Her doting parents want her to make a good match with a worthy gentleman and live a respectable life. She is beautiful and intelligent and she comes with a hefty dowry. There is no reason that she shouldn’t be able to find an eligible man and settle down.Tessa herself is the reason. The men who are attempting to court her are, in her opinion, boring and conceited. Not only that, Tessa craves excitement and adventure, of which there is little in her social circles. By chance, she comes across an advertisement for a bride brokerage company seeking eligible women of good breeding to go west and find husbands.One man on the list catches her eye and she begins corresponding with him, eventually agreeing to go to Montana to meet him. She can’t resist the possibility of finding someone different and even if she doesn’t, the adventure itself would be worth her time. Tessa makes a successful escape and sets out to make a new life in Montana.Dean Samuels is a Montana rancher who is in over his head. His ranch is struggling and his two children are unruly and in need of a caretaker. It’s clear to his younger brother, Marcus, that he needs help. He tells Dean about a mail order bride service and convinces him that he should utilize it to find a wife.After his wife, Sarah, had passed away, Dean never intended to marry again. His ranch and his children became his life. However, it becomes apparent that Sadie, his daughter, and his son, Jack, need stability and love. The demands of raising his children and keeping his head above water financially have taken a toll and Dean grudgingly gives in to Marcus’ idea.Sarah had been the love of his life and Dean doesn’t intend to let any other woman into his heart. He’s locked those kinds of emotions deep inside, not wanting to take the chance of getting hurt like that again. Because Dean has trouble expressing his feelings in writing, his younger brother Marcus agrees to help write the letters to Tessa. Dean is happy to leave that part up to him.When Dean and Tessa meet, sparks fly between the two strong willed people. Tessa is disappointed that Dean isn’t the romantic, sophisticated man she was lead to believe he was in the letters she received. Dean is aggravated that she isn’t a meek woman who is easily managed. Never mind the fact that she has no idea of how to take care of children and keep a home.Dean and Tessa struggle to find common ground and make their marriage work. Will they each take the risk and open their hearts to one another? Can their marriage survive and will they find love and contentment in each other? Their future happiness hangs in the balance under the Montana skies.

    . . A widow with two children, Tempest Whitney has had to mortgage everything to repay the money her husband had stolen. But even as she struggles to hold onto her Utah homestead, a scheming rancher buys up her debts, demanding she either get off his land or marry him. Then a dark-haired stranger shows up, claiming to be her dead husband . . . A man without a past . . . Buck Maddux spent two years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Now a deathbed promise has brought him to Tempest's homestead. A man without roots, he doesn't plan to stay—or to feel so fiercely protective of this feisty beauty he saves from a hated marriage of convenience. Suddenly, Buck years for a home, a family, a lasting love. But what can he offer Tempest? The surprising answer lies in the forbidding canyons of an ancient Anasazi tribe, where fortune and danger await—along with a passion more precious than gold….

    If she survived Uncle Jackson, she can survive anyone.When Sky Jordan hears that his nefarious cousin has sent for a mail-order bride, he knows he has to prevent the marriage. No woman deserves to be left to that fate. Still, he’s as surprised as anyone to find himself standing next to her before the minister.Brooke’s new husband turns out to be kinder than any man has ever been. But then the unthinkable happens and she holds the key that might save innocent lives but destroy Sky all in one fell swoop. It’s a choice too unbearable to contemplate…but a choice that must be made.A thirsty soul. Alluring hope. An Oasis of love.Step into a day when outlaws ran free, the land was wild, and guns blazed at the drop of a hat.

