1874 – Texas
Burned out of their house, Jane and her family move into a cave, where she discovers some hidden money. Neighbor Crockett Hart comes to help them rebuild, and she asks for his help with the mystery of the money’s origins. When he learns where it probably came from, will it keep their two families apart? Crockett hopes not, because he’s falling for Jane.
1892 – Texas
When newspaper reporter Tom Whiteman befriends a homeless man named Joe, Tom decides to bring him home to Stoney Creek, Texas. Joe begins to work odd jobs around town and make new friends, but contradictions in the man’s manner and speech cause Tom to believe there’s more to the old man than meets the eye.
As Tom and his childhood friend Faith Delmont set out to learn the truth about the old man with the kind, sad eyes, Christmas in Stoney Creek becomes one they will never forget as they discover that God’s love can turn tragedy and loss to triumph, and that true love comes to those who wait.
1881 – Texas
Arriving in Texas, cowboy Jared Ivy discovers the grandfather he hardly remembers has passed away…and an unknown woman has claimed ownership of his family’s newspaper. Jared has the will that proves he’s the owner—but the sheriff refuses to enforce it. Instead, Jared must work with Mary Lou Ellison until a judge comes to town and rules in favor of the rightful heir.
Intrepid reporter Mary Lou has already lost her father figure. And she won’t lose the Pine Haven Record—the legacy he left her—without a fight. But when she and Jared stop sparring long enough to investigate a story together, they become a force to be reckoned with. Will they let their battle over the Record get in the way of something even more newsworthy: true love?
1875 – Texas
Albert Franks is a lawyer who finds himself without a place to practice law when his godly ethics go against the wishes of his former boss. Cora Nelson has inherited Nelson Ranch with one condition. She writes to offer Bert a position on the ranch to preserve her ownership. He arrives to practice law only to discover that her offer was for marriage. The financial success of the ranch and the entire town of River Bend rely on his acceptance.
Albert and Cora soon discover that when they pray, sometimes God’s answers aren’t what they expect.
1885 – Texas
Ellen aims to take her sister’s baby back to St. Louis to raise as her own. Tessa’s father isn’t about to let that happen.
Ellen Stewart despises Lance Garrett. If not for him dashing into Isabelle’s life and stealing her heart and filling her head with his dreams, her little sister would still be alive and safe at home. When Ellen receives Lance’s letter requesting help with one-year-old Tessa, she rushes to Silver Springs, intent on taking charge of her young niece. A rugged ranch in the wilds of Texas is no place for a motherless baby.
But when she realizes how distraught Lance is over the loss of his wife and the depth of his love for his daughter, she can’t take Tessa from him—but neither can she leave. Though everything within her wants to flee back to the comfortable big city, something makes her stay. Tessa needs her father, for one—and he needs her. Ellen knows what it’s like to lose all she’d dreamed of.
When local townsfolk make a stink about Ellen living at Lance’s ranch unchaperoned, will they be forced to marry? Ellen doesn’t want a hand-me-down husband who could never love her, but could this marriage be God’s will for them both?
This title available in paperback here.
Texas
Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find love–Jane Austen style.
Simply Lila by Suzie Johnson, based on Lady Susan
Yearning to find a real-life hero, a wallflower must learn to live outside the pages of an Austen novel.
Fully Persuaded by Niki Turner, based on Persuasion
A brokenhearted artist struggles with the shame of her family s bankruptcy and the return of her first love whose proposal she d spurned because he was poor.
Mansford Ranch by Dina L. Sleiman, based on Mansfield Park
An aspiring novelist with a keen eye for character must determine who is worthy of playing her own leading man.
Sense and Nonsense by Lisa Karon Richardson, based on Sense and Sensibility
A would-be missionary is determined to make it to Ceylon, but when her funds disappear, she has to accept help from the man she most wants to avoid.
1895 – Texas
Sweet mail-order bride Nancy Bennett can’t believe it when her husband is exposed as a cattle rustler—and killed. And when the banker holding the ranch’s mortgage questions whether she can run the ranch on her own, the pregnant widow has nowhere to turn. Until steady foreman Hank Snowden proposes marriage…
Racked with grief about his role in Lucas Bennett’s death, Hank resolves to do right by the man’s wife and child. So it’s natural for him to step in as Nancy’s newly minted husband. But the marriage of convenience may become more than a mere obligation…if only Hank and his bride can brave the first steps toward elusive true love.
