Book picks similar to
Brides of Durango: Elise by Bobbi Smith


historical-romance
romance
western
historical

Beautiful Bad Man


Ellen O'Connell - 2012
    For years afterward, each nursed a secret dream—that the other had grown into a special person—brave, good, kind.When Norah Hawkins and Caleb Sutton cross paths again, dreams die. She is a bitter, suicidal widow. He is a gunman with little conscience and few scruples. Alternately angry, repelled, and attracted, the two form an uneasy partnership to hold land she owns and he covets against a marauding neighbor. Their bargain never included love, or did it?

The Edge of Light


Ann Shorey - 2009
    And when Samuel's unscrupulous brother takes over the family business, Molly must head out on her own, leaving her old life behind. It's a dangerous journey, but somehow she must find a way to make a living, keep her family together, and fend off some over-eager suitors.

Westward Winds


Linda Bridey - 2014
    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.

Lonesome Valley Bride


G.L. Snodgrass - 2019
    And it could be all his if he only married a woman he had never met. Jack Tanner had drifted from job to job. A natural loner, the last thing he ever expected was to end up married to a stranger and owning a beautiful valley. And now, just as he was beginning to put down roots for the first time in his life, someone wanted to take it all away from him. He’d die before he let that happen. Mail-order bride, Jenny O’Neil was coming west to marry Nathanial Parker only to find out he had been murdered. And here was this tall cowboy telling her that Nathanial had left his valley to them. But only if they married. A business arrangement, Mr. Tanner called it. Not a true marriage. But what choice did she have? Penniless, no home to go back to, alone in a different world. She had already committed herself to marry a stranger. Although, she had never imagined marrying a man like this. Tall, rough around the edges, with eyes that touched her soul. Someone has killed and would try to kill again to get their valley. Struggling together, the two of them will fight for what is theirs. All the while, growing closer. Both of them wanting more than a cold business arrangement. Both of them coming to want a true marriage.

Owen


Christine Sterling - 2020
    A man with dreams as big as the Nebraska sky. The event that brings them both together. The rest of the really incredible blurb will go here!

The Wedding Raffle


Geralyn Dawson - 1996
    True, the thrice-widowed beauty's elaborate plan to lure him to her remote ranch is a little unethical, but she'll make it up to him. Or so she thinks.Captain Luke Prescott, a renowned ex-Texas Ranger and bona fide hero, can't help but find his suspicions (among other things) aroused by the town's mysterious widow. But when he wins Honor's raffle for a valuable racehorse and arrives to collect, he soon discovers he wants a different kind of prize altogether. Honor doesn't want to sacrifice her heart, but Luke has the means to force her hand. After all, he holds the winning ticket.

Prairie Rose


Catherine Palmer - 1997
    . . A Town Called Hope, the inspiring series set in post Civil War Kansas, is the creation of best-selling romance writer Catherine Palmer. In the fast-paced "Prairie Rose, " impulsive nineteen-year-old Rosie Mills takes a job caring for the young son of widowed homesteader Seth Hunter in order to escape the orphanage in which she was raised. Rosie's naive view of love and her understanding of what it means to have a Father in heaven are quickly put to the test. Afraid of being wounded again, Seth struggles to freely open his heart--to his hurting son, to a woman's love, and to a Father who will not abandon him. Together Rosie and Seth must face the harsh uncertainties of prairie life--and the one man who threatens to destroy their happiness.Praire Rose launches a series sure to satisfy readers who expect solid biblical values in a wholesome, exhilarating romance.

Teton Sunrise


Peggy L. Henderson - 2013
    For six long years, she’s waited and wondered if he would return. After the shocking murder of her parents, her brother is the only family she has left. Refusing to accept a betrothal to a man she doesn’t love, she decides to take control of her destiny and confront her parents’ killer. Growing up, Alexander Walker has known only violence at the hands of his cruel father. After the death of his mother, he embarks on a journey into the uncharted wilderness to test his resolve as a fur trapper and mountain man. When an impulsive decision leads him back to his childhood home, he finds more than he bargained for.Amid the rugged Teton wilderness, fate suddenly throws Alex and Evelyn together. The quiet protective boy she remembers is now as strange to her as the world she’s been forced into. Wary of the hardened man he has become, Evelyn must put her trust in him in order to survive. Alex’s memories of Evelyn are of a pesky little girl, but he can’t deny his growing feelings for the beautiful and spirited woman she is now. His biggest obstacle in winning her heart may not be her uncertainty of him, but a fear that has haunted him all his life. In a primitive and brutal world, can Alex and Evelyn forge a love as solid as the mountains, or will the past come back to haunt them both?

