Their Inconvenient Marriage by Elizabeth Rowan

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1851 – California

Can an unsuitable pair…make the perfect match?

Heading west to California is schoolteacher Lorna Alderly’s best chance to find a job—and the independence she craves. But the rough mining camp of Woods River isn’t as welcoming as she expects, especially surly widower Jesse Kittredge. Struggling to raise two children, the illiterate miner gives Lorna six months before she quits. Yet he’s soon swayed by her dedication and charm. When a scandal threatens Lorna’s reputation, Jesse offers marriage—in name only. But could this arrangement lead to a love neither expects?

The Shelter of Each Other by Catherine Richmond

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1853 – Iowa

Keziah’s secret could get her killed: she knows the Chief Steward is a fraud.

Since Keziah Sirrine’s husband disappeared on a mission trip to the frontier, she’s survived by selling herbal remedies and midwifing. Then the Chief Steward of the Congregation sells her house out from under her to fund the group’s move to the wilderness of Iowa and Keziah is forced to go along.

Duncan Ross becomes a member of the Congregation, hoping for a place to call home, to be part of something bigger than himself. He joins forces with Keziah for the health of the Congregation. As respect grows into love, Keziah wonders if she can trust Duncan with her secret.

In the isolation of Preparation, the Chief Steward declares himself anointed of God, demands members relinquish all possessions, and dodges questions about finances. As tensions boil into violence, news of Keziah’s missing husband has Duncan wondering if their love—and Preparation—will survive.

Passages of Hope by Terri Haynes

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1855/Present – Pennsylvania

Discover the Story Behind a Secret Passageway

Gracie Kingston begins renovations on the Philadelphia house inherited from her grandmother and finds a secret room. It is connected to a house nearby, the home of William Still, the man known as the father of the Underground Railroad. As she researches, she discovers a mystery in her house’s ownership. In 1855, Olivia Kingston helps a mother and her young child by hiding them in a secret room in her home. As she helps, she learns that there may be an impostor conductor in their community. As Gracie’s and Olivia’s stories intertwine, they learn the meaning of sacrifice and love.

Freedom’s Flight by Penny Zeller

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1856 – Tennessee

Annalise Van Houten knows what it’s like to live in an oppressive situation. Sent to live with her conniving aunt and uncle in Ridge Gap, Tennessee, after her parents die, she dreads the plans they have for her future. When she discovers the handsome Reverend Matthias Sorenson assisting runaway slaves, can Annalise convince him to allow her to help?

Reverend Matthias Sorenson has a heart for serving others—and freeing them. An integral part of the Faith Train, he helps free slaves. When a beautiful newcomer to his church wishes to partake in the organization, can he trust her not to endanger their lives?

Lives in jeopardy. A race against time. Will mistrust prove fatal for all involved?

Valley Melodies by Bonnie Leon

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1856 – Oregon

Is love enough to overcome the tragedies and hardships thrown at them?

In the spring of 1856, Emmalin Hammond decides the Oregon Territory is not the place for her and chooses to return to her Philadelphia home. But mountain man, Jacob Landon, has other ideas. With an unexpected profession of love, he asks her to marry him and share his life in the Oregon wilderness.

Before they can marry, a string of misfortunes tests her desire to step into the role of a pioneer woman. Though determined, Emmalin soon recognizes she may be deceiving herself. Is the life she’s chosen out of reach?

The Spark of Love by Amanda Cabot

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1857 – Texas

When a spurned suitor threatens her, heiress Alexandra Tarkington flees New York for Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country, where her father is building a hotel. But the happy reunion she envisions is not to be as her father insists she return to New York. Instead, Alexandra carves out a niche for herself in town, teaching schoolchildren to paint and enjoying the company of Gabe Seymour, a delightful man she met on the stagecoach.

But all is not as it seems. Two men, each with his own agenda, have followed her to Mesquite Springs. And Gabe is an investigator, searching for proof that her father is a swindler. When a series of apparent accidents threaten her life, Alexandra and Gabe will have to work together to discover the truth. And perhaps along the way they will discover that the sparks of attraction they’ve felt from the beginning are more than sparks–they’re love.

