Lance by Heather Blanton

1890 – Texas

He lost everything. Now he has nothing left to lose.

Lance Wister had a home, a family, and a future—until greedy railroad barons and ruthless bankers took it all. Hardened by war and burning for revenge, he turns to the only justice he has left: hitting his enemies where it hurts—their wallets. But when his own gang betrays him, leaving him wounded and on the run, he’s out of options… until fate lands him in the wagon of a wary but resourceful peddler.

Cat Callahan has spent years outrunning her past, keeping to herself as she roams the rugged frontier. But when she stumbles upon an injured outlaw hiding among her wares, she has a choice—help him and risk her own freedom, or turn him in and possibly reveal her identity to the law.

Forced into an uneasy partnership, Lance and Cat must navigate a treacherous web of enemies, secrets, and the wild Colorado terrain. But the longer they’re together, the harder it is to ignore the fire sparking between them.

When their pasts finally catch up to them, they’ll face a deadly choice: stand together… or let their enemies tear them apart.

The Bandit’s Redemption by Kylee Woodley

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1875 – California

A holdup gone wrong, a reluctant outlaw, and the captive she’s sworn to guard.

Life in the American West hasn’t been easy for French refugee Lorraine Durand. She has precious few connections and longs to return to her native land. So when the man who rescued her from a Parisian uprising following the Franco-Prussian War persuades her to help him with a deadly holdup, she reluctantly agrees. Despite his promises otherwise, the gang kidnaps a man, forcing Lorraine to grapple with the fallout of her choices even as she is drawn to the captive she’s meant to guard.

Jesse Alexander must survive. If not for himself, then for the troubled sister he left behind in Los Angeles. At the mercy of his captors, he carefully works to earn Lorraine’s trust, hoping he can easily subdue her when the time comes. But as they navigate the treacherous wilderness and he searches for his opportunity to escape, he realizes there may be more to her than he first believed.

With danger lurking at every turn, they must decide whether to trust each other enough to plan a combined escape or risk falling prey to the gang’s devious schemes.

Of Love and Treason by Jamie Ogle

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270 AD – Italy

Valentine defies the emperor and becomes a hero . . . and the most wanted man in the empire. Compelled by his faith, he has nothing to lose, until a chance encounter with the daughter of a Roman jailor changes everything.

Rome, AD 270. In the wake of the emperor’s marriage ban, rumors swirl that there is one man brave enough to perform wedding ceremonies in secret. A public notarius and leader of an underground church, Valentine believes the emperor’s edict unjust and risks his own life for the sake of his convictions. But as his fame grows, so do fears for his safety.

Iris, the daughter of a Roman jailor, believes regaining her sight will ease the mounting troubles at home. Her last hope rests in searching out Valentine and his church, but the danger of associating with people labeled a threat to the empire is great. Still, as Iris’s new friends lead her to faith in God, Iris is drawn to Valentine and they both begin to hope for a future together beyond the treacherous empire.

But when a past debt and a staggering betrayal collide, Valentine, Iris, and everyone they love must fight for their lives . . . and wrestle with trusting a God who can restore sight yet does not always keep His followers from peril.

The Resolute by MaryLu Tyndall

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1696 – At Sea

Pregnant, in prison, and about to be hanged for piracy, Lady Gabrielle Hyde has lost all faith in God, man, and life itself. Unlike her wildly adventurous family, all Gabrielle ever wanted was to settle down with a good man and have a bevy of wee ones. Then how did she end up about to take her last breath at the end of a rope?

Captain Cadan Hayes despises women of noble birth. Betrayed by his wife and her lover, he spent five long years as a prisoner-slave on Barbados. Now, as a fierce and successful pirate, he longs to enact revenge on the man who ruined his life.

When Cadan discovers that Gabrielle carries the son of his enemy, he captures her to use as bait. What he didn’t expect was that the lady would be the one to trap him! Ship battles, sword fights, kidnappings, and a hunt for lost pirate treasure send the couple on a wild adventure that could either grant them their hearts’ desire or end up in disaster for them both.

The Rose by Cara Grandle

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1848 – Traveling

Under the thumb of her overbearing half-brother, Rose Briggs fights for survival on the treacherous Oregon Trail. Her sole desire is to claim independence and establish a mercantile close to her beloved Porcelain Doll sisters. Unbeknownst to her, she becomes entangled in the perilous schemes of a cunning sibling duo, Boone and Sandy, masterminds of a ruthless ring of thieves.