Josephine


Caroline Clemmons - 2015
    When the opportunity arises via a newspaper ad, she and her best friend slip away from their oppressive fathers and head for Richmond. Neither can relax until they’re far away from their tiny hometown. With wealthy young widow Lydia Harrison’s help, Josephine and six other young women have a new life waiting in Tarnation, Texas. Michael Buchanan is fairly content running his mercantile and being mayor of Tarnation. The town is dusty and tiny, but it’s growing. He believes it holds all he needs to be happy—except a wife. There are no available women in town, but he hopes Lydia Harrison’s Bride Brigade will offer a woman he can wed. He is immediately attracted to Josephine. But Josephine has every reason to mistrust men in general and politicians in particular. Will her misgivings ruin her chance at happiness?

No Place for a Lady


Maggie Brendan - 2009
    After the death of her father, Crystal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt's cattle ranch. Despite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land—even if a certain handsome foreman named Luke doubts her abilities.Just when she thinks she's getting a handle on the constant male attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes. And saving the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner means Crystal must take charge of a cattle drive, ready or not. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated?

Westward Courage


A.T. Butler - 2021
     Caroline Harper has everything she could want--wealth, position, the attention of an eligible bachelor. When her brother’s news destroys all of that, Caroline must decide what kind of life she wants to create for herself. As the Harpers make their way along the grueling thousands of miles of Oregon Trail, Caroline discovers strength, poise and potential she didn’t realize she possessed. Strength that perhaps was not in a spoiled city girl at all. But will it be enough to survive and bring Caroline and her brother all the way to Oregon?

The Princess and the Wolf


Karen Kay - 2001
    Little does he know that, many years later, he will once again cross paths with Princess Sierra when she journeys to America in search of the truth behind her missing, and presumed dead, husband. Although distrustful, their attraction to each other is undeniable - and Princess Sierra is torn. All her life, she has been convinced that affairs of state take precedence over matters of the heart.But as she and High Wolf enter dangerous Crow territory, Princess Sierra finds herself willing to risk all for the chance to regain High Wolf′s love and trust.

Banner O'Brien


Linda Lael Miller - 1984
    Still she longed to escape from Oregon . . . and the nightmares that left her shaking, screaming one man's name. Banner fled to the Washington Territory to accept position with Dr. Adam Corbin . . . arrogant, handsome and rumor said, violent. Although Banner respected his skills, she was unnerved by the very nearness of this moody, powerful man. His past was a mystery, that would challenge her to the utmost . . . for Banner was determined to win Adam Corbin's heart!

Mail Order Millie


Cheryl Wright - 2020
    Against her better judgement she has no other option than to become a mail-order bride.Daniel Carson finally succumbs to the pressure and orders a mail-order bride. On the surface, she appears to be everything he needs, and he is smitten, but what is she hiding?Can these two resolve their differences and make their marriage of convenience work? And what will happen when he discovers her secret?Author's Promise: This is a heartwarming historical novella with a happily ever after ending and no cliffhangers. It is a clean and wholesome story with nothing more than hugs, kisses, and holding hands.

Westbound Awakening


Hildie McQueen - 2013
     Captain John McClain finds himself on the wrong end of a shotgun when attempting to find his child. Heading west to find the mother of his son and the outlaw who shot him, John is forced to escort an enticing woman whose lifestyle goes against his moral standards, yet she calls to every part of him. Heading west to meet the dying father she never knew, and possibly starting a new life, Mae Hawkins didn’t expect the added complication of traveling with the one man she always loved. When they're joined along the road by a minister and his wife, things get beyond complicated for John and Mae who awaken to the lesson that sometimes differences are more imagined than real.