 

The Lowborn Lady by Peggy Trotter

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1854 – Indiana

Rhapsody Hastings finds herself in the arms of a ruffian, Cavanaugh Blackledge, when her carriage breaks down on a dark country road. Wedding him stills the scandal of their late-night tryst while soothing the guilt she holds of her first husband’s untimely death. So, she accepts the arrangement as her own personal penance. Yet, an unexpected mission wakens her dead heart despite the fact that a high society lady shouldn’t be involved with such…dangerous illegal conspiracies.

Using his new marriage to shield his clandestine operations proves to be an unanticipated godsend for Cav. And how could he not appreciate the fetching Rhapsody’s presence, creating the perfect buffer when he must face his former true love, now his smug brother’s wife.

But their artificial life turns ugly when information surfaces, putting both Rhapsody’s and Cav’s covert efforts in jeopardy. Secrets reveal even more scandalous secrets, and the skeleton discovered in Rhapsody’s closet may not only undo her, it may make them both very dead.

The Brides of Bridge Ranch by Susanne Dietz

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1858 – Texas

Two generations find love in historic Texas…

For a Song
Two songbirds, red and yellow–it was a straightforward mail-order present for an upstanding widowed rancher’s little girl. But when a sister act of saloon singers (a redhead and a blond) arrives on the stagecoach expecting Jackson Bridge to give them a job, his daughter changes her tune and starts singing not for a pet, but for a pretty ginger-haired mother.

First Things First
Texas rancher’s daughter Georgie Bridge mourned when her first love, Ward Harper, left town to study the law, but now he’s back—as opposing counsel in a case against her father.

Gold Rush Bride: Caroline by Linda Shenton Matchett

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1859 – Missouri

She thinks he’s high-handed and out for her gold. He thinks she’s difficult and money-hungry. Will they discover that love is the true treasure?

Scarred in a childhood accident, Caroline Vogel has yet to find a man willing to marry her, so she heads to the Pike’s Peak goldfields to pan enough ore to become a woman of means. When she and the handsome assistant trail boss hit it off, she begins to hope her future may not be spent alone. Then she catches wind of dark secrets from the man’s past, and she’s not sure what or who to believe.

Orphaned as a teenager, Oliver Llewellyn stole to survive, then used his skills for the army during the war. Nowadays, he applies his knowledge to catch dangerous thieves for the Pinkerton Agency, so guarding a young woman during a wagon train journey should be easy. But he didn’t count on the fact she’d angered a man bent on revenge. He also didn’t count on losing his heart.

The Misfit Bride by Peggy Trotter

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1853 – Indiana

Zero. That’s how many suitors Cora “Too Tall” Taggart’s entertained in her nineteen years. That is, until her father corrals a man nearly twice her age needing a mother for his children. However, Cora’s heart aches to find true love with a man who would embrace all of her misfit qualities. When Trigg Gentry discovers Cora in a back alley, using his horse as her own personal writing desk, sparks fly between them. While he searches for his runaway sister, Trigg crosses paths once again with Cora on a steamer bound for St. Louis, and neither Trigg nor Cora can deny their blossoming relationship. But Trigg’s unexpected exit from Cora’s debutante cotillion comes under suspicion. The guests’ jewelry is missing, and he’s linked to a murder case. Cora fears these accusations will make it impossible to avoid her father’s arranged marriage. And to make matters worse, her heart belongs to the man now pegged as a criminal. How can Cora convince her father that Trigg isn’t involved in either crime when all the proof points straight at him?

A Wagon Train Weekend by Stephenia McGee

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1857 – Oregon Trail

It was just one night at a Victorian B&B. Until they woke up in 1857.

Collette Donaldson never should have taken her boyfriend to her cousin’s wedding. Or introduced him to her parents. After a disastrous weekend, all she wants is to get back home and sort out the mess that had once been their relationship. A heartbreaking fight, a flat tire, and an inconvenient storm force her and Seth to stay the night at a quaint bed and breakfast. But when Collette finds an antique photograph of herself, circumstances quickly shift from weird to unimaginable.

Seth Stone was ready to propose. Now he isn’t sure if he and Collette even have a relationship. People he’d never want to be his in-laws, an irritable girlfriend, and now he has to spend the night in a creepy old Victorian inn. He should have never wondered how things could possibly get worse. When they wake up stranded on a wagon train in 1857, Seth is determined to get home. But the only way to get out of the past is to face the problems stealing their future.

Wagon Train Weekend by Stephenia McGee

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1857 – Oregon

It was just one night at a Victorian B&B. Until they woke up in 1857.

