Book picks similar to
The Substitute Wife by Cici Cordelia
historical-romance
western
romance
dnf
The Mail Order Bride's Quilt
Leah Atwood - 2013
The memories are too much to bear, and when she sees an advertisement for mail-order brides, an idea forms in her head. The next thing she knows, she's waiting for her intended at the train station.John Thomas sent for a wife because he was lonely. There weren't many prospects in his prairie town for a good wife, and when he receives Jenny's response, he knows she's the one.Will John and Jenny find love in their marriage, and can a quilt bring them together? Find out in this sweet, clean short story.Dear Reader- Please note that this is a short story of 25 pages.
The Teacher's Bride
Natalie Dean - 2017
Marston isn’t so sure about this arrangement. Will he finally cave-in…just in time for a Christmas wedding? Greta Samuelson was only fourteen the year Kansas bled, but by the time the Civil War had ended, she was a woman of steel. The war had left only broken pieces of men for single women to comb through, so there wasn’t much for her in Atchison, Kansas. She longs to go west where her brother is. When the wagon train driver arrives in town, he’s got a letter he wants her to see. It’s from a schoolteacher announcing his desire for a wife, primarily asking for a woman of good composure, strong sensibilities and sufficient education to assist him. Greta has not had a great deal of formal education, but she has a good writing hand, and sends back a letter saying she is interested. When Marston first meets Greta, he is disappointed. He had expected a mature, scholarly woman, not a mere slip of a twenty-year-old girl. Greta, however, sets out to prove she is a woman to contend with, even for a thirty-two-year-old teacher. She rolls up her sleeves and takes on the Wild West with as much fortitude as she had shown while living through the Civil War. But can she win Marston’s heart in time to be a Christmas bride? Or will he decide she is too young for him… AUTHOR’S NOTE: Enjoy this clean historical western romance short story! I have plans to turn it into a series to keep you happily reading. Also included are 3 bonus stories! Don’t miss out on this one…it’s one of my best written stories yet!
The Mail-Order Bride Carries a Gun
Wanda Ann Thomas - 2016
The books follow the untamed Haven brothers, the spirited brides they marry, and the struggle to find love and joy amid the rugged wilds of the West. ELLA HUNTER never thought she’d be a mail-order bride. But when she sees a photo in the Marriage Gazette of the man she believes killed her brother, Ella agrees to marry the Civil War soldier turned cowboy. Prepared to confront a cold-hearted killer then return home, she finds all her expectations dashed when her intended husband appears to be a good man. Ella’s loyalties are torn between honoring the memories of her family and her undeniable attraction to Ty Haven. TY HAVEN needs a wife. The ranch he runs in the wilds of Wyoming Territory could use a woman’s influence. Frankly, so could he. So when Ella arrives like a gift tied up in a cornflower-blue hair ribbon, more intelligent, practical, and, yes, beautiful, than he could have imagined, he hopes she will give him and the West a chance. Turns out, he doesn’t just need a wife. He needs Ella. But she has a secret, and it might destroy their marriage almost before it’s begun. Can the unforgivable be forgiven? What will the cowboy ranchman do when he learns why…THE MAIL-ORDER BRIDE CARRIES A GUN?
Not Quite a Duchess (The Boston Heiresses #1)
Ava Rose - 2020
One broken hero. With danger looming, will they uncover more than they bargained for?A determined Duchess...Lady Anna Trevallyn, Duchess Wrexford, does not possess the typical qualities of the Boston elite. Confident and strong, she refuses to accept her place as a second-class citizen in a man's world--especially when her best friend, Libby, unexpectedly disappears without a trace. Unwilling to leave it to the men to uncover, she's determined to get answers.A damaged Prince...His Royal Highness, Prince Penforth Armstrong-Leeds, will do anything to locate his sister, Libby. Sharing resources, knowledge, and time with the beautiful and intelligent Lady Anna is an added advantage. Pen has secretly admired Anna from afar for years, but his war wound forces him to remain at bay.An unlikely pair...As Pen and Anna delve for answers beneath high society's gilded exterior, their feelings for one another intensify. Now, they must navigate their strong feelings while locating Libby before her reputation is permanently destroyed. With time running out, will they uncover the truth before lives are lost and hearts broken?This is the first in a Victorian Romance series featuring strong and feisty heroines at the forefront of the new age in 1890s America.Read each story as a stand-alone, or read the series in order.If you enjoy Gothic Victorian historical romantic suspense stories, such as those made popular by Victoria Holt, Deanna Raybourn, Anna Lee Huber, Christi Caldwell or Dorothy Eden, you'll love this series by historical romance author, Ava Rose.The Boston Heiresses series:1 - Not Quite a Duchess2 - Not Quite a Baroness3 - Not Quite a Lady4 - Not Quite a Princess
The Bride Wore Spurs
Sharon Ihle - 1994
How could John Winterhawke, a fiercely independent and unsettlingly handsome half-Indian, possibly make room in his heart and in his life for her?As far as Hawke was concerned, the last thing he needed was a high-spirited, overeager Irish wife who knew nothing about surviving on the harsh prairie. But once the determined Lacey sensed the rough kindness and simmering hunger under Hawke's forbidding demeanor, she set out to match his dark passion with her own – and claim his wild heart on her terms.
