The Welcome Wagon by Jamie Adams

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1867 – Arkansas

When a wagon train is attacked leaving women and children alone and vulnerable, churches throughout the Ozarks take them in. Maggie Lynn and her wards, along with three other women, end up in an out-of-the-way town in Arkansas. Maggie has seen her fair share of loss, but now she’s responsible for raising her orphaned nieces and must find a way to support them.

Sensible small-town sheriff, Owen Sommers, tries to keep the peace when a wagon full of women descends on his city of bachelors, but his principles are challenged when he suspects the ladies have something to hide. His suspicions are confirmed when strangers appear in town looking for what they believe is rightfully theirs.

As tensions rise and hearts become entangled, will Maggie be able to trust Owen with the truth? And what will happen if she does?

A Time to Bloom by Lauraine Snelling

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1866 – Nebraska

Will their dreams fall apart when confronted with all that is stacked against them?

Delphinium Nielsen and her sisters have accomplished much in the past year, traveling west and settling in Nebraska. They are on their way to building a garden in dedication to their mother and working against the forces of nature to make their farm thrive. However, none of that can mask their concern that they are quickly running out of money. Del’s work teaching in their booming town offers hope, not only to support her sisters financially, but also to better her students’ lives. Not all of the town sees it that way, though, with the rebuilding of the schoolhouse continually neglected and her brightest student’s father demanding he work the farm instead of attend class.

When their brother Anders arrives with his war-wounded and heartbroken friend RJ, Anders sees the strength of the sisters’ idea to start a boardinghouse and decides to invest in it. Del finds RJ barely polite and wants nothing to do with him. But despite Del and her sisters’ best-laid plans, the future–and RJ–might surprise them all.

Boulevard of Confusion by Sandra Merville Hart

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1862 – Virginia

In times of war, is anything as it seems?

Her aunt’s invitation to Richmond is just the change Beatrice Swanson needs after her brother’s release from a Union prison. Bea’s father agrees to the trip with a condition—one that tosses her emotions into swirling confusion.

Though Jay Nickson wants to serve his country as a Confederate soldier, his work is too important to the government. Bea’s interest in his job, which includes secrets that would benefit the Union, arouses his suspicions. Is she spying for the North? His growing feelings for her are hard to squelch.

Though she participates in activities to benefit Confederate soldiers, Bea struggles with her own loyalties and her father’s demands. Where does her cousin, Meg, go on her solitary errands? Bea’s own growing love for Jay, a Southerner, only adds to her confusion. Tensions escalate in Richmond as the Union army approaches, drawing her into more secrecy. Where does her allegiance lie? And how will she be forced to prove it?

Nothing in war is simple…especially when the heart becomes entangled.

To Tame a Cowboy by Jody Hedlund

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1867 – Colorado

They share a passion to heal what is broken, but it’s their own hearts that need to be made whole. 

Brody McQuaid is a broken man, and he knows it. While his body survived the war, his soul did not. Besides loving his little niece, his only sense of purpose comes from saving the wild horses that roam South Park. Ranchers in the area have taken to killing the horses, which are competing with their cattle to feed on the open grass.

Savannah Marshall is a veterinarian on her family’s Colorado ranch. She longs to keep her father happy following the tragic death of her older brother, including marrying a man of his choosing. But days before her wedding, she gets cold feet and disappears to South Park. As she learns more about the destruction of the horses, she joins Brody in an attempt to save the wild creatures. But when Savannah’s family and the resentments of the area cattlemen catch up with them both, Brody and Savannah will have to tame their fears if they’ve any hope to let love run free.

A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke

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1861/1944 – North Carolina

In wars eighty years apart, two young women living on the same Appalachian estate determine to aid soldiers dear to them and fight for justice, no matter the cost.

1944. When a violent storm rips through the Belvidere attic in No Creek, North Carolina, exposing a hidden room and trunk long forgotten, secrets dating back to the Civil War are revealed. Celia Percy, whose family lives and works in the home, suspects the truth could transform the future for her friend Marshall, now fighting overseas, whose ancestors were once enslaved by the Belvidere family. When Marshall’s Army friend, Joe, returns to No Creek with shocking news for Marshall’s family, Celia determines to right a long-standing wrong, whether or not the town is ready for it.

