The tall cowboy at the station wasn't Dallas. He was Houston, Dallas's brother, sent to escort her on the rugged three-week trek to the ranch where Dallas waited. Brought up in war-ravaged Georgia, Amelia thought Dallas's letters made Texas sound like heaven, a place for her dreams to grow with the right man beside her.And his only love...By all appearances, Houston Leigh would hardly be considered the "right man." The war he survived had scarred him inside and out, and he was little competition for his handsome brother. But from the moment Houston met Amelia, he knew she possessed the courage this wild land needed. She had eyes that could see past his wounded face to his soul. And he would fight any man—except his brother—for her heart. Now he and Amelia were riding down dangerous trails, sleeping under the stars, and God help them, they were falling in love.

    Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have only three months to pay.Though facing eviction, Rosa falls in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. They welcome her vivacious spirit and try to help her navigate puzzling American customs. She can't help but stand out, though, and her beauty captures attention. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, Rosa must decide to what lengths she will go to save her future.

    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.

    How can she protect them, when a figure from their past is coming to take her away? When the determined and beautiful Rosie Quin saw her one true love and savior leave their town, all her hope was lost. She was left alone at the saloon of the cruel Tobias Cox. When she could take his beatings no more, she ran away.When the strong and kind Jeff Kiney lost his wife at childbirth, he thought his chance on love was lost too. Having difficulty in connecting with their little daughter, his only saviour is another mother figure. When Rosie, his old love, turns up on Jeff’s doorstep seeking shelter, they find themselves attracted to each other.Could Rosie be the blessing that Jeff was searching for and Jeff be the knight in shining armour that Rosie needed?But now, Tobias comes after Rosie and Jeff for revenge, and it all comes down to one choice.Will Rosie and Jeff defeat their demons from their past and finally be able to create a loving family, or will Tobias's fury tears down their hopes forever?"The Courageous Bride’s Unexpected Family" is a stand-alone Western Historical Romance Novel with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

    Marston isn’t so sure about this arrangement. Will he finally cave-in…just in time for a Christmas wedding? Greta Samuelson was only fourteen the year Kansas bled, but by the time the Civil War had ended, she was a woman of steel. The war had left only broken pieces of men for single women to comb through, so there wasn’t much for her in Atchison, Kansas. She longs to go west where her brother is. When the wagon train driver arrives in town, he’s got a letter he wants her to see. It’s from a schoolteacher announcing his desire for a wife, primarily asking for a woman of good composure, strong sensibilities and sufficient education to assist him. Greta has not had a great deal of formal education, but she has a good writing hand, and sends back a letter saying she is interested. When Marston first meets Greta, he is disappointed. He had expected a mature, scholarly woman, not a mere slip of a twenty-year-old girl. Greta, however, sets out to prove she is a woman to contend with, even for a thirty-two-year-old teacher. She rolls up her sleeves and takes on the Wild West with as much fortitude as she had shown while living through the Civil War. But can she win Marston’s heart in time to be a Christmas bride? Or will he decide she is too young for him… AUTHOR’S NOTE: Enjoy this clean historical western romance short story! I have plans to turn it into a series to keep you happily reading. Also included are 3 bonus stories! Don’t miss out on this one…it’s one of my best written stories yet!

    Included are: Mail Order Mayhem, Mail Order Mama, Mail Order Madness and Mail Order Mix-up. Harriett Long, a widow in Beckham, Massachusetts, begins her journey as a matchmaker by matching up four brides with grooms in the West. Follow her and her butler, Higgins, as they give desperate women their happily ever afters.Mail Order MayhemWhen Maude is told she must marry a repulsive man, she instead responds to an Iowa farmer who is looking for a mail order bride. 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? Mail Order MamaWhen Emily’s mother decides to marry, her fiancé says that twenty year old Emily needs to find a new place to live before the wedding. She runs across an advertisement for mail order brides and responds, hoping to find a good situation. Benjamin lost the love of his life just months before. He and his girls need a new mama in their house. Will Emily be the mama they need? Mail Order MadnessSusan cannot stand living with her eleven younger siblings, so she answers an advertisement for a mail order bride, choosing a man who has no children so she won’t be plagued with other people’s ill-behaved offspring. When she arrives in Fort Worth, she finds out her fiancé has been killed, and his older brother is offering to take his place. Mail Order Mix UpWhen Ellen and her sister are forced out of the only home they’ve ever known by a local banker after the death of their father, they answer an advertisement placed by Harriett Long for mail order brides. Ellen chooses to marry the sheriff of a town in Colorado while Malinda agrees to marry his brother, a banker. Each sister is immediately drawn to one of the brothers….too bad it’s the wrong one!

