Book picks similar to
The Last Decision by Victoria Wilcox


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historical-fiction
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Nathan's Montana Bride


Maya Stirling - 2014
    Montana 1886 Abigail Long had promised to become Nathan Grantly’s mail order bride. But she had changed her mind at the last minute. The tragedy that had struck had made it unthinkable that she go to Montana and start a new life with a man she hadn’t even met. Tall, handsome Nathan Grantly wasn’t the kind of rancher to take no for an answer. The widower had a prosperous ranch to run and he needed a wife to bring up his young daughter. So Nathan did what came naturally. He came to claim his wife. Will Abby be able to resist Nathan and the lure of her new life in Montana? And what will Nathan do when he finds out the real reason Abby was reluctant to become his wife, and what it means for their future together? Can Abby fulfil her dreams in the wilds of Montana? This is the first in a new series of sweet historical romances, Montana Ranchers Brides.

Fargo


John Benteen - 1969
    Fargo lives with a gun in his fist. Guns and killing are all he knows. And Fargo likes what he knows. Want to start a revolution? Want to stop one? Send for Fargo. Want to blow a bridge, stage a prison break, rob a bank? Fargo's your man. The Army taught Fargo how to kill with pistol, rifle, machine gun. He became an expert with knives, shotguns and women on his own time. Fargo hates the quiet life. He knows he's going to get it sooner or later. He hopes it won't be too much later because he wouldn't know how to be old and comfortable. So while it lasts, Fargo plans to grab the world by the throat and take what he wants. If the world doesn't like that, it can try to stop him ... if it can.

Lone Star Rising


Elmer Kelton - 2003
    In the throes of the War Between the States, Rusty joins the Rangers and searches for the renegades who killed his adoptive father.In Badger Boy, the Rangers are disbanded and Rusty returns to his home on the Red River only to discover that the girl he loves has married another. In a time of personal turmoil as well as the post-war uphheaval in Texas, Rusty's childhood returns to haunt him as he rescues Andy Pickard, called Badger Boy by his Comanche captors.Andy and Rusty ride together in the newly reformed Rangers in The Way of the Coyote, in a time when Texas is overrun with outlaws, Confederate raiders, Ku Klux Klansmen, and marauding Comanches.

Valley of Fire


Johnny D. Boggs - 2014
    But it's not Christian charity that's driving Sister Genevieve--she wants Micah to take her to a place called the Valley of Fire, deep in the most lawless and perilous part of New Mexico Territory. It was here where an order of nuns met their Maker, and it's Sister Genevieve's mission to see that they are given a proper funeral. Or so she claims. Micah's not in the habit of helping nuns, but it turns out the only true vow Genevieve ever took was to get rich--and there's a fortune in gold buried along with the sisters. With kill-crazy bandits and blood-hunting bounty hunters after them, it'll take a miracle to reach the Valley of Fire, let alone get the gold. But sometimes, the Almighty does work in mysterious ways. . ."Johnny Boggs has produced another instant page-turner...don't put down the book until you finish it." --Tony Hillerman on Killstraight "Johnny D. Boggs tells a crisply powerful story that rings true more than two centuries after the bloody business was done." --The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier on The Despoilers Raves For The Westerns Of Johnny D. Boggs "Another dramatic story by a finalist for the Spur award of Western Writers of America." --Amarillo Globe-News (on Once They Wore the Gray)"An entertaining western in the classic mold. The characters possess enough human frailty to be believable, the author includes interesting stuff on the weaponry of the times, and there is enough gunplay to satisfy genre purists." --Booklist on Ten and Me"Boggs has once more written a humdinger of a book with wonderful characters, even the villains. The Despoilers tears at one's heart, which is what really good fiction should do." --Roundup on The Despoilers"Boggs' unique approach to the Lincoln County War's legal skirmishing is both eye-opening and memorable." --True West on Law of the Land"... a finely crafted historical novel with fully developed characters playing out their lives against the backdrop of early Texas settlement." --American Cowboy on Spark on the Prairie"Boggs delivers a colorful, clever and arresting tale." --Santa Fe New Mexican on Camp Ford

The Devil's Brand: The Rider ~ Book One (The Rider Western Series 1)