1861. After her mother’s death, Minnie Belvidere works desperately to keep her household running and her family together as North Carolina secedes. Her beloved older brother clings to his Union loyalties, despite grave danger, while her hotheaded younger brother entangles himself and the family’s finances within the Confederacy. As the country and her own home are torn in two, Minnie risks her life and her future in a desperate fight to gain liberty and land for those her parents intended to free, before it’s too late.

Her Guarded Heart by Sharlene MacLaren

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1865 – Ohio

At age twenty-one, Anna Hansen has had more than her share of hardship. Her mother died when she was eleven and her father just passed away under mysterious circumstances, leaving her to care for her ten-year-old brother, Billy Ray. She struggles to hang onto the family farm but it’s facing foreclosure and things are looking grim.

Next door, Jesse Fuller’s drive, work ethic, and skill ensure that his family’s farm is a growing success. His brothers think he should marry Anna to help out her and her kid brother…while also enabling the Fullers to expand their operation. But Jesse has never had romantic feelings for Anna and the idea doesn’t appeal to him.

In the meantime, Horace Blackthorn is hell-bent on acquiring the Hansen farm for reasons of his own. And he’ll do whatever it takes to get it—lie, cheat, steal…even murder.

Avenue of Betrayal by Sandra Merville Hart

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1861 – Washington D.C.

Betrayed by her brother and the man she loves…whom can she trust when tragedy strikes?

Soldiers are pouring into Washington City every day and have begun drilling in preparation for a battle with the Confederacy. Annie Swanson worries for her brother, whom she’s just discovered is a Confederate officer in his new home state of North Carolina. Even as Annie battles feelings of betrayal toward the big brother she’s always adored, her wealthy banker father swears her and her sister to secrecy about their brother’s actions. How could he forsake their mother’s abolitionist teachings?

Sergeant-Major John Finn camps within a mile of the Swansons’ mansion where his West Point pal once lived. Sweet Annie captured his heart at Will’s wedding last year and he looks forward to reestablishing their relationship—until he’s asked to spy on her father.

To prove her father’s loyalty to the Union, John agrees to spy on the Swanson family, though Annie must never know. Then the war strikes a blow that threatens to destroy them all—including the love that’s grown between them against all odds.

Where the Last Rose Blooms by Ashley Clark

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1861/Present – South Carolina/Louisiana

Alice runs a New Orleans flower shop alongside her aunt, but thoughts of her mother, who went missing during Hurricane Katrina, are never far from her mind. After getting off on the wrong foot with a man who comes to the shop, Alice soon realizes their worlds overlap–and the answers they both seek can be found in the same place.

In 1861 Charleston, Clara is an abolitionist, unbeknownst to her father, who is heavily involved with the Confederacy. She attempts to assist an enslaved woman reunite with her daughter, and a dashing Union spy is just the person to help them. But things go very wrong when Clara agrees to aid the Northern cause by ferrying information about her father’s associates–and her own fiancé.

Faced with the unknown, both women across the years will have to dig deep to let their courage bloom.

Love’s Twisting Trail by Betty Woods

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1869 – Texas

Stampedes, wild animals, and renegade Comanches make a cattle drive dangerous for any man. The risks multiply when Charlotte Grimes goes up the trail disguised as Charlie, a fourteen year-old boy. She promised her dying father she’d save their ranch after her brother, Tobias, mismanages their money. To keep her vow, she rides the trail with the brother she can’t trust.

David Shepherd needs one more successful drive to finish buying the ranch he’s prayed for. He partners with Tobias to travel safely through Indian Territory. David detests the hateful way Tobias treats his younger brother, Charlie. He could easily love the boy like the brother he’s always wanted. But what does he do when he discovers Charlie’s secret? What kind of woman would do what she’s done?

The trail takes an unexpected twist when Charlotte falls in love with David. She’s afraid to tell him of her deception. Such a God-fearing, honest gentleman is bound to despise the kind of woman who dares to wear a man’s trousers and venture on a cattle drive. Since her father left her half the ranch, she intends to continue working the land like any other man after she returns to Texas. David would never accept her as she is.

Choosing between keeping her promise to her father or being with the man she loves may put Charlotte’s heart in more danger than any of the hazards on the trail can.

Harmony on the Horizon by Kathleen Denly

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1865 – California

Her calling to change the world may be his downfall.

