Passionate writer of Historical Romance, Karen wants you to know that it’s always hotter when the Mercury rises!

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Mountain man Cormack Bowmaker meets up with Zelnora Sparks on the eve of California’s great rush—the discovery of gold. Zelnora is fleeing from her mentor, the mighty businessman Brannagh. They are being shadowed by the most scandalous Spanish bandit in the frontier. Joaquin Valenzuela wants to rob them of their gold, but soon discovers a desire for much more. Californians call for the pickled head of Valenzuela in a jar, but his passion for the two Americans overpowers his zeal for mayhem.

They band together in their quest for riches, love, and the good life. Bowmaker is a sharpshooter, his aim true. Valenzuela will slit the throat of anyone who wanders by.  Zelnora knows where to find the gold. And Brannagh will do everything it takes to stop them.

Salvador Palomares, Don of a vast California rancho, saves the life of Ophir, a former slave pierced by an Indian arrow.  Sal has wasted years in drunken cattle driving and horse racing, and is surprised when Ophir tells him gold has been discovered, his land invaded by a gang of ruffians determined to banish all Spanish “foreigners.”

Sal and Ophir rescue Tamasin, a downtrodden Irish refugee raised in a convent.  Their passion for Tamasin creates rivalry between the two partners.  Tamasin loves them equally, so the decision to form a ménage cements their bond.

But their empire is threatened by The League, lawless thieves closing in to starve them out of their own mines.  The trio’s goal is to live in peace.  And they fight to the bitter end to reclaim it.

1848 San Francisco.  Lola Moreno has found a home at last, saved from destitution by businessman Gage Lassen. Gage is a withdrawn bachelor, and the most intimate subject he’s discussed with Lola is his preference in tea.  Adventurer Harrison Bancroft arrives fresh from years on the Plains, living with Indians.  Gage can only admit affection for another man, and things heat up when Harrison paints his portrait. 

Harrison and Lola can find no way to allow Gage to participate in their love, until Harrison unlocks the pain from Gage’s past, allowing him to emerge from his prison of cold restraint.

Corrupt enforcer Fowler threatens the trio with seeming knowledge of their private vices, harassing Harrison with his unwanted attentions, and a night of riots forces them to make a stand.

Army scout Foster Richmond has struck Black Hills gold, but his partner, photographer Worth Ludlow, fears it’s hexed by a Sioux curse. This seems evident when Foster’s witchy old flame Orianna pops back into Laramie, Wyoming, and throws a monkey wrench into their courtship of the stunning widow, Miss Tabitha Hudson.

Orianna drops the bomb that their little son needs Foster back in San Francisco. Tabitha can’t give up all she’s worked for—her new journalism career or the two rough-and-ready men she’s fallen in love with.

A séance held by local psychic—some say crackpot—Caleb reveals a traitorous web of sorcery, ghost dogs, and poisoned gloves. The trio refuses to accept they are the victims of the ex-flame from hell, and fights back with every weapon in their arsenal - including the crafty spirit of a dead miner - to protect their love.

Stuck on a snowbound train in Laramie, Wyoming, is Senator Derrick Spiro, traveling to introduce a measure giving women the right to vote. While watching a magician making a girl vanish, Derrick meets Rudy Dunraven, escape artist. When the girl fails to materialize again, the men flee from the unruly lynch mob.

They are assisted in their quest to find the real kidnapper by Alameda Hudson, bolting from a disastrous engagement to a serial cheater. A helpful and mischievous spirit instructs Alameda to join the play the circus is putting on in town. All three, tortured by past failed loves, are reluctant to love again. But they have no one to trust but each other, and they can’t clear their names until Alameda puts herself in danger during the final act of the play.

Alameda hopes she lives long enough to be the first woman voter in America.

The first train hurtles into Laramie City. Liberty Hudson is so full of exhilaration to be independent that when rowdy passengers thrust her into a stranger’s arms, she freely necks with him, but flees in a panic when the train reaches Laramie.

The stranger is Levi Colter, the new Indian Agent at the nearby fort. His predecessor Shady has left him in the lurch, having sold all the supplies meant for Indians to settlers. The fort’s cook, Private Garrett O’Rourke, seems to know too much—that Shady has killed an Indian chief.

Garrett realizes Liberty is the one Levi seeks—unfortunately, not before he kisses her and has fallen irretrievably in love with her, too. The men unite when a “talking board” warns them to protect Liberty from cold waters. Their love is cemented by prophecies and their practice of daily lessons from an Oriental love manual they discover.

The railroad thunders into the open wilds of Laramie City, Wyoming, ushering in chaos and psychic upheaval for Deputy Neil Tempest who is attempting to bring order to the lawless Hell on Wheels town.

Ivy is the first of four Hudson daughters to break away from her dull life back East.  A spinster after caring for her dying mother, she arrives amidst a flurry of strange murders.  When the spirit of a rancher’s murdered wife sets her sights on Neil, no one can tell if her clues are a help or a hindrance.

They team up with Captain Harland Park, a dashing and adventurous surveyor.  Booted from the British Army for writing a scandalous report on male brothels, Harley seduces the couple with tales from an Arabian love manual. They take spirit photographs and engage in lively séances, and a whirlwind of prophecies guides them into intrigue and love.

When Field Trueworthy blackmails riverboat captain Rushy Wakeman into partnering up, they’re unstoppable in their sleek steamer, El Dorado. Their rivalry turns into deep love, and with the addition of high-spirited hooker Calliope, the trio outraces and outwits every shyster on the river.

They contract with cold-blooded river magnate Soquel Haight to transport opium, as Field’s son back east is dying and they need money fast. Accidentally stumbling over a few dead bodies earns them the reputation of well-respected outlaws.

But their fondness for public displays of affection and dangerous riverboat racing puts them in Haight’s bad books. They can’t keep their hands off each other and are rocketing hell-bent into perilous waters. These three hustlers are being hustled themselves, and what they learn will turn their whole boat upside down.

California, 1851. The Sierras are ruled by a band of marauding Indians, and Major Huntley Ashbury is determined to corral them.

Huntley’s solitary existence as the biggest trader in the foothills is destroyed when he runs into Whitman Whitney, a half-breed physician with a talented knack for curing hysterical women—and men. Together they rein in the most savage barbarian of them all. Belle Pennington emerges from the forest with nothing left to lose but her Chinese book that tells stories of ribald encounters.

As Huntley and Whit clash impressing Belle with their skills, their Battalion ventures into the wild to discover the Indians' stronghold. Whit has only known the touch of men before, and his peculiar medical expertise astonishes and unites the three in their journey.

But it is Belle’s restless spirit the men must conquer in the deep grassy valley of the Yosemite.