Twice Upon A Time
Lisa Ann Verge - 1994
Utterly wonderful!" -- RT Book Reviews "A love story that transcends all boundaries." -- The Medieval Chronicle Legendary warrior Conor of Ulster defies his people to make the exiled Brigid of Morna his queen—until a shattering act of treachery destroys their world. Driven to the ends of the earth, Conor lives a thousand lifetimes in the fading hope that—one day, somehow—he’ll find Brigid once again. Finalist "Best Time Travel" -- RT Book Reviews "One of the Year's Best Reads" -- The Readers’ Voice Finalist, three categories, Affaire de Coeur Reviewers’ Choice Awards
Highlander's Fate
Alisa Adams - 2018
An expert with weapons, she can also hold her own with any man in a battle of wits.She dreams of adventure in the great world. She wants it more than she can bear. And when suitor after suitor comes to offer their hand in marriage, Alexa is firm with each refusal.No man shall lay claim to her heart!Little does she know that from across the sea… her true destiny draws ever nearer.However, love is not without obstacles.Alexa will be faced with a choice: freedom or love?
We've Only Just Begun
Kathleen Ball - 2017
She takes her horse and rides to Independence Missouri to join a wagon train and start a new life. Mike Todd, the Wagon Master doesn’t allow single women to have their own wagons. It causes fights and distractions. Susan solves her problem by marrying Clancy Willis in name only. Unfortunately Clancy’s true nature doesn’t take long to show and Susan finds herself married to a drunkard. Along the trail, once again, Susan is forced to marry another man in name only and this time it is Mike Todd. As soon as they make it to Oregon they plan to have the marriage annulled but their hearts become hopelessly entangled. Mike Todd has two brothers to raise. They are guides on the wagon train and he decided long ago he’d raise them and forget about having a wife and child of his own. Little does he know that he’d find a forever type of love. Both vow to sacrifice their hearts’ desire to give the other happiness. Will they come to realize their lives and love have only just begun?
Where He Leads
Angela Castillo - 2019
Compared to an arranged marriage to the odious Bernard Regent, a prairie schooner on the Oregon Trail doesn't seem like such a bad trade to Amethyst Kent. When desperate Martha Davis reveals her need for a mother's helper on the trail, Ami decides to up and leave the pampered life she's always known for a land of freedom. But trail life is hardly a tea party, and Ami must draw from the deepest wells of her faith to survive. With the sunset always before her, and Shiloh Talon, a handsome trail scout, guiding the way, she might just make it through.
Katie
Rachel Wesson - 2016
But after suffering at the hands of her greedy Uncle, she is forced to take the only way out she can ... marry a stranger out west. Daniel Sullivan is in need of a wife if he wants the bank to lend him money for his new business. Too bad the only girl he's interested in - one he met during a train robbery - is already taken. Katie is determined to honour her promise to marry her fiancé despite losing her heart to Daniel.
Until the Day Breaks
Paula Scott - 2016
After sailing around Cape Horn, and barely surviving the perilous journey, devout Protestant Rachel Tyler, arrives in California just in time for her father’s wedding and the unfolding of the Bear Flag Revolt. Though already engaged to marry a minister in Massachusetts, Rachel’s ambitious father arranges her betrothal to Roman Vasquez, a blue-blooded Catholic son of the gente de razón, the ruling class of California. Roman, a proud, Spanish soldier is ready to fight and die for his homeland. As the Yankee rebels raise their bear flag in Sonoma square, the last thing Roman wants is an arranged marriage to the American daughter of his enemy Joshua Tyler. But his Uncle Pedro, the Patrón of the family, has other plans. Neither Rachel nor Roman desire this unlikely engagement that assaults their religious beliefs, but they cannot escape the passion flaming between them as war looms on the horizon and bitter rivals rise up to destroy them amid the breathtaking backdrop of the last days of the Californios. Until the Day Breaks is the first book in the sweeping saga of California Rising, a tale of love, intrigue, and destiny, where passionate men and women lay the foundation of the Golden State with their very lives.
