Inspirational Historical Fiction Index

1894 – Oregon

Will romance hit its mark when true love is the target?

Desperate for a fresh start, Rena Burke journeys from Texas to Oregon with only her father’s pistol and a plodding old mule for company. She takes a job working with explosives at a mine, spends her free time emulating her hero Annie Oakley, and secretly longs to be loved.

Saddlemaker Josh Gatlin has one purpose in life and that is his daughter. Gabi is his joy and the sunshine in his days. Then he meets a trouser-wearing woman living life on her own terms. Rena is nothing like his perception of what he wants in a wife and mother for his child, but she might just prove to be everything he needs.

When tragedy strikes, will the two of them be able to release past wounds and embrace the possibilities tomorrow may bring? Find out in this sweet historical romance full of hope, humor, and love.

In Her Sights by Karen Witemeyer

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1893 – Texas

He’s sworn off love, but she has his heart in her sights and doesn’t intend to miss.

Stained by his wastrel father’s legacy, Jackson Spivey lives on the fringes of society. Townsfolk tolerate him since he keeps the local hotel supplied with fresh game, but mothers coach their daughters to avoid him. After tasting consistent rejection, Jackson spurns all attempts at courtship. The only things he can count on are his guns and his God.

Tessa James has been secretly in love with Jackson for ages, but trying to gain his favor only pushes him further away. When she learns Annie Oakley is traveling through Texas, Tessa seeks lessons from the famed markswoman. If Jackson’s life revolves around guns, taking up shooting might help her engage his interest. Too bad she can’t hit the broad side of a barn.

When Annie loans Tessa a custom pistol, however, things begin to change. The lore behind the mysterious weapon fosters hope that Tessa might finally hit the target of Jackson’s heart. But when danger threatens, she might be forced to use the pistol for something other than finding love.

Mail-Order Bride Substitute by Linda Ford

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1890s – Montana

Different worlds. Trust destroyed.

Olivia comes from a rich family, but it hasn’t protected her from malicious rumors. A marriage of convenience as a mail-order bride to Riley Shannon is exactly what she needs for a fresh start. Especially when he makes it clear he wants no romance. Something she is in complete agreement with. She’ll go in place of her friend, Sylvia, who has changed her mind about the arrangement she made with Riley.

Riley has bitter memories of loving a rich woman who doesn’t care to embrace ranch life. He has no intention of repeating that lesson. When Olivia steps from the train, offering to be his substitute bride, his answer is a resounding ‘no thanks.’ But Olivia isn’t about to take no for an answer and makes her way to the ranch, determined to prove she is the answer to his prayers.

What will it take for these two to overcome the barriers to their love?

Dreams of the Heart by Penny Zeller

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1894 – Wyoming

Sometimes the hardest battles take place in the heart.

Poverty and abuse at the hands of her drunkard father leaves Hannah Bane trapped and alone. Without hope, she prays for a miracle just on the off-chance God will hear her. Will the handsome new deputy, who seems to be watching her every move, be Hannah’s one chance to escape the only life she’s ever known?

For as long as he can remember, John Mark Eliason has wanted to be a deputy sheriff. When a job opens in the nearby town of Poplar Springs, he eagerly accepts, but finds his greatest mission won’t be tracking down criminals and bringing justice to the ruthless Wyoming town, but saving a beautiful young woman he barely knows.

Will an unexpected answer to a difficult situation show how love can endure—and even thrive—in an unconventional situation? Or will fear and uncertainty keep two hesitant hearts apart?

Mail-Order Bride Surprise by Linda Ford

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1890 – Montana

Love challenged. Truth revealed.

A home where she is welcome. That’s all Honor Ward wants. Oh, and maybe tenderness and yes, even love. She’s willing to do most anything to get it…even appear as a mail-order bride under false pretenses. She instantly falls in love with her new groom and is determined to prove she is the best wife and homemaker Luke could want. But will her dishonesty make love impossible? How long can she continue her deception?