    By the age of twenty-five, he’d planned to have his own ranch. Instead, he’s forced to beg for a job, destroying his dreams of having a family he can provide for and protect. Betrayal and loss bring him to a cabin on Pinto Creek in the high Colorado Rockies. Just before winter hits, he finds a broken-down wagon in the snow with precious cargo inside. Perhaps, his luck is about to change. Susana Jamison doesn’t feel so lucky. Despite being rescued by Elisha, she is challenged to the limit of her strength, both physically and spiritually, when faced with the brutal conditions of frontier living and the dangers she encounters. Can she hold on to her faith in the midst of this desperate situation, especially when she’s forced to marry a man she’s doesn’t love? An inspirational historical western romance, Cabin On Pinto Creek is the first in the Cedar Ridge Chronicles. NOVELS BY A J Hawke CEDAR RIDGE CHRONICLES Cabin on Pinto Creek, 1 Joe Storm No Longer a Cowboy, 2 Colorado Morning Sky, 3 Colorado Evening Sky, 4 (Publishing September 2014) OTHER NOVELS Mountain Journey Home Caught Between Two Worlds Born in Spur, Texas into a multi-generational Texans family, A J Hawke has lived and traveled throughout the American West as well as other parts of the world and enjoys reading, writing, friends, family, and being a Christian.

    BUT THE ONE WHO KNOWS THEM BEST MAY HAVE OTHER PLANS ...Abigail Stanton's whole life was rooted in her faith, a faith she now clings to solely to survive. In the wake of losing her husband and young son, Abby sets out alone, bereft and heartsick, to discover what God wants her to do. When he leads her to Conor MacKay's doorstep, though, the very foundation of her beliefs starts to shift.As the volatile rancher's new housekeeper, Abby is supposed to keep his affairs --- and his equally capricious little girl --- in order. Why, then, does she feel confusion, passion, desire, and anything but order every time they are together? Conor tries to hide his own seething emotions beneath a cold facade, but there is something about his prim new housekeeper that sets him on edge. And the more ruthlessly he attacks Abby's faith, the more his defenses crack.As Abby and Conor draw closer to the flame of their attraction, they must grapple with their deepest beliefs and fears. In opening their hearts again, both risk even greater loss for a chance at the greatest love of all.

    He finds the perfect woman in a marriage ad – only to later find out that she’s a lot more than the quiet, beautiful trophy wife he was expecting.Willa is a wild, talented, and free-spirited woman used to riding, shooting, and roping on the plains. Her parents told her she would never find anyone to marry her, but desperately wanting a husband and family of her own, she becomes a mail order bride and travels to Eureka Valley, excited to meet the love of her life.Abel and Willa clash over what the town expects of them. Abel wants to redeem his reputation with a demure, well-behaved wife, but Willa just wants to be loved and accepted for who she is.When a gang closes in on the town, putting all the townspeople in jeopardy, the two must come together and try to save the town.But along the way, will they be able to salvage their struggling relationship? Or will the pressure of societal expectations and the danger the gang puts them in lead to the end of their marriage?If you like fast-paced clean romance and action-packed stories, you won't be able to put down this addictive Novel by Felicity Wells."The Untamed Bride And The Respectable Mayor" is a stand-alone Western Historical Romance Novel of approximately 500 pages.

    . . to have your life change forever.Joplin Missouri, 1933, Kathryn Nash believes that her life has finally changed for the better. Her abusive husband of eighteen years, Clayton, has passed away suddenly and she has met an intriguing handsome stranger, John Stevens. Will a dark secret from Kathryn’s distant past surface and place Kathryn at odds with everyone in her world and set her life on a collision course with destiny that threatens her very life and the lives of those she loves the most? The Great Depression, The Great Midwestern Crime Spree, and the early incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan all converge on the small town and shape not only history, but the very course of Kathryn’s life. One Mississippi is a fast paced work of historical fiction that will keep you wondering what could possibly happen next and eager to find out just what can really happen in the time it takes to say the word “Mississippi.”

    With her sister and hard-drinking father in tow, she needed all her strength for the long trek westward. But Abby could hold her own with any man, until she met a rugged gunman named Rourke...a man who roused the unspoken yearnings of her passionate soul.Rourke was a battle-scarred Union veteran, hired to guard the wagon train. A loner by choice and by fate, his heart was moved by Abby's plight--though the young beauty proudly refused his aid. Yet with the wagons rolling on through dusty plains and treacherous deserts, a tenderness bloomed between them as he taught her how to survive in a brutal land. Mile by mile, she grew to adore this magnificent man, and when he touched her she longed to be his alone. But as she tasted rapture's first, wild depths, she faced a bitter secret from the gunman's violent past. With Rourke in mortal danger, they would challenge destiny itself--to save the love and happiness they discovered on a perilous...Passage West...

