The War of the Clans (Bailey Clan Westerns Book 20)

The War of the Clans

Rowan Bailey thought the fight for his future was finally over. After rescuing Mae Turner, he returns to southern Arizona with a simple goal: build a quiet life and leave the violence behind. But the West has other plans.

When Joe Kinkade and his sons ride in from Kentucky, they bring with them a legacy of blood feuds and ruthless ambition. Determined to dominate the range, the Kinkades rule through fear—until they cross paths with Rowan. What begins as a clash of wills quickly escalates into something far more dangerous.

With a feud declared, Joe calls in his kin and hired guns, expecting an easy victory. What he doesn’t realize is that Rowan Bailey is part of something bigger. From the Tennessee mountains to the Arizona desert, the Bailey Clan answers the call. Allies gather, rifles are raised, and the land becomes the stage for an all-out war between families.

Set against the harsh beauty of the frontier, The War of the Clans delivers a gripping continuation of the Bailey Clan saga—where loyalty is everything, and survival comes at a cost.

Step into the next chapter of the Bailey Clan series and experience a Western where honor, family, and vengeance collide.

Excerpt from the book

They buried Kelly Riggs, and Rowan paid for a tombstone. He had it engraved to read: Kelly Riggs - He died a hero. Kelly Riggs had carried off Mae Turner in a fit of anger. She had smiled at him in town to anger her father, and Kelly, being a bit of a narcissist, thought she was in love with him. He had gone to the Turners’ farm with a spare horse, but Mae had told him he was mistaken. Besides being a narcissist, Kelly Riggs had a very short temper, so he had thrown Mae on the spare horse and ridden away. He had gone ten miles before he cooled down and realized what he had done. He had pulled up and told Mae that she could go back home. But then a band of roving Apaches had spotted them and given chase.

Kelly Riggs was an outlaw, but he had courage, and he ran for a cave he knew in the desert. They fought off the Apaches from there, but the Apaches were closing in. Kelly was wounded, and Mae was using his rifle to fight the Apaches. Rowan Bailey had come in the nick of time to save them, but in making their escape, Kelly was fatally wounded. An Apache was about to kill Mae, but although wounded, Kelly fought and saved her. He died on the way back to town. When Mae remarked on the tombstone, Rowan told her, “He was an outlaw, and he did carry you off, but in the end, he died like a man. There was no coward in him.”

Mae Turner was back home with her parents, and Jim Turner insisted that Rowan come to their farm to have dinner the day after Kelly’s funeral. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so reluctantly Rowan went. Dusk was settling over the land as he reached the farm, and he saw that the farm was prospering. There were apple and peach orchards and fields of sorghum and alfalfa. Mae came out when he rode into the front yard of the farmhouse. She had on a pretty dress instead of her usual shirt and jeans, and her hair was left loose to curl around her face and lie on her shoulders. She looked very beautiful with her oval face framed by her light brown hair.

She caught hold of his hand and said, “Before you go in and Pa thanks you, I wanted to thank you personally for saving my life. If you hadn’t come searching for me, I have no doubt that I’d be dead now. When Kelly got wounded, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were going to die in that cave. But I made myself a promise that I would take as many Apaches as I could with me when I died. And then you showed up.” Rowan said, “I don’t like being thanked, but I had to come because your Pa wouldn’t take no for an answer.”