Posts with the custom taxonomy term 1820-1861 (US Antebellum)

A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma

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1835/Present Day – Texas

Can Promises Made in Times of Struggle Endure 200 Years?

Young, spirited Josie Wilkins life is about to take a turn when faced with political turmoil and secret love in San Antonio of 1836. John Gilbert has won her heart, despite being a Protestant preacher who is forbidden to practice his faith in Texas. If he discovers the secrets of her painful past, he will never have anything to do with her. But then comes the Battle of the Alamo. Will either of them survive an epic battle for liberty to create a legacy of love?

Nearly 200 years later, Kayleigh Hewland takes breaks from her demanding job as a refugee coordinator working with Mexican migrants to attend flea markets where she has found a uniquely engraved ring that helps her discover who killed her parents. Enlisting the help of appraiser Brandon Mullins, they piece together a love story long forgotten. But will dangers linked to the ring end her own hopes for leaving a legacy built on hope, faith, and love?

The Major’s Family Mission by Elizabeth Rowan

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1846 – New York/California/Travel

They were forced to marry. But will they choose to love?

Moving to the wilds of California is just the fresh start Major Benjamin Sheffield hoped for—but first the widower needs a mother for his two little girls. So when feisty New York socialite Moira Blackthorne’s reckless nature puts her reputation at risk, Ben’s sure a marriage of convenience can solve both their problems. Setting sail for a new home as the wife of a stranger isn’t quite the life Moira pictured. But the more she gets to know the dignified major and his adorable daughters, the harder she falls…and begins to wish for more than a marriage in name only.

The Marquis’s Pursuit by Lorri Dudley

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1830 – Caribbean

She’s desperate to keep her secret hidden, but he’s a determined Marquis.

As the son of a duke, Maxwell Oliver Weld, Marquis of Daventry, is allowed entry into the finest of London’s ballrooms, access to political figures, and advice from the best physicians. Yet, his wealth and contacts won’t heal his friend, Charlie, who’s dying from consumption. Hopeful for a miracle, Max persuades Charlie to sail across the Atlantic to stay in the Artesian Hotel on the island of Nevis and bathe in its famous healing springs. Max’s optimism is washed in doubt as the truth unravels about the hotel, its hot springs, and the beautiful caretaker.

The blaze of Evelyn Mairi Sheraton’s fiery side has long since been snuffed out. Hunted by a vengeful man from her past, only fortitude and the island’s sanctuary have kept Evelyn alive. She will do whatever it takes to keep her precious secret safe, even work for the demeaning Artesian Hotel owner, Edward Rousseau. However, when a jaunty marquis and his ailing friend arrive, sparks ignite, but Evelyn fears the revealing of her secrets will burn her to ash.

The elusive Evelyn may tend to Charlie’s well-being, but she stirs Max’s protective nature. He’d like nothing more than to remove her from the wretched employment of Edward Rousseau, yet that might endanger Charlie’s health even more. Refusing to give up on a miracle, Max waters her guarded heart, certain beauty will rise out of ashes. But when her secrets come to life, will love be worth the price?

Peace in the Mountain Haven by Misty Beller

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1831 – Idaho

This epic journey is her best chance to find the family she and her daughter long for.

Watkuese is desperate to return across the Rocky Mountains before winter sets in. Time is running out for her to get her adopted daughter back to the familiar surroundings of the Shoshone village before the grief of her parents’ death causes irreparable damage.

Hugh Charpentier has spent his life watching over his siblings, which meant also ensuring his brother’s widow and babe are settled well into their new life. Now he’s asked to help shepherd a woman and child he barely knows across the mountains. As hard as it is to keep up with a six-year-old in the treacherous Rockies, it’s not nearly as dangerous as risking his heart to a woman and child who may not ever be his.

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.

 

Their Business Betrothal by Julie Brookman

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1846 – Missouri

He came to town with a business proposal…

Will he leave with a bride?

John Butler’s positive his old friend is the perfect person to open a general store in his new settlement out West—but first he must convince the man’s daughter. The last thing Clara Morehouse wants as she takes over her family’s general store is to uproot and move out West. And her family won’t go without her. But after a rejected suitor tarnishes Clara’s reputation, a fake engagement for her protection brings Clara and John closer. Can John show her that a new beginning is just what she needs…starting with making their pretend betrothal real?

 

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?

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?

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 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.