    Struggling with survivor's guilt, Fox takes refuge in a place where he's a stranger - the raucous gold town of Deadwood, located deep in the Black Hills, sacred land to the same Sioux Indians who decimated Custer’s troops.BECOMING A WOMANMadeleine Avery, raised to be a lady in Philadelphia, is appalled when she arrives in unrefined Deadwood with her family. Slowly she learns to bend, coaxed out of her shell by a powerful attraction to Fox and a journey into the world of the Sioux Indians.IN A RENEGADE'S EMBRACE is an unforgettable tale of cultures colliding and the passionate, tender journey of Fox and Maddie as they discover the secrets of their own hearts.The ROGUES GO WEST series:1. BRIGHTER THAN GOLD (Jack & Katie)2. IN A RENEGADE'S EMBRACE (Fox & Maddie)3. THE DUKE & THE COWGIRL (Geoff & Shelby)Author's note: Maddie's grandmother, Susan Hampshire O'Hara, is the daughter of Lion & Meagan from TOUCH THE SUN. She also appears in HER DANGEROUS VISCOUNT as a young woman.IN A RENEGADE'S EMBRACE was originally published by Ballantine Books as FIREBLOSSOM.

     When Marly Landers is fooled by con man Charlie Meese, she's determined to bring him to justice--even if it means dressing up as a boy and setting off across the plains to find him. Texas Ranger Jase Strachan is also after Meese, for crimes committed in Texas. He joins forces with the young boy in a journey that takes them to Fortuna, where a murder interrupts their mission. Jase is duty bound to find the killer, no matter the cost. Marly carries out her own investigation and comes to the aid of Amabelle Egan, the sister of one of the suspects. But appearances are deceiving, and Marly is mistaken for Amabelle's suitor, making her a target for the killer. Not to mention, Charlie Meese is still out there. Under the Texas stars, Marly and Jase are drawn together by circumstances beyond their control, yet fate plots to tear them apart. Will Marly finally get her man?

    You won’t find any dazzlingly handsome, wealthy action heroes or beyond belief beauties here, but real characters … hard working, Irish country folk who grow to depend upon each other through a dangerous and oppressive time in Ireland’s history … a time of hardship, fear and persecution.Liam Flynn travels across Tipperary, his destination the shores of Lough Derg, his objective to fulfill a lifelong dream. The perils he encounters on the road are only the beginning for this young itinerant carpenter. He finds himself thrust into an impossible situation when, with the help of an old Franciscan priest, he tries to save the tiny Irish village of Gortalocca. If he is discovered by the authorities, he faces almost certain execution for treason and, when the villagers discover what action he has taken in his efforts to help them, he becomes the object of their contempt and hatred.These are dangerous times in Ireland and, as the country struggles to piece itself back together after a hundred years of conflict, the very fabric of society has changed. English Parliament has begun to impose harsh Penal Laws in Ireland which will ban Catholics from voting, from receiving an education, even from practicing their own faith. Catholics can no longer own their own land. More than ninety percent of Ireland’s land will be confiscated and given to English and Irish Protestant landlords, who will charge the rightful owners rent as they try to eke out a living on land which their families have worked for generations. Liam and Father Grogan risk their lives in an effort to save their peaceful Irish village from dissolution.A consummate loner, Liam has led a solitary life so far but he finds romance in Gortalocca, not with a retiring Irish lass, but rather with the feisty daughter of Michael Hogan, the owner of Gortalocca’s only store and bar. Roisin grew up in a man’s environment and has seen enough to know that she will never wed if it means compromising herself by marrying a man she doesn’t love. Now, at the age of nineteen, Roisin Hogan is a spinster.There is plenty of fast-paced action in our story and villains abound, from Gortalocca’s homegrown bully, Sean Reilly, and his gang of thugs, to the menacing dark man who appears from nowhere, posing a threat to Liam’s plan and adding a further complication to his life.You will meet Moira, the ancient and mysterious old hag who lives alone in a tiny cottage, hidden deep inside the forest. Moira is one of the ‘wise ones’, a healer, with her own blend of the spiritual and the ritualistic, the Christian and the Pagan. She is feared by the villagers who think her a witch and do not dare to gaze upon her … unless one of them is ill, and then she is beckoned for help. Moira becomes the source of wisdom for Liam and a strange and shadowy, yet important, part of the plot.Of course, an Irish story would not be complete without humor, and there is plenty of ‘craic’ to be had here. In Hogan’s bar, you will experience, first hand, the humor which epitomises the character of the people of Ireland, and sustains them, especially in times of crisis … an unconscious humor, one of habit. You will sit at the bar with Paddy Shevlin, the pig farmer and Ben Clancy, the shepherd, whose banter provides a welcome respite from the tension, and who never let the truth spoil a perfectly good story.Allow yourself to be stirred into this cauldron of Irish stew.

