Book picks similar to
The Journal of Callie Wade by Dawn Miller


historical-fiction
fiction
romance
historical

Desert Rose


Linda Chaikin - 2003
    They're unprepared for the savage mountain winter that traps them in a desperate struggle for survival. At this critical moment, lawman Brett Wilder arrives in town. He's looking for the gunslinger who crippled his father-and he suspects Jack. When Annalee and Brett meet as they each search for Jack, they must face what they believe about the sovereignty of God, justice, and mercy. They also must discover whether their growing love for one another will melt like snow into an icy mountain stream or bloom like a rose in the desert.

Jubilee Trail


Gwen Bristow - 1950
    Garnet Cameron, a fashionable young lady of New York, is leading a neat, proper life, full of elegant parties and polite young men, yet the prospect of actually marrying any of them appalls her. Yearning for adventure, she instead marries Oliver Hale, a wild trader who is about to cross the mountains and deserts to an unheard-of land called California. During Garnet and Oliver's honeymoon in New Orleans, she meets a dance-hall performer on the lam who calls herself Florinda Grove and is also traveling to California. Along the Jubilee Trail, Garnet and Florinda meet kinds of men never known to them before, and together they make their painstaking way over the harsh trail to Los Angeles, learning how to live without compromise and discover both true friendship and true love.

The Heart's Lonely Secret


Jane Peart - 1994
    Ivy worries that she herself will be looked over by prospective parents. Not willing to be left behind, the lonely, frightened little girl acts impulsively to secure herself a stable future.

A Lantern in Her Hand


Bess Streeter Aldrich - 1928
    The Place: Nebraska.The time: the 1870's, when every day on the prairie brought its threat -of hostile Indians, of prairie fires, of blizzards, and the overwhelming threat of accident or illness to the little homesteading family, Will and Abbie Deal and their babies.Hope, faith, and hard work finally make real for the Deals and their neighbors the dreams of productive farms and prosperous towns, of schools and hospitals, of well-paved roads to bring them close to the rest of the century.And old Abbie Deal can look back with pride and wonder to her own part in the miracle.

Hearts in the Highlands


Ruth Axtell Morren - 2007
    Her life was devoted to her simple yet enduring faith, to good works and to the elderly lady whose companion she was. She believed herself content. But that was before her mistress's handsome nephew returned to London, after many years spent abroad as an archaeologist.The shadows in Reid Gallagher's memory-haunted eyes touched Maddie's heart. When he asked her to travel with his family, to help with his work, she could scarcely refuse. And as she came to know this man better, amid the breathtaking beauty of the Scottish Highlands, she began to wonder if two solitary souls might yet find new life--and love--as one.

Love Comes Softly


Janette Oke - 1979
    They would stake a claim of their own on the new frontier, and build a home for themselves and their family.But just after they'd arrived and Clem had chosen the perfect setting for their new home, an accident took his life...leaving Marty alone and pregnant. Then, on the day of his funeral, Clark Davis came along...and asked Marty to marry him!Marty was infuriated -- but with no money, no shelter, and a baby on the way, what choice did she have? Besides, Clark said he only wanted her to be a mama to his baby girl, Missie. If Marty was still unhappy come spring, he would pay for her ticket back East.Determined not to be a burden to Clark, and intending only to earn her keep. Marty threw herself into her new role of "Mama." But she had never been anyone's mama before, and she didn't even know how to keep a house! If only she could do right by this lonely man and his daughter just long enough to earn her train fare back home...Now, Marty must learn wholeness and love through patience and faith

The Diary of Mattie Spenser


Sandra Dallas - 1997
    Less than a month later, they are off in a covered wagon to build a home on the Colorado frontier. Mattie's only company is a slightly mysterious husband and her private journal, where she records the joys and frustrations not just of frontier life, but also of a new marriage to a handsome but distant stranger. As she and Luke make life together on the harsh and beautiful plains, Mattie learns some bitter truths about her husband and the girl he left behind and finds love where she least expects it. Dramatic and suspenseful, this is an unforgettable story of hardship, friendship and survival.

The Bridges of Madison County


Robert James Waller - 1992
    The story of Robert Kincaid, the photographer and free spirit searching for the covered bridges of Madison County, and Francesca Johnson, the farm wife waiting for the fulfillment of a girlhood dream, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY gives voice to the longings of men and women everywhere-and shows us what it is to love and be loved so intensely that life is never the same again.

