Posts with the custom taxonomy term Novella/Short Stories

The Sugarplum Ladies by Carrie Fancett Pagels

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1867 – Canada and Michigan

When Canadian barrister Percy Gladstone finds his aristocratic British family unexpectedly descending upon him for Christmas, he turns to American social reformer Eugenie Mott and her fledgling catering crew, The Sugarplum Ladies, for help. Little does Percy, AKA Lord Kent, realize that this Christmas may start entirely new traditions. And little does Miss Eugenie Mott, to her chagrin, realize that the British idea of Christmastide extends through Epiphany! This Christmas is one to remember.

 

A Hill Country Christmas Collection

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A Hill Country Christmas CollectionAmazon

A Hill Country Christmas – Hope for Hardscrabble Times is a collection of 18 holiday stories from every corner of the Texas Hill Country. Five authors make history come alive in these multi-cultural Christmas stories about life and death, humor and sadness, heartache and romance, the blessings of Christmas and the triumph of the human spirit.
The holiday season isn’t always easy, but these regional stories are filled with inspiration from Christmases Past that offer hope for the difficult times we live in today.

The Christmas Promise by Gabrielle Meyer

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1899 – England

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

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

O Little Town Collection

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1912/1944/Present – Michigan

Stories of small-town Christmas and the enduring love of God from three critically acclaimed authors

In the sleepy small town of Mapleview, Michigan, Christmas is always something special. In this charming collection of romance novellas, join three generations of Mapleview residents longing for love–and finding it–on the most wonderful night of the year.

“Hopes and Fears” by Amanda Wen

Emma Trowbridge is determined to give her students the Christmas pageant of a lifetime. The last person she expected, or wanted, to encounter in her two-room classroom is her childhood rival, Frederick Oberstein. He would rather be far away himself. He wants no part of cheer, Christmas or otherwise. Can they learn to see each other in a new light–and embrace a new season of hope and faith together?

“While Mortals Sleep” by Janyre Tromp

While World War II rages overseas, news reporter Eleanor Sweers returns home to Mapleview to face the repercussions of the death of her sister and her nightmare of Christmases past. But the homefront isn’t as far from the war as she thought: a bomb has landed in the middle of the U.S. Now Eleanor and family friend Gideon Braum may have to choose between the scoop of a lifetime and the love of a lifetime.

“The Wondrous Gift” by Deborah Raney

High school football coach Caleb Janssen and music teacher Rachel Hamblin bond when they both lose their jobs at a Christian school. But when they discover their plans for the future are mutually exclusive, the fallout threatens to tear them apart.

A Heart Remembered by Heather Blanton

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1800s – Wyoming

The past is dead. Now bury it…

Drucilla comes to Burning Dress Ranch eager to leave her ugly past behind and pursue a bright, new future. Training as a ranch nurse, her impact on lives could go forward for generations. Struggling, though, to believe that her former life as a prostitute does not define her, Drucilla needs to hear the Truth spoken in love. The mysterious ranch owner Miss Sally can give her Truth. Can Pastor Barton Hayes give her love?

Or will Drucilla fall back into a grave of sin and darkness?

A Texas Christmas Carol by Karen Witemeyer

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1895 – Texas

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

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

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

As Silent as the Night by Danielle Grandinetti

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1933 – Illinois

He can procure anything, except his heart’s deepest wish. She might hold the key, if she’s not discovered first.

Lucia Critelli will do anything for her ailing grandfather, including stand in a breadline to have enough food to make him a St. Nicholas Day meal. When she catches the eye of a goon who threatens her grandfather, she discovers the end of Prohibition doesn’t mean the end of the mafia’s criminal activity.

Retired Marine Scout Giosue “Gio” Vella can find anything, especially if it helps a fellow Italian immigrant, so he has no doubt he can locate his neighbor’s granddaughter, who has gone missing from a local church. Keeping her safe is another matter. Especially when he chooses to hide out with his Marine buddy in Eagle, Wisconsin, the site of a barely-held truce among striking dairy farmers.

