This evocative portrayal of post-Civil War Arizona offers a self-possessed heroine in a historical old West setting vibrant with authenticity.     Scottish by heritage and hard-nosed by nature, Rose MacKenzie embodies rugged individualism. When her husband dies of grief after their daughter’s kidnapping, Rose buries his remains herself to spare the four sons she must now raise alone. She’s widowed, but clearly not helpless. On the contrary, the savvy businesswoman — unafraid of brawling with cattle rustlers and rumored to carry a lethal knife — maintains her tight rein on the family’s MK Ranch, because anything the indomitable Rose MacKenzie doesn’t know about ranching probably isn’t worth knowing. But as the years pass and her hopes of finding her daughter go unrealized, the arrival of a scarred Civil War veteran from back East adds a new dimension to her life, her family relationships, and the future she thought was a given.     Readers will be beguiled by author Nancy Elliott’s fully-realized characters and the dramatic twists and turns of her plotting. A singer-songwriter who performs nationally, Elliott has recorded four albums of mostly original music in the genre she has coined “Southwestern Americana.” This is the Sonoran Desert resident’s first book; hopefully, it is not her last.

— Helene Woodhams   Arizona Daily Star