Amos Pate, a former outlaw, has shed his past and the weight of destitution, determined never to steal again. Yet, when his loved ones’ lives hang in the balance, he is torn between honoring his pledge and taking action.

United by circumstance, Rose and Amos forge ahead as allies, forever evading the clutches of a relentless criminal gang. Their hopes, dreams, and existence hinge on outsmarting their adversaries, for failure would mean surrendering all they hold dear.

The Vaquero’s Heart by Heather Blanton

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1800s – Wyoming

She wants to steal horses…but at Burning Dress Ranch, only hearts are stolen.

On the run from the law, daring horse thief Pearl Pickett stumbles upon the enigmatic Burning Dress Ranch and its mysterious owner, Miss Sally. Sensing something is amiss with the newcomer, Miss Sally asks Pearl to work with a captivating herd of Arabian horses. Pearl’s sole desire is to lay low for a while, but the allure of these stunning creatures proves irresistible.

Ranch wrangler Rodrigo Garcia is a widower with a young son. Brooding and surly, he’s not happy about taking on a know-it-all female as an assistant. But the sassy woman knows horses, even though she initially tries to hide it. As the two work together, Rodrigo can’t help but soften a little, particularly when he witnesses the bond she is forming with his son, Miguel.

Still, it is a shocking revelation when he realizes Pearl is stealing his heart.

But that may not be all she’s out to steal…

The Girl from the Papers by Jennifer L. Wright

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1930s – Texas

Inspired by one of America’s most notorious couples, Bonnie and Clyde, Jennifer L. Wright delivers a riveting tale set during the public enemy era of the Great Depression.

Beatrice Carraway has dreams. Although she’s aged out of the childhood pageant circuit, she’s intent on carrying her talents all the way to the big screen—if only she can escape the poverty of West Dallas first. But as the Great Depression drags the working class further and further under, Beatrice struggles just to keep herself, her mother, and her younger sister afloat. After a string of failed auditions, she feels defeated.

And then in walks Jack Turner. Though Beatrice is determined to pull herself up by her bootstraps, Jack has decided on a different path out of the gutters. It isn’t long before Beatrice is swept into an exciting and glamorous life of crime beside the man she loves. Keeping one step ahead of the law, she sees her dreams of fame come true when her name and picture are plastered in newspapers across the country. Yet as their infamy grows, the distance between them widens. While Jack begins seeking bigger payouts and publicity, Beatrice starts to long for a safe, quiet life and something deeper to fill the emptiness in her soul. But when the danger of Jack’s schemes ratchets up, Beatrice fears her dreams—and her future—will end up going down in a hail of bullets.

The Outlaw Next Door by Vickie McDonough

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1887 -Texas

A reformed outlaw has finally met the woman of his dreams. Regina Ross is the perfect woman: pretty, sweet, and kind-hearted. She’s far too good for the likes of Dane McDermott, but Dane can’t help being attracted to her. In spite of his past, he begins to hope for a future with Regina, but when his former gang shows up and kidnaps her, will it ruin his chance for love with the preacher’s daughter?

Heart of Gold by Lacy Williams

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1910s – Wyoming

They survived a harrowing near-death experience. Can a poignant family Christmas bring them together?

Ida needs a quiet Christmas at home to rest and find her footing again. But her boisterous family is anything but quiet and things only get worse when her U.S. Marshal brother brings home a prisoner for the holiday-the same outlaw that saved her life.

Tom Seymour discombobulates her. He’s arrogant and unrepentant. But when she’s forced to nurse his injuries, she realizes that his persona is all a facade. The man underneath is wounded and kind and in need of redemption.

But Tom must make a choice between his old life and the chance to make a new one with Ida. Can she trust the man he is becoming or will he betray her?

Lilly’s Promise by Terrie Todd

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1922/present – Canada

Orphaned and adopted as a toddler in 1922, Lilly Sampson pursues a nursing career in hopes that it will redeem the shameful crime of arson she committed as a child. When her self-sabotaging choices only build the ash heap higher, will she find the love she desperately seeks?

