Book picks similar to
The Barefoot Bride by Joan Johnston


romance
historical-romance
historical
western

Eye of the Beholder


Ruth Ann Nordin - 2009
    At nineteen, she has no prospects of finding a husband, so she takes matters into her own hands and becomes a mail-order bride. When she arrives to Omaha, Nebraska to meet the man she's due to marry, he takes one look at her homely appearance and rejects her. But fate has other plans for Mary. Dave Larson happens to be nearby and thinks she will make a good wife. Though she is stunned that someone as handsome and as kind as Dave would ask her to marry him, she accepts. She knows that this marriage will not bear the fruits of love. Love, after all, is for beautiful women. Isn't it? Books in the Nebraska Historical Romance Series Book 1: Her Heart's Desire Book 2: A Bride for Tom (novella) Book 3: A Husband for Margaret (novella) Book 4: Eye of the Beholder Book 5: The Wrong Husband Book 6: The Shotgun Groom Book 7: To Have and To Hold Book 8: His Redeeming Bride Book 9: Isaac's Decision

Innocent Fire


Brenda Joyce - 1988
    Here is the beginning of the Bragg empire-opulent and glamorous-vast, dangerous, and as untamed as the sweeping plains of Texas…Leaving behind the sheltered life of a French convent, Miranda journeyed to the New World and an arranged marriage to a prosperous Texan rancher. Arriving in America, the innocent European met her fiance's friend Derek Bragg, a rough-hewn Texas Ranger, whose harsh manner and candid comments about her beauty enraged the shy miss. Although Bragg fought to deny his feelings for his charge, he knew that he was falling in love with her. Miranda, too, was struggling with her desire for her escort as they trekked across the treacherous wilderness. Drawn to the lawman--enflamed by his raw masculine virility--will Miranda sacrifice her innocence to the fire blazing out of control in her heart?

Paper Roses


Amanda Cabot - 2009
    Leaving the past behind in Philadelphia, mail-order bride Sarah arrives in San Antonio ready to greet her groom, Austin Canfield, a man she has never met but whose letters have won her heart from afar. But there is one problem--he has died. And Sarah cannot go back East.As Sarah tries to reconcile herself to a future that is drastically changed, Austin's brother, Clay, struggles with his own muddled plans. Though he dislikes working on the family ranch and longs for a different life, Clay is driven to avenge his brother's death. But something between them is growing and neither Clay nor Sarah is ready to admit it. Book 1 of the Texas Dreams series, Paper Roses will sweep readers into the Hill Country with a tale of love and loss, closed doors and beautiful possibilities that will leave them wanting more.

Mustang Wild


Stacey Kayne - 2007
    But his stolen kiss scatters her senses and, quicker than a whirling dust devil, they're wed!To her relief, Tucker's keen to fix the marital slipup--and then he tells her the deed she holds belongs to him, and him alone. Maybe she shouldn't rush to have their marriage annulled. No man, no matter how good-looking, is going to swindle Skylar out of the one thing she yearns for most--a home.

Written on Your Skin


Meredith Duran - 2009
    To save herself from an unwanted marriage, she turns her wiles on a darkly handsome stranger. But Mina's would be hero is playing his own deceptive game. A British spy, Phin Granville has no interest in emotional entanglements ... until the night Mina saves his life by gambling her own.THE JADED SPY WHO VOWED TO FORGET HER ...Four years later, Phin inherits a title that frees him from the bloody game of espionage. But memories of the woman who saved him won't let Phin go. When he learns that Mina needs his aid, honor forces him back into the world of his nightmares.IN LIVES BUILT ON LIES, LOVE IS THE DARKEST SECRET OF ALL ...Deception has ruled Mina's life just as it has Phin's. But as the beauty and the spy match wits in a dangerous dance, their practiced masks begin to slip, revealing a perilous attraction. And the greatest threat they face may not be traitors or murderous conspiracies, but their own dark desires ...