Collette Donaldson never should have taken her boyfriend to her cousin’s wedding. Or introduced him to her parents. After a disastrous weekend, all she wants is to get back home and sort out the mess that had once been their relationship. A heartbreaking fight, a flat tire, and an inconvenient storm force her and Seth to stay the night at a quaint bed and breakfast. But when Collette finds an antique photograph of herself, circumstances quickly shift from weird to unimaginable.

Seth Stone was ready to propose. Now he isn’t sure if he and Collette even have a relationship. People he’d never want to be his in-laws, an irritable girlfriend, and now he has to spend the night in a creepy old Victorian inn. He should have never wondered how things could possibly get worse. When they wake up stranded on a wagon train in 1857, Seth is determined to get home. But the only way to get out of the past is to face the problems stealing their future.

Dreams Rekindled by Amanda Cabot

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1856 – Texas

Though she hopes for a quiet, uncomplicated life for herself, Dorothy Clark wants nothing more than to stir others up. Specifically, she dreams of writing something that will challenge people as much as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin seems to have. But in 1850s Mesquite Springs, there are few opportunities for writers–until newspaperman Brandon Holloway arrives, that is.

Brandon Holloway has seen the disastrous effects of challenging others and has no intention of repeating that mistake. Instead of following his dreams, he’s committed to making a new–and completely uncontroversial–start in the Hill Country.

As Dorothy’s involvement in the fledgling newspaper grows from convenient to essential, the same change seems to be happening in Brandon’s heart. But before romance can bloom, Dorothy and Brandon must work together to discover who’s determined to divide the town and destroy Brandon’s livelihood.

With this second novel in the Mesquite Springs series, bestselling author Amanda Cabot invites you to discover the healing power of truth.

Sing in the Sunlight by Kathleen Denly

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1858 – California

Richard Stevens isn’t who he thinks he is. Neither is the woman who now claims his last name.

Disfiguring scars stole Clarinda Humphrey’s singing career, her home, and her family, but she refuses to let her appearance steal her future. While attending The Young Ladies Seminary in 1858 Benicia, California, she finds a man who promises to love and cherish her. Instead he betrays her, leaving her with child, and Clarinda must take drastic measures to ensure her child doesn’t suffer for her foolishness.

Richard Stevens’s life hasn’t turned out as he expected, and when a shocking letter turns even his past into a mystery, he travels to San Francisco in search of guidance. On the way, he encounters a mysterious young woman hiding beneath a veil. That night he experiences a dream that sends him on a quest to find the bride God has chosen for him. He never imagines she’s already told everyone they’re married.

Richard wants a true marriage, but Clarinda’s not interested in love, only a chance to save her child. Can he help her rise above the pain that runs deeper than her scars to accept a love worth every risk?

The Longest Road by Dan Walsh

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1857 – Virginia/Traveling

It’s October, 1857, just a few years before the Civil War. After recovering a month in New York from the shipwreck that almost took their lives, John and Laura Foster finalize plans to return home to San Francisco. Knowing they must return, both are dreading the voyage. Their plans suddenly change when they learn of a tragedy involving their beloved friend and former slave, Micah. His youngest daughter Hannah, still a slave in Virginia, has been mercilessly torn from the arms of her husband and sold to a wicked slaveowner from the Deep South. Her brother Eli knows Hannah will never submit to the evil schemes of this slaveowner. Unsure of how to find her, John and Laura embark on an epic journey—together with Micah and Eli—hoping to somehow rescue Hannah…before it’s too late.

Harvest Moon by Jenny Knipfer

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1852 – Canada

In the wilds of 19th century Ontario, Maang-ikwe, a young Ojibwe woman, falls into a forbidden love, breaks her father’s honor, and surrenders her trust to someone who betrays it. The abuse she suffers divides her from her tribe and causes her to give up what she holds most dear.

Niin-mawin must come to grips with his culture being ripped away from him. Brought up in a “white man’s” school, he suffers through an enforced “civilized” education and separation from his family. When a man he respects reveals a secret about Niin-mawin’s past, he embarks on a search for the person he hopes can mend the part of his heart that’s always been missing.

Both Maang-ikwe and Niin-mawin wonder how a harvest of pain and sorrow will impact their lives. Will they find the blessings amongst the hardships, or will they allow the results of division and abuse to taint their hearts forever?