Honor in the Mountain Refuge by Misty Beller

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1831 – Idaho

This epic journey is his last chance to start a new life.

After being cast out of his Blackfoot village for his kindness to the Nez Perce captives, Chogan travels west in search of meaning for his life. Meaning that doesn’t require killing or torturing innocent people. Though the lovely face of Telípe, a Nez Perce woman, is imprinted on his heart, he avoids her village.  She deserves a happy life with her husband and coming child.

With her husband dead and the birth of her babe imminent, Telípe’s reality looks nothing like she planned. She’s been forced to return to the village where she grew up and the chaos of her family’s lodge—with all her boisterous younger brothers. She desperately desires to start a new life for herself and the babe growing within her, but she can’t seem to climb above the mire of her past. When she stumbles into the brave who’d shown her kindness during her captivity, something ignites within her—a new hope.

Chogan’s determination to stay and help Telípe is thwarted by her people’s fear and hatred for his tribe—especially since he was among last winter’s kidnappers. It doesn’t matter that he did everything he could to keep her and her unborn child safe and comfortable during that awful event. But as a new predator threatens the safety of the village, Chogan determines to take down the massive wildcat that’s already injured several children—including one of Telípe’s younger brothers. When the danger escalates, Chogan is faced with an impossible choice. No matter which option he chooses, his life will never be the same—nor that of the woman he’s come to love.

A Father’s Redemption by Tracy Blalock

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1846 – Oregon

Can this lonely father open his heart?

One year after the loss of his wife, Dr. Elias Dawson’s still not quite sure he’ll be any good at parenting his daughter—but his brother insists it’s time he takes over the responsibility. With his mother-in-law trying to seize custody of baby Emma, his late wife’s sister, Abby Warner, is determined to prove to Elias that his love is exactly what her niece needs. And Abby might just be the perfect final piece to complete their little family…

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. . . . 

The Butcher’s Daughter by Parker J. Cole

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1849 – Pennsylvania/New York

A woman sent to retrieve a family’s son, a man tired of living a lie, and a scandal that brings them together.

Elsia Letchmore was intent on marrying her childhood friend until he left her and New York behind. She tried to console herself and put the man who rejected her due to her family’s business out of her mind. Now, she’s tasked with finding Zelpher Knight and bringing him to home New York’s Five Point District.

Zelpher Knight dreamed of being on the stage, but opportunities for a colored actor in 1846 were non-existent. Spurning his parents’ wishes for his future, he leaves New York and the only woman he has loved, to find the world isn’t ready to accept him. He starts on the greatest acting career of his life – living a lie. When his identity is discovered, he is shunned from the theater community. Angry, alone, and financially destitute he doesn’t expect to see redemption in the form of an angel from his past.

Returning home is harder than either of them expected as race, class, and freedom collide. Can the disgraced prodigal son ever find love and healing with the Butcher’s Daughter?

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.

Faith in the Mountain Valley by Misty Beller

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1830s – Rocky Mountains

This epic journey is the only way to leave her secrets behind.

After eleven years spent looking for the girl who stole his heart, Jean-Jacques Baptiste—better known as French to his friends—is tempted to give up. Until the day he spotted the flaxen-haired stranger traveling the wooded path with Blackfoot Indians. He never imagined he’d find his childhood friend masquerading as a man in this Rocky Mountain wilderness, hundreds of miles from the Canadian town where he last saw her. No matter her reasons, he can’t let her go this time.

Colette Mignon’s life has become a cacophony of lies, including the fact that her Blackfoot Indian companions believe she’s a man. She’s willing to live the taxing life of a trapper in these desolate mountains as long as it keeps her secrets hidden. When her childhood friend and first love discovers her, his determination to help might put everything at risk.

As the worst of her past threatens to catch up with her, the hope for Colette’s new life shatters. But no matter what, she must protect the one good thing that came from all her mistakes. Though French is determined to stay at her side, she can’t let him become entangled in the perilous consequences of her actions. If only it wasn’t so painful to push him away. The danger pressing in may leave her only one choice—leave everything behind…again.

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?

The Rock by Cara Grandle

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1846 – Oregon

After a whiskey still explosion destroys her home and nearly her life, Rebecca Packwood and her father must leave Missouri and her dear friends behind. After crossing The Oregon Trail, she sets out to discover her family’s secret history and to forge a home and community out of the raw farm land of Eagle Creek, Oregon Country, never suspecting a ruthless enemy is seeking to thwart her plans.