Seth Nation - 2017
     In the aftermath, Ethan Brody returns from the war to find everything he knows and loves reduced to nothing but ashes. Hell bent on revenge, he sets off to find the murderous gang, only to have them slip away. Losing his faith, he sets off on a life of bounty hunting, vowing to never again let justice go astray. "Alive" is no longer an option and in the process, the legend of the Rider is born. 1894: Oliver Kingston Dukes a man of remittance finds his way to the town of Adobe Wells, immediately becoming embroiled in the town's struggle with the wealthy and powerful Katy brothers. Enter the Rider, on the trail of the notorious bandit Hector Salazar. He joins Dukes and the townsfolk to take back the town once and for all, and perhaps...take back his own salvation.

The Journal of Snow Woman


CR WilsonI - 2017
    One of the wagons belongs to the Applegates. The husband Hank, his wife, Lorie and their eight-year-old son, Mark. Lorie has made up her mind that when they reach the next fort she will stay with her son. She can no longer allow Hank to verbally abuse her and the worst of it is his abuse of Mark. Before they reach the safety of the fort, Hank as an accident and can't be moved. He insist that Lorie and Mark stay behind with him. She agrees, but later as food is getting low and he shows no sign of improving she becomes more worried about Mark. As a storm approaches she decides to get Mark to safety. She leaves in the early morning before Hank is a wake. Before long they are caught in a blizzard and lost. Join them and live a life with them they never would have expected. If you enjoy the story please leave a review. Check out the other Frontier Adventures by CR Wilson on Kindle eBooks and in paperback on Amazon.

Montana Shootists


Sandra Cox - 2018
    Growing up they were inseparable. When he joined the Marines she did too. Then disaster struck. After leaving the Marines, she returns to the family ranch in Montana hoping to heal her shattered heart. On a ride into the foothills she sees something glowing in the side of the mountain. When she goes to investigate she discovers a fist-sized sapphire that turns her already fragile world upside down. 1882: Jake Barrow is a part-time gambler, full-time hired gun. His decisions are based on hunches and the turn of a card. He’s in the foothills when a young woman comes tumbling down the mountain. Unsure whether Lady Luck has dealt him a good hand or a bad, he takes one look at the beauty at his feet and doesn’t need to shuffle the deck to know she’s his destiny.

The Coffin Maker


Christine Sterling - 2018
    Living under the overprotective and overbearing nature of her mother, Charlotte Daniels, made it easy to keep her distance from the townsfolk of Silverpines apart from a few close acquaintances. However, when Tess finds a man sleeping in her deceased father’s studio, it sets in motion a series of events that she is not prepared for. The town needs assistance burying the bodies from the aftermath of the double-earthquakes and the new stranger challenges Tess to assist her community. As she steps in to help, she realizes that there are many secrets her mother has been keeping from her, including the mystery of how her father died. Dawson Elliot was in Silverpines for one reason only: to find the man who murdered his wife and unborn child. Helping a small community get back on its feet wasn’t in his plans. But the weather had other ideas, so he decides to put some long-retired carpentry skills to use, building coffins to bury the dead. Working side by side with Tess will he find healing and love again? As Tess uncovers the secrets of her past, what will happen when she finds out the biggest secret of all? What is the secret Dawson is hiding? With every coffin he builds can he heal his heart and possibly open it to love again?

United Under the Western Sky


Grace Clemens - 2020
    Just a week after her meeting with the local matchmaker, Annie is on a train riding across the country to meet her future husband, sight unseen. Unfortunately, when she arrives, Annie isn't met by the kind farmer she'd been expecting but by the brooding and rough former bounty hunter, Josiah. Although a bit overwhelmed at first, Annie feels the spark between them and decides to embrace the unknown. But is she truly ready to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she'd find?Bounty hunter Josiah Bright has been on the road for as long as he can remember. When he stumbles upon a young, orphaned girl, though, his life will change forever. Determined to find out what happened to the girl's mother, Josiah decides to stay in town for a while, helping the local sheriff get to the bottom of the case. As the days turn to weeks, it seems like he's going to be spending more time in Jackson than he'd originally intended. With a new house, a new job, and a daughter, there's only one thing he is missing; a wife. The empty place in his heart will be filled by the kind and sweet Annie, who will instantly diminish all of his concerns and brighten his days. Can he soften his sharp edges, giving love a chance before it is lost once and for all?Neither Josiah nor Annie are sure that they will warm up to each other at first. However, with a young girl to care for and a house to run, the ice is quickly broken. Both are thrown into a way of life they had never dreamed of, but without even realizing it, they will soon get lost in unique, unexpected emotions. When a new threat appears, will the couple be strong enough to stay true to their new feelings?"United Under the Western Sky" is a historical romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

