On the surface, the mission didn't seem that complicated. All Nate Sloan, Code Name Cowboy, had to do was deliver a champion quarter horse to the new ruler of Karistan, a tiny nation populated by descents of the fierce Cossacks who once roamed the Steppes. And, oh by the way, locate the device that unlocked the launch codes for the aging missiles the Soviets had left behind when they pulled out.

The fact that the Cossacks' new leader is half-American, half Karistani, and completely gorgeous is a definite plus in Nate's book...until he begins to wonder if Alexandra Jordan holds more than the key to her people's future in her delicate hands.