He's been too busy helping to provide for his family. Now that he's heading west, Dex is hoping to start a family of his own. However, his attempt to acquire a mail-order bride fails miserably when the lady writes back ridiculing his terrible spelling. Rachel Oliver may be the last person he wants to know what a dunce he is, but she's also the smartest woman in town--and it's clear he needs her help.Rachel Oliver has lingered in town for three years secretly mooning over Dex Stanton, but now she's done. If the fool wants to write to a mail-order bride company, so be it. Once she begins giving Dex lessons, however, Rachel realizes she may not be prepared to give up just yet.As their time together runs short, can two of the most stubborn people in town set aside their pride long enough to find love?Love by the Letter is a companion novella to A Bride for Keeps, Melissa Jagears's full-length debut novel available fall 2013. Includes an extended sneak peek at A Bride for Keeps.

    Tadie Longworth doesn't mind acting the maiden aunt in Beaufort, North Carolina. She has a gift shop full of her own jewelry designs and a sweet little sailboat to take her mind off the guy who got away. But now he’s back . . . with the fashion-plate wife he picked instead of Tadie . . . and he’s hitting on her again. When widower Will Merritt limps into town with a broken sailboat and a perky seven-year-old daughter, he offers the perfect distraction — until that distraction turns into fascination when Tadie offers shelter during a hurricane. Over candlelit games of Slap-Jack and Monopoly, Jilly becomes the daughter she could have had and Will the man she always wanted. Only, he’s sworn never to let another woman in his life. Any day now, he’s going to finish those repairs, and that ship's going to sail — straight out of Tadie’s life.

     Preston Barclay is a self-made recluse (and he likes it that way). Teaching college history allows him time to grieve the loss of his pianist wife and find relief from the musical hallucinations that have been playing in his head since her death. But when he and a headstrong colleague, Mara Thorn, discover the body of another instructor on campus, Press's monotonous solitude is shaken up. The preliminary evidence points to Press and Mara. Now they must take some chances, including trusting each other (and bending the rules) to build their own defense. With their unlikely alliance, they must stay ahead of the police, the college's incompetent administration, and whoever is trying to get away with murder. If not, they might end up unemployed, behind bars, or worse . . .

    No longer safe at Twin Oaks, she embarks on a perilous journey, taking on the momentous responsibility for the lives and welfare of all who go with her. They ride at night and hide during the day, dodging both Confederate and Union troops along the way. Encountering hunger, sickness, and the devastation of war, they finally arrive in Missouri only to discover that the situation there puts them in even greater danger. Discouraged, disillusioned, and facing a severe testing of her faith, Jesselynn will stop at nothing to save her family, the horses, and whatever remains of Twin Oaks.

    Worse, she is told by his bankers that he gambled away their fortune. Now, the family's hope rests on The Larkspur, an old abandoned coaching inn in the quaint village of Gresham.Driven by dread and her desire to provide for her children, Julia decides to turn the dilapidated inn into a lodging house. But can she--who was accustomed to servants attending to every need--do what needs to be done and cope when boarders begin arriving? And then an eligible new vicar moves into town...

    NOT a cozy mystery series.Why run from your troubles when you can fly instead?When Caity Shaw is fired from her first job that doesn't require an elf uniform, her older sister, Rachel, an event planner, hires her to work a meeting in Dublin. Caity jumps at the opportunity to travel abroad and escape her pathetic life. However, even four thousand miles from home, there's no avoiding debt collectors, an overbearing mother, and haunting memories of a controlling ex.While in Dublin, Caity suffers a series of humiliating mishaps, causing her to lose even more faith in herself. Caity struggles to earn Rachel's respect--and to keep Declan, her hot Irish coworker, at arm's length. Declan repeatedly saves Caity's butt and helps boost her self-confidence, making it difficult to keep her distance from the charming womanizer. When Declan helps her research her Irish grandmother, Caity discovers the mysterious past of the courageous woman she barely knew might hold the answers to her future.