On the heels of the Great Rebellion, Margaret Foster, an abolitionist northerner, takes a teaching position in 1865 San Diego—a town dominated by Southern sympathizers. At thirty-seven years of age, Margaret has accepted spinsterhood and embraced her role as teacher. So, when Everett Thompson, the handsomest member of the School Board, reveals his interest in her, it’s a dream come true. Until her passionate ideals drive a wedge between them.

After two decades of hard work, Everett Thompson is on the verge of having everything he’s dreamed of. Even the beautiful new teacher has agreed to his courtship. Then two investments go south and a blackmailer threatens everything Everett has and dreams of.

As Everett scrambles to shore up the crumbling pieces of his life, Margaret unwittingly sets off a scandal that divides the small community and threatens her position as teacher. With the blackmailer still whispering threats, Everett must decide if he’s willing to risk everything for the woman still keeping him at arm’s length.

The Corporal’s Codebook by Susan Page Davis

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1845 – New York

Jack Miller stumbles through the Civil War, winding up a telegrapher and cryptographer for the army. In the field with General Sherman in Georgia, he is captured along with his precious cipher key.

His captor, Hamilton Buckley, thinks he should have been president of the Confederacy, not Jefferson Davis. Jack doubts Buckley’s sanity and longs to escape. Buckley’s kindhearted niece, Marilla, might help him—but only if Jack helps her achieve her own goal.

Meanwhile, a private investigator, stymied by the difficulty of travel and communication in wartime, is trying his best to locate Jack for the grandmother he longs to see again but can barely remember.

The Marshal’s Unexpected Bride by Christina Rich

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1868 – Kansas

He sent for a nanny…

and ended up with a mail-order bride.

Marshal Beau Garrett penned a desperate ad for a nanny to wrangle the five unruly children he inherited. So why is this society miss at his jail claiming to be his betrothed? Penelope Parker thought the mail-order bride ad was her salvation when she fled the city and an arranged marriage. Meddling matchmakers may be to blame for the mix-up, but no matter, she won’t go back. With one week to change Beau’s mind, she’ll just hike up her muddied skirts, tame the children and prove to her reluctant groom he needs a wife.

Freedom’s Song by Kim Vogel Sawyer

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1860 – Missouri

Indentured servant Fanny Beck has been forced to sing for riverboat passengers since she was a girl. All she wants is to live a quiet, humble life with her family as soon as her seven-year contract is over. So when she discovers that the captain has no intention of releasing her, she seizes a sudden opportunity to escape—an impulse that leads Fanny to a group of enslaved people who are on their own dangerous quest for liberty. . . .

Widower Walter Kuhn is overwhelmed by his responsibilities to his farm and young daughter, and now his mail-order bride hasn’t arrived. Could a beautiful stranger seeking work be the answer to his prayers? . . .
 
After the star performer of the River Peacock is presumed drowned, Sloan Kirkpatrick, the riverboat’s captain, sets off to find her replacement. However, his journey will bring him face to face with his own past—and a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be free. . . . 

Angelina’s Resolve by Cindy Ervin Huff

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1868 – Kansas

Proving her skills are equal to a man’s may cost her more than she ever imagined.

Modern-thinking Angelina DuBois is determined to prove her cousin Hiram wrong. He fired her from the architect firm she helped grow when her father’s will left the business to Hiram. Using her large inheritance and architectural degree, she sets out to create a village run by women—Resolve, Kansas.

Carpenter and Civil War veteran Edward Pritchard’s dream of building homes for Chicago’s elite must be put on hold until he gains references. Serving as a contractor under Angelina’s well-known DuBois name provides that opportunity. But can Angelina trust her handsome new carpenter to respect her as his boss? Will the project take Edward one step closer to his goals, or will it make him a laughingstock? Can these two strong-willed people find love amid such an unconventional experiment? 

The Heart of a Cowboy by Jody Hedlund

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1863 – Colorado

When he agreed to guard her, he never bargained on having to guard his heart.

Brilliant scientist Linnea Newberry is on the adventure of a lifetime, traveling the Santa Fe Trail with her grandfather, Dr. Howell, on a botanical expedition to Colorado Territory. She longs to be valued for her contributions and not seen as a helpless liability. But at every calamity she faces, her grandfather threatens to send her home.

After watching his ma suffer and die in childbirth, Flynn McQuaid has sworn off women and marriage forever. Headed west to start a new life, he has his hands full not only taking care of his younger siblings but also delivering cattle to his older brother. He doesn’t need more complications.