Seeing how well his twin brother’s mail-order bride arrangement has turned out, Luke sets out to get himself a woman just like Matt’s wife. Honor seems ideal but to his surprise and shock, he learns that Honor is not what she pretends to be. Is this surprise bride exactly what he needs?

Can their fledgling love survive the challenges ahead for them?

Mail-Order Bride Mommy by Linda Ford

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1890 – Montana

Matt Shannon lost his fiancé to a tragic accident. He does not want anything more to do with love and marriage. But he is now guardian to four-year-old Lindy. Desperate for a woman to mother the little girl, he arranges for a mail-order bride. The agreement is for convenience only, but Gwen’s kindness and good nature threaten his barred heart.

Gwen Humber is willing to do anything to guarantee herself a permanent home…even travel west for a marriage in name only. She’ll become mother to a little girl. She instantly loves the delightful child, but loving Matt is not part of the deal. Can she keep her heart under control?

Will love overcome their past pain?

Engaging Deception by Regina Jennings

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1890s – Missouri

A lively competition draws her into her rival’s blueprints–and maybe even his heart.

Olive Kentworth has spent her life hiding her interest in architecture, even though she pores over architectural books and sketches buildings. When she accepts a job on a home expansion, it’s only because her cousin Amos agrees to pose as the builder. To further hide her involvement, Olive takes a position as a nanny–not knowing that she’ll be working for her idol, Joplin’s leading architect, widower Maxfield Scott.

Maxfield is intrigued by his new nanny–she makes his home and his life bearable again. His work, on the other hand, is a disaster. An untrained builder is remodeling a completed project of his. What’s worse, Maxfield’s current client wants changes to his plans because of that builder’s work.

As the architectural one-upmanship heats up, Olive’s involvement becomes harder to hide. Will the relationship between her and Maxfield survive, or will they both miss out on building something for their future?

All She Ever Dreamed by Robin Lee Hatcher

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1898 – Idaho

A dream sometimes comes at great cost.

Betrothed in a sensible match, even if the man isn’t the love she’s always imagined, Sarah McNeal relies on the advice her late grandmother gave as well as her own common sense. Dreams of a mysterious European count who rides in and sweeps her off her feet arethe stuff of girlhood. And she’s a woman now. But when her fiancé’s older brother, Jeremiah, returns to Boulder Creek, he unknowingly awakens that discarded dream.

Nine years ago, Jeremiah West lost his wife and newborn son in an epidemic, and he’s been wandering ever since. A survivor of the Spanish-American War, he finally returns to Boulder Creek to settle on the farm he inherited from his father, an inheritance his younger brother still begrudges.

When a blizzard threatens Sarah’s life—and her reputation—Jeremiah is there to rescue her. But the pain of his past remains a stumbling block. Then fate brings Jeremiah and Sarah to a crossroads, and love demands a decision that will change the course of their lives.

Honey from the Rock by Lynnette Bonner

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1898 – Washington

Cora Harrison would like nothing more than to find a godly husband and enjoy the blessing of being a wife and mother. That’s why she’s happy when the new young doctor sets about to ask if he may escort her to dinner. However, the doctor is right in the middle of his request when who on earth should walk in but Kin Davis, Wyldhaven’s rogue traveler. The man she’s fought to forget with every ounce of her being for the past two years. Of course Kin would turn up with that annoying smirk right at this moment! The man is as incorrigible as a rock! So why does the strength in her legs instantly fail and her heart take to flight?

When Kin Davis walks into Dixie’s Boardinghouse and finds the town’s new doctor fawning all over Cora, irritation surges. Despite that, Kin holds no hope of attaining ‘Missionary’ Cora’s interest. She’d never fall for a scoundrel like him. Besides, he has to look after Isaiah Coleman, the kid he rescued from the streets of Seattle. And there’s his law practice to set up. He doesn’t have time to court a woman, no matter how pretty she might be or how pleasurable her company.

That’s what he keeps telling himself until Isaiah’s enemies follow him to town and Cora is put in the crosshairs. It’s then that Kin realizes Cora means more to him than life itself.