    Born to severe destitution, she claws her way up from the pit of family shame and secrets. She avoids close friendships - even with the likable, persistent Paulie Giorgi... A WOMANDespite her own agonizing emotional pain, childless Emmeline Kinner reaches out to a young woman so far beneath her. She could never have known whom else God would set in her path through her friendship with Grace...A MOTHERLong ago, Sarah Picoletti resigned herself to a loveless, abusive life - and she believes that her daughter Grace must inherit the same fate. Yet Sarah's own soul cries out for the blessed peace and hope of which the radio minister speaks...

    He’s a pastor’s kid bent on serving God.But can they find a glimmer of hope for a future together?From the moment Jack O’Bryen kissed the sixteen-year-old tomboy next door, he knew he would love her forever. Lacey Carmichael was everything he’d ever wanted—intelligent, warm, and brimming with life, the perfect complement to his serious and sensible self. A girlfriend who not only shared his faith, but he hoped his future as well, the perfect mate for a would-be pastor. Eighteen-year-old Lacey Carmichael has dreamed of marrying Jack O’Bryen since she was twelve years old, the boy next door who always picked up the pieces after her father shattered her heart. But when her cousin leads her astray while Jack’s away at school and her father’s rejection soars to new heights, Lacey finds herself at odds with the boy that she loves, not only jeopardizing their relationship, but Jack’s faith and heart as well.

    Only the lack of evidence--mainly the missing woman's body--kept him from going to prison. All too familiar with his violent reputation and hard-fisted lifestyle, Jamie has to find out for herself if he was capable of the crime everyone in their small town believes he committed. The more Jamie discovers about the twenty-five-year old disappearance of Sally Blake, the more convinced she becomes her father was involved. Regardless, she needs to know the truth, even if it means destroying what’s left of her memories of him. The first book in the Jenna's Creek Series is a mystery which takes hold of the reader at the outset and doesn't let go until the end. Told from a Christian worldview, Streams of Mercy explores loving people who aren't easy to love, and forgiving those who don't deserve it.

    He tries to persuade her that following the living God will satisfy in a way that wealth and power will never be able to do. Will she listen to him? Or will she choose the handsome, successful man back home in China? Each of the novels in this series is a complete story.

    Though April Wright stubbornly keeps an upbeat attitude about her daughter's future, she has let her own dreams slip away. Just across the bridge lives old Luca, scarred from his time in a Romanian gulag years before. Though he has seemingly given up on people, Sierra is drawn to him despite his prickly edges. No one else is comfortable with the unpredictable old man spending time alone with Sierra, not even Luca's son. Yet it is this unconventional relationship that will bring two families together to form friendships and unearth their family stories, stories that just might give them all the courage to soar on wings toward a new future.

    On the cusp of adulthood, eighteen-year-old Penny Carson is swept off her feet by a handsome farmhand with a confident swagger. Though Trent Taylor seems like Prince Charming and offers an escape from her one-stop-sign town, Penny’s happily-ever-after lasts no longer than their breakneck courtship. Before the ink even dries on their marriage certificate, he hits her for the first time. It isn’t the last, yet the bruises that can’t be seen are the most painful of all.When Trent is injured in a welding accident and his paycheck stops, he has no choice but to finally allow Penny to take a job cleaning houses. Here she meets two women from very different worlds who will teach her to live and laugh again, and lend her their backbones just long enough for her to find her own.Gina Holmes ’ stunning literary talent glistens like crystal in Wings of Glass. With subtle brilliance, she takes us into the very heart of what makes us hungry to love and be loved. Simply stellar!” Susan Meissner, Author of A Sound Among the Trees

    The day she leaves on furlough, is the day her life falls apart. Her bus is ambushed and she must flee from forces who inexplicably wish her dead. Trapped between a ruthless drug lord and his assassins, a corrupt police chief, and colleagues with ulterior motives, her friends may prove just as deadly as her enemies as she uncovers a plot tangled deep in the roots of her own past.Nina's only hope of survival lies in the hands of Shaw Wilder, a man who despises missionaries and the God they serve.  His skill is in handling a landmine detection dog, not helping a woman he blames for the death of his sister. When the lethal drug kingpin El Escorpion seeks to capture Nina, and the local police are no help, Shaw has to choose: flee into the Guatemalan jungle with a naive woman who has vowed never to take a life or follow his own spiritual demons and walk away. His choice may leave them both imprisoned in a jungle from which neither will escape.

