Book picks similar to
A Fire in the Blood by Shirl Henke


historical-romance
western
romance
native-american-romance

High Country Bride


Linda Lael Miller - 2002
    Three sons. Only one will inherit...and on one condition. Tired of waiting for his sons to settle down, Arizona-territory rancher Angus McKettrick announces a competition: the first son to marry and produce a grandchild will inherit Triple M ranch. Now, three distinctly different, equally determined cowboys are searching high and low for brides. If Emmeline Harding knows one thing, it's that she can't hold her liquor. And though she's not sure how she came to wake up next to a stack of gold coins in a brothel, she fears the worst. Fleeing town as a mail-order bride, she wonders: how will she ever confess her past to her handsome new husband? Freedom-loving Rafe McKettrick is a man of strong beliefs and stronger passions and he'll do anything to win the Triple M—even marry a stranger. To his surprise, Emmeline's charms beguile him even as the secrets he senses she's hiding ignite jealousy and suspicion. But when a visitor from the past enters the high country, the newlyweds have no choice but to give up on a marriage in name only and seek a union that satisfies them body and soul.

Colony


Anne Rivers Siddons - 1992
    Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who possess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.This brilliant novel, rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense, and indomitable characters. Anne Rivers Siddons paints a portrait of a woman determined to preserve the spirit of past generations—and the future of a place where she became who she is...a place called Colony.

While We're Far Apart


Lynn Austin - 2010
    Young Esther is heartbroken when her father decides to enlist in the army shortly after the death of her mother. Penny Goodrich has been in love with Eddie Shaffer for as long as she can remember; now that Eddie's wife is dead, Penny feels she has been given a second chance and offers to care for his children in the hope that he will finally notice her and marry her after the war. And elderly Mr. Mendel, the landlord, waits for the war to end to hear what has happened to his son trapped in war torn Hungary. But during the long, endless wait for victory overseas, life on the home front will go from bad to worse. Yet these characters will find themselves growing and changing in ways they never expected and ultimately discovering truths about God's love. . .even when He is silent.

The Naked Duke


Sally MacKenzie - 2005
    Scandalous. In fact, Miss Sarah Hamilton, a proper Philadelphian, finds London society altogether shocking. How can it be that she has awakened from her innocent slumber to find herself in bed next to a handsome--and exceedingly naked--man? The laughing onlookers standing in the doorway are no help whatsoever and surely this amorous lunatic cannot be a duke, as he claims. She is compromised--though she most certainly will not marry him! The Sweetest Moment Of His James, the Duke of Alford, is enchanted by his unexpected bedmate--and not at all afraid of her pink-cheeked fury. True, the circumstances and place of their meeting are most unusual, but the spirited American who's pummeling him with a pillow is an incomparable beauty. If Sarah will only listen to his perfectly reasonable explanation, James is sure that he can capture her heart. . .forever.

The Wicked West


Victoria Dahl - 2009
    But the virtuous Sheriff Hale has never told anyone about his shocking desires. Will he give in to the surprising temptation of the young widow?Meet bestselling erotica author Holly Summers in Victoria Dahl's contemporary romances, TALK ME DOWN (January 2009) and START ME UP (July 2009).

Hidden Fires


Laura Jordan - 1982
    Instead, the matriarch makes Lauren a scandalous offer to marry her son in name only. Lauren has strong feelings for him but are they strong enough?

The Lawman


Lily Graison - 2011
    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.Town Marshal Morgan Avery wants nothing more than to wash away the trail-dust and sleep for a week, preferably with a soft, willing woman by his side. Instead, he gets Abigail Thornton – all one hundred pounds of her thrust at him seconds before a fist connects with his face. Breaking up the fight takes more effort than he wants to admit and when the last man falls he finds Abigail still standing and not looking the least bit contrite.Throwing her into the town jail for the night would salve his wounded pride and then he will let her go. Or that was the plan. When morning comes he finds himself oddly reluctant to do so. Miss Thornton is hiding something and he aims to find out what, even if he has to bed her to do so. But will one night in her bed be enough?

The Savage


Nicole Jordan - 1994
    He is Lance Calder, half-white, half-Comanche -- proud, passionate and forbidden. Yet he is Summer's only hope of rescuing her sister. Aching to possess the ravishing beauty, Lance sets an impossible price on his aid - marriage!