When Flynn rescues Linnea from drowning during a river crossing, Dr. Howell promptly
hires Flynn–unbeknownst to Linnea–to act as her bodyguard for the rest of the trip. As
Flynn fights against the many dangers of the trail, he soon finds himself in the greatest danger of all–falling for a woman he’s determined not to love.

Wagon Train Wedding by Rhonda Gibson

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1867 – Oregon Trail

The wagon train is her chance for a new life…but only if her secrets will keep.
 
Widowed Mrs. Cora Edwards sees Oregon as a fresh start for her and her son…but there are a few problems. She’s not a widow…and baby Noah isn’t her son. He’s the nephew she’s vowed to protect—even if she must accept a marriage of convenience before she’ll be permitted on the wagon train. Her groom, lawman Flynn Adams, carries his own secret heartache…which Cora starts to ease. On the path to a new future, will they find a way forward together?

Beyond These War-Torn Lands by Cynthia Roemer

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1864 – Maryland

The War brought them together ~ Would it also tear them apart?

While en route to aid Confederate soldiers injured in battle near her home, Southerner Caroline Dunbar stumbles across a wounded Union sergeant. Unable to ignore his plea for help, she tends his injuries and hides him away, only to find her attachment to him deepen with each passing day. But when her secret is discovered, Caroline incurs her father’s wrath and, in turn, unlocks a dark secret from the past which she is determined to unravel.

After being forced to flee his place of refuge, Sergeant Andrew Gallagher fears he’s seen the last of Caroline. Resolved not to let that happen, when the war ends, he seeks her out, only to discover she’s been sent away. When word reaches him that President Lincoln has been shot, Drew is assigned the task of tracking down the assassin. A chance encounter with Caroline revives his hopes, until he learns she may be involved in a plot to aid the assassin.

The Seeds of Change by Lauraine Snelling

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1865 – Ohio/Traveling

Larkspur Nielsen is ready for a change. Her parents have passed on, and her older brother is successfully running the family business. She bristles at the small-mindedness that permeates life in her small Ohio community, and she sees little chance of a satisfying future there. She has a little money saved, and after turning the tables on a crooked gambler who had fleeced several locals, including her younger brother, she can stake a new start for herself and her three sisters.

As the gambler’s threats of revenge echo in her ears, she and her sisters head to Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train bound for Oregon. Knowing that four women traveling together will draw unwanted attention, Larkspur dons a disguise, passing herself off as “Clark” Nielsen, accompanying his three sisters. But maintaining the ruse is more difficult than Larkspur imagined, as is protecting her headstrong, starry-eyed sisters from difficult circumstances and eligible young men. Will reaching their goal prove too much for them?

No Man’s Daughter by Kathleen Maher

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1866 – Virginia

A man with something to prove and a lady with something to hide clash over hotly contested property and a marriage proving anything but convenient.

When the Sharpe’s elderly neighbor passes after the war leaving a vacant farm with no heir, Benjamin Sharpe inquires to purchase the land. What he doesn’t expect to find is a beautiful and stubborn squatter has taken residence. Will her claim on the property prove harder to drive out than her claim on his heart?

Willa looked after Old Mr. Thompson through the war until his death. The late owner promised her a permanent home there, like the daughter he never had, but with some strings attached. When young and ambitious Benjamin Sharpe shows up with intent to evict her, Willa gives him a piece of her mind with a piece of lead aimed at his boots.

The youngest of the Sharpe brothers, Benjamin has been bossed around his entire life by his brothers, and he isn’t about to take it from any girl. All three of his brothers have veterans’ boasting rights in the War, and he must prove his mettle, too. But will his ambitions go so far as to force a waif from her home? As the girl’s resourceful defense of the property frustrates his plans, admiration plucks at his heartstrings. Ben must find a compromise while saving face with his family. But the chit has no intention of playing nice or seeking truce. In Bridgewater, Virginia, the war is still on!

The Songstress by Lori Bates Wright

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1868 – Illinois

Rising opera star, Juliana Chamberlain, still has nightmares of the night she witnessed the assassination of the President of the United States from her spot on stage at Ford Theater. Recruited by The Pinkerton Detective Agency, Juliana was instrumental in bringing those responsible to justice.

Two years later, the Pinkertons once again ask her to join forces in exposing a corrupt political organization terrorizing her home in Texas.