The Love Note by Joanna Davidson Politano

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1865 – England

Focused on a career in medicine and not on romance, Willa Duvall is thrown slightly off course during the summer of 1865 when she discovers a never-opened love letter in a crack of her old writing desk. Compelled to find the passionate soul who penned it and the person who never received it, she takes a job as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor.

Everyone at Crestwicke has feelings–mostly negative ones–about the man who wrote the letter, but he seems to have disappeared. With plenty of enticing clues but few answers, Willa’s search becomes even more complicated when she misplaces the letter and it passes from person to person in the house, each finding a thrilling or disheartening message in its words.

Laced with mysteries large and small, this romantic Victorian-era tale of love lost, love deferred, and love found is sure to delight.

Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick

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1853 – Oregon

In 1853, Abigail Scott was a 19-year-old school teacher in Oregon Territory when she married Ben Duniway. Marriage meant giving up on teaching, but Abigail always believed she was meant to be more than a good wife and mother. When financial mistakes and an injury force Ben to stop working, Abigail becomes the primary breadwinner for her growing family. What she sees as a working woman appalls her, and she devotes her life to fighting for the rights of women, including their right to vote.

Following Abigail as she bears six children, runs a millinery and a private school, helps on the farm, writes novels, gives speeches, and eventually runs a newspaper supporting women’s suffrage, Something Worth Doing explores issues that will resonate strongly with modern women: the pull between career and family, finding one’s place in the public sphere, and dealing with frustrations and prejudices women encounter when they compete in male-dominated spaces. Based on a true story of a pioneer for women’s rights from award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick will inspire you to believe that some things are worth doing–even when the cost is great.

Heart of a Warrior by Angela K. Couch

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1859 – Oregon Trail

The Man She Fears Is Her Only Chance For Survival . . .

All Christina Astle wants is to reach Oregon before her baby is born, but the wagon train is attacked, and her husband killed, stranding her in a mountain labyrinth. Raised in the East, within civilization’s embrace, survival is not a skill she’s learned. Neither is evading the lone warrior dogging her trail.

Disgusted by the greed and cruelty of men like his white father, Towan has turned to the simpler existence of his mother’s tribal people. He is not prepared for the fiery woman who threatens to upturn his entire life … and his heart.

One Hundred Valleys by Bonnie Leon

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1855 – Oregon Territory

After the death of her mother, Emmalin Hammond discovers she is not the heiress she’d always assumed she’d be. The revelation exposes her fiancé’s true intentions when he withdraws his marriage proposal, leaving Emmalin heartbroken and humiliated. When she discovers the father she believed to be dead is still alive and living in the Oregon Territory she decides it is time to meet the man who has been hidden from her all of her life.

Accompanied by her Uncle Jonathon, she sets out for the Oregon Territory in search of answers and hoping for a renewed relationship with her father. When tragedy strikes, she confronts the terrifying challenge of completing her quest alone. Faced with few options, she entrusts her life to a mountain man named Jacob Landon who agrees to transport her to a small settlement in Southern Oregon called Deer Creek, a place also known as the Land of One Hundred Valleys.

Emmalin is not prepared for the hardships of life in the Oregon wilderness. Each day presents a new challenge. Newfound friends, including the reserved Jacob Landon, who unexpectedly stirs her heart, come alongside to help her adapt. Yet she feels out of place. Should she brave the arduous journey back to Philadelphia for the life she once knew or remain and hope for something better in the Oregon wilderness?

Morgan’s Medicine by Julia David

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1851 – California

In 1851, being kidnapped off of a ship might be the worst thing for an innocent young woman. For Emery, she thought it was her salvation until the kidnappers only took her and left her younger sister on the ship.

When angry miners seek revenge on the greedy baron, Arnold Snider, who stole their savings, they believe they have kidnapped his wife. It’s simple if he gives their gold back, he can have his wife back. But how will the trade work when they realize they’ve taken the wrong woman?

Keeping the mistaken identity to herself, Emery is left with a recluse miner. Will the secret help her get her sister free or land her back in the hands of the cruel Arnold Snider, a man she despises?

Doctor Morgan Hastings wants to take his mining friends by the neck. How could they ride off leaving a young woman on his porch, shackled and bound? How can he help her when she looks at him like he’s the enemy? Why won’t she let him help her get back to the ship, to her husband? Just when Morgan can’t stand the confusion any longer, Emery does something that shocks even a doctor recovering from the war.

