Posts with the custom taxonomy term Gambling

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?

The Wrangler’s Ready-Made Family by Lacy Williams

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1909 – Wyoming

Susie Crowell née White is a desperate young mother with another baby on the way. Her late husband left her nothing but his bad reputation. She has no money and is too ashamed to return home to her family. When she is trapped alone during a snowstorm with a stranger and the baby coming, her only choice is to rely on him.

Gil Hart came west to find healing for his consumption. He never expected to find himself trapped with a lost young widow. Or how fast he could fall for her and her two little ones. But it doesn’t take long for his secrets to come to light.

After everything she’s suffered in the past, can Susie ever trust another gambler?

A Life Redeemed by Olivia Rae

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1559 – England/Scotland

Everyone has a secret, who can a queen trust?

Upon Queen Elizabeth’s order, Audrey Hayes travels to the borderlands of Scotland to learn where the fierce Laird Armstrong’s loyalties lie. Is he aligned with his mother’s English roots in support of the queen, or does he hold with the beliefs of his father, who wishes to see Mary of Scots on the English throne? The fate of Audrey’s family rests on her success in finding the answer.

After losing his lands in a wager and being betrayed by his kin, Gavin Armstrong entered a loveless marriage to obtain the funds to buy back his family home, Warring Tower. Now a widower, struggling against countless border wars, he is on the verge of losing his home and lands again. With few resources, he reluctantly makes another risky wager, one he cannot hope to win without trusting the secretive Audrey Hayes, a woman he suspects is an English spy.

As the two work together to save Warring Tower, their attraction to one another grows. But when Audrey finally gains the information she seeks for Queen Elizabeth, she realizes that the only way she can save her family is to betray the man she loves.

Christmas Bride by Linda Ford

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1884 – Montana Territory

Josh Kinsley’s parents have not heard from him in two years. He’d headed west to escape a broken heart but is now a prisoner in a mine. He plots and plans his escape. But he must act before he is ready to flee his prison when a young woman is brought, kicking and screaming, into his captor’s cabin. Knowing what horror awaits her, he knows he must make an immediate escape and take her with him. He will help her because it’s the right thing, but he has no intention of falling in love again.

Katie Webster is alone in the world. At home, marriageable men are scarce. All she wants is her own home and family, so agrees to be a mail-order bride. Instead, she ends up being a pawn in a gambling game. The future looks very dire. Being grabbed by a man and hurried into the woods seems every bit as risky. She will never again trust a man but going with Josh seems preferable to what awaits her in the cabin.

As Josh and Katie are forced to survive winter in the wilderness, they must learn to trust each other. But will their adventures help them admit their growing feelings or will the danger keep them apart?

Whispers in the Reading Room by Shelly Gray

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1890s – Illinois

Just months after the closure of the Chicago World’s Fair, librarian Lydia Bancroft finds herself fascinated by a mysterious dark-haired and dark-eyed patron. He has never given her his name; he actually never speaks to a single person. All she knows about him is that he loves books as much as she does.

Only when he rescues her in the lobby of the Hartman Hotel does she discover that his name is Sebastian Marks. She also discovers that he lives at the top of the prestigious hotel and that most everyone in Chicago is intrigued by him.

Lydia and Sebastian form a fragile friendship, but when she discovers that Mr. Marks isn’t merely a very wealthy gentleman, but also the proprietor of an infamous saloon and gambling club, she is shocked.

Lydia insists on visiting the club one fateful night and suddenly is a suspect to a murder. She must determine who she can trust, who is innocent, and if Sebastian Marks—the man so many people fear—is actually everything her heart believes him to be.

Gabriel’s Atonement by Vickie McDonough

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1889 – Kansas

All Gabe Coulter ever wanted was to live a comfortable life as a successful gambler, but a confrontation with a disgruntled cowboy who’d just lost to Gabe leads to a family man dying in his arms. Even though it was self-defense, the only way Gabe knows to get rid of his guilt is to return the money he won to the man’s wife. Lara Talbot sees Gabe as a derelict like her husband and wants nothing to do with him. But as she struggles to provide for her family and makes plans to claim property in the upcoming Oklahoma land rush, she wonders if God might have sent the meddling gambler to help.

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Hearts in Defiance by Heather Blanton

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1800s – Colorado

Men make mistakes. God will forgive them. Will their women?

Gritty and realistic, this is not a sweet Christian romance. It’s life in Defiance.

Charles McIntyre built the lawless, godless mining town of Defiance practically with his bare hands … and without any remorse for the lives he destroyed along the way. Then a glimpse of true love, both earthly and heavenly, changed him. The question is, how much? Naomi Miller is a beautiful, decent woman. She says she loves McIntyre, that God does, too, and the past is behind them now. But McIntyre struggles to believe he’s worth saving … worth loving. Unfortunately, the temptations in Defiance only reinforce his doubts.

Billy Page abandoned Hannah Frink when he discovered she was going to have his baby … and now he can’t live with himself. Or without her. Determined to prove his love, he leaves his family and fortune behind and journeys to Defiance. Will Hannah take Billy back or give him what he deserves for the betrayal?

A Lady in Defiance by Heather Blanton

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1800s – Colorado

Charles McIntyre owns everything and everyone in the lawless, godless mining town of Defiance. When three good, Christian sisters show up, stranded and alone, he decides to let them stay–as long as they serve his purposes…but they may prove more trouble than they’re worth.

Naomi, angry with God for widowing her, wants no part of Defiance or the saloon-owning, prostitute-keeping Mr. McIntyre. It would seem, however, that God has gone to elaborate lengths to bring them together. The question is, “Why?” Does God really have a plan for each and every life?

Based on true events, A Lady in Defiance deftly weaves together the relationships of the three sisters and the rowdy residents of Defiance.

Diamond in the Rough by Jennifer AlLee and Lisa Karon Richardson

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1861 – California

Grant Diamond is a professional gambler on the run from his past. When he comes across a wagon wreck, the chance to escape his pursuers is too good a gamble to pass up, and he assumes the identity of the dead wagon driver. His plan takes an unexpected turn when local heiress Lily Rose mistakes him for the missionary she had asked to come work with the Wiyot Indians. Seeing Eureka as a promising place to lay low, Grant plays along. Before he knows it, he’s bluffing his way through sermons and building an Indian school. But with a Pinkerton on his trail and a rancher rousing fresh hatred against the Indians, Grant fears the new life he’s built may soon crumple like a house of cards.

A Bride’s Rogue in Roma, Texas by Darlene Franklin

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1897 – Texas

Blanche Lamar has inherited a steamboat from a father she’s never met. As she struggles to adjust to her new life she finds an unexpected ally in Ike Gallagher. She and Ike both want to find a way to make the steamboat profitable but are at odds on how to accomplish it. Can they learn to live in faith, or will their future happiness sink in a river of overwhelming devastation.

The Red Fury by Naomi Musch

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1871 – Wisconsin

Spurned twice since the death of her betrothed in a logging accident, Lainey Kade has become the object of talk. “That Lainey, she’s a shrew all right. Not ever going to marry, likely.” Fleeing heartache and flaunting convention, Lainey seeks solace instead in seeking adventure and breaking the rules.

When she crosses paths with Zane and Kelly Beaumont, she pretends to be married, but soon forges an adventurous companionship with these brothers whose nightmares since the Civil War have never let them return home. Dependent on each other, Lainey denies love’s rekindled spark. But as fires rage across the Wisconsin wilderness, it may tear them each apart, and Lainey may be consumed by the fury burning inside her.