Alison Perry arrives in historic Cimarron, Oklahoma with dreams of converting an old Victorian house into a thriving bed and breakfast business. But the young widow and her four-year-old son soon discover the house's charms are only siding deep. The foundation is cracked, the wiring is frayed, the plumbing leaks and the local legend has it that the house is "haunted."

When she goes to the man who sold her the house, darkly handsome FBI agent Stefan Yale, he infuriatingly refuses to investigate. But she doesn't give up and soon spends a night at the inn to do some "ghostbusting." Even though neither of them are ready for a romance, they cannot deny the strong attraction between them. And soon Alison realizes something even more frightening than ghosts inher house: she has fallen for a man unwilling to take risks with his heart.

Bernadette Pruitt is a former newspaper reporter and college journalism instructor. She studied writing at the University of Oklahome and is editor of and contribtor to Salt of The Earth, a series of profiles of Oklahomans who are among the last of their kind.

Her interests include antiques, interior decorating, reading and traveling. She and her husband live in Wichita Falls, Texas, with a dog named "Boo."

The Reluctant Hero is Bernadette's sixth book for Avalon.

Avalon titles by this author:
THE MAN NEXT DOOR
THE RELUCTANT HERO