A Lady's Touch of Sin
Lucy Langton - 2020
What awaits her is her Aunt Margaret, a tittering woman with an earnest responsibility to find Marta a match, against her wishes. While the blue-eyed beauty desperately tries to escape from her future misery, a very dashing man shows up in her life, but, to her misfortune, he is not the one her Aunt has chosen for her. But when her Aunt insists so much on a particular engagement with a Duke, should she just give up to the tantalizing stranger she just met or should she fight to satisfy the burning passion she holds for him?Baldwin Terrence is a successful businessman and the future heir to his ducal estate. When his best friend's cousin comes unexpectedly to visit, he finds himself surprisingly stricken by her stunning eyes, and the connection between them is electrifying. Her beauty is irresistible and tests his willpower at every turn. She's everything Baldwin is not: a spitfire, compassionate, apt to dream and gossip and live loudly and grandly. Of course, she catches the eye of nearly every important member of society, including the dastardly Duke, Lewis Remington. The only thing he knows is that he is determined to possess her, at any cost. Will he convince her that the haven she's longed for all her life may be lying in his arms?Thus begins a tale of lust and heartache, full of passionate moments. But soon their burning promises are all they have left. Caught between her past and her future, Marta must decide whether she's willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she would find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make? Torn between her Aunt's will and what she desires, she has to choose between the man who sets her heart on fire and the one she despises. But can this undeniable desire between them really be buried? Will their love prove strong enough to shatter every obstacle in their way?
The Heart Hears: Kansas MacPhersons (MacPherson Brides Book 4)
Mischelle Creager - 2019
He needs to banish his distrust of women. War widow Salina Meier Moffett Dunham doesn’t trust men. Shamefully treated by her father and husband, she is on the run with her children to escape a forced marriage or worse—death. In Ainsley, Kansas, she shortens her name to Lena Meier to hide from the man pursuing her. She finds a position as a clerk in the mercantile with the grouchy storekeeper. But there is something within that grumpy man that her heart hears and draws her. She isn’t sure what that thing is until she discovers a book in the storeroom of the mercantile. Returning from the war, Angus MacPherson takes back the running of his mercantile and keeps his distance from the young women in Ainsley. After a run-in with Lena Meier—literally, his buggy ran into her cart, leaving him injured, he agrees to let her work in his store. After all, his MacPherson family creed is to help and protect all widows and orphans. But this woman, this stranger in town, irritates and interests him as no woman has since Amelia, the woman who betrayed him to marry his rich cousin. Matters get worse when his former fiancé, who is now a wealthy widow, returns to Ainsley and wants Angus as her new husband. Can love weave its way through the heart by things unspoken?
The Problem with Planning Love
Claire Cain - 2020
Divorcé. Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army.All titles I’ve come to terms with, even if I didn’t see those first two coming.I never imagined making a military move to Germany as a single parent. What else I never imagined? Having an insane spark like I’ve never felt with my son’s kindergarten teacher.Livie’s a singular force of light and beauty, and I’ve never wanted someone so much. But after what happened last time, I can’t escape the dread of dragging a new wife into this life and failing again.Besides, our lives are too different. Our plans don’t match. We definitely shouldn’t date and absolutely can’t afford to catch feelings.Everything changed the day I walked into that classroom. And now the only thing that scares me more than trying for another chance at love is living with regret if I don’t.The Problem with Planning Love is a dual point of view romance told in first person that will give you all the sizzle and heat but keep it sweet.
High Plains Holiday
Simone Beaudelaire - 2018
He is young, handsome, and single.To church organist Kristina Heitschmidt, Reverend Cody Williams is nothing but trouble, especially as his first move is trying to take control of the music away from her.But Kristina is not about to give up her life’s work. With Christmas fast approaching, it appears the two are at a stalemate - until a sudden blizzard traps them together in the church overnight.Forced at last to deal with each other, they realize that the explosive feelings between them are really symptoms of an overwhelming passion that just might lead to the love of a lifetime.
This western romance includes explicit sex scenes.
Praise from readers:
★★★★★ - "The story of Cody and Kristina was terrific... Simone Beaudelaire's writing is captivating. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series."
★★★★★ - "This was a really great book. It explored the beginning of a historical marriage in a unique and sexy way. The writing was top notch and the characters will live on with me."
★★★★★ - "I really enjoyed this sweet, steamy romance."