To Steal Maggie’s Heart by Ronda Simpson

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1898 – Missouri

Maggie Garfield, the twenty-one-year-old, quite capable owner of Mando Merchandising, a large and profitable mail-order catalog company, is dedicated to carrying on the legacy of her deceased father, William, who founded Mando and the town of Garfield.

In homage to his late wife, William has provided homes and jobs in Garfield to ladies who have aged out of orphanages, and who would otherwise have few options to live independently.

But change is about to occur when the ladies tell Maggie they desire families. Because there are very few men there, and Maggie does not want the ladies to leave, she devises a plan. Advertising for male-order husbands!

Enter two potential grooms—Garrett Hanley, a man who might be willing to steal Maggie’s heart, as well as her company, to rid himself of the villainous Rex Timmons, and Jesse Walker, a spoiled college graduate forced by his mother to become one of Garfield’s chosen candidates. Can Rex Tillman be successful in his attempts to take over Mando Merchandising? Maggie will need to be the strong leader William has groomed her to be if she wants Garfield and Mando Merchandising to remain safe and prosperous.

The Lady’s Mission by Mary Davis

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1894 – Washington

Will Cordelia abandon her calling, for love?

Cordelia Armstrong wants nothing more than to escape the social norms for her station in society that require her to look pretty and do as she is told. However, unless she can skillfully maneuver her father into giving up control of her trust fund, she might have to concede defeat—as well as her freedom—and marry. To ward off potential suitors, she puts on a giggly persona.

Every time Lamar Kesner finds a fascinating lady, her heart belongs to another. He doesn’t merely want a beautiful wife. He wants an intriguing partner with intelligence and wit. Is he asking too much of any woman? When a vapid socialite is offered up as a prospective bride, he contemplates flying off in his hot air balloon instead.

Is Lamar the one to finally break the determination of Cordelia’s parents to marry her off? Or will this charming bachelor fly away with her heart?

The Christmas Promise by Gabrielle Meyer

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1899 – England

Lady Ashleigh Arrington is hosting a Christmas house party when her childhood foe, Christopher Campbell, unexpectedly arrives from America with a mysterious marriage agreement signed by their late mothers.

The only way out of the distasteful agreement is if one of them is married or engaged by Christmas Eve. But which one will sacrifice their hopes and dreams to escape marriage to each other? And when they realize a match between them isn’t quite so distasteful, will it be too late?

A Texas Christmas Carol by Karen Witemeyer

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1895 – Texas

After the Panic of 1873 ruined his father and impoverished his family, Evan Beazer set a single life goal for himself–security. He would never allow joviality and dreams to send him to the poorhouse. Now a successful businessman, Evan runs a dozen inns throughout Texas from the privacy of his home, keeping locals away with the perpetual scowl and gruff manner that have become his natural disposition.

Felicity Wiggins is in charge of distributing church Christmas baskets to the less fortunate, and she is determined help as many families as possible. In an attempt to gather more donations than past years, she must convince the wealthiest man in town to participate and sets forth on a campaign to pester him into cooperation.

As Felicity tries to bring Evan out of seclusion–and he does everything in his power to avoid her–can she convince him that true riches lie not in bank accounts but in bringing joy to others?

The Finding of Miss Fairfield by Grace Hitchcock

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1899 – New Mexico

When an engagement of convenience becomes anything but convenient . . .

Forced into a betrothal with a widower twice her age, Charleston socialite, Sophia Fairfield is desperate for an escape. But, while her fiancé is away on business, he assigns his handsome stepson, Carver, the task of looking after his bride-to-be. Much to her dismay, Sophia finds herself falling in love with the wrong gentleman—a man society would never allow her to marry, given Sophia was supposed to be his new stepmother. The only way to save Carver from scandal and financial ruin is to run away, leaving him and all else behind to become a Harvey Girl waitress at the Castañeda Hotel in New Mexico.

Carver Ashton has had his life planned out for him since birth, but when he encounters Sophia Fairfield, he glimpses a new life—apart from his overbearing stepfather’s business. But, when the woman he loves disappears before he can express his devotion, Carver abandons all to find her. However, his stepfather has other intentions for Sophia and will stop at nothing until she is his bride . . . even if it is against her will.