Minute by minute choices, gripping emotions, and surrender. Can Morgan and Emery heal from the past in time?

Will a thread of faith be enough to see the light and love that awaits them?

The Scottish Lass by Susan Page Davis and James S. Davis

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1854 – At Sea

Pirates capture a beloved crew member of the Vera B., but Alice Packard and her female sailors believe there is always hope.
In Java, Fiona Campbell is kidnapped and taken aboard a stolen ship. The mutineers beat Captain Stark and cast him ashore, but keep the ship’s first mate, Tommy Mercer. They force him to navigate to a distant island, where they hope to recover a treasure. Captain Stark seeks help from Captain Alice Packard and the female crew of the Vera B., not telling her the pirates’ captain told him to bring the ship of women to him. While her friends search for her, Fiona concentrates on staying alive. The pirates warn her that if she misbehaves, Tommy will bear the consequences. Can Alice and her intrepid sailors rescue them? And what about Stark and his two men—can they be trusted?

Out of the Embers by Amanda Cabot

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1855 – Texas

Ten years after her parents were killed, Evelyn Radcliffe is once more homeless. The orphanage that was her refuge and later her workplace has burned to the ground, and only she and a young orphan girl have escaped. Convinced this must be related to her parents’ murders, Evelyn flees with the girl to Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country and finds refuge in the home of Wyatt Clark, a talented horse rancher whose plans don’t include a family of his own.

At first, Evelyn is a distraction. But when it becomes clear that trouble has followed her to Mesquite Springs, she becomes a full-blown disruption. Can Wyatt keep her safe from the man who wants her dead? And will his own plans become collateral damage?

Suspenseful and sweetly romantic, Out of the Embers is the first in a new series that invites you to the Texas Hill Country in the 1850s, when the West was wild, the men were noble, and the women were strong.

Waltz in the Wilderness by Kathleen Denly

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1850 – California

She’s desperate to find her missing father. His conscience demands he risk all to help. 

Eliza Brooks is haunted by her role in her mother’s death, so she’ll do anything to find her missing pa—even if it means sneaking aboard a southbound ship. When those meant to protect her abandon and betray her instead, a family friend’s unexpected assistance is a blessing she can’t refuse.

Daniel Clarke came to California to make his fortune, and a stable job as a San Francisco carpenter has earned him more than most have scraped from the local goldfields. But it’s been four years since he left Massachusetts and his fiancé is impatient for his return. Bound for home at last, Daniel Clarke finds his heart and plans challenged by a tenacious young woman with haunted eyes. Though every word he utters seems to offend her, he is determined to see her safely returned to her father. Even if that means risking his fragile engagement.

When disaster befalls them in the remote wilderness of the Southern California mountains, true feelings are revealed, and both must face heart-rending decisions. But how to decide when every choice before them leads to someone getting hurt?

Saving Ebenezer by S. Daniel Smith

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1850 – England

Seven years after Jacob Marley and the three ghosts of Christmas changed Ebenezer’s life, Scrooge has a problem. He’s given away most of his money and brightened many lives, restored churches, and made London workhouses better for those living and working inside. If only all of that made him feel better about his life…

Doubt plagues Ebenezer. Even with all of his philanthropy, he still has questions he can’t answer. Are the scales balanced? Did he do enough good after that fateful Christmas Eve to avoid Jacob Marley’s fate? And after a very special person dies, he adds another question: Why did God let it happen?

When he falls ill himself, Ebenezer’s questions take on a new desperation.

From the Cratchits to the workhouse fundraisers to nephew Fred, you’ll be reintroduced to several old friends, as well as a few new ones. With each visitor, Ebenezer tries to get closer to the answers to his questions. As the clock starts to run out, Ebenezer will need the words from an old friend to tip the scales in his favor.

Under Moonlit Skies by Cynthia Roemer

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1859 – Illinois

After four long years away, Esther Stanton returns to the prairie to care for her sister Charlotte’s family following the birth of her second child. The month-long stay seems much too short as Esther becomes acquainted with her brother-in-law’s new ranch hand, Stewart Brant. When obligations compel her to return to Cincinnati and to the man her overbearing mother intends her to wed, she loses hope of ever knowing true happiness.