Texas Ranger, Cade Matlock, has a job to do. He needs no help from a meddlesome lady agent with big ideas. However, he’s a man of his word, and commits to partnering with the lovely songstress to smoke out a political mastermind with a thirst for vengeance.

Juliana trusts no one until her life is placed in the hands of the handsome Ranger. Soon, they discover their only hope of survival depends on banding together, but will shadows of her past rise to destroy their future?

Destined For You by Tracie Peterson

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1869 – Minnesota

In 1869, Gloriana Womack’s family is much smaller since smallpox killed her mother and two of her siblings. She lives in a modest cottage in Duluth, Minnesota, with her father and young brother, and she has dedicated her life to holding her tiny, fractured family together–especially as her father is frequently gone on long fishing trips. Their livelihood may come from the waters of Lake Superior, but storms on the lake can be dangerous, even to those who know it well.

Luke Carson has come to Duluth to help shepherd the arrival of the railroad to the city’s port, and he’s eager to be reunited with his brother, Scott, who recently moved there with his pregnant wife. Competition for the railroad is fierce, with the neighboring city of Superior, Wisconsin, fighting for the tracks to come through their town instead. But the real danger lies in a resident of Duluth who is determined to have his revenge upon Luke.

When tragedy brings Gloriana and Luke together, they help each other through their grief and soon find their lives inextricably linked. If they survive the trials ahead, could it be possible they’ve been destined for each other all along?

Roots of Wood and Stone by Amanda Wen

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1861 – Kansas

This historic home holds the keys to their destiny . . . and their hearts

Abandoned at birth, her family roots a mystery, historical museum curator Sloane Kelley has dedicated her life to making sure others know theirs. When a donor drops off a dusty old satchel, she doesn’t expect much from the common artifact . . .until she finds real treasure inside: a nineteenth-century diary.Now she’s on the hunt to find out more.

Garrett Anderson just wanted to clean out his grandmother’s historic but tumbledown farmhouse before selling it to fund her medical care. With her advancing Alzheimer’s, he can’t afford to be sentimental about the family home. But his carefully ordered plan runs up against two formidable obstacles: Sloane, who’s fallen in love with both the diaries and the house, and his own heart, which is irresistibly drawn to Sloane.

A century and a half earlier, motherless Annabelle Collins embarks with her aunt and uncle on the adventure of a lifetime: settling the prairies of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The diaries she left behind paint a portrait of life, loss, and love–and a God who faithfully carries her through it all. Paging through the diaries together takes Sloane and Garrett on a journey they never could have planned, which will change them in ways they never imagined.

Amelia’s Heartsong by Blossom Turner

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1868 – Virginia

Richmond high society isn’t at all what she expected, neither is the man who’s captured her heart.

Amelia Williams is only a humble farmer’s daughter, so her move from the Shenandoah Valley to stay with her grandparents in the big city of Richmond, Virginia opens a host of new opportunities. 1868 is shaping up to be her best year ever, especially when her new friendship with the genteel Bryon Preston grows into more. But when his mother catches wind of their courtship, Amelia learns the hard lesson that her humble roots will never be enough for the future Preston heir. Love might not see boundaries between the aristocrat and the pauper, but the high society of Richmond surely do.

Reeling from the pain of half-truths and broken promises, Amelia packs her heart away. Life will be much safer if she pours her focus into nursing.

Yet, like a beautiful tapestry, God weaves Bryon back into her life. When her nursing duties bring her face to face with the pain of her past, is it too late to stitch the threads of trust and love back together?

Her Steadfast Heart by Sharlene MacLaren

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1864 – Ohio

Joey Fuller is still mourning three years after his wife’s death, so much so that he leaves his four rambunctious young children to throw himself into the Civil War as a Union captain. But his kids are so ill-behaved that nannies keep quitting—and now, his mother has a broken leg and can’t handle them either. In desperation, Joey decides to advertise for a wife.

Faith Haviland is in a different kind of mourning. Not long ago, her fiancé left her to marry her best friend. Her customers at the diner where she works keep reminding her of that humiliating event and one of them, an older man, has been making aggressive advances. She’s desperate to flee the city—and Joey Fuller’s “Wife Needed” ad seems to be the answer to a prayer.

Will Faith live up to her name when Joey’s kids torment her with their mischief? Can she surrender this strange marriage to God while her new aloof husband is off fighting? And will a string of buttons convince her that he truly loves her?