1898 – Texas
After a life of drudgery on her family’s farm, Cassie Lynn Vickers relishes her freedom working in town as a paid companion for feisty Mrs. Flanagan. When her father suddenly demands she come home, she has no choice. Unless she can find a husband. If only she could convince handsome town newcomer Riley Walker to marry her…
Riley is on the run. He’s desperate to keep his niece and nephew safe from his crooked half brother. But a delay in Turnabout, Texas, shows him everything he didn’t know he was missing: home, family—and Cassie Lynn. Can he find a way to become her Prince Charming…and build a real family with the children and Cassie Lynn?
1940 – Costa Rica/Texas
SAVANNAH HAMILTON isn’t looking for love—she’s watched that commodity vanish too many times to care—but she’s frantic for a mate. As the deadline approaches, things look hopeless. Then he shows up.
MICAH KELLER isn’t too keen to learn that the predicament described by the prospective bride held more illusion than fact. Nothing at Misión de Cacao resembles his expectations—especially her.
While two imperfect people make a go of an unlikely pairing, war erupts. With the speed and intensity of an epidemic, fear and distrust ignite the globe. Costa Rica is not immune, and when it’s time for countries to name their allies, Micah and Savannah find themselves in the path of an unimaginable firestorm. As distance and time render their tenuous relationship unrecognizable, is the promise to honor their hasty commitment far too costly, or will love abide all things?
1895 – Texas
Rancher Edmund McKay likes his life simple and quiet—everything feisty neighbor Lula May Barlow is not! But with a cattle rustler on the loose, he’s duty-bound to protect the widowed mother, even without her approval. Yet he never expected to enjoy her company. And he certainly never thought her crowded, bustling house would be the first place he’d ever feel at home…
After a harsh childhood, Lula May knows how to stand on her own two feet. She doesn’t need Edmund’s help—but she’s starting to want it, all the same. So are her children, who clearly have matchmaking in mind. And when a threat from the past resurfaces, she realizes all that’s at stake…including her chance for a lifetime of love.
1867 – Texas
Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.
After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda’s home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip’s name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.
Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.
He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.
1870 – Texas
When her son discovers an injured outlaw in their barn, the mysterious stranger instantly turns widow Daisy Henderson’s world upside down. But Daisy senses Thorn Dawson’s a good man…and there’s more to his story than he can tell her. So she can’t turn him away before he heals, even if she’s falling for him—something she swore she’d never do again after her husband died.
An undercover lawman, Thorn never lets himself get too close to anyone. But that’s before he meets single mother Daisy and her spirited son. Now Thorn has to protect them from the Griggs gang—a gang that’s come to accept him as one of their own. And if he can’t keep up the charade, the woman of his dreams might just pay the price.
1895 – Texas
Rancher CJ Thorn isn’t ready to graduate from uncle to brand-new daddy—but he has no choice. After his widowed brother runs off, a pair of adorable twins have no one but CJ…and lovely neighbor Molly Langley. She’s helped with the girls for so long that she’s almost part of the family. Almost. CJ knows his family isn’t good enough for her. Not when his brother’s actions have disgraced the Thorn name yet again.
Watching CJ become a devoted father would soften any woman’s heart. Yet Molly must remain immune. CJ deserves more than a woman who can’t have children. Held back by fear, it’ll take a disaster forcing the community together before they’re ready to risk a chance on happiness.
1905 – Texas
To bring his daughter home to Texas, widowed rancher Jack Burnett needs a wife. And the well-bred Ada Westmore, his neighbor’s niece, will surely meet his father-in-law’s approval. Not willing to open his heart again to love, Jack proposes a marriage in name only. But his independent bride proves more intriguing than he expected.
Needing to support her sisters after the collapse of their father’s fortune, Ada reluctantly agrees to the handsome cowboy’s proposal. The transformation from New York belle to prairie wife—and mother—is challenging for the onetime suffragist. But when their little family faces the threat of being torn apart, Ada and Jack must decide whether their marriage of convenience can become a marriage of love.