Laura’s Shadow by Allison Pittman

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1890/1970 – South Dakota

Family Secrets Spill One Conversation at a Time

1890
Young women growing up in DeSmet live by two rules: don’t go out in a snowstorm and don’t give your heart to Cap Garland. Young Mariah Patterson only managed to obey one. Orphaned and having devoted her youth to scrapping out a life with her brother Charles, Mariah finds herself with no interesting suitors or means of support. Throwing caution to the wind, she seizes an opportunity to lay her feelings at Cap’s feet, even though she knows Cap sees the world through the torch he carries for Laura Ingalls. Mariah is certain her love for Cap will be strong enough to break both bonds, and she’s willing to risk everything to prove it.

1974
Trixie Gowan is the fourth generation of living Gowan women residing in the sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of De Smet. Well, former resident. She’s recently moved to Minneapolis, where she writes ads for a neighborhood paper edited by Ron Tumble. She might live and work in the city, but her co-workers still call her Prairie Girl. Thus the inspiration for her comic strip—“Lost Laura”—in which a bespectacled girl in a calico dress tries to make her way in the city. The name is a quiet rebellion having grown up in a household where she’d been forbidden to mention the name, Laura Ingalls. But when her great-grandmother Mariah’s declining health brings Trixie home for a visit, two things might just keep her there: the bedside manner of Dr. Campbell Carter and the family secret that seems to be spilling from GG’s lips one conversation at a time.

The Wrangler’s Wedding Pact by Kate Barker

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1895 – Traveling/California

He needs a wife—temporarily. But will love find them on their journey?

For Charlotte Carpenter, a job out West as a child’s caretaker represents freedom and independence. But when she arrives, circumstances dictate that she must marry the child’s father for propriety’s sake. Charlotte has always seen marriage as a trap, an opinion that’s shared by her groom, Paul Harrison. He assures her their match is temporary—to sell his herd of horses, with an annulment at the journey’s end. But as they travel on the trail together, will their temporary marriage turn into lasting love?

Legacy of Love by Renae Brumbaugh Green

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1896 – Texas

She’s struggled her entire life to overcome her parentage.

Skye Stratton is nearly perfect. Or at least, she tries to be. She carries the Stratton name, but everyone knows her true half-breed heritage. When she completes her education and is hired as a teacher at the local school, she hopes to finally find acceptance in the town. But when most of her class elects to stay home rather than be taught by an Indian, she knows things will never change.

Alan McNaughten went to Washington, D.C. to make a difference. Instead, he finds himself entrenched in political lies, manipulation, and deceit. When he finds a way to return home to Texas as an Indian Agent, he leaps at the chance. Even if he must hurt an innocent woman to secure his position.

But when the lovely Miss Stratton agrees to teach for the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation, Alan knows he’s gone too far. He’ll do anything to protect her from further heartache and harm. But what will happen when she learns the truth about her position…and the truth about him?

Western Brides by Linda Ford

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1898 – Canada

The Bride’s Song
Dora Grant knows what she wants…and what she doesn’t want. She isn’t cut out to be a pioneer and finds the homesteader’s existence unappealing. Her nursing job in a small Canadian town is the life for her. But when a cowboy with bold dreams of heading west becomes her patient, Dora is forced to re-evaluate her dependence on comfort and security. Is love worth the risks?

The Bride’s Joy
Orphaned children, lonely guardians, cautious hearts…can a family be forged from this?

All Harriet has left of the brother she adored is his two little children, his farm…and a neighbor who wants to buy the place. She could manage just fine if only the children weren’t constantly bringing the irritating, handsome man into her sphere.

Kade wants to do what is right for his deceased friend but his plans are derailed by the way Harriet laughs and her gentle way with the children. Can this couple see what’s right in front of their eyes—the chance for love and family?