    and the secret you've spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare? Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could reveal secrets from his past he would prefer remain buried.Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met from a distance.

    Two passionate travelers, united by need, threatened by pasts they could not outrun ...Lydia Bryant --- voluptuous and russet-haired, fleeing from a secret shame, vowing that never again would a man, any man, overpower her ...Ross Coleman --- dark, brooding and iron-willed, with the shadow of a lawless past in his piercing eyes, sworn to resist the temptation of his wanton longings ...Fate threw them together on the same wild road, where they fought the breathtaking desire blazing between them, while the shadows of their enemies grew longer. As the wagon train rolled west, the danger to them drew ever closer, until a showdown with their pursuers was inevitable. Before it was over, Lydia and Ross would face death ... the truth about each other ... and the astonishing strength of their love ...

    He was so captivated that upon returning to the Tidewater Plantation in the Virginia Colony, he married Aurora because she held an uncanny resemblance to that raven-haired beauty. But it was in appearance, only. Now, abandoned by Aurora and left to raise a child on his own, Brandon faces a lonely future and needs a governess for his daughter.When Shannon arrives in Tidewater, she's immediately mistaken for the wayward Aurora and is not greeted with enthusiasm by anyone except Brandon's daughter. Brandon recognizes Shannon as the young girl who captivated him four years prior and though he tries to resist, cannot deny the attraction he feels.Then Brandon's missing wife's parents arrive to visit, forcing Shannon to play the role of Brandon's wife, which soon leads to mutual attraction. But, the love growing between them is soon tested when Aurora returns with her lover and a shocking secret.PUBLISHER'S NOTE: For fans of Jo Goodman we bring you one of her earliest books freshly edited, by Jo Goodman herself, for today's readers. Fans and readers of Mary Jo Putney, Kat Martin, Jo Beverly, Courtney Milan and Stephanie Laurens will not want to miss this tale of mistaken identity, intrigue and second-chance love.ALSO BY JO GOODMAN:Violet FireScarlet LiesSweet FireTHE MCCLELLANSCrystal PassionSeaswept AbandonTempting TormentTHE HAMILTON FAMILYMore Than You KnowMore Than You WishedTHE COMPASS CLUBLet Me Be The OneEverything I Ever WantedAll I Ever NeededBeyond A Wicked KissTHE DENNEHY SISTERSOnly My LoveMy Heart's DesireForever in My HeartAlways in My DreamsOnly in My ArmsTHE MARSHALL BROTHERSHer Defiant HeartHis Heart's RevengeTHE THORNE BROTHERS TRILOGYMy Steadfast HeartMy Reckless HeartWith All My HeartMEET JO GOODMAN:Jo Goodman is a licensed professional counselor working with children and families in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. Always a fan of the happily ever after, Jo turned to writing romances early in her career as a child care worker when she realized the only life script she could control was the one she wrote herself. She is inspired by the resiliency and courage of the children she meets and feels privileged to be trusted with their stories, the ones that they alone have the right to tell.Once upon a time, Jo believed she was going to be a marine biologist. She knows she is lucky that seasickness made her change course. She lives with her family in Colliers, West Virginia.