Scarred Mail-Order Bride and the Widower


Amelia Rose - 2020
    Desperate for a brighter future, she responds to a mail order bride ad, and soon the Deputy of Daisy Creek is her shimmer of light in the darkness.Deputy Bill Paulson knows grief too. When his wife died in childbirth, he thought he would never find happiness again. Encouraged by his sister, Bill finally begins his search for a wife: he knows his children need a mother, and Jill’s letters are a beacon of hope.Jill finally makes the journey to Daisy Creek to meet the deputy. With her anxiety about her scars and Bill’s grief about his wife, their union is a gamble for both of them, and they’re surprised by their instant connection.But no matter how strong a bond, sometimes reality is hell-bent on testing it, and events soon show that the pair’s trials aren’t over. With a crisis that triggers each of their worst fears, the couple is thrown into turmoil.But they have one thing they didn’t have before: each other. Could it be that this is enough to get them through?Scarred Mail Order Bride and the Widower is a heart wrenching story of two lost souls determined to find love and correct the course of their future.

Mail Order Mayhem


Kirsten Osbourne - 2012
    After sneaking out of town on a train, she goes to Iowa and marries. She quickly falls for the wonderful man she marries, but does he feel the same? And will she be able to escape her past?

The Last Renegade


Jo Goodman - 2012
    With all of the good men dying at the hands of a local rancher and his three sons, Raine hires a shootist to be the town’s protector. But her handsome new employee is more than a hired hand; he’s a man who keeps his guns close and his secrets closer. BUT NOTHING COULD PROTECT HER HEART After a chance encounter on a train, Kellen Coltrane travels to the Pennyroyal to carry out a dying man’s last wish. But once he meets the hotel’s fiery-haired proprietor, Coltrane finds himself assuming the role of the shootist’s accomplice and agrees to protect Bitter Springs. And as he learns more about Raine’s own tragedy, Coltrane can’t deny his growing desire for the courageous widow, or the urge to protect her from the threat that draws near…

Petals on the River


Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - 1997
    A man of secrets accused of a terrible crime ... In a place of new beginnings their destinies are joined --- in a glorious romantic new work from the incomparable storyteller KATHLEEN E. WOODWISSThe fiery and outspoken adopted daughter of one of England's most formidable women, Shemaine O'Hearn has made powerful enemies. And now her adversaries have found a way to remove the hot-blooded beauty from her life of privilege: by falsely convicting Shemaine of thievery, and sending her in shackles to America, where she is to be sold in indentured servitude to the highest bidder.In a bustling port city in the colony of Virginia, she becomes the servant of Gage Thornton --- a shipbuilder with a young child in need of a nanny. And despite whispered rumors condemning the handsome widower for the untimely death of his wife, Shemaine cannot ignore her desire for this caring, generous and enigmatic stranger who silently aches with his growing need for her --- even as grave peril reaches out from across a vast ocean to threaten their flowering love.

The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell


Samantha James - 2007
    A man of intense passions, he resolved to deny his emotions and desires forever, taking refuge in the wilds of the moorlands and shutting himself off from the world. But on one extraordinary night, on a rare trip to London, the unthinkable occurs. An intoxicatingly beautiful stranger stirs the sensuous hunger he has sworn to resist. Simon Blackwell believed that no woman could tempt him. No woman . . . save Annabel McBride. Annabel knows nothing of Simon's secret pain. But one irresistible kiss plunges her into marriage with a man she scarcely knows, a man who hides a shattered past. She can feel the blistering heat of the fire that smolders within this exquisitely handsome man, making her yearn for much more than the union in name only he has promised her. But Simon dares not love again—for fragile love can be lost in an instant. And now Annabel must find a way to open his heart to the most glorious risk of all . . .

August


Kit Morgan - 2014
    Kit Morgan’s books are fun, whimsical, sweet stories about the old west, its people, but especially about Clear Creek. One of the wackiest little towns in the old west! Also by Kit Morgan: The Prairie Bride Series, beginning with ‘His Prairie Princess’ And: The Holiday Mail Order Bride Series, beginning with ‘The Christmas Mail Order Bride’ Clear Creek was a quaint little place, one most men took one look at, and decided to settle. There was only one problem. There were no women. In fact, the town was so small, most women took one look at it, laughed, and whipped their horses into a frenzy to get as far from it as possible before their husbands could protest. This of course left a mighty big hole in the hearts of what men were left behind in the little community. Duncan Cooke, aka The Duke of Stantham, also had a problem. He had a huge estate in England to manage, one not far from London, and it came with all the problems one would expect with an estate in disarray. Including six unwed cousins, women no man would touch for fear of losing either a limb, or worse. Strange things happened to all who tried to court them, so they were left untouched, and very unwed. But Duncan realized that Clear Creek had exactly what he needed. Men! And so with the help of his brother’s wife Sadie, he concocted a plan to send his cousins to Clear Creek as mail order brides! He just hoped the calamity that often followed them, didn’t find its way across the sea as well …