1894 – Texas
Men are optional. That was the credo Emma Chandler’s suffragette aunts taught her and why she established Harper’s Station, a women’s colony that offers a fresh start to females in need. But when a dangerous and shadowy assailant tries repeatedly to drive the women out, Emma is forced to admit they might need a man after all. One who can fight. And there is only one man she trusts enough to ask.
Malachi Shaw has finally earned the respect he’s always craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma’s telegram arrives, he rushes back to Texas to repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she’s not a girl any longer. She’s a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn’t deserve.
As the danger intensifies, Emma, Mal, and the ladies of Harper’s Station must choose between safety or risking everything to fight for their future.
1877 – Texas
Her father’s dying wish changes everything…
After years of working in the Cater Springs’ clinic, Sarah Asher never planned on marriage. However, she neglected to mention that to her pa. Determined to fulfill his dying wish, despite her well-informed fears, Sarah marries Joseph Matthews but only after a few signed and sealed promises. One in particular—he can kiss any dreams of sharing a room with her goodbye.
Joe has never had any luck with women, and marriage doesn’t seem prone to change that. Sarah might be a handsome filly and his only ticket to inheriting the ranch promised him, but she’s pricklier than a barrel cactus and more temperamental than a Texas tornado. Keeping his distance from her should be easy. Only it isn’t. The beautiful woman attracts trouble and constantly requires saving, putting her well within arms’ reach.
Will signed promises seal their fate to a loveless marriage, or can Sarah move past her fears to find a love worth delighting in?
Found in Paperback in With This Ring?
1870 – Texas
Big John Conroy is a Texas Ranger asked by a friend to assist Carrie. He catches up to Carrie and her brother Isaac and races away from a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to make the beautiful young woman his wife. Soon Big John’s feelings for Carrie turn to more than simply protective, and Carrie finally feels that she’s in the presence of a man she can respect–something she’s never known. Fans of Mary’s The Kincaid Brides and Trouble in Texas series will enjoy catching up with those characters.
Found in Paperback in With This Ring?
1890s – Texas
Marietta Hawkins has been in love with ranch foreman Daniel Barrett since she came home from school three years ago. Unfortunately, her father’s rule about hands not fraternizing with his daughter has kept him out of reach. She believed patience would prove a virtue in winning him over–until now. He is leaving. Starting up his own spread. To have any hope of maneuvering him into a proposal, she has to act fast or lose him forever. Fans of A Worthy Pursuit will enjoy seeing these characters again!
1875 – Texas
Orphaned at age ten, Ellie Stafford and her twin sister Mae made a vow—to stick together and never marry. Now in their mid twenties, they are bucking convention in Calder Springs, Texas, as women with respectable occupations who can take care of themselves. Ellie works at the Good Fixin’s Diner and spends her evenings knitting garments for The Children’s Aid Society. When a handsome local rancher shows up searching for a cook, she’s hardly tempted, despite his good looks.
Luke Rogers owns a spread just outside of Calder Springs. It was running as smooth as cattle going through a chute until his cook up and marries and high-tails it back east. With no cook and a bunkhouse full of ranch hands ready to revolt, he persuades Ellie to temporarily fill in until he can hire someone else. He should have known better than to get tangled up with another woman.
What if your long-distance sweetheart was an up-close disaster?
Ann Forsyth arrives in Texas on a hot summer day. She’s left her troubles far behind, and all she wants is to settle down with Reichard Monroe. He’s handsome, his penmanship is good, and he says he’s everything she’s dreamed of.
But the stories he told and the man she meets have nothing in common.
Ann finds herself relying on strangers and her own wits and character, as she tries to piece together a new life in the west. And when another man catches her eye, she must find her way between duty, self preservation…
…and hope.
1892 – Texas
When Lucy Ames rescues a stranger from being beaten and robbed, she can’t just leave the man to die. But with her reputation in town already in tatters, how can she take this wounded man into her home? All she can do is what’s right…and hope for the best. Unlike Lucy, her young charge, Toby, is delighted to have a man in the house. As much as Lucy wants the man gone, she can’t begrudge him the father figure he never knew.
On a self-assigned mission to locate his nephew, Reed Wilder can’t believe his luck when he realizes his beautiful rescuer is the strumpet who beguiled his arrow-straight brother. But she’s not at all what he expected. She’s independent and feisty and…captivating.
