Blood Oath/ Melissa Lenhardt/ 368 pgs

This is the second book in what I think is going to be a trilogy. It's a western set after the Civil War and takes place in Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. The first book follows a female doctor, now using the name Laura, who runs away from a murder charge in New York. She finds herself at an Army fort in Texas after a violent journey. There she meets an Army captain, William Kindle, whose life she once saved during the war while disguised as a man. Confused yet? There is a lot of plot to these books and the story picks up in this second book, steamrolling on. Laura and William are on the run together now because Pinkerton detectives are still on her trail for the murder charge. William has deserted the Army so he's wanted too. At the end of book one they were attacked by Native Americans and Laura was brutally raped. In this book the couple are continually faced with violence and a kill-or-be-killed frontier while still trying to deal with the aftermath of that attack. As with the first book, there is a ton of violence, but it's also offset by interesting character interactions. I'm still frustrated by all the coincidences but I'm also eager to read the third book. I'm hoping Laura and William are able to find a peaceful life at last.