Lonestar Sanctuary by Colleen Coble

            "Lonestar Sanctuary," is a novel that takes place in Texas. She became a widow and single mom when her husband Jon was killed in the line of duty two years prior to the beginning of this book. She has experienced several tragedies over the past year. Her parents were both killed in a plane crash that both Allie and her daughter Betsy witnessed. The devastation of the accident left Betsy unable to talk. Months later, Allie's sister Tammy was murdered and Allie found out the plane crash was not an accident.
             Allie struggled as a barrel racer to make ends meet for her and her daughter. She traveled from rodeo to rodeo. One night, while in her travel trailer and her daughter asleep in the bedroom, a man broke in and locked her in the bathroom, stabbing through the door with a knife. When he was spooked and ran away, Allie decided she needed to track down Rick Baily, her late husband's best friend. She had tracked Rick down to the Bluebird Ranch, a place for abused horses and children to be rehabilitated. A fellow rider named Charlie Reyes had also told Allie about the Bluebird ranch. He told her he thought it could help Betsy. She also knew the owner of the ranch, Elijah. He was her grandfather but she doubted that he knew that. .
             When Rick Baily found out Allie was his friends widow, he remembered a promise he made to his friend before he died that he would always protect his family. After Allie told Rick of her tragic past and how Jon's parents were trying to get custody of her daughter so they could take her to a religious cult, Rick could only think of one way to help. They had to get married and he had to adopt Betsy. Allie was reluctant to take part of this plan but decided it was the safest thing to do after Elijah was found murdered. After the two were married, Allie called her best friend that she had left behind at the rodeo to tell her about what had happened only to find out her best friend had also been murdered.