    When a tragic accident downs a tourist boat off the coast of Hawaii, dolphin researcher Kaia Oana is one of the first in the water, risking her own life to try and save others. She’s enlisted to help the US Navy find out what really happened—utilizing her specially trained dolphins to help. Kaia and Lieutenant Commander Jesse Matthews team up in the investigation—but as they edge closer to the truth about the incident, their own lives are threatened. Will a spirit of grace and forgiveness prevail or will it be overshadowed by the distant echoes of past pain and the imminent danger from a cold-blooded killer?Black SandsAs a volcano on Hawaii begins to rumble, family crisis brings an unlikely couple together. Annie's the brainy type, quietly assisting her father in his volcano research. She's always admired her brother's friend Mano for his outgoing athletic ways, but her devotion turns to disdain after Mano's mistake results in her older brother's untimely death. Mano's mistake haunts him. It cost his best friend's life. But just as he's bringing Tomi's belongings to his family, Mano discovers Tomi is alive—and in serious danger. That danger threatens to spill over to the rest of the family. Annie and Mano join forces to discover the source of the threat against the family, even as a long-inactive volcano rumbles in the distance.Dangerous DepthsSometimes life's most precious treasure lies at Dangerous Depths. Leia ditched a promising medical career to settle on a secluded island in Hawaii. Her ex-fiancé Bane has come to the island to find out why. When an act of sabotage pushes Bane closer to Leia, they are plunged into a tangle of emotion and peril—just as a series of threatening natural events grip the island. Midnight Sea Losing her sight turns Lani’s world upside down, bringing danger, mystery . . . and unexpected romance. A seemingly random shooting at her aunt's coffee farm has left Lani Tagama blind. Now she must learn to navigate in a world of darkness. With the help of an ex-cop named Ben and a half-trained guide dog, Lani begins to regain her former independence. Then Lani and Ben discover that her injury wasn’t caused by a random shooting. It was a botched murder attempt. They must work together to discover the identity of the would-be murderer before he strikes again.Holy NightOne sinister phone call has derailed their wedding. Will they let it tear them apart forever? A Christmas wedding on the beach—what could be more perfect? Poinsettias and fragrant pikake blossoms, soft sand and mistletoe, the gentle sound of the surf and the wedding march played on a ukulele. This wedding has been a long time coming with Bane's trust issues and Leia's worries about her childlike sister, Eva. Now they can hardly wait for the day to arrive.Thrilled to be a bridesmaid, Eva keeps trying on her ruffled dress. The tent is reserved, the caterers are paid. Everything is going as planned until Leia's phone rings and her world skids out of control. A muffled voice informs Leia that Eva's been kidnapped and will be killed unless Leia calls off the wedding without explanation and no police! If she disobeys instructions and tells Bane, she'll risk her beloved sister's life. But how can she ever handle this without his help? And how can he ever trust her if she lies to him now?"

    She was the beautiful only child of South Carolina’s most powerful senator. Yet once Doss Michaels and Abigail Grace Coleman met by accident, they each felt they’d found their true soul mate. Ten years into their marriage, when Abbie faces a life-threatening illness, Doss battles it with her every step of the way. And when she makes a list of ten things she hopes to accomplish before she loses the fight for good, Doss is there, too, supporting her and making everything possible. Together they steal away in the middle of the night to embark upon a 130-mile trip down the St. Mary’s River—a voyage Doss promised Abbie in the early days of their courtship.Where the River Ends chronicles their love-filled, tragedy-tinged journey and a bond that transcends all.