Will Christmas bring the miracle they all need or will Gio discover there are some things even he can’t find, particularly when he stumbles upon the most elusive gift of all: love.

Harrison’s Resolve by Naomi Rawlings

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1869 – Texas

He might only be ten, but when he uncovers a plot that will hurt his friends and their families, he knows the right thing to do… until he realizes his father is the one behind the plot.

Moving is stupid, or at least that what ten-year-old Harrison Rutherford thinks when his father forces him to leave their comfortable home in Laredo and move to the desert town of Twin Rivers, Texas. But the people he meets in Twin Rivers aren’t all that stupid, especially not the group of boys who befriend him or the pact he makes that will follow him into adulthood.

But when Harrison discovers his father’s true motives for moving to Twin Rivers—and the suffering it will bring friends—he finds himself faced with a choice that will shape his life for the next decade…

From moving to Twin Rivers as a boy to becoming the most prominent lawyer in Austin, follow Harrison Rutherford on his quest to free himself of his father’s demands and meet the unexpected woman who can change his life for the better—if he chooses to let her.

Five and Dime Christmas Collection

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1881 – Pennsylvania

Visit Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1881 where the Woodworth’s Five and Dime has become the center of Christmas commerce—and a great place to fall in love.
 
A Merry Little Christmas by Susanne Dietze
Woolworth’s store clerk Hattie Scott’s heart is touched by a handsome customer, but when she takes on additional secretarial work to earn money for Christmas, she learns her new boss is Englishman Timothy Branson—her favorite customer. . .and a threat to her brother’s job! Can two proud hearts overcome their differences to help her brother. . .and find love?
 
A Home for Christmas by Patty Smith Hall
Essie Banfield doesn’t need money but welcomes the challenges of working a job where she meets a minister and six little boys who inspire Christmas wishes. But will Pastor Max Warner trust that she is more than just a socialite with charitable intentions?
 
The Light of Christmas by Christina Lorenzen
A job is the only thing independent orphan Lizzie Miller needs, and Henry Kimball is singularly focused on proving his success outside the family business. But could the lure of an old-fashioned family Christmas bring them together?
 
Lunch with Maggie by Cynthia Hickey
Maggie Larson works the lunch counter where she befriends a girl who’s lonely father delivers milk each Friday. Friday’s noon hour becomes the highlight of Maggie’s week, but after being left at the altar, she closed her heart to love and to God. Will Seth Jamison be able to unlock her heart?

Western Brides by Linda Ford

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1898 – Canada

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

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

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

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

Sharktooth Island Collection

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1830/1893/1937/Present – Georgia

Out of the Storm by Susan Page Davis

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

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

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

A Passage of Chance by Linda Fulkerson

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

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

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

Island Mayhem by Elena Hill

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

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

After the Storm by Deborah Sprinkle

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

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

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

Love Unforeseen by Penny Zeller

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1890s – Montana

Will a best friend’s matchmaking scheme be successful?

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

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

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

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

Will love unforeseen become a reality for Tillie and Willard?

Miss Beaumont’s Companion by Grace Hitchcock

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1892 – Louisiana

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

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

Cowboy Cousins Collection

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1890s

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

This novella collection includes:

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

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

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

Her Redcoat by Pegg Thomas

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1763 – Michigan

The daughter of a fur trader, Laurette Pettigrew grew up in the northern frontier. Hers is a lonely existence avoiding the British in the fort and the French voyagers who populated the area in the summer months. The local Ojibwe are her only friends.

Sickly and weak, Henry Bedlow arrives at Fort Michilimackinac against his will. He wore the red coat and shouldered a musket, but in his heart, he wasn’t a soldier. But his choices were to join the army or prison.

Their chance meeting changes everything. Will a deadly clash of cultures keep them from finding happiness?

A Valentine from Charleston by Ashley Clark

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1929 – South Carolina

At a Valentine’s Day party in 1929 Charleston, South Carolina, socialite Hazel receives a mysterious Valentine. She is immediately smitten by the writer, and is determined to uncover his identity. In the year that follows, she and the letter writer begin a correspondence that deepens beyond what either of them expect…

But on Valentine’s Day a year later, Hazel is in for a surprise when she realizes her Valentine was beside her all along.