Anchored at Mackinac by Carrie Fancett Pagels

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1895 – Canada

Two women, Sadie Duvall, a young maid, and Ada Fox, the mature housekeeping manager, at the Grand Hotel must make life-changing decisions involving their work and the men in their lives. As 1895 comes to a close, will hearts be broken when choices are made—or will all hoped-for wishes be fulfilled?

With her father missing and her mother dead, impoverished Sadie scrabbles to provide for her sisters. She has known wealthy bachelor Captain Robert Swaine most of her life–he’s her best friend’s young uncle. When he returns to the island, she doesn’t believe his interest in her is sincere, despite all the assistance he’s given her and her sisters because he’s frequently in the company of a beautiful actress staying at the hotel. Sadie wishes to pursue her own path–a position as a nursing student at a new asylum in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

Having endured a traumatic early childhood, Ada Fox entered into marriages with very successful, wealthy, much older men after the mother of her first, and only true, love sends her away from the nearby Poor House and to a secretarial school. Secretly the wealthiest woman in the world, Ada Fox has taken on a Housekeeping Manager position so that she can be closer to her first love, widower and innkeeper Peter Welling.

In Honor’s Defense by Karen Witemeyer

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1895 – Texas

He’s Faced Countless Perils on the Battlefield, but Nothing so Dangerous as Falling in Love.

Luke Davenport has been fighting all his life–for respect, for country, and for those unable to fight for themselves. But now that his Horsemen brothers are domesticated, he’s left alone to battle the wildness within. When an opportunity arises to take a job on his own, tracking down a group of rustlers, he jumps at the chance.

Damaris Baxter has mastered the art of invisibility. Plain and quiet, she hides in books and needlework, content to be overlooked. Until her brother dies suddenly, leaving her custody of her nephew. She moves to Texas to care for Nathaniel, determined to create the family for herself that she never thought she’d have and to give him the family he desperately needs.

When Nate finds himself knee-deep in trouble, Luke’s attempt to protect him leaves Damaris feeling indebted to the Horseman. But suspicions grow regarding the mysterious death of Damaris’s brother. And the more questions they ask, the more danger appears, threatening the family Luke may be unable to live without.

Sharktooth Island Collection

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1830/1893/1937/Present – Georgia

Out of the Storm by Susan Page Davis

Laura Bryant sails with her father and his three-man crew on his small coastal trading schooner. After a short stay in Jamaica, where she meets Alex Dryden, an officer on another ship, the Bryants set out for their home in New England.

In a storm, they are blown off course east of Savannah, Georgia, to a foreboding island. Captain Bryant tells his daughter he’s heard tales of that isle. It’s impossible to land on, though it looks green and inviting from a distance. It has no harbor but is surrounded by dangerous rocks and cliffs.

Pirates outrun the storm and decide to bury a cache of treasure on this island and return for it later. On board is Alex, whom the cutthroats captured in Jamaica and forced to work for them. Alex risks his own life to escape the pirates and tries to help Laura and Captain Bryant outwit them. Beneath the deadly struggle, romance blossoms for Laura.

A Passage of Chance by Linda Fulkerson

Orphaned at a young age, Melody Lampert longs to escape the loveless home of the grandmother who begrudgingly raised her. Stripped of her inheritance due to her grandmother’s resentments, Melody discovers her name remains on the deed of one property—an obscure island off the Georgia coast that she shares with her cousin. But when he learns the island may contain a hidden pirate treasure, he’s determined to cheat her out of her share.

Ship’s mechanic Padric Murphy made a vow to his dying father—break the curse that has plagued their family for generations. To do so, he must return what was taken from Sharktooth Island decades earlier—a pair of rare gold pieces. His opportunity to right the wrong arrives when his new employer sets sail to explore the island.

After a series of unexplainable mishaps occur, endangering Padric and his boss’s beautiful cousin Melody, he fears his chance of breaking the curse may be ruined. But is the island’s greed thwarting his plans? Or the greed of someone else?

Island Mayhem by Elena Hill

Louise Krause stopped piloting to pursue nursing, but when money got too tight she was forced to give up her dreams and start ferrying around a playboy who managed to excel during the Great Depression. When a routine aerial tour turns south, Louise is unable to save the plane.