Still reeling from a hurtful relationship, Stew is reluctant to open his heart to Esther. But when he faces a life-threatening injury with Esther tending him, their bond deepens. Heartbroken when she leaves, he sets out after her and inadvertently stumbles across an illegal slave-trade operation, the knowledge of which puts him, as well as Esther and her family, in jeopardy.

The Choice by Anne Greene

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1850 – Wyoming

Felicity’s father dies, leaving her stranded at Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, one-third the way to homestead 640 acres in the Oregon Territory. She has money and supplies to continue her journey, but a woman alone cannot claim the free land. So, she advertises for a husband.

Ben’s got massive debt and Gold Rush fever and heads to California. But at Ft. Laramie he’s robbed of everything he owns, including his horse. His only recourse is to strike a bargain with Felicity.

At the fork in the trail, will he trek to Oregon to help her homestead, or will she accompany him to dig for gold in California? Can these two stubborn people with very different goals make the right choice?

Once Upon a Dickens Christmas by Michelle Griep

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1850s – England

Two repackaged and One new novella

Pour yourself a cuppa, get lost in the merriment of the season, and enjoy a Dickensian Christmas in three stories from fan favorite Michelle Griep:
 
12 Days a Bleakly Manor: Brought together under mysterious circumstances, Clara and Ben discover that what they’ve been striving for isn’t what ultimately matters. What matters most is what Christmas is all about . . . love.
 
A Tale of Two Hearts: Pleasure seeker William Barlow needs a wife immediately to gain his uncle’s inheritance, and Mina Scott is just the girl to make him look respectable—too bad she turns him down. Ought he give her a second chance?
 
The Old Lace Shop: Recently widowed Bella White is finally freed from the domination of the overbearing men in her life, but when she enters into a business partnership with the handsome Edmund Archer, she begins to wonder if marriage is worth a second chance.

A Perfect Silhouette by Judith Miller

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1850 – New Hampshire

In 1850, Mellicent “Mellie” Blanchard takes a job at a mill in Manchester, New Hampshire, to help support her family. In search of additional earning opportunities, she approaches a daguerreotype shop owner with the proposal that he hire her to make paper cuttings or silhouette portraits for those who can’t afford an expensive daguerreotype.

When a particularly charming customer–whose broad smile and twinkling eyes catch her off guard–asks to escort her home, the seeds of romance begin to blossom. All the pieces of her new life seem to have fallen perfectly into place, but when her new venture brings her an unexpected opportunity, she is confronted with the truth that all is not as it seems. Will Mellie, who is keeping secrets of her own, find happiness in the new life she has carved out for herself in the busy mill town?

Searching for You by Jody Hedlund

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1859 – Illinois

Despite years on the run, Sophie Neumann is determined to care for two young children. She won’t abandon them the way she thinks her older sisters abandoned her. But times are growing desperate, and when she falls in with the wrong crowd and witnesses a crime, she realizes fleeing 1850s New York is her only option.

Disappearing with her two young charges into a group of orphans heading west by train, Sophie hopes to find safety and a happy life. When the train stops in Illinois for the first placement of orphans, Sophie faces the most difficult choice of her life.

Reinhold Weiss has finally purchased his own small farm. With mounting debts, a harvest to bring in, and past scars that haunt him, he’s in no position to give his heart away . . . but can he say no when his long-lost friend shows up on a nearby train pleading for his help?

The Song of Hearts Set Free by Darlene Panzera

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1851 – New Jersey

In 1850, Jersey City residents could be jailed for helping runaway slaves escape north…
 
Yet when a southern fugitive saves the life of Annie Morrison’s brother, Will, they feel they should return the favor and hide the man on their family’s rural homestead. Annie’s abolitionist friend, Louisa, encourages her to continue to help those traveling the ‘Underground Railroad,’ but Annie is fearful of the danger…until she meets Isaiah Hawkins.
 
Isaiah is a ‘watcher’ who works on the ferry boats looking for those who might steal the captain’s cargo. Little does the captain know, Isaiah is secretly transporting ‘cargo’ of his own. Except Annie derails his plans when she takes in the fugitive he was meant to escort, and Isaiah must convince her to work with him to get the Underground Railroad back on track.
As Annie helps Isaiah ship fugitives across the Hudson River to New York, her attraction toward the handsome young man grows. But when she sees him aid notorious slave catcher, Simon Cole, the horrid man threatening her family, past fears of betrayal rise to haunt her and she must question—is Isaiah really friend or foe?