Before either of them realize it, Lucy and Reed fall in love. But how can their relationship survive the secrets that plague them both?
1881 – Texas
Lily Warren’s new hat shop is her ticket to self-reliance…until a fire threatens to destroy her dreams. And when Edward Stone—her landlord and the town blacksmith—bursts into her private rooms to rescue her, Lily’s reputation is tarnished. So Edward proposes a solution that could save her good name—even as it puts her independence at risk.
With an orphaned niece who needs a mother, Edward believes a marriage of convenience is the answer to his and Lily’s problems. But he didn’t plan on developing feelings for his new wife. And now he can’t quell his urge to protect impulsive, kindhearted Lily. Perhaps it’s time for the wary blacksmith to try forging something truly precious—a real family…
1864 – Texas
Civil War has robbed Margaret Logan of all she holds dear, including her beloved New Orleans home and her fiancé. When her family moves to the desolate Bolivar Peninsula to manage a lighthouse that is no longer there, all her hopes for a normal future are dashed. Her world is rocked once again when a wounded Yankee soldier washes ashore needing her help. Despite her contempt for the North, Margaret falls in love with Thomas Murphy. As their love blooms, Margaret’s sister is overcome with neurosis, and her mind slowly slips away. Bitterness, psychosis and depression yield a decision fueled by contempt. Will one fatal choice cause Margaret to lose the man she loves and condemn Thomas to death?
1880 – Texas
Hiding from a rat of a fiancé, Dinah Lexington makes tracks for Texas and who she hopes is her late mother’s relative. She’s seeking answers but finds more than she bargains for when she gets caught in a shotgun wedding—with the rifle pointed at her.
Russell Cahill can’t believe his father is demanding he marry the feisty redhead. The sharpshooting female would only add to his troubles, but how does one argue with a gun and an attraction he’s fought to ignore?
Sparks fly. Secrets surface. Loss threatens.
Will a dream for love shatter forever, or will the pair find a marriage worth lock, stock, and barrel?
The Texan’s Engagement Agreement 
1889 – Texas
It’s been five years since Adelaide Harper broke Chris Johansen’s heart—and their long-distance engagement. But when she steps off a train in Peppin, Texas, and strolls back into Chris’s life, he can’t help but panic. Because to avoid his parents’ plan to arrange a marriage for him, he’s let his family believe he and Adelaide are still engaged.
Adelaide is facing her own troubles with a matchmaking mama and a parade of aggravating suitors. So pretending to let Chris court her could help them both. And after five years, there’s no need to worry that the time together will reignite their long-buried love…is there?
Texas
Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find love–Jane Austen style. Volume 1 includes:
If I Loved You Less by Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
Refinements by Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
One Word from You by Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
Alarmingly Charming by Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
My Heart Belongs in Fort Bliss, Texas: Priscilla’s Reveille
1874 – Texas
Journey to Fort Bliss, Texas, where a battle of emotions versus ideals is about to be waged. When a high-steppin’ eastern fashion artist, Priscilla Hutchens, swoops down on the fort to gain custody of her twin niece and nephew she is met with resistance by their uncle, post surgeon Major Elliot Ryder, who thinks he knows what is best for them. Who will win the battle? Or will a truce be called for the sake of love and family?
1868 – Texas
Willow McMurtry’s writing career could end before it even begins—unless she learns the ways of a Texas Ranger. She can’t write tales about Ranger life if she’s constantly making mistakes, so she needs handsome Texan Gage Newcomb to teach her. Willow just can’t tell him the true purpose behind her request.
Gage agrees to teach Willow how to shoot, ride and lasso—but only to keep her close. An outlaw who’s cost him dearly is still on the loose. And the hidden lawman trusts no one, especially not a feisty woman who might be working with his foe. But as the cowboy lessons progress, Willow may convince him to share all of his secrets—and his heart—with her.
Love isn’t always a fairy tale, and it doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes the best stories, though, are the ones that are the most unexpected. Join Karen Witemeyer, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings, and Melissa Jagears for novellas that celebrate the power of love to triumph . . . even when circumstances go awry!
The Husband Maneuver
When ranch foreman Daniel Barrett seems ready to leave her life forever, Marietta Hawkins decides to grab the reins on their relationship. But to have any hope of maneuvering him into a proposal, she has to act fast or risk losing him completely.