After crash landing, the cocky pilot is stranded. She longs to escape the uninhabited island, but her makeshift raft sinks, and she and her companions are in even worse trouble. Can Louise learn to trust the others in order to survive, or will the island’s curse and potential sabotage lead to her demise?

After the Storm by Deborah Sprinkle

Mercedes Baxter inherited two passions from her father—a love for Sharktooth Island, a spit of land in the middle of the ocean left to her in his will, and a dedication to the study of the flora and fauna on and around its rocky landscape.

For the last five years, since graduating from college, Mercy led a peaceful, simple life on the island with only her cat, Hawkeye, for company. Through grant money she obtained from a conservancy in Savannah, she could live on her island while studying and writing about the plants and animals there. Life was perfect.

But when a hurricane hits the island, Mercy’s life changes for good. Her high school sweetheart, Liam Stewart, shows up to help her with repairs, and ignites the flame that has never quite died away. And if that’s not enough, while assessing the damage to the island, they make a discovery that puts both their lives in danger.

Julianne and the Judge by Melody Carlson

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1890 – Colorado

Fresh out of finishing school, Julianne Blackstone is eager to return to her sister’s ranch in Colorado, but her parents have other plans. Plans that involve money, matrimony…and mayhem.

While helping in her mother’s chic dress shop, Julianne rekindles an old friendship with young attorney Levi Stanfield and his father Judge Stanfield. But when she discovers her father’s self-serving plans are at odds with the law, her own life is placed in peril.

Torn between her parents and a strong sense of justice, can Julianne find her place in this new western world?

Love Unforeseen by Penny Zeller

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1890s – Montana

Will a best friend’s matchmaking scheme be successful?

Tillie Waller finds her life’s purpose in molding young minds as a teacher in Ellis Creek in the late-1890s. While she claims contentment, there is a part of her that longs to marry and be a mother, like her sister, Meredith, and best friend, Lula. But no matter. With her students and books, how could she ever be lonesome?

Willard “Will” Fairbanks has longed to return to Ellis Creek since the day he left the town with his family twelve years ago. When a job offer at Ellis Creek Mill beckons his return, Will eagerly embraces the opportunity. An added bonus? He hopes to reconnect with Tillie Waller, the girl he has always loved—the girl who never felt the same about him.

When Tillie encourages her pupils to write to pen pals in another town, she can’t possibly foresee how such an assignment will impact her own future. Her best friend, Lula, concocts a plan, unbeknownst to Tillie, for Will to become Tillie’s pen pal under a false name. Tillie forms a connection with her pen pal and even dares herself to fall in love.

When she falls in love with both Will and her pen pal, which one will she choose?

Will love unforeseen become a reality for Tillie and Willard?

Claiming Her Legacy by Linda Goodnight

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1890 – Oklahoma

Frontier women don’t ride off alone to track an outlaw—not even women as capable as tomboy spinster Willa Malone. But Willa desperately needs the bounty money offered for her father’s killer if she’s to keep their homestead and take care of her sisters. That means she needs an expert tracker’s help. Gideon Hartley has the skill, but the handsome trail guide also has a troubling secret…

Gideon has spent years trying to numb his pain with whiskey. Little by little, their quest—and Willa’s belief in him—is restoring the sense of purpose he thought he’d lost. Journeying into the heart of danger, they’ll have to face down the past together if they hope to protect their future…

Miss Beaumont’s Companion by Grace Hitchcock

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1892 – Louisiana

When lady’s companion Aria St. Angelo is coerced into posing as her political employer’s absent daughter for the evening at the Louisiana Governor’s masquerade ball, she wasn’t planning on falling for Byron Roderick, the most eligible bachelor in the capitol.

Byron Roderick is taken with the woman he knows as Mildred Beaumont, but when he discovers the lady’s true identity, more than just his heart is at stake.