In 2019, while unraveling a mysterious link in her ancestry, thirty-six-year-old Diana DeWitt is at a crossroads as she tries to help a teenager in crisis. Will the truth she uncovers about her grandmother, Lilly, inspire her to let go of her fear and rise to the occasion?

Love in the Bargain by Lucette Nel

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1889 – Texas

Driven to rekindle her relationship with her ailing grandfather, Amelia Scott returns to her childhood home. However, her unyielding grandfather is determined to control her future and poses an ultimatum. Marry and inherit the iconic Scott Hotel or return to New York penniless. Amelia is determined to stay, and formulates a plan to ensure proprietorship of her last connection to family. But love is not a part of the deal. She can’t risk another man having control of her.

Ex-convict, now town carpenter, Micah Kelly struggles to raise his deceased sister’s children. When Amelia proposes marriage without love as the answer to both of their problems, he knows better than to say yes. While partnering with his childhood friend may yield an answer to his monetary challenges, he cannot agree to a marriage in name only. His heart is already involved, and that always leads to trouble.

Circumstances put them together, and while they struggle within their new marriage, outside forces are determined to snatch the Scott Hotel from them. Even if it means killing them.

Forgotten Memories by Penny Zeller

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1884 – Wyoming

Some memories are best forgotten…

The Wyoming Territory is rife with lawlessness and disorder, something Annie Ledbetter and her parents discover when their wagon train is robbed. Seven years later, Annie settles into her lifelong dream as a teacher in the small town of Willow Falls. When she meets handsome rancher Caleb Eliason through a humorous misunderstanding, she is quickly drawn to his kind heart and charming smile.

Former outlaw Caleb Eliason embraces his chance at a fresh start. Gone are the days of robbing stagecoaches and wagon trains. When he falls in love with the new Willow Falls teacher, he doesn’t realize they’ve met before—under much different circumstances. When his past comes to light, will it put the growing love between them at risk?

Can forgiveness and redemption heal two broken hearts or will the past keep them from sharing a future?

The Bride of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep

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England – 1885

The Continuing Adventure of Jackson and Kit.

Detective Jackson Forge can hardly wait to marry the street-sly swindler who’s turned his life upside down. Kit Turner is equally excited to wed the handsome detective, and what better way to show her love than providing him with a gift any man of the law would love? She determines to bring to justice the men who years ago maimed his brother despite Jackson’s warning to leave the past in the past. As she digs into the mystery of what happened, she unwittingly tumbles into her own history and endangers her future happiness with Jackson.

The Highwayman by Shannon McNear

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1775 – Virginia

Samuel Wheeler is an ordinary wagonmaster by day, a masked vigilante by night, but what started as a lark has gotten out of hand. He hardly sleeps, his secret identity has taken over his life, and the girl he loves barely notices him while his alter ego sets her aflutter.

Sally Brewster works hard at her parents’ inn, nestled in the lower Shenandoah Valley, along the Great Wagon Road that runs from Philadelphia down through the Carolinas. She pays little mind to the gossip about the mysterious highwayman who lately makes life difficult for the redcoats—until the night when the heroic figure saves her from brigands

Never Romance a Rogue by Regina Scott

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1825 – England

He was supposed to marry her best friend, but he couldn’t say no to her.

No one has ever refused a request from Lady Belle Dryden. Her pretty face and winsome nature almost guarantee it, and the fact that she’s the youngest daughter of the Duke of Wey doesn’t hurt. So she’s certain when she plays matchmaker between her dearest friend, Miss Petunia Bateman, and the charming, mysterious Owen Canady, both will be only too happy to fall in love. After all, Belle feels herself falling for Owen already. A shame a duke’s daughter must marry someone more impressive.

Owen Canady is a gentleman by birth, a pauper by circumstance, and a con man by necessity. Life has taught him he can rely only on his wits and a fast horse to get by. But when he is blackmailed into ferreting out the secrets of the Duke of Wey at a house party at the duke’s lavish estate, he finds his resolve crumbling. Belle is everything that is right and good in the world. He cannot betray her.

As her father’s enemies grow more daring, Belle and Owen must work together to protect all they hold dear. When his own secrets are revealed, can Owen convince the lady who’s never heard no to say yes to him?

Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White

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1922 – Illinois

Sabina Mancari never questioned her life as the daughter of Chicago’s leading mob boss until bullets tear apart her world and the man she thought she loved turns out to be an undercover Prohibition agent. Ambushes, bribes, murder, prostitution-all her life, her father sheltered her from his crimes, but now she can no longer turn away from the truth. Maybe Lorenzo, the fiancé who barely paid her any attention in the last two years, has the right idea by planning to escape their world. But can she truly turn her back on her family?

All his life, Lorenzo’s family assumed he would become a priest, but he has different ideas-marrying Sabina and pursuing a career in the law. Despite his morals, he knows at the core he isn’t so unlike his mafiosi father and brothers. Has he, in trying to protect Sabina, forced her into the arms of the Prohibition agent bent on tearing her family apart? How can they rebuild what has so long been neglected and do it in the shadow of the dark empire of the Mafia?

The Pinkerton’s Pursuit of Justice by Clari Dees

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1895 – Colorado

He’s searching for justice. He just didn’t expect it to be her.

Pinkerton agent, Tremain Taggart, has dangerous criminals to investigate and apprehend. He doesn’t have time to escort a petty thief to Denver, but the quicker he completes the assignment his superior ordered him on, the quicker he can return to more important cases. However, the straightforward task promptly turns into the most complicated, chaotic chase of his career, and if he ever gets his hands on the elusive Miss Justice, he will be sorely tempted to wring her neck.

All Emmalena wanted was a tiny corner of the world to call her own. But after running away from the circus—the only life she’s ever known—all she’s found is trouble. And now she’s on the run, again. This time with a disturbing Pinkerton hot on her trail. If she can’t outrun or outwit him, she might have to risk her heart and actually trust him.

She’s the assignment he didn’t want. He’s the complication she didn’t need. But together, they might be exactly what they were each searching for.

In a Far-Off Land by Stephanie Landsem

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1931 – California/South Dakota

A story about the price of fame, the truth sacrificed on its altar, and the love that brings a prodigal daughter home.

As the Great Depression hits the Midwest, Minerva Sinclaire runs away to Hollywood, determined to make it big and save the family farm. But beauty and moxie don’t pay the bills in Tinseltown, and she’s caught in a downward spiral of poverty, desperation, and compromise. Finally, she’s about to sign with a major studio and make up for it all. Instead, she wakes up next to a dead film star and is on the run for a murder she didn’t commit.

Only two unwilling men—Oscar, a Mexican gardener in danger of deportation, and Max, a too-handsome agent battling his own demons—can help Mina escape corrupt police on the take and the studio big shots trying to frame her. But even her quick thinking and grit can’t protect her from herself. Alone, penniless, and carrying a shameful secret, Mina faces the consequences of the heartbreaking choices that brought her to ruin . . . and just might bring her back to where she belongs.

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?

The Thief of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep

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1885 – England

There’s Often a Fine Line Between a Criminal and a Saint

Constable Jackson Forge intends to make the world safer, or at least the streets of Victorian London. But that’s Kit Turner’s domain, a swindler who runs a crew that acquires money the old-fashioned way—conning the rich to give to the poor. When a local cab driver goes missing, Jackson is tasked with finding the man, and the only way to do that is by enlisting Kit’s help. If Jackson doesn’t find the cabby, he’ll be fired. If Kit doesn’t help Jackson, he’ll arrest her for thievery. Yet neither of them realize those are the least of their problems.

Inspirational Historical Fiction Index

Christian Historical Fiction sorted by setting, period, historical events, and more.

Posts with the custom taxonomy term Criminal/Outlaw

Lance by Heather Blanton

The Bandit’s Redemption by Kylee Woodley

Of Love and Treason by Jamie Ogle

The Resolute by MaryLu Tyndall

The Rose by Cara Grandle

The Vaquero’s Heart by Heather Blanton

The Girl from the Papers by Jennifer L. Wright

The Outlaw Next Door by Vickie McDonough

Heart of Gold by Lacy Williams

Lilly’s Promise by Terrie Todd

Love in the Bargain by Lucette Nel

Forgotten Memories by Penny Zeller

The Bride of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep

The Highwayman by Shannon McNear

Never Romance a Rogue by Regina Scott

He was supposed to marry her best friend, but he couldn’t say no to her.

Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White

The Pinkerton’s Pursuit of Justice by Clari Dees

In a Far-Off Land by Stephanie Landsem

Faith’s Mountain Home by Misty Beller

The Thief of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep