Ben Cowden is no swaggering lover. He is a horseman, a stubborn son of Arizona. But now Ben is getting his lessons in the amorous arts--from the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on. Margarita Elias Odoms is the unhappy new wife of the ex-Texas Ranger hired by ranch boss Duncan Vincent to drive the Cowdens out of Arizona. When Ben crosses into Sonora to save Margarita from despair, love turns to war. With a missing shipment of hijacked gold on the loose, and his sister Eileen in trouble with a crazy family named Bonner, Ben is already fighting on two fronts. But trouble always comes in threes; now there is a price on Ben's head and he must battle to the finish with a tall Texan, full of all the evil and greed that had brought him into this unforgiving, proud land...