Crooked Hearts
- Author: Patricia Gaffney
- Publisher: Topaz
- Year: 1994, rereleased 2001
- Editor: Audrey LaFehr
- Setting: Central California, San Francisco, Wine Country
- Amazon Listing: Crooked Hearts
Book Description
Sister Mary Augustine, Grace Russell in disguise, is fascinated by the blind man sitting opposite her on the stage from Monterey, California, to San Francisco. That does not stop her from trying to con the other passengers out of money she is soliciting for "charity." She also takes a chance during a break in the trip to adjust her skirt, and the pistol in her garter -- thinking that the blind man won't be able to see. Reuben Jones is on the stage seeking to make his own score, and he admires Grace from the first, and really appreciates her legs, and the rest of her body when he walks in after her bath. When Grace finally catches on to Reuben's con -- as they are escaping after they and the stagecoach are robbed -- she is furious. Reuben and Grace team up to try and recoup their money to pay off various debts, and in the mean time lead each other -- and the reader -- on a rollicking good time. They don't trust each other, and there are good reasons why they can never live happily ever after, but they get to know each other and love each other in spite of their flaws.
