A young woman fleeing to save her life.

An untrusting loner weighed down by guilt.

Two very different souls who find love in the booming American West . . .

Shortly after her beloved father's death, Emma Bradford becomes a runaway heiress when she overhears her beau and stepmother plotting to steal her fortune-and take her life. She jumps on a train headed to the American West and is instantly attracted to a handsome stranger on board.

Pinkerton detective Rye Callahan is assigned to protect an opera diva as she travels from New York to Colorado and remains undercover as a bodyguard during her engagement at Denver's newest opera house. Along the way, he encounters a beautiful woman who looks and sings like an angel, but Rye is married to his job and determined not to become involved with the woman romantically.

But Rye and Emma wind up living in the same house in Denver, and their relationship heats up fast. When the diva disappears without a trace, Emma takes her place on stage-only to wind up missing soon after. Rye races against the clock to find both women in time. And if he does, will he be able to open his heart and learn to love?

Runaway Hearts is a standalone western historical romance from Alexa Aston's Lawmen of the West series, which features heroes of the American west in various law enforcement positions and the strong heroines who bring love into their lives.