That is until a single slap to a man’s face starts a barroom brawl that lands her in the last place she expected to be.Town Marshal Morgan Avery wants nothing more than to wash away the trail-dust and sleep for a week, preferably with a soft, willing woman by his side. Instead, he gets Abigail Thornton – all one hundred pounds of her thrust at him seconds before a fist connects with his face. Breaking up the fight takes more effort than he wants to admit and when the last man falls he finds Abigail still standing and not looking the least bit contrite.Throwing her into the town jail for the night would salve his wounded pride and then he will let her go. Or that was the plan. When morning comes he finds himself oddly reluctant to do so. Miss Thornton is hiding something and he aims to find out what, even if he has to bed her to do so. But will one night in her bed be enough?

    Two lovers in Lisbon will be split by war — only to find each other again in a new land; a land as wild as their passion.Clara and Gabriel are in love, but when he is disinherited for loving her, she must refuse his marriage proposal. Now he must make his own way in the world without her ...But when, years later, the Portuguese court sets sail for Brazil to escape Napoleon, Clara and her family must leave as well. And in Rio de Janeiro Clara meets Gabriel again.He has made his fortune, and they can get married. But as they travel to Gabriel’s vast sugar estate in the interior, a letter from Lisbon confirms a dormant suspicion in him, and an abyss will open between husband and wife.

    After being unjustly court-martialed for the murder of four Yankee soldiers and narrowly escaping the hangman's noose, he sheds his identity and heads west to live among the Apache. As Shatto, he finds solace among his adopted brethren. But the new influx of settlers and soldiers into the Arizona Territory spells danger for the Apache people.Independence Taylor blames herself for bringing the small pox into her home that led to her mother and brother's deaths. Abandoned by her grief-stricken father, she undertakes a dangerous journey to join him at his military outpost to beg forgiveness. En route, her military escort is attacked by Apaches. She has been advised to take her own life rather than be captured, but Shatto intervenes before she can pull the trigger.Indy's initial fear of the mysterious Shatto is tempered by the bargain he strikes with her father to subdue the warriors by training a select group of troopers in Apache warfare. Imbued with the power of the wind spirit, Shatto attempts to bring peace to the troubled land.As tensions mount between the settlers and Apache, so does the undeniable attraction between Shatto and Indy. Can the would-be lovers broker peace...or will chaos rule and destroy their burgeoning passion?

    Adventurers, families, outlaws...all driven west in the 1860s by a longing for endless blue sky along with wild and wide-open spaces. Tracie Peterson, from her own Montana home, paints an unforgettable portrait of this rich, rugged landscape, populated by strong and spirited characters. When Dianne Chadwick urges her family to move west to her uncle's ranch in the Montana Territory, she has no idea that her new life in the rugged frontier ~and even within her uncle's home~ will not be the idyllic adventure she expects. But first she has to survive the arduous wagon journey with the help of guide Cole Selby, whose heart seems to be as hard as the mountains he loves.

    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.

    She's a widow who needs protection. A marriage of convenience is the means of keeping her safe in a town populated by gold miners, dance hall girls, and scurrilous men, until her gold mine is producing and she can return east. But soon after Jenny MacDonald marries Jason Colby, she finds herself falling in love with a man whose dark past is quickly catching up with him, the very man who might have killed her husband.

    Louis respond to a series of meetings conducted by a land speculator who lures them west by promising "prime homesteads" in a "booming community." Unbeknownst to them, the speculator's true motive is to find an excuse to bring women to the fledging community of Plum Grove, Nebraska, in hopes they will accept marriage proposals shortly after their arrival!Sparks fly when these unsuspecting widows meet the men who are waiting for them. These women are going to need all the courage and faith they can muster to survive these unwanted circumstances--especially when they begin to discover that none of them is exactly who she appears to be.

    It has long been whispered that Trevelyan Manor hides dark secrets and sinister deeds -- including the murder of Benedict's wife. But Ann refuses to pay heed to spiteful rumor.As she grows to cherish her young charges, Ann also finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome Benedict, whose passionate persuasion introduces her to a new world of sensual pleasures. But even while falling in love with the master of Trevelyan, Ann wonders if his attentions are intended to blind her to the secrets of the past -- and if Benedict holds he key to her destiny...or her destruction.

