The Canary is now available

 

By Kristy McCaffrey

Paleontologist Jack Brenner enters a fake marriage with Sarah Ryan to protect her in the Arizona wilderness ...

The Canary is Book Nine in the Wings of the West series but it can be read as a standalone.

Read now in eBook or paperback at Amazon, Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, and Google Play Books.

Read Chapter One and find buy links here.

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Arizona Territory
1899

Sarah Ryan grew up in Texas digging up animal bones and potsherds, but she always dreamed of searching for the extraordinary dinosaur fossils in the American West. When a wealthy benefactress gives her the opportunity to join the team of esteemed paleontologist Dr. Allan Brenner, she eagerly accepts. But when she arrives in the wild and wooly town of Holbrook, Arizona Territory, ready to start digging, she’s faced with the very real obstacle of being a female in a world dominated by men.

Dr. Jack Brenner is looking for his father who disappeared into the Painted Desert two months ago. Mounting an expedition to find him, Jack is suddenly saddled with Sarah Ryan, a young paleontology student hired as an intern to his father. When Jack’s guide refuses to let Sarah accompany them into the wilderness without a chaperone—and a colleague threatens her—he finds himself in a pretend marriage to protect the determined woman whose passion for paleontology was something he once possessed. But he has bigger problems than his beautiful new wife—his father is pursuing a controversial theory about the origin of birds, and it’s attracted the attention of men who would rather destroy evidence than excavate it. 

Sarah is the daughter of Logan and Claire from THE DOVE.

The Wings of the West Series Reading Order

Book One: The Wren
Book Two: The Dove
Book Three: The Sparrow
Book Four: The Blackbird
Book Five: The Bluebird
Book Six: The Songbird (Novella)
Book Seven: Echo of the Plains (Short Story)
Book Eight: The Starling
Book Nine: The Canary
Book Ten: The Nighthawk (Coming Soon)

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Read an excerpt

Sarah hadn’t expected Dr. Brenner to be so young. Or tall, his stance beneath his hat and duster exuding self-assurance. She had never met the esteemed paleontologist in person, but he was … different than she had imagined. Her smile slipped a bit. Could he possibly have written all those papers in the last four or five years he was credited with? He appeared to be around thirty years old, and that would mean he’d been doing extensive field work while earning his doctorate. It stretched credibility.

Dr. Brenner was looking at her as if he didn’t know who she was. Well, obviously he didn’t, since they had never met, but it appeared he hadn’t been expecting her.

“Did you get the letter from Mrs. Parks?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, good. Then you knew I was coming.” He was here, so he was awaiting someone. She relaxed a little. Traveling alone from Boston had a been a bit nerve-wracking, but she had kept reminding herself that she was made of sterner stock than most. She was a Ryan after all. A daughter and niece of the well-known Texas Ryans, Blackmores, and Walkers.

“You’re a woman,” Dr. Brenner stated, his brows furrowed in a way that reminded her of her favorite horse, Chip, when he wanted another carrot, but she wouldn’t give him one.

“Last time I looked,” she replied cheerfully. She’d been given the break of a lifetime when Mrs. Parks had hired her for this dig. She wasn’t going to let anything get her down.

When consternation remained on his quite-handsome face, she added, “Is that a problem?”

“I was told to meet an S. Ryan. I’d assumed you were ….”

When he paused, she waited, but when he didn’t finish the sentence, it became clear what he was going to say. “A man,” she said.

He sighed and looked away. “Yes.”

Copyright © 2023 K. McCaffrey LLC