A companion novella to Clark’s acclaimed Paint and Nectar, readers will enjoy this Valentine’s Day nod to The Shop Around the Corner.

Christmas Homecoming by Lacy Williams

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1914 – Wyoming

All traveling nurse Libby wanted was a quiet Christmas to grieve losing her younger brother. She’s on a westbound train heading home when she and a friend find themselves in the middle of a hijacking and then taken hostage by a gang of outlaws.

Walt White is a U.S. Marshal who has been chasing down the Seymour gang for years. But he’s kidnapped along with two innocent women, he must figure out how to keep them alive—and it doesn’t help that he’s completely distracted by the beautiful Libby. He’ll need his wits about him if he hopes to save them.

As they work to engineer an escape, Walt realizes that Libby is resilient and cunning—and vulnerable, though she hides it well. He must give his all to protect her heart and bring her home in time for Christmas.

The Highwayman’s Bargain by MaryLu Tyndall

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1811 – England

Sophia Crew is her family’s last hope. With an aging father no longer able to work and an ailing mother in need of medical care, Sophia must marry well or her parents will end up in the poor house. Or worse. Fortunately, she caught the eye of the second son of a wealthy baron. Now all she must do is travel to London for the marriage ceremony. But their coach is stopped, and Sophia is kidnapped by a highwayman. Even worse, the scoundrel proposes a bargain, one in which she will either be released to get married as planned, or she and her family will be ruined.

Lumberjacks and Ladies Collection

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Lumberjacks and Ladies Work Together to Build America
Struggling to remain independent in the 1800s, four women reluctantly open up to help from lumberjacks—and love.
 
All That Glitters by Candice Sue Patterson
1851—Maine
Winifred finds herself running the family lobstering business when her father and brothers join the California gold rush. Will she stubbornly reject help from a local lumberjack?
 
Winter Roses by Pegg Thomas
1865—Michigan
Elizabeth cooks for a logging crew, determined to escape that life for something better, until reoccurring gifts capture her attention. Will she follow her dreams—or her heart?
 
Not for Love by Naomi Musch
1881—Wisconsin
Widowed, Maggie seeks a husband—in name only—from the logging camps, but the man who answers her letter is a surprise. Can she open her heart to love again?
 
Undercover Logger by Jennifer Lamont Leo
1890—Idaho
Carrie will not sell her timberland and allows the banker’s nephew to sign onto her logging crew to ferret out the reason she is losing money at an alarming rate. Will truth be revealed to her forlorn heart?

Slashed Canvas by Liz Tolsma

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1920 – France

Held prisoner by all she’s lost, Katarina’s about to lose all she has.

Princess Katarina Volstova barely escaped the Russian revolution, arriving in Paris just before the birth of her twin daughters. With her heart still captive in her homeland, she haunts the Louvre each day, spending hours gazing at one painting, lost in her pain.

Not the man he once was before the Great War, Georges Velvey hides himself away doing janitorial service in the Louvre and watching the beautiful woman whose pain seems riveted on one painting.

When Katarina returns home to find her daughters and their nanny missing, the loss opens her eyes to all she has to lose now.

Frantic to find her girls, her distress causes Georges to offer his assistance. Together they put together clues to a puzzle they must complete before the kidnapper ensures Katarina and her daughters are never reunited.

Love’s Escape by Carrie Fancett Pagels

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1849 – Virginia

The son of a funeral home owner and his friend, a sea captain, transport the women they love, two enslaved women from Virginia plantations, North.

Letitia, a light-skinned house slave of the prominent Burwell family, learns that her father is the master of the plantation. As she helps them dress and fetches tea for the Burwell women, including her half-sister by blood, Lettie becomes more determined that she’ll not live out her days in servitude. But she’s afraid of what could happen. When her mother dies from a beating that Burwell sanctioned, Lettie seeks any means of escape.