    When Daggart sells the farm to join the Gold Rush, Beth must go with him, never expecting how much her life will change.Nicholas Granville is forced by his brother to help a group as they travel the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon. Mourning his late wife, Nick's heart began healing the moment he saw Beth.Now, the couple must find a way to fight a love that is undeniable.

    If you ever wondered where those McCoy men came from…these historical novels will take you to their beginnings. Deeply sensual stories of romance and adventure, they will capture your imagination and your heart. History is definitely worth repeating. Thrust from his home, Austin McCoy travels west to build a new life for himself in the wilds of Texas. Civilization has not yet arrived to the wilderness where he settles and his nearest neighbor is more than two days’ journey through Indian territory alive with bear, cougar and wolves. While difficult, carving out an existence amidst these dangers is not what weighs heavily on his heart. With nothing and no one to share his days, Austin is lost. The answer to his prayers comes from a very unexpected source… Jolie Dumas has also been torn from the only home she has ever known. The beloved daughter of a plantation owner and his quadroon mistress, she is horrified to be sold into slavery after the death of her parents. Bought and paid for, she is chained and walked from New Orleans to Texas. Before she can be delivered to her master, the slave trader is killed and Jolie escapes. Alone and vulnerable, she seeks a safe place to hide, not knowing the sanctuary she finds may end up being the one place she truly belongs. When Austin opens his heart and home to the beautiful woman, he has no idea the future she faces. Knowing what awaits her if anyone finds out the truth, Jolie hides her identity from him. Having been betrayed before by those she trusted, she has no idea that in Austin’s eyes she could not be more perfect. She is his Godsend.

    Wed to the Enemy! The War left Caddie Marsh a widow with only a rundown plantation, her children and Southern pride to sustain her. She would do anything to salvage Sabbath Hollow for the sake of her son and daughter, even wed one of the Yankees against whom she’s so bitter. The fact that Manning Forbes bears a disturbing resemblance to her late husband only makes matters worse. It would be easier if her new husband's integrity and kindness didn't stir up feelings he claims not to want from her… Sworn to Protect… Manning Forbes has his own reasons for wanting to protect and provide for the Marsh family. Reasons he is desperate to keep from Caddie. If his beautiful, inquisitive bride discovers his true identity, Manning fears he would lose the family who has captured his heavily-guarded heart!

    Despite her grief, she still must fight to bring her remaining family through the already trying times of The Great Depression. Her father needs help on their struggling farm, Quail Crossings. She isn't thrilled that he's hired a young 18 year old boy who's caring for his three younger siblings. Surviving her grief, as well as the constant dust storms that plague the plains, will Dovie be able to put her pain aside to care for these children or be forever trapped in the darkness of the loss in her family?