The Rancher’s Legacy by Susan Page Davis

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1863 – Colorado

Matt Anderson’s father and their neighbor devise a plan: Have their children marry and merge the two ranches. The only problem is, Rachel Maxwell has stated emphatically that will never happen.

When Rachel finishes her education in the East and arrives in Colorado, Matt is tasked with retrieving her from the stagecoach. As they crest the hill overlooking the sprawling acreage, Rachel gets her first glimpse of her new home. Only it’s in flames and besieged by outlaws.

She soon learns her father was killed in the raid, shattering her life. Will she allow Matt to help her pick up the pieces?

Meanwhile in Maine, a sea captain’s widow, Edith Rose, hires a private investigator to locate three of her now-adult grandchildren who were abandoned by their father nearly 20 years ago. After weeks of investigation, Ryland Atkins believes he’s located the eldest—in Colorado Territory.

Faith’s Mountain Home by Misty Beller

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1867 – Montana Territory

Nate Long has always watched over his identical twin brother, Aaron, even when it put him on the wrong side of the law. When Aaron is wounded in a shootout, the brothers are taken to Settler’s Fort to recover. As Nate works to make reparations for their past, he marvels at the nursing Aaron receives under the care of a woman with all the reason in the world to resent him.

Laura Hannon knows what it is to start over, and she knows Nate’s newfound faith is real. What she can’t look past is how far he allowed himself to be led astray by his brother’s weaknesses.

As a fledgling trust grows between Nate and Laura, they stumble upon a mysterious cave in the mountains that may not be as uninhabited as it seems. While working together to unravel the secrets surrounding the cave, will the new lives they seek for themselves include love, or does too much stand between them?

All Through the Night by Tara Johnson

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1861 – Washington DC

With her stammering tongue and quiet ways, Cadence Piper has always struggled to be accepted. After the death of her mother, Cadence sets her heart on becoming a nurse, both to erase the stain her brother has left on the family’s honor and to find long-sought approval in the eyes of her father. When Dorothea Dix turns her away due to her young age and pretty face, Cadence finds another way to serve . . . singing to the soldiers in Judiciary Square Hospital. Only one stubborn doctor stands in her way.

Joshua Ivy is an intense man with a compassionate heart for the hurting and downtrodden. The one thing he can’t have is an idealistic woman destroying the plans he’s so carefully laid. When the chaos of war thrusts Cadence into the middle of his clandestine activities, he must decide if the lives at stake, and his own heart, are worth the risk of letting Cadence inside.

Everything changes when Joshua and Cadence unearth the workings of a secret society so vile, the course of their lives, and the war, could be altered forever. If they fight an enemy they cannot see, will the One who sees all show them the way in the darkest night?

A Cowboy for Keeps by Jody Hedlund

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1862 – Colorado Territory

Greta Nilsson’s trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He’ll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt’s ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.

Embattled Hearts by Pegg Thomas

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1861 – Wyoming

After her mother’s death, Alannah Fagan is left in the care of a brutal stepfather. When he demands that she marry his youngest son, her only hope is to escape. Together with Conn Fagan, her younger brother, she flees their westbound wagon train with no plan other than to survive.

Stewart McCann left northern Virginia behind to take the stationmaster job at the Pony Express’s Horseshoe Station in Wyoming territory at the start of the Civil War. He has struggled with that decision ever since. When he discovers a battered young woman and her brother, he is once more thrust into the midst of a fight.

Can two wounded hearts—with the help of a one-eyed Pony Express mount—support each other when faced with decisions that could cost them both dearly?

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.

Watercolors by Lorna Seilstad

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1865 – Iowa

Strong-willed watercolor artist Amelia York thought she could paint the scenes of her own life – that is until she finds herself responsible for getting her brother, a paralyzed war veteran, home to Iowa and must deal with the moody Army captain God has painted into her life.

Captain Braedon McCrae is ruled by honor and a strong sense of duty. Still, the deaths of two people close to him have left him angry at God and vowing to never love again.

After a steamboat incident forces Amelia and Braedon to marry, Amelia must decide if she will accept Braedon’s offer of an annulment or keep the sacred vows she made before God.

The more Amelia attempts to control her future, the more she muddies the picture, like watercolors in the hand of a child. Can she learn to love, respect, and trust a man she barely knows?

