The year is 1782. Marco Mondragón, brand inspector in Spanish New Mexico, and his wife Paloma Vega have settled happily into married life on the Double Cross. And yet Paloma is convinced their joy will not be complete until she has a child. She longs to give her husband a baby to soothe his grief over the death from cholera of his first wife and twin sons. Marco's land grant stands at the edge of the most dangerous region in the Southwest: Comanchería. Both Paloma and Marco have suffered at the hands of the fierce Comanche, losing beloved family members in raids. Despite their fear and mistrust of the Comanche, one lives among them. Paloma rescued Toshua from slavery and near death. As much as she respects the man now, Paloma wishes he would return to the Staked Plains, Comanche stronghold to the east in Texas. No one knows why Toshua remains at the Double Cross. Is it because his own tribe shunned him, or is he genuinely attached to its owners? Now a new enemy threatens the Mondragóns domestic bliss: the Dark Wind la viruela, smallpox barreling down on the defenseless royal colony from Comanchería. A mysterious and arrogant English physician named Anthony Gill offers their one hope at salvation ... but only if Marco agrees to his Devil s Bargain. Book Two in the Spanish Brand series, which began with The Double Cross. Marco Mondragón, a lawman on the New Mexican frontier in 1782, fears that his young wife, Paloma, will be stricken by the smallpox epidemic. When their Comanche friend, Toshua, rescues Anthony Gill, a white physician, from the desert, they strike the titular bargain: Anthony will inoculate Paloma and their neighbors, and Marco and Toshua will escort Anthony to a Comanche hideaway that he suspects harbors his kidnapped daughter. Kelly brings historical verisimilitude to the setting, and her story brims with compassion for the human condition.... [There are] powerful themes of disease, infertility, strength in the face of loss, and kindness between individuals whose cultures are at war. Though la viruela is, in some ways, the story's main character, the love between Marco and Paloma, equal parts strong attachment and mutual high regard, takes emotional center stage, a satisfying oasis of beauty in the midst of stark harshness. --Publishers Weekly, July 14, 2014 Grade: A Sensuality: Subtle When I first got my hands on Marco and the Devil's Bargain , I was a little let down. I hadn't realized it was the second in a series, and more importantly, that it followed the same couple that had already fallen in love and gotten married in the first book. In the past, I've read other stories like this, and it seems to me that the sequel is rarely as good as the original. As a result, I put off reading this one for a little while, worried that it would fall into that same trap. Silly me. I should have trusted Carla Kelly to write a wonderful book. Marco and Paloma Mondragón are happily settled in Spanish New Mexico at the beginning of 1782. Marco is the juez de campo in Valle del Sol, the town where they live. His ranch, the Double Cross, is prosperous, and the people of Valle del Sol are peaceful and law-abiding for the most part. If he and Paloma long for children, well, that's only a little bit of sadness to balance the many other blessings they have. Unfortunately, this peaceful state of affairs is soon to be upset. News comes to Marco that smallpox has been sweeping through Texas, and is likely soon to reach Valle del Sol. Although Marco has been vaccinated, his beloved Paloma has not. Poor Marco lost his first wife and twin sons to cholera, and now he very much fears that he will lose his second wife to another disease. As luck would have it, Dr. Anthony Gill finds himself in Valle del Sol soon after Marco learns that smallpox will be coming. Anthony, who recently traveled with a group of traders through Texas, has collected scabs from the diseased and is prepared to inoculate Marco's family and friends. However, his aid comes'at a price Anthony's daughter, Pia Maria, was taken by a group of Indians and sold to the Comanches, who live in a hidden canyon somewhat near Valle del Sol. Anthony declares that he will only help Marco if Marco will agree to take him to the Comanches after he finishes inoculating the people of Valle del Sol. Reluctantly, Marco agrees. Paloma, of course, will not let her husband travel across the Llano Estacado to the Comanches without her, and so it is that Anthony, Paloma, Marco, and Toshua, the Comanche companion of Paloma and Marco, find themselves trekking together across snowy plains into the middle of dangerous Comanche territory. To begin with, Marco and Paloma are a wonderful couple. They know each other very well, and in spite of not reading the first book, in which their characters were initially developed, I came to know them well too. Paloma is a strong, sweet woman, perfectly suited to her honorable, Spanish husband. They are both at their best wh