Her Dearly Unintended
Josiah Huckabee just wanted to make sure Katie Ellen Watson was safe, but when the only bridge to her farm is washed out, the two find themselves alone. Alone, that is, until a menacing stranger appears. Maybe by pretending to be newlyweds, they’ll save their reputations–but can pretending to be in love turn into the real thing?
Runaway Bride
Hired to help Carrie Halsey escape from a dangerous man intent on making her his wife, Big John Conroy never expected the job to interrupt his solitary Texas Ranger life. But now that he’s promised to keep Carrie safe, he discovers he may just want to make a few more promises.
Engaging the Competition
Harrison Gray and tomboy Charlotte Andrews have been rivals for years. With Charlotte intended for someone else, it seems they’ll never settle their differences until an accident changes things completely. When Charlotte breaks Harrison’s glasses–without which he’s nearly blind–she must help with his teaching position, and working together forces these former adversaries to reconsider everything.
1887 – Texas
After a pupil’s prank forces Anna Mae Leland to take shelter with a widowed sheriff during a blizzard, she loses her teaching job—but gains a fiancé. Josiah Miller needs a mother for his twin daughters and Anna Mae needs to protect her reputation. This business-only arrangement means the recently jilted Anna Mae need never risk the folly of love again.
Josiah has long admired the town’s spirited schoolteacher from afar. In close quarters, she’s an ideal friend and helpmate. Yet Christmas’s arrival brings a gift neither dared hope for—a second chance at love and happiness…but only if they’ll forego what’s practical and follow their hearts.
1897 – Texas
As Christmas approaches, Hank Chandler is determined to find a wife to mother his sister’s orphaned children. When schoolteacher Janell Whitman offers to help him with his niece and nephew, she seems to be the perfect match—but she won’t accept his proposal. Instead, she insists she’ll find him another bride before the holidays.
Janell moved to Turnabout, Texas, to put her past behind her and focus on her future—one that doesn’t include marriage. But while she plays matchmaker and cares for Hank’s children, she loses her heart to the two youngsters…and their adoptive father. If Janell reveals her secrets to Hank, will he still want her to be his Christmas bride?
1875 – Texas
Mail-order bride and recent widow from a loveless marriage, Ruby Humphreys, doesn’t know what to expect when she steps from the stagecoach in River Bend, Texas. She is stunned to find herself at the funeral for Jason Winters’ mother as soon as she arrives. His mother was the reason Jason had asked her to come. Jason knows it wouldn’t be fair to marry Ruby now, but his noble character won’t let him rescind his offer when she admits she has no place to go. They agree to a marriage based on friendship, but soon find themselves building a home filled with laughter and the hope of a blossoming love. Will a secret from her past destroy their newfound love?
1877 – Texas
Catherine McGarrett is a strong woman. Life in Texas demands such. For five years, she has built a growing horse ranch while praying for the return of the one man who stole her heart and shattered it in a million pieces when he left.
Now he’s back.
Samuel McGarrett rides into Cater Springs, Texas toting two six-shooters and too many scars. The trouble and pain from the past erupts around the couple. And not just in their marriage.
Can Sam win Catherine’s trust? Will their love survive? Or will his final draw be his last?
Late 1800s? – Texas
Sometimes Beauty is Better Seen with the Eyes Closed
Lillian Rauling is among four English women on a ship bound for matrimony. She’s the orphaned daughter of a once-famous opera singer, and her beauty has been nothing but a curse. This time that curse has driven her to flee the authorities and avoid prison by escaping to America. She daydreams that a rugged cowboy will await her on the moonlit horizon and that he’s able to see past her lovely face and into her lonely heart. Not until she hears a voice so magnificent that it steals her breath away does she realize that true happiness lies in her own willingness to look past a cowboy’s outward appearance and into his Godly heart.
Spend Christmas in the Old West with six unconventional women who take on Texas-sized challenges—and unexpected romance. Bridget falls for a man opposed to her teaching Indian orphans. Polly is trying to hold her family together when her childhood love returns to town. Rugged rancher Charlsey is inexplicably attracted to a tenderfoot accountant. Vivian shuns marriage until meeting a nomadic photographer. Lacey’s cooking draws a quiet blacksmith out of his shell. Tracker Bessie Mae helps a ranger hunt down a villain.