Cowboy Cousins Collection

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1890s

Saddle Up … for the fastest reading ride of your life as three cowboys become cattlemen. Raised in the same small town in the Texas Hill Country because their mothers are sisters, three cousins, cowboys all, find God, the loves of their lives, and much, much more.

This novella collection includes:

Lucy and the Lawman by Molly Noble Bull: While on a business trip to Colorado in 1890, Sheriff Caleb Caldwell stops to inform Miss Lucy Gordan and her widowed mother of property they inherited in Texas, land coveted by a rich and powerful man—willing to do anything to get his hands on what is rightfully theirs, and Caleb feels obligated to protect them. However, he cannot reveal his attraction for Lucy. To do so would mean disaster for all of them.

The Meddlesome Maverick by Kathleen L. Maher: A new job as a bronco buster on a Lincoln, Nebraska ranch offers Boyd Hastings a fresh start. Cured of romance after a kiss-and-tell flirt falsely accused him, he must flee his hometown and cousins who have been like brothers. Banjo picking for a music show would lure him to the big city, but an opinionated tomboy with a heart of gold makes grand plans for him. Can he trust a meddlesome maverick to steer him true, or will she lead him into a briar patch of trouble?

A Panhandle Sunrise by Kathi Macias: Thirty-one year old Jake Matthews, newly appointed foreman of the Double Bar-J Ranch, is deeply attracted to the ranch owner’s daughter, Anabelle, but he can’t work up the nerve to approach her father, Jasper Floyd, and ask for permission to court her. But when tall, handsome, longtime Jasper-family friend, Clint Jordan, gets hired on, it seems Clint doesn’t have the same insecurities and begins pursuing Anabelle immediately. Jake now accepts that his dreams of a life with Anabelle are hopeless—until a near life-and-death situation changes everything.

Count the Nights by Stars by Michelle Shocklee

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1897/1961 – Tennessee

Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life with smiles, not tears.

1961. After a longtime resident at Nashville’s historic Maxwell House Hotel suffers a debilitating stroke, Audrey Whitfield is tasked with cleaning out the reclusive woman’s room. There, she discovers an elaborate scrapbook filled with memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Love notes on the backs of unmailed postcards inside capture Audrey’s imagination with hints of a forbidden romance . . . and troubling revelations about the disappearance of young women at the exposition. Audrey enlists the help of a handsome hotel guest as she tracks down clues and information about the mysterious “Peaches” and her regrets over one fateful day, nearly sixty-five years earlier.

1897. Outspoken and forward-thinking Priscilla Nichols isn’t willing to settle for just any man. She’s still holding out hope for love when she meets Luca Moretti on the eve of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Charmed by the Italian immigrant’s boldness, Priscilla spends time exploring the wonderous sights of the expo with Luca—until a darkness overshadows the months long event. Haunted by a terrible truth, Priscilla and Luca are sent down separate paths as the night’s stars fade into dawn.

Along the Rio Grande by Tracie Peterson

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1899 – New Mexico

Recently widowed Susanna Jenkins has decided to follow her family to the booming town of San Marcial, New Mexico, for a fresh start and to aid in her family’s sudden change in fortune. They are tasked with managing her uncle’s new Grand Hotel, and it takes all her patience to try to help her parents see the good of their circumstances and relinquish their sense of entitlement.

Owen Turner works as a boilermaker for the Santa Fe’s train shops in San Marcial. He’s immediately attracted to Susanna upon meeting her, but he hesitates to risk opening his heart again. Especially as painful memories are stirred up of his own late sibling when Susanna’s brother is assigned to work under him.

When misguided choices put Susanna’s family in an even more precarious situation, she needs someone to rely on. But if Owen can’t face the past, he’ll miss out on his greatest chance at love.

Growing A Family in Persimmon Hollow by Gerri Bauer

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1891 – Florida

A temporary exile becomes a forever home

Long before #MeToo, a woman who became pregnant after an assault paid a high price. Laws didn’t support her. Society shunned her. She was often banished from home. That’s what happens to Penelope Gold, who is exiled to the Florida frontier town of Persimmon Hollow. But something remarkable happens after she arrives. She finds love, acceptance and faith. And discovers that “Growing A Family in Persimmon Hollow” can be a time of joy.

