER is a delightful fantasy romance with crisp and snappy dialogue, lots of passion and emotion, and a few laughs. Lucy is on a mission to destroy Jed's family and secure her own future away from the darkness she's always called home. Jed only wants to be successful at ranching, but first he has to make this dry, barren piece of ground blossom. The story is focused mostly on Jed and Lucy's thoughts and desires, but several secondary characters hold strong supporting roles. Lucy's devilish brother, Deacon, and his pet ferret pop in now and then to cause trouble; the staunch Mrs. Blake from Redemption comes along to teach Lucy how to cook, and sister-in-law, Maggie, gets crazier by the day after Lucy appears on the ranch.

THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER is a quick read for a nice spring day!

Diana Risso