Nathan Pleasant, a bookkeeper and son of a well-respected Richmond funeral home owner, is smitten with the Burwells’ slave. He meets secretly with Letitia. Nathan begins transporting slaves from Virginia and onto the Underground railroad. His dear friend, a ship captain, has also lost his heart to an enslaved woman. When the women’s lives are at stake, the two men risk all by transporting them North. Can they get them to freedom? Who is pursuing them? Once they can shake their shackles of slavery, would the two women even welcome romance with their Underground Railroad conductors? Or will the two men find themselves alone and far from the James River, where they grew up and where their families still live?

Silencing the Siren by Denise L. Barela

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1920 – New York

Andrew Grayson thought he had everything… until he met her.

The indulged son of wealthy parents, Andrew has always gotten whatever he wanted almost before he knew he wanted it—clothes, gadgets… even a car! What more could a young man desire?

Enter Annabel Thompson. Freakshow mermaid extraordinaire… in a wheelchair!

Of course, her beauty attracts him. How could it not? Add to that a kind heart, and Andrew can’t help but fall for her.

Annabel’s connection with the freakshow repels his parents and their society friends. They want him to sever all ties with her and his new friends. Oh, and marry the “right” girl with the “right connections.” But he won’t do it. He’ll defy them and marry his little mermaid.

When Annabel turns up missing, declared dead, things don’t add up, Andrew begins asking some difficult questions, the most important being, “What happened to the little mermaid of the Coney Island freak show?”

The Washerwomen’s War by Piper Huguley

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1881- Georgia

Mamie Harper, a new teacher at Atlanta Female Baptist Seminary, hears of mistreatment from her washerwomen students and tells them to strike. She re-encounters summer pastor Gabriel Harmon, who has other ideas to help the washerwomen. Will these combatants be able to win in the war of love?

The Journey of Runs-Far by Lori Benton

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1798 – Tennessee

A final journey uncovers the hidden wounds of an old man’s soul, as he clings to hope that the God who redeemed him long ago has saved the greatest miracle for last.

Runs-Far, beloved elder of the Cherokee, lays dying. While family and friends gather to mourn, Runs-Far dreams of Sedi, the wife who bore him two children and was carrying a third when she was captured by white soldiers, and never seen again. For the next forty years, Runs-Far taught his people the ways of Jesus, yet Sedi’s loss distanced him from the God he served. In his dream, his long-vanished wife accuses him of abandoning his search too soon. Even Creator is telling him it is not his day to die—he has unfinished business. But Runs-Far is old. Learning what happened to Sedi will lead him through lands settled by white men. He cannot go alone. Blue-Jay, his son, must go with him.

Blue-Jay fears to lose a father as once he lost a mother—a loss over which he still carries guilt. Dare he believe forgiveness lies in making a journey seemingly born more of folly than faith? If he and his father find what they seek, will they wish they hadn’t? Knowing only that the journey begins at MacKinnon’s Cove, where Runs-Far abandoned his search long ago, the two set out from the mountains of their home with little more than hope to guide them.

Where Memories Await by Heidi Chiavaroli

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1957/Present – Maine

Camden, Maine ~ Present Day

Spunky octogenarian Priscilla Martin is a woman with many Christmas secrets. When a beloved niece tempts her to bare her wounded soul, Priscilla must decide whether to share the secret of her sister’s demise—and the reason she abandoned the man she loved in favor of a loveless marriage.

Camden, Maine ~ December, 1957

The only person Priscilla loves more than Ed Colton is her younger sister, Hazel. But when Ed is drafted and Hazel runs away to New York to be with a man she believes will make her famous, Priscilla’s plans crumble around her. Ed’s silence and Hazel’s tragic return leads Priscilla to make a choice she will forever regret.

Can revisiting long-ago memories give Priscilla what she’s longed for all these years?

 

An Unscripted Courtship by Lisa Karon Richardson

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1901 – New York

Pressured into staging her play for the residents of Tuxedo Park, college student Julia Wren resigns herself to mingling with the upper crust. Though she knows some of them are unhappy she’s there, she never imagined she’d actually be in danger or that she’d have to join forces with wealthy Robert Malcolm to find out who is behind the threat.