Hard-working banker’s son, Clark Sutherland, thought the toughest test he would face was getting out from underneath his father’s thumb. The last thing he expected was to be penniless, homeless, and smitten with a shy, dark-eyed stranger. With nothing to offer her, will he find a way to support himself and still pursue his dreams before they’re pulled apart?

When a man in shadows sets his eyes on their coveted prize, danger descends. Rebecca and Clark must act to protect the desires of their hearts before harm befalls them all. Will they learn to trust their future to the God who heals and sets the lonely in families?

Redeemed Love by Linda Ford

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1849 – California

Hope White is one of the preacher’s daughters. She’s a loving, giving person who plans to start missionary work in California.

Clay Adams was raised by a strict preacher grandfather who constantly criticized him and treated him harshly. Now all he wants is adventure and freedom. But his first venture into ‘freedom’ landed him in hot water with a bad bunch. He wants to leave behind this particular adventure and tries to flee to California. On the journey, he grows ill and lies dying on the desert floor.

Hope and her father find Clay and care for him. But there are spots on his chest to indicate he has typhoid fever so the wagon master insists they must keep their distance. While her pa drives the wagon, Hope tends the sick man. As he becomes lucid, they talk, and learn things about each other that convince them they are the worst person in the world for the other.

As they cross the mountains, more of Clay’s secrets are revealed. Hope’s trust is shattered, but when the family wagon breaks an axle, she has no choice but to rely on Clay.

Can she trust him to rescue both her and her father? Can she trust her heart and God? Will Clay prove he’s a changed man?

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.

Light in the Mountain Sky by Misty Beller

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1831 – Idaho Territory

This epic journey may seal her fate forever.

Determined to prove her worth, Meksem fiercely fought to earn her place among the warriors in her Nez Perce camp. When her half-sister is captured by an enemy tribe, she refuses to trust the rescue to anyone else. But her new friends insist on joining her mission, and she battles between relief and frustration at their presence. Especially the white man who peers at her as if he can see through the face of the warrior she struggles so hard to maintain.

Spaniard Adam Vargas thrives on adventure wherever his travels take him. He’s fallen in love with this Rocky Mountain wilderness, as well as the spotted horses the Nez Perce tribe raise. His fascination with this Indian maiden-turned-warrior catches him off guard though, including the way she seems to be fighting for more than her sister’s safe return.

The journey proves more perilous than any of the group expects, and the secret Meksem hides becomes impossible to conceal. If they live through this mission, the life they knew will never be the same again.

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.

Piecing It All Together by Leslie Gould

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1840s – Indiana

When Savannah Mast’s fiance dumps her a week before their wedding, she flees California for the safety of her Amish grandmother’s farm near Nappanee, Indiana. She’s not planning on staying long but becomes unexpectedly entangled in the search for a missing Amish girl. She can’t leave–especially not when her childhood friend Tommy Miller is implicated as a suspect.

When Savannah accompanies her grandmother to Plain Patterns, a nearby quilt shop, the owner and local historian, Jane Berger, relates a tale about another woman’s disappearance back in the 1800s that has curious echoes to today.

Inspired by the story, Savannah does all she can to find the Amish girl and clear Tommy’s name. But when her former fiance shows up, begging her to return to California and marry him after all, she must choose between accepting the security of what he has to offer or continuing the complicated legacy of her family’s faith.

The Time for Healing by Ramona K. Cecil

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1824 – Missouri

Ginny Red Fawn McLain, a Shawnee medicine woman, is thrust back into the world of her birth family twelve years after her abduction. While she eschews the Christianity preached by her birth uncle who found her, Ginny’s heart refuses to shun his friend and fellow Christian minister, Jeremiah Dunbar.

Jeremiah Dunbar is immediately smitten with his friend’s long lost niece. But unless Ginny Red Fawn joins Christ’s fold–something she adamantly resists–any future with the woman he loves is impossible.

Amid an atmosphere of contempt and distrust, dreams and cultures clash. Ginny and Jeremiah are left to wonder whether their burgeoning love has any place in God’s plan.

Settlers’ Hope: An Oregon Trail Historical Romance by Kathleen D Bailey

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1847 – Oregon

After years of wandering, Pace Williams expects to find a home in the Oregon Country. He doesn’t expect to fall in love with a fiery Irishwoman bent on returning home to avenge her people.