A Cup of Tea


Amy Ephron - 1997
    She has wealth, well–connected friends, and a handsome fiance, Philip Alsop. Finally she has everything she wants.It is then, in a moment of beneficence, that Rosemary invites Eleanor Smith, a penniless young woman she sees under a streetlamp in the rain, into her home for a cup of tea. While there, Rosemary sees Eleanor exchange an unmistakable look with Philip, and she sends Eleanor on her way. But she cannot undo this chance encounter, and it leads to a tempestuous and all–consuming love triangle –– until the tides of war throw all their lives off balance.Inspired by a classic Katherine Mansfield short story, A Cup of Tea engages with its vivid –– and often amusing –– cast of characters, wonderful period detail, brilliant evocation of the uncertain days of World War I, and delightfully spare and picturesque sense of story.

The Bride Wore Spurs


Sharon Ihle - 1994
    How could John Winterhawke, a fiercely independent and unsettlingly handsome half-Indian, possibly make room in his heart and in his life for her?As far as Hawke was concerned, the last thing he needed was a high-spirited, overeager Irish wife who knew nothing about surviving on the harsh prairie. But once the determined Lacey sensed the rough kindness and simmering hunger under Hawke's forbidding demeanor, she set out to match his dark passion with her own – and claim his wild heart on her terms.

American Dreams


Janet Dailey - 1994
    Raised on a grand plantation, the outspoken young beauty has known only the comforts of luxury. Yet even though Temple’s father attended the finest schools in the east, his greatest source of pride is the Cherokee blood that runs through his veins. And for Temple and her family, life is about to change beyond all imagining. “The Blade” Stuart, a reckless Cherokee landowner, knows that trouble is rumbling close, even if others refuse to acknowledge it. He loves Temple’s unwavering devotion—to her heritage, and to the passion they share—and he realizes how dangerous it may be. As treaties are broken, property confiscated, and neighbors turned against one another, he and Temple risk losing everything they cherish, including each other. Fueled only by the promise of freedom, Temple and her family must embark on an unforgettable journey through a land torn by violence, toward a future forged from courage, hope, and a wild, turbulent love.

Gabriel's Angel


Cynthia Thomason - 2006
    Then a wounded convict escapes from a passing prison ship and swims ashore. He threatens her and collapses at her feet. When Lieutenant Gabriel Hampton opens his eyes, he beholds an angel. An angel, moreover, who not only nurses him back to health, but senses the nobility beneath his rugged, feral appearance. Having escaped a life sentence, the result of an unjust court martial, he finds new life, and new love, in the hands of the lightkeeper’s beautiful granddaughter. Springtime on the remote island is nearly idyllic for Livvy and Gabe until circumstances tear them apart. Although Livvy is determined to help Gabe escape his hopeless future, secrets from her childhood threaten to destroy what she and Gabe have built —secrets that tragically link her to Gabe in a way neither would ever have dreamed. Will they be able to find their way back to each other? Or will the Civil War claim another two victims?

Nobody's Darling


Teresa Medeiros - 1998
    Lucky for him, she's a mighty poor shot. Instead of killing him, she hires him to find her runaway brother. He should turn down her offer. He should resist her charms. But he doesn't. Because there comes a time in every man's life when he's got nothing left to lose...but his heart.

Texas Rain


Jodi Thomas - 2006
    The first in the powerful new Whispering Mountain trilogy...Honest, straightforward, and ruggedly handsome, Travis McMurray is also more than a little bit busted, the result of an ambush during his service as a Texas Ranger. Beautiful Rainey Adams is in a fix of her own: On the run from an arranged marriage, she'll do just about anything to keep her freedom. The first time they meet, she steals a kiss—and his horse. The second time, she's an angel of mercy who eases him through a terrible fever...and then disappears.When Travis recovers, he's determined to track down this intriguing woman and bring her back to the Whispering Mountain Ranch as his bride. But this renegade may be too much for even the toughest Ranger to handle.

The Loyal Heart


Merry Farmer - 2011
    Several problems. Her childhood love, Ethan, has returned home from the Crusades, but he’s more interested in winning his land back than wooing her. She has to rescue a pair of nuns who are being held prisoner in Derby Castle’s tower by the sadistic Sheriff Buxton. And to top it all off, she’s developing scandalous feelings for Buxton’s lackey, the dark and devilish Crispin. Faced with all that what’s a girl to do but don her disguise as the Derbywood Bandit and take matters into her own hands?Sir Crispin is at his wit’s end. Not only does he have his hands full keeping Buxton from killing half the shire, now his arch nemesis, the Derbywood Bandit, has joined forces with his old rival Ethan. And that’s nothing compared to the burning torch he carries for his ex-fiancé, Lady Aubrey. He would do anything to win Aubrey’s love …… until he suspects that there could be a closer connection between Aubrey and the Derbywood Bandit than anyone knows.