 

This Courageous Journey by Misty Beller

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1854 – Montana

As the fifth daughter in a family of nine, Noelle Grant spent her life striving to be unique. Her love of telling stories helps define her goal—to be known around the country as one of the top news correspondents of her time. And what better way to uncover sensational tales than to travel through the mountain wilderness to visit her brother? The trip comes together perfectly as she journeys with family friends who will be settling in the same area. Her first inkling that things may not be as perfect as she’d imagined shows up in the form of the mountain man hired as their guide for the final leg of the journey.

When Daniel Abrams agrees to guide the small group of easterners along his usual route northward to the Canadian mountains, his gut tells him he’s making a terrible decision. But if he doesn’t take them, who will? The crew’s leader refuses to consider turning back. As they start out, Daniel can’t help but notice the woman traveling under the care of her friends. Though she appears too genteel to last long in these mountains, she soon reveals a strength that draws him more than he should allow.

When the dangers of this wilderness become more than the group bargained for, Noelle must choose to delay her trip northward or proceed alone with the man she’s come to trust against all reason. She never dreams her decision will place her—and the man she loves—in a situation more hazardous than any story her imagination could conjure.

A Christmas Prayer by Wanda Brunstetter

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1850 – Missouri to California

Previously released in the The Westward Christmas Brides Collection

Only the brave—or foolhardy—would attempt a cross-country journey late in the season. Three wagons meet up in Independence, Missouri, in April 1850, and their owners decide to keep forging ahead despite many setbacks and delays. December finds them in the Sierra Nevada Mountains when a sudden snowstorm traps them, obscuring the trail.
 
Cynthia Cooper is traveling with her mother and the man she has promised to marry. But as Christmas is upon them and they are hunkered down in a small cabin, she is forced to reevaluate her reasons for planning to marry fellow-traveler Walter Prentice. When a widowed father heading to a California ranch and a gold prospector both show an interest in Cynthia, she weighs her dreams for marriage alongside her responsibility to care for her mother. Can love win over her timid heart?

A Tale of Two Hearts by Michelle Griep

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1853 – England

Innkeeper’s daughter Mina Scott will do anything to escape the drudgery of her life, for there’s nothing more mundane than serving customers day after day. Every minute she can, she reads and dreams of someday becoming a real lady—and catch the eye of William Barlow, a frequent guest at the inn.

William is a gentleman’s son, a charming but penniless rogue. However, his bachelor uncle will soon name an heir—either him or his scheming cousin. In an effort to secure the inheritance, William gives his uncle the impression he’s married, which works until he’s invited to bring his wife for a visit.

William asks Mina to be his pretend bride, only until his uncle names an heir on Christmas Day. Mina is flattered and frustrated by the offer, for she wants a true relationship with William. Yet, she agrees. . .then wishes she hadn’t. So does William. Deceiving the old man breaks both their hearts. When the truth is finally discovered, more than just money is lost.

Can two hearts survive such deception?

Where the Snowy Owl Sleeps by Mimi Milan

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1852 – California

Known as “Snowy Owl” amongst her people, Kela Tukumu is less interested in taking a husband than she is in becoming the first medicine woman of her Miwok tribe. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is rather fierce to behold–taller and stronger than all the other women, and even many of the men… or maybe it is simply due to the terrible tragedy she heard all her life–the one that took away her grieving mother before Kela had the chance to even know her. Regardless of the reason, Kela is determined to stay the course. With the influx of new settlers in the territory, her people have suffered much. She has decided it is her responsibility to help them heal. However, doing so may require an alliance with the local town doctor in ways she never imagined.

If Jonathan Edwards could turn back the hands of time, he would have never left his medical practice back east. His wife warned him it would be their undoing and, sure enough, it was. Now he has his wife’s blood on his hands, as well as the responsibility of raising their two small children alone. Worse, the town’s mayor has charged him with yet another undertaking–unite the townsfolk with the local Miwok tribe. Yet, how can he possibly do so when the very real likelihood exists that it was one of their men who murdered his wife? The last thing he wishes is to betray her memory… an increasingly difficult task when the Miwok’s shaman turns out to be the most capable woman he’s ever known.

Will sharing their knowledge with one another open a way to healing, or only produce more hurt for both them and their peoples?