Oona Moriarty expects one thing: to exact revenge on the English overlords who took her home. She doesn’t expect to fall in love with a man who looks like he’s been carved from this Western landscape.

Together they vow to trust the unexpected and settle into a life, but when Pace’s ancient enemies threaten to destroy the life they’re building, Oona must choose between helping the man she loves and seeking the revenge she craves.

Journey to Peace by Lyn Cote

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1827 – Texas/Louisiana

Identical twin brothers-stained by an unjust scandal and separated by miles of wilderness~ Two young beauties in jeopardy~Will they learn to trust before it’s too late?

Outcast from his home town New Orleans, Johnny McKuen has taken refuge in Mexican Texas in 1827. He’s still reeling from the aftermath of an engagement gone terribly wrong but trying to build a new life on the frontier. Out of the blue, a friend he considers nearly a brother arrives with Johnny’s neighbor, bleeding and mortally wounded. As he breathes his last, he entrusts his wife to Johnny, a man of honor.

Near to giving birth to another child, the new widow Angel slumps against the bed, her head on her husband’s hand. Her world crumbles. How is she to care for a farm and her children with the birth of a child imminent? And who shot her husband and started to scalp him like a Comanche would? Nothing makes sense.

Keeping the family plantation Beau Rivage going, Callum McKuen alone faces the rejection by New Orleans society.When will his father return from a sojourn East? When will he see his beloved brother again? Has his family abandoned him? Don’t they realize that it’s not just the scandal? Forces resentful of their anti-slavery stand are at work to destroy their livelihood.

On a rare visit to the French Quarter, Callum meets Minette, a lovely young woman who hides her beauty beneath layers of clothing and a hat and scarf. Why isn’t she displaying her beauty in order to find a husband?

Minette also lives under a cloud of unjust scandal. This makes her a target for an unscrupulous man of bad reputation who wants her as his mistress. As the only provider for her grandfather and little sister, she soldiers on even as the scoundrel becomes relentless. Who will free her from this threat?

The twins face these challenges as the gentlemen they were raised to be. Who killed Angel’s husband and why? And how can Callum protect Minette if she won’t trust him? How and when will the twins be reunited? A compelling parallel story you don’t want to miss!

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?

Hope in the Mountain River by Misty M. Beller

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1830 – Montana Territory

This epic journey is not at all what she expected.

Joel Vargas can’t believe he’s lost his older brother in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains after surviving their harrowing voyage across the Atlantic. And he can’t shake the feeling that Adam—his only living relative—is in dire trouble. No matter what the cost, he and his band of friends won’t stop until Adam is found. He’s not sure if two Indian women they meet on the way will be a help or hindrance.

After the devastating loss of her daughter and husband to a sickness that swept through their Nez Perce camp, Elan is desperate to find an escape from her grief. As she and her friend journey through the mountains toward the great river, a band of white men is the last thing she expects to find, especially as winter blows in full force.

When the dangers increase, accomplishing Joel’s mission becomes the only hope for all their survival. If the elements don’t consume them, Elan has a feeling life will never be the same for any of them.

Truitt’s Truth by Julia David

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1849 – California

With the California Gold Rush of 1849, the toughest man in town, Truitt, is ready to face the truth. Putting his fighting career aside, he needs to get out of Hangtown. The unruly mining town named after the night his father was unjustly hung.

But mudslides and Truitt Emerson do not mix. Now he’s stranded with two ladies from back east that his boss expects delivered to Hangtown all in one piece. One lady he would leave to the Indians, the other beauty clutching a silly case has him looking back to watch her every move.

When Cassidy O’Ryan was pulled from her Irish Grandparent’s home as a child, her beloved violin became her prized possession. Unwilling to heed her father’s wishes by marrying his business colleague, she promises to travel to the gold rush town of Hangtown to wed her cousin she’s only met as a child. What she didn’t promise was that she wouldn’t trade places with her ladies maid and pursue her love of singing and violin in the new state of California.

The young women had months to plan the switch. It shouldn’t be a problem until her cousin sends Truitt Emerson to pick them up and escort them to Hangtown. Truitt is not only the town boxer, but he’s also her cousin’s bodyguard. The sudden desire to trust in this handsome stranger is unusual.

Until Truitt burns her beloved violin.

Cassidy now has her own fight to find her truth, her freedom in this rough mining town.

Neither Truitt or Cassidy are prepared for the compelling attraction that’s desperate for an honest future.

Can the truth prevail or is it too late?

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.