The McCoys Before The Feud


Thomas Allan McCoy - 2019
    A stockpile of plundered Southern riches. Can a proud family reclaim the gold for its rightful owners? Kansas-Mississippi border, 1865. Tommy McCoy burns for justice. Reeling from the end of the bloody Civil War, he learns that a corrupt Northern general has raided the bounty of the Confederacy and plans to keep it. Tommy and his shrewd father vow to get back the valuables for innocent Southern families or die trying. With time running out before the general's reinforcements arrive, Tommy risks a deadly confrontation in a series of secret raids. Can he secure the rightful Confederate property before the North deals the McCoys a final crushing blow? The McCoys: Before the Feud is the first book in a deeply-researched historical Western saga. If you like dusty battles, a different point of view on yesteryear, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Thomas A. McCoy’s gripping tale of justice for the people. Buy The McCoys: Before the Feud to join a family’s quest for justice today!

The Scout


Harry Combs - 1995
    a towering tale of dreams unfettered, of mustangs running free, and of young men riding hell-bent-for-leather into Indian country for no other reason than they were young, brave and wild.By 1900 the Old West was vanishing, but the man many called its fastest gun was still alive.  By then Car Brules had shut himself and his secrets away in a cabin on Colorado's Lone Cone Peak.  Only one person knew his real story, a boy of eleven who became his friend and heard his extraordinary tales in 1909.  The Scout is that unforgettable story, just as young Steven Cartwright heard it, just as Brules told it: hard and gritty, wry with a cowboy's humor, and true to the spirits of all those who loved the west--and died for it--from Custer to Crazy Horse.Many hard, hurting things had driven Cat Brules to become the man he was.  The death of his beloved Shoshone bride, Wild Rose, was one of them.  Months after Brules lost her--brutally and far too soon--Wild Rose still came to him in his dreams.  With a void in his heart and a reckless spirit, Brules signed on as a Scout for General George Crook, whose cavalry was headed into the Badlands. Then, the U.S. Army still didn't know that there were fifteen thousand Sioux and Cheyenne in those Wyoming foothills, and under chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, every one of them was willing to fight to the death to live free.Brules's account of the violence that ensued, told with eyewitness immediacy and chilling authenticity, is one of courage and shame as he rides the trail toward the Little Big Horn and the battles that followed.  Seeing for himself the dying of a way of life, Brules tells a searing truth about America's history: the betrayal of Custer to the Sioux, the hunting of Geronimo, and the U.S. Army's cruel pursuit of Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce.  And here too are the women who loved Brules: White Antelope, the gentle Indian maiden who wanted what Brules felt he could never give again--and Melisande, the saucy Mormon girl who might be too much for even Cat Brules to handle.Debunking the myths of the Old West and the romanticism of movies, renowned Western writer Harry Combs creates a vision at once more complex, magnificent and genuine--from the make of the rifle to the caliber of the bullet that cut Custer down.  A novel unmatched in excitement and adventure, The Scout lets you smell the cordite, feel a man's hard need for a woman, and discover that the real flesh and blood inhabitants of those legendary days were tougher, bolder and more fascinating than we ever dared to imagine.

No Good Like It Is


McKendree R. Long III - 2010
     2d Lieutenant Dobey Walls meets and bonds with veteran Corporal Jimmy Melton. As the Civil War begins, they leave to join the 8th Texas Cavalry in Houston, then take part in the first and the final charges of the Army of Tennessee. Between those events, they ride with Nathan Bedford Forrest, play an honorable role in the Fort Pillow Massacre, harass Sherman with Shannon's Raiders, and visit the second best brothel in Atlanta. As surrender looms, they're released to search for Dobey's long-missing family in the Texas Panhandle. Their efforts are hampered by destitute farmers, lonely widows, dangerous militia, freed slaves, and runaways, who increase their numbers and excitement. In the process, they save a quadroon and her daughter from Yankee deserters who have stolen a Union payroll. This act of mercy brings them romance but puts Pinkerton detectives and a renegade lawman on their trail.