    Richard is enamoured from the moment he sets eyes on the hard working Annabelle but she is far too bound by duty to admit that she reciprocates his feelings. With a little meddling from Richard's mother, love seems to blossom between the pair, only to be threatened by Annabelle's vengeful brother. Can Richard and Annabelle find lasting happiness, or will her brother's wrath separate them permanently?

    The good news is she's traveled to Pittsburgh and found a good job as a schoolmistress. The bad news is, the school's owner, the portly, whiskey-breathed Mister Murphy, has developed wandering hands, and Mrs Murphy's preparing to leave to visit her sister for a month in New York.Ruby sees an advertisement in the Matrimonial News and takes a desperate chance, writing away to the handsome Six-feet-four James Drinkwater.Will James be the answer to Ruby's plight? Is the handsome Montana man all that he seems? Or will someone else come to Ruby's rescue, so together they can find true love?The Come-By-Chance series consists of:Book 1 - RubyBook 2 - EmilyBook 3 - VioletBook 4 - KateBook 5 - Rose ~ Due out December 2014 ~Book 6 - Emmy-Lou ~ Due out January 2015 ~

    She grows up quickly when she witnesses the murder of her family by a gang of outlaws, and vows to make them pay for their crime. When the law won't help her, she takes matters into her own hands. Jess McLowry left his war-torn Southern home to head West, where he hired out his gun. When he learns what happened to Gabriella's family, and what she plans, he knows a young woman like her will have no chance against the outlaws, and vows to save her the way he couldn't save his own family. But the price of vengeance is high and Gabriella's willingness to sacrifice everything ultimately leads to the book's deadly and startling conclusion.This is a harsh and gritty tale of the old West, somewhat reminiscent of Charles Portis' True Grit or Nancy Turner's These is My Words. [This novel was previously published under the pseudonym JoMarie Lodge.]

    But Charlotte simply can't marry him ... she won't! He is vulgar, putrid and disrespectful - not to mention, over three times her age.With help from her best friend Beth and the kindly Mistress Belle, Charlotte is soon heading east to marry young farmer Thomas Ackerman in Conrad, Montana. * As her life in Conrad unfolds, Charlotte meets a wonderful mix of townsfolk, including her future husband Thomas, the lovely Louise, the interfering Mabel, and an adorable 8 year old boy named Junior. * But even in Paradise, life doesn't always turn out the way we might hope or expect it to. Has Charlotte jumped from the frying pan into the fire? Or might she learn that amidst the mud and the blood and the tears, romance and love can materialize in the most magical, unexpected ways. * The Seasons Mail Order Bride series: * Series 1 - Seasons * Book One - Charlotte's Summer Book Two - Falling for Beth Book Three - Alice in Winterland Book Four - Spring Belle * Series 2 - Seasons Sons & Daughters * Book One - Madeline's Match Book Two - Hannah's Hope Book Three - Sarah's Choice Book Four - Stella's Fella

    Crowds throng the Boston station, mesmerized by the mechanical wonder huffing on the rails: the Pullman Hotel Express, the first train to travel from coast to coast. Boarding the train are congressmen, railroad presidents, and even George Pullman himself. For two young women, strangers until this fateful day, it’s the beginning of a journey that will change their lives.Sensitive Louisa dreads the trip, but with limited prospects, she’s reluctantly joined the excursion as a governess to a wealthy family. Hattie is traveling to San Francisco to meet her fiancé, yet she’s far more interested in the workings of the locomotive than she is in the man awaiting her arrival. As the celebrated train moves westward, the women move toward one another, pulled by an unexpected attraction.But there is danger in this closeness, just as there is in the wilds of the frontier and in the lengths the railroad men will go to protect their investments. Before their journey is over, Louisa and Hattie will find themselves very far from where they intended to go.

    But though her life was simple, she was always sure that someday her prince would come. J. Monroe Farley arrived with his Edison listening box to record the traditional music of the Ozarks, determined to focus all his attention on his studies. But there, in this remote mountain hamlet, he found something he never expected--the princess of his dreams...

    . . .