Proposing Mischief by Regina Jennings

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1890s – Missouri

Only one person can give her the freedom she seeks–but is it worth the risk?

Maisie Kentworth is being forced to stay on her parents’ ranch. After a short-lived relationship with the wrong man, she’s worried about inflaming things further between her former beau and her protective family. Left to rue her mistakes, she keeps busy exploring the idle mine at the edge of their property, where she discovers a great treasure.

Boone Bragg is also stuck. With his parents on vacation, the management of Bragg Mining falls on him, and one of his advisors wants him as a son-in-law. One wrong move, and Boone will end up either offending an associate or marrying a woman he can’t endure.

While closing up a spent mine, Boone gets two surprises. One is a spitfire farm girl who’s trespassing with a pickax, and the other is the amazing crystal cavern that she’s discovered. Suddenly Boone sees a way to overhaul the family business. With part of the cavern on Kentworth land, Boone makes Maisie a proposal that he hopes will solve all of their problems. Instead it throws Joplin into chaos, and it will take all of Maisie’s gumption to set things right.

Dawn of Grace by Connie Stevens

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1891 – North Carolina

Elise Holbrook is a pawn in a hopeless game of chess.

Elise’s father formed an alliance with influential, but unscrupulous, George Penwell, the terms of which include Elise’s hand to fortify Penwell’s connections in New York society. But Elise can’t abide being in the same room with George Penwell and will do anything to keep from being forced into the marriage. In a desperate ploy, she blurts out a lie that she is in love with a longtime friend, and they plan to be married the following week. A few days later, her friend is found murdered, and Elise discovers Penwell is his killer.

Fearing she might never be safe from Penwell, Elise seeks refuge by escaping to the remote mountain town of Hot Springs, North Carolina. Suffering from debilitating headaches brought on by strangulating guilt and remorse over her lie, she hopes the change in scenery and restful environment will help relieve her headaches. Instead, the pain escalates, and requires more and more laudanum.

Jonathan Aldridge, fresh out of seminary and stepping into his first pastorate in Hot Springs, is plagued by doubts over his calling to the ministry. Despite his own misgivings regarding the legitimacy of his calling, Jonathan must set aside his fears when he meets Elise Holbrook. Her headaches are gut-wrenching to see, and he wishes he could help her. Complications twist Jonathan’s hope with the arrival of Cyrus Drummond, a self-proclaimed faith healer and evangelist. Elise attends Drummond’s revival meetings and is conned into believing Drummond can heal her.

How can Jonathan expose Drummond for the fraud that he is before the man swindles Elise out of thousands of dollars? And how can Elise accept God’s forgiveness when she can’t forgive herself?

Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy

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1897 – Traveling/India

Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family’s constant disappointment. As the nation’s most fearless–and reviled–columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.

Arriving in India, she expects only a nice visit with childhood friends, siblings Catherine and Gabriel, and escapades that will further her career. Instead, she finds herself facing a plague epidemic, confusion over Gabriel’s sudden appeal, and the realization that what she wants from life is changing. But slowing down means facing all the hurts of her past that she’s long been trying to outrun. And that may be an undertaking too great even for her.

Behind Love’s Wall by Carrie Fancett Pagels

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1895/Present – Canada

The Grand Hotel Slowly Reveals Her Secrets

Two successful women, a hundred-and-twenty-years apart, build walls to protect their hearts. Modern-day Willa, a successful interior decorator, is chosen to go to Mackinac Island and consult for the Grand Hotel’s possible redesign. During work on a room, she discovers a journal detailing the struggles of a young woman, Lily—which reveals dark secrets. The renowned singer wasn’t who she pretended to be.

As Willa reaches out to Lily’s descendant, a charismatic and prominent landscape artist, she lets down her guard. Should she share the journal with him—revealing hidden history—or once again erect a wall as she struggles to redesign both the Grand and her life?

A View Most Glorious by Regina Scott

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