Wolf Town


J.V. James - 2019
    But when he witnesses a stranger murdered by road agents, then the outlaws kill his best friend, Cleve decides it’s high time he stuck his nose in where it don’t belong. As if all that ain’t problems enough, he meets a tough yet beautiful woman who takes a shine to him – and a feller with fists of iron who takes unkindly to that. Throw in a murderous road agent gone loco, an unfaithful dog, a wise-cracking Sheriff, and a range war between sheep and cattle men, and Cleve’s got more troubles than an unarmed man in the middle of a gunfight. Another action packed Western with a hint of romance, from the pen of J.V. James – and as usual, more twists and turns than you can shake a Winchester at.

Hawken Fury


David Robbins - 2000
    The brave swung his tomahawk at Nate’s face. Ducking, Nate pointed his flintlock and fired.“Struck in his left shoulder, the Blackfoot jerked with the impact. Spurting blood like a fountain, he grimaced, but otherwise ignored the wound. Nothing would stop him from sending the hated white man into the spirit realm.“Crimson drops sprinkled Nate’s cheeks and chin as he lunged to one side and tried to stab the Blackfoot in the ribs. Even though wounded, the brave was able to dodge nimbly out of harm’s way. For a heartbeat they faced one another, the Blackfoot crouched, ready to strike.“Growling like an animal, the Blackfoot sprang forward, his tomahawk aimed straight for Nate’s head …”Although he frequently had to battle savage Indians, wild beasts, and hostile elements, Nate felt the freedom he’d gained was worth it. But when an old love arrives, Nate learns that the deadliest foe can come in the guise of a trusted friend, and his hard-won freedom can be traded away for a few pieces of gold.ABOUT THE AUTHORDavid L. Robbins was born on Independence Day 1950. He has written more than three hundred books under his own name and many pen names, among them: David Thompson, Jake McMasters, Jon Sharpe, Don Pendleton, Franklin W. Dixon, Ralph Compton, Dean L. McElwain, J.D. Cameron and John Killdeer. Robbins was raised in Pennsylvania. When he was seventeen he enlisted in the United States Air Force and eventually rose to the rank of sergeant. After his honorable discharge he attended college and went into broadcasting, working as an announcer and engineer (and later as a program director) at various radio stations. Later still he entered law enforcement and then took to writing full-time. At one time or another Robbins has lived in Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Montana, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. He spent a year and a half in Europe, traveling through France, Italy, Greece and Germany. He lived for more than a year in Turkey. Today he is best known for two current long-running series – Wilderness, the generational saga of a Mountain Man and his Shoshone wife – and Endworld is a science fiction series under his own name started in 1986. Among his many other books, Piccadilly Publishing is pleased to be reissuing ebook editions of Wilderness, Davy Crockett and, of course, White Apache. Check us out at www.piccadillypublishing.org

The New South


Sabra Waldfogel - 2021
    She’s Black. He’s white. They’re sister and brother… but they’re not. Will they ever be?Eliza Coldbrook, proud and privileged graduate of all-Black Atlanta University, hasn’t seen her white half-brother since the end of Reconstruction. When Matt returns to Atlanta, she refuses a reunion. She now lives in a progressive and prosperous new South. She doesn’t want to be reminded of the past that she and Matt share.Her half-brother Matthew Kaltenbach hasn’t lived in Georgia since he was seven years old. But he has vivid memories of the past, and he has unfinished business with it. He wants to rebuild a relationship with the man who is his father as well as Eliza’s. And he wants to reconcile with the half-sister he loved when they were children, but who has become a stranger since.Amanda Gardiner, born a slave in Georgia, now lives in an Atlanta reborn after the Civil War. But she doesn’t share in the bounty that is the New South. As a washerwoman, she’s underpaid and badly treated by her white employers. Until she decides to say no, and all the washerwomen of Atlanta join her in a strike…When the Black washerwomen of Atlanta go on strike, Eliza and Matt, Black half-sister and white half-brother, are both swept into their cause. Will the strike let them heal the wounds of the past—and forgive each other?