Even though they’re from different worlds, Robbie’s captivated by the feisty young playwright—and he won’t see her hurt. As they work together to solve the mystery, love begins to blossom. Will they be able to overcome their different social standings and catch the culprit before the curtain falls on their romance?

 

A Heart for the Sailor by Terri Wangard

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1944 – Wisconsin

Working as a Winnie the Welder during World War II, Evelyn builds submarines. She’s good at her job, but men begrudge women taking jobs in heavy industry. She dreams of the day her sailor comes home and the life they’ll have, but does Jerry dream about her? When a typhoon threatens the US Fleet in the Pacific, Jerry and his shipmates aboard the Tabberer rush to the aid of their fellow sailors. The typhoon prompts a greater awareness of what he wants in life. First, though, they have to survive.

To Stand in the Breach by Danielle Grandinetti

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1933 – Wisconsin

She came to America to escape a workhouse prison, but will the cost of freedom be too high a price to pay?

Large animal veterinarian Katy Wells takes her patients’ welfare personally, so it’s no surprise when she stands up to angry farmers planning a milk strike or takes in an injured draft horse to save its life.

But after a visitor from the past discovers her location and reveals a threat, she must choose between her work and her freedom, and whether to trust a man to keep her safe.

The Wrangler’s Woman by Davalynn Spencer

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1881 – Colorado

A widowed rancher, a rebellious child, and the woman who comes to help. Falling in love wasn’t part of the deal.

Corra Jameson doesn’t think of herself as a spinster and is content to spend quiet evenings with her books. Paper beaus, her sister calls them, teasing her about the stories Corra reads. But when a rugged widower asks her to come to his ranch for the summer to help him with his tomboy daughter, she sees opportunity to earn a side of beef for her sister’s family. Besides, she has nothing to lose in the arrangement. Except perhaps her heart.

Widowed rancher Josiah Hanacker’s sister-in-law threatens to take his daughter away from him if he can’t raise her like a lady. Since he can’t, he needs a woman to do the job for him. Corra Jameson, the spinster who works at the Ford Junction boarding house may have just what his ranch-raised girl needs, and he hires her as a lady-trainer. Trouble is, he hadn’t figured she’d have what his lonely heart needed as well.

The Librarian’s Journey Collection

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A brave fight for literacy during the Great DepressionFour women set out on horseback to bring the library to remote communities

Part of FDR’s New Deal was the Works Progress Administration, which funded the Pack Horse Library Initiative. Ride along with four book-loving women who bravely fight for literacy in remote communities during the Great Depression by carrying library books via horseback. Will their efforts be rewarded by finding love in the process?

Love’s Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey
1935, Ozark Mountains
Grace Billings jumped at the chance to be a traveling librarian, but she didn’t anticipate the long days of work, the intense poverty, or the handsome new schoolteacher whose love for the mountain people surpasses even her own.

For Such a Time by Patty Smith Hall
1936, Pine Mountain, Georgia
Forced out of her nursing job due to budget cuts, Ruth Sims applies for a position with the Pack Horse Library incentive, only to discover she must go to the one place she swore never to return. The children instantly steal her heart with their thirst for books, and she’s happy in her post until she meets their teacher, Will Munroe—the man who broke her heart. 

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk
1936, Mississippi
Forced out of her comfort zone, Lily Bee Davis travels by horse or boat taking books to remote areas. When she meets little Evie and her reclusive father at a dilapidated plantation house, she is drawn by their losses and longs to draw them out into life again. 

The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y’Barbo
1936, Kentucky
Lottie Trent connects with a backwoods bully’s wife by secretly carrying messages for her in exchange for books. FBI agent Clayton Turnbow is on the trail of a criminal gang and discovers the packhorse librarian maybe a key member. 

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.

There All Along by Susanne Dietze

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Miss Match—Colorado, 1879

Brainy Grace Perkins applies scientific principles to play matchmaker for the singles in her small town. However, her hypothesis leaves out God’s role and matters of the heart, creating tangled results.