Redeeming Love


Francine Rivers - 1991
    A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside. Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go. A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.--back cover

Ruby McBride


Freda Lightfoot - 2002
    The grand opening of the Manchester Ship Canal is set to be a day of unfettered festivity for Ruby and her younger sister and brother. Even Queen Victoria will be in attendance.But the glories of the ceremony fade into insignificance when their dying mother delivers them to the imposing oak doors of Ignatius House. Abandoned in the not-so-tender care of the nuns, the siblings are soon separated.So when the Board of Guardians force Ruby into a marriage that sends her to a new home upon the Salford waterways, she makes only one vow: to reunite her family whatever the cost. This is an enthralling story of romance and rebellion perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Dilly Court. Praise for Ruby McBride ‘An inspiring novel about accepting change and bravely facing the future’ Bangor Chronicle‘Compelling and heart-wrenching’ Hull Daily Mail‘The kind of character-driven saga that delights the Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox audience’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph‘This book deals with gritty, real-life situations and shows how the heroine’s strength of character triumphs through adversity’ 5* Reader review

Their Yesterdays


Harold Bell Wright - 1912
    And it happened -- as such things often so happen -- that this man went back into his days that were gone. Again and again and again he went back. Even as every man, even as you and I, so this man went back into his Yesterdays. Then -- why then there was a woman. And it happened -- as such things sometimes so happen -- that this woman also went back into her days that were gone. Again and again and again she went back. Even as every woman, even as you and I, so this woman went back into her Yesterdays.From the introduction: Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law, Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw; Some livelier plaything gives his youth delight, A little louder, but as empty quite; Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage, And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age; Pleased with this bauble still, as that before; Till tired he sleeps, and life's poor play is o'er."AN ESSAY ON MAN"--Pope.

The Homesteader's Sweetheart


Lacy Williams - 2012
    Abbott's advances – even visit her grandfather's homestead for an undetermined amount of time. Out of her element, she must rely on neighbor Jonas White and his brood of adopted children. Scandal chased Jonas out of Philadelphia five years ago. A scandal that socialite Miss Castlerock knows about. Since then, Jonas has kept to himself, worked his homestead, and focused on raising his seven adopted boys and his daughter. The last thing he needs is to be reminded of the past and the young woman he once fancied – especially when she's so far out of his sphere... As circumstances force the two to work together, their tentative friendship blossoms into something more. But can two people from such disparate backgrounds find true love with each other?

With You Always


Jody Hedlund - 2017
    She's had experience as a seamstress, and the New York Children's Aid Society has established a special service: placing out seamstresses and trade girls. Even though Elise doesn't want to leave her sisters for a job in Illinois, she realizes this may be their last chance. The son of one of New York City's wealthiest entrepreneurs, Thornton Quincy faces a dilemma. His father is dying, and in order to decide which of his sons will inherit everything, he is requiring them to do two things in six months: build a sustainable town along the Illinois Central Railroad, and get married. Thornton is tired of standing in his twin brother's shadow and is determined to win his father's challenge. He doesn't plan on meeting a feisty young woman on his way west, though.

Wyoming


Colleen Coble - 1988
    Men join the military to defend the frontier, while their women support them - striving to keep families together no matter what the hardship. Only after she agrees to marry another man does Sarah Montgomery realize her fiance was not killed in the Civil War. Fort Laramie is Where Leads the Heart, but does love still await her? Abandoned and pregnant, Emmie Croftner leaves her gossip-filled hometown, seeking refuge with old friends on the Plains of Promise. Can a gentle lieutenant convince her that all men are not the same? For Jessica DuBois, privileged daughter of an army officer, The Heart Answers only to money and male attention. But when her world changes, can she prove herself a woman of substance - worthy of a righteous man's notice? Thanks to her sister's meddling, Bessie Randall discovers that she is now married by proxy to Jasper Mendenhall. Shocked, Bessie travels to Fort Bridger to learn To Love a Stranger - and experiences the surprising things God has in store for them both. Discover love, faith, and adventure in the forts of frontier Wyoming.

The Outlaw's Bride


Catherine Palmer - 2010
    But, while traveling in New Mexico territory, she witnesses a murder that changes everything. Suddenly, her own life is threatened--until she's rescued by fast-talking cowboy Noah Buchanan. Isobel's only chance for survival is to marry the rugged trail boss--who needs her to fulfill his own destiny. As the mismatched newlyweds unite against Lincoln County's tumultuous violence, Noah's deep faith challenges Isobel's quest for vengeance. And will lead them on a journey neither ever imagined.