Winner, 2017 NM/AZ Book Awards for She Was Sheriff

First Apaches, then Confederate Texans. The Colton brothers—James, Trace, and now Andy—must face not only their enemies, but their own personal demons. Driven to near madness by Apache brutality, nearly killing the sheriff, James chooses joining the Union Army over prison. Andy, the youngest brother, also joins, but only to keep James out of trouble. Trace, the oldest Colton, finds himself imprisoned by a sadistic Confederate officer and left alone to die.

It's Arizona Territory at the start of the Civil War, and the Coltons are caught in the middle of it. In the end, it's all up to James to save Union troops from an Apache attack—if he can summon the courage to face his old torturers and their leader, Cochise.

"Melody Groves writes about the Southwestern frontier with real authority; a scholar's grasp of history, a keen sense of the land, and a well-honed edge for action that'll get your blood boiling. Historical fiction at its best."—Johnny Boggs, author of thirty books