Love’s Reward—California, 1896

It was a joke, offering a monetary reward for the capture of a shy architect’s heart—but the game is on for every female in San Francisco except charity-minded Josie Price, who won’t compete for Daniel Blair’s affections. Just his bank account.

When the Pilot Falls by April Hayman

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1923 – California

In 1923, there aren’t many pilots, but Willie Labeau didn’t let that stop… her.

A bear of a man, Hugh Taylor, needs a stunt plane pilot, and despite their rocky introduction, Willie sets off for golden California and a new life as his pilot. There’s just one little thing she has to do in addition to flying.

Leave his past alone. Period.

When the flame of her own curiosity becomes fanned by encouragement from Willie’s sister, the feisty pilot can’t help but do just a little investigating.

And Hugh vanishes.

Friends rally around her, and with all the information she can find in hand, Willie sets off to rescue Hugh and battle the evil family holding him hostage.

A fierce air race, a sincere act of humility—are they enough to free Hugh and give Willie a chance to be with him… forever?

 

 

Christmas Love Through the Ages Collection

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Ready for the Christmas spirit? Light the Yule log, grab a snuggly blanket, and settle in for a collection of stories celebrating the season. This collection of festive tales honors our beloved traditions, reminds us of our moorings, and warms our hearts. Short stories and novellas take us
on a journey from 1868 to today. You’ll travel from Bethlehem with angel Gabriel to an airport in Colorado.
Listen by Lisa Bell
If you were the angel Gabriel, how would you get people to remember Jesus at Christmastime?
 
A Father’s Gift by Paula Peckham
A young man, anticipating the birth of his child, learns about love and sacrifice only a father can give.
 
The Rescued Christmas by Lena Nelson Dooley
Can a young woman trust God to turn her worst nightmare into a blessing?
 
Turtle Creek Christmas by Gail Kittleson
Finding a home means everything to an orphan girl, but discovering the joy of Christmas surpasses her wildest dreams.
 
A Divine Romance by Lena Nelson Dooley
A friend leads Jolene to Colorado and then to Jesus.
 
A Bookmobile Noel by Cleo Lampos
The difficulties of rural Illinois in the Great Depression are lessened by a novice librarian’s ingenuity.
 
Gold Mine Christmas by Gail Kittleson
Though we seek earthly fortune, genuine treasure remains a matter of the heart.
 
Blessings on the 38th Parallel by Cleo Lampos
Amid war-weary Korea in 1952, hope rekindles in the lives of a soldier and a MASH nurse.
 
A Christmas Hallelujah by Paula Peckham
In the aftermath of a canceled Christmas Eve flight, strangers become friends when presented with the chance to show selfless love to a fellow journeyer.

Under the Texas Mistletoe by Karen Witemeyer

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1890s – Texas

Witemeyer presents the new story “A Texas Christmas Carol,” in which a town’s wealthy, Scrooge-like bachelor finds his world invaded by a woman set on earning his donation for helping the local poor, and by the penetrating questions of three mysterious visitors.

It also includes, for the first time in print, “An Archer Family Christmas.” When the Archer clan gathers for the Christmas holiday, an unexpected request for help leaves Cassandra Archer directly in the path of a dangerous outlaw. Desperate to protect the woman he loves, Jim Archer races to the rescue, only to find that Cassie’s life is not the only one in peril. It will take a Christmas miracle–and the entire Archer clan–to keep a second Archer Christmas from ending in disaster.

In previously published “Gift of the Heart,” a widow and her young daughter move to Hope Springs for a fresh start. But with no money to secure a home, Ruth must convince a wealthy resort owner to accept her heirloom brooch as collateral. Will the pin that brought love to three generations soften the heart of a wounded recluse and give Ruth a second chance at love as the holidays draw near?

Sprinkled throughout the collection, you’ll find a hope-filled Christmas devotion, Witemeyer holiday recipes, and fun facts about nineteenth-century Christmas celebrations!