    Not willing to return to her father's restrictive home — or face the arduous six-month voyage back to Boston — she hatches a plan to start her own business. She'll never have to trust her future to a man again. Jack Dalton struck it rich in the Sierra Nevada and is having a mighty fine time spending his gold at dance halls and saloons in town. He can't for the life of him figure out why so many of his drinking buddies are signing up for ads in the matchmaking paper that snooty 'Miss Priss' is starting up. The last thing he wants to do is to settle down. When an unscrupulous charlatan threatens to shatter Delilah's dream, Jack takes pity and steps in to lend a helping hand. Then he gets suckered into partnering with the very woman he desperately wants to avoid. Long hours working together force them to face their deepest fears and admit they're drawn toward one another. Can they let go of their pasts and find hope for their future or will they let their fears tear them apart?

    He'd sworn to protect her. He couldn't do that if she married someone else...COLE REDBOURNE, immersed in guilt over the accident that claimed his best friend, discovers there was nothing accidental about it. When he sets out for Silver Falls, Colorado, to fulfill his friend’s dying wish and to flush out his killer, the last thing he expected was to find hope again disguised as his impromptu bride.

    So he's sent off for a mail-order bride who won't ask questions and wants a baby as much as he does.He just doesn't expect to fall for her.Shannon Montgomery is not a solution. She's spent her life knowing she's ugly, thanks to the large birthmark on her face. Becoming a mail-order bride to a man who's never seen her seemed the ideal answer, but she's eaten up with guilt for not confessing her imperfection to him ahead of time. See, she didn't expect to arrive at Sunset Valley and give her heart to her husband quite so soon.And now they're out of luck.Lucas's problem doesn't go away with his marriage; if anything, it gets worse. Now Shannon is in danger too, and Lucas learns he's willing to do anything to protect her. But Verrick, the notorious gunslinger Lucas hires, is nothing like he seems, and turns Lucas's world on its head in more ways than one. Between Shannon and Verrick, Lucas needs to earn how to open his heart to his past...and his future. Heat level 3/5: contains violence, minor cursing, and sex behind closed doors

    Willow Creek may be a sleepy little frontier town but the characters who live there are as untamed as the land itself! Book 1: The Lawman On the run from her ex-lover… Jilted by a no-show husband… And now mistaken for a whore in the Diamond Back Saloon… Abigail Thornton doesn’t think things can get any worse. That is until a single slap to a man’s face starts a barroom brawl that lands her in the last place she expected to be. Book 2: The Outlaw Sarah Hartford always dreamed of a grand adventure. She just never expected to find it in the arms of an outlaw. Book 3: The Gambler Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline hatches a plan to get it back. She wants her land, and Tristan Averys money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth. Book 4: The Rancher Laurel Montgomery wanted a new life, one that didn’t include a man. She’d had enough of their pretty lies and broken promises but one night of reckless abandon weeks before taking a job as the new schoolteacher in Willow Creek would come back to haunt her. The man she thought to never see again turns out to be the father of one of her new students. A man so handsome and rugged he takes her breath away. Too bad she’s sworn off men forever. If only the stubborn man would take no for an answer.

    Undaunted, Noelle Kramer fought to remain independent. But then a runaway horse nearly plunged her into a rushing, ice-choked river, before a stranger's strong, sure hand saved her from certain death.And yet this was no stranger. Though she could not know it, her rescuer was rancher Thad McKaslin, the man who had once loved her more than life itself. Losing her had shaken all his most deeply held beliefs. Now he wondered if the return of this strong woman was a sign that somehow he could find his way home.

    Still, Sarah Caldwell has misgivings when her father pressures her into distracting a ranch hand while he and her brothers rob the Wainwright place. When it becomes clear that hand is actually Cord Wainwright, Sarah realizes she needs to lay low. But Cord spots her in town and, with the sheriff away, makes a citizen's arrest, dragging her off to the Wainwright ranch until the sheriff's return. As the feud boils over, Cord and Sarah make a most inconvenient discovery--they are falling in love. Can they betray their families for love? Or will their families betray them?Against the beautiful and wild backdrop of the Rocky Mountains comes this sweeping saga of romance, betrayal, and forgiveness from beloved author Kathleen Morgan.