Colors of Truth by Tamera Alexander

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1866 – Tennessee

In a town battered and bruised by war, one woman embarks upon an impossible search–and one man must face the past in the very place that almost destroyed him.
   
Tennessee, 1866. According to the last letter Irish immigrant Catriona O’Toole received from her twin brother, Ryan, he was being dispatched to Franklin, Tennessee, where–as a conscripted Confederate soldier–he likely endured the bloody Battle of Franklin that claimed the lives of thousands. Catriona leaves behind the lush green of their Irish homeland in search of him, with nothing to her name except the sum of cash Ryan sent to their family. Now the sole provider for her seven-year-old spitfire sister, Nora, Catriona hopes to reunite the siblings–the only surviving members of their devastated family.
   
Wade Cunningham is a former Federal soldier who now works for the newly formed United States Secret Service and is trying to uncover counterfeiting rings in the postwar South. In order to infiltrate their sophisticated enterprise, he must pose as a former Confederate in Franklin–a town where counterfeit greenbacks run rampant. When Wade meets Catriona, he is immediately intrigued by her and the little redheaded scamp in her care–but what he doesn’t anticipate is that the cash in Catriona’s possession is some of the most convincing counterfeit money he’s ever seen. Soon the object of Wade’s affection is also the suspect in a major crime–one he’s expected to prosecute.
  
With rich historical detail and multifaceted prose, USA TODAY bestselling author Tamera Alexander tells a riveting tale of truth, betrayal, and unlikely romance that unveils the many shades of God’s perfect redemption.

The Battlefield Bride by Renee Yancy

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1862 – Kentucky

When the Secretary of War appoints Dorothea Dix superintendent over the female nurses assigned to the Union Army, any woman who desires to serve must meet strict criteria: She had to be above thirty years of age, wear only plain, dark colors, and have no “ribbons, curls, bows, or hoops” about her person.

Kate Wilkes fits all the criteria but one. Her father always said her curls were so tight even God couldn’t straighten them.

When Kate starts tending the wounded soldiers at the Union Hospital in Paducah, Kentucky, chief surgeon Major James Logan doesn’t believe a battlefield hospital is any place for a woman. His attempts to send her packing only increase Kate’s stubborn determination to serve the wounded men.

Can Kate manage to stay long enough to change Major Logan’s mind?

Almost a Bride by Jody Hedlund

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1863 – Canada

Always close, but never a bride.

Longing to find true love, Kate Millington arrives in British Columbia on a bride ship. With countless men waiting to snag a bride, Kate has no trouble getting engaged. It’s staying engaged that’s the problem. After traveling to the remote mining town of Williamsville to marry her newest fiancé, she finds herself single again.

As the prosperous owner of a gold mine, Zeke Hart has everything he’s ever wanted except for a wife. At Kate’s arrival, he takes it upon himself to protect his childhood friend from the men clamoring to court her. The more he renews her friendship, the more he wants to win her for himself. But as much as Kate admires Zeke, she’s resolved not to marry someone who doesn’t share her faith.

When Zeke begins receiving anonymous threats, he unwittingly puts them both in grave danger. In the midst of peril, the past rises up to haunt them both, and Zeke realizes the fight for Kate’s affection may be his biggest challenge yet.

Katharine’s Arrangement by Blossom Turner

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1865 – Virginia

Marrying him is her only choice to save her family, but Josiah Richardson isn’t at all the man she expected.

Katherine Williams’s family was left destitute when their home was burned to the ground by Yankee soldiers, so the ready solution presented by the prominent Mr. Josiah Richardson seems almost too good to believe. He’ll provide a home, work for her pa, and a new beginning for her family…if only Katherine will accept his proposal. A marriage of convenience is the last thing she wants, but there doesn’t seem to be a better option for her family or herself. Setting aside her dreams of love, Katherine agrees to the arrangement.

The gentleman in Josiah Richardson can no more force his frightened bride into his bed, than he can force her into loving him, so he sets out to gently woo her. He works hard to befriend her, to earn her trust and win her love.

Katherine is pleasantly surprised to find herself drawn to the man she thought she would never love, until an unexpected friendship tears apart all they’ve worked for. Where once the promise of love had budded between Josiah and Katherine, now they wonder what to do with their so-called marriage. Is love strong enough to weave its healing power through two broken hearts?