The Wren


Kristy McCaffrey - 2003
    Now, at nineteen, she’s finally returning home to North Texas after spending the remainder of her childhood with a tribe of Kwahadi Comanche. What she finds is a deserted home coated with dust and the passage of time, the chilling discovery of her own gravesite, and the presence of a man she thought never to see again.Matt Ryan is pushed by a restless wind to the broken-down remains of the Hart ranch. Recently recovered from an imprisonment that nearly ended his life, the drive for truth and fairness has all but abandoned him. For ten years he faithfully served the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers, seeking justice for the brutal murder of a little girl, only to find closure and healing beyond his grasp. Returning to the place where it all began, he’s stunned to encounter a woman with the same blue eyes as the child he can’t put out of his mind.A sensuous historical western romance set in 1877 Texas.2003 CAPA WINNER The Romance Studio ~ Best New Author Traditional2004 Holt Medallion FINALIST ~ Best First Book2004 Texas Gold FINALIST ~ Historical Category“…McCaffrey’s mastery of setting and historic details gives this western gritty realism.” ~ RT Book Reviews“…a heart wrenchingly emotional story…” ~ Coffeetime Romance“The main characters were well matched and the secondary characters were just as good. Don’t miss this incredible read in what is sure to be a great series to follow.” ~ The Romance Studio“Handsome, rugged heroes, strong heroines and a super storyline make The Wren a keeper.” ~ The Best Reviews“…well written…captivated me from the first line to the poignant last.” ~ NovelspotDon’t miss all the books in the series~The Wren: Book 1The Dove: Book 2The Sparrow: Book 3The Blackbird: Book 4The Shiny Penny: Short Story 4.1 (available free exclusively to Kristy’s newsletter subscribers)Song Of The Wren: Novella 4.2 (available free exclusively to Kristy’s newsletter subscribers)The Bluebird: Book 5Echo of the Plains: Novella 5.5

Reese


Lori Handeland - 2001
    Mary hires Reese, the mysterious, and reluctant, leader of a band of deadly Confederate veterans, to protect them.Reese is haunted by the war and what he did during it. The only constant in his life are the five men willing to come to his side whenever he calls them.Though Mary prides herself on managing everyone and anything, she can't manage Reese or her feelings for him. Reese doesn't believe he is worthy of loyalty and devotion; he certainly isn't worthy of love. In Rock Creek, with Mary, he learns differently.

Shotgun Grooms


Susan Mallery - 2001
    So he proposed a chaste businesslike "merger" to Miss Emily Smythe, a uniquely enterprising schoolmarm. But how could he keep them wed in name only when all he wanted to do was bed down with his bride in her brand-new inn?And as for his brother ...The fur would fly sure enough when his bear of a brother, Jackson, woke up to find himself hitched to Miss Molly Malone. He'd thought surely she was mistaken. But delirious with fever, he'd unknowingly consummated their marriage. And the Irish firebrand was determined that their union stick "'til death did them part"! Well, now he was guaranteed his inheritance, but what was the miner to do with a wife?

What a Gentleman Wants


Caroline Linden - 2006
    An occasional thank you would suffice; instead, his resentful sibling forges his name to a marriage license and presents him with an unwanted wife. She's a vicar's widow with a mind of her own who may be the first person in Marcus's well-ordered life to make him feel...completely out of control.Hannah can't help but curse her own idiocy. Dire straits have led her to the altar with a gentleman she hardly knows. Played for a fool, she's embarrassed, furious, and worse, married to an equally outraged stranger—an exasperating man who unleashes all manner of emotions in Hannah, not to mention unwanted desire. Reluctantly, she agrees to play the wife until he can sort out the mess. But the nearness of the undeniably attractive Duke and the passion in his black eyes unsettles her well-guarded heart—making her want to do so much more than "act" the role of blissful bride.