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?

    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.

    He just wanted to reclaim the money stolen from him, but ends up with a feisty copper-haired orphan thrown over his shoulder who was on her way to marry Sullivan's bitter enemy.Emily McCarthy is an orphan out of options. Forced to marry because she was too old for her orphanage, she doesn't take kindly to her "rescue." Still she trusts God can turn any situation to good especially when it seems Sullivan may just be the man of her dreams. But Sullivan's crossed a dangerous man unused to losing and Emily may just be the prize he's unwilling to sacrifice.

    Instead, the matriarch makes Lauren a scandalous offer to marry her son in name only. Lauren has strong feelings for him but are they strong enough?

    A family to save. A love that can’t be.When Emma Daniels’ well-to-do family finds itself destitute, she answers an ad for the Gilbert Company seeking young women to be waitresses at hotel restaurants along remote railroad lines out west. The rules for a Gilbert Girl are strict: work hard, act respectably at all times, and no courting allowed. None of them present a problem for Emma, at least until she meets the hotel’s builder, Monroe Hartley. His smile and teasing manner were the last things Emma expected to find on the Colorado frontier. But as intriguing as he is, Emma would be risking her job – and her family’s lives – if she allowed his attentions.Building this hotel for the Gilbert Company is the perfect opportunity for Monroe. Not only will it advance his career, it barely gives him a moment to drown in guilt over his wife’s death. When Emma arrives, he finds himself drawn to her. But he can’t promise her anything, not unless he wants her to end up with the same fate his wife suffered.Giving in to their feelings would mean losing everything, yet they find themselves growing closer as the summer stretches on. When a man who covets Monroe’s job discovers their secret and threatens to reveal it, they must each decide whether their love is worth uprooting everything they’ve worked so hard for.Building Forever is the first book in the new Gilbert Girls series. Like all of Cat's books, this sweet and clean historical romance will warm your heart and fill you with hope.

    But because of his wife's untimely death, Joe Denton finds himself about to lose half of his claim. Still in mourning, his best solution is to buy one of those Mercer girls arriving from the East. A woman he'll marry in name but keep around mostly as a cook.

    When the sheriff of Fergus, Idaho is murdered, Ethan is named his replacement. The women in town are scared to think a murderer is loose among them, so Gert forms the Ladies' Shooting Club to teach them how to protect themselves, their homes, and their families. Ethan didn’t ask to be named sheriff, but he accepts the position and takes on the investigation of the former lawman’s mysterious death. Now he’s between a rock and a hard place—being pressured by the town’s women to restore order and safety to Fergus, and being pressured by the men who insist Ethan disband the upstart Ladies’ Shooting Club. Another murder sends Ethan to Gert and her ladies for help in the investigation. But will the Ladies’ Shooting Club unmask the murderer before he strikes again? This e-book includes discussion questions for groups.

    Instead she learned that she has been duped again by the cowboy who made her his mail-order bride. He died, leaving her with no money, nowhere to go, and no resources but her own ingenuity. Then she learned about the Lodestar Ranch and its owner, Tyler Hollins.Besides a lifetime of painful memories, Tyler had his hands full with immediate problems. Half his cattle were lost during the worst winter on record and his cowhands were about to quit if he couldn’t find a decent cook. Libby Ross fit the bill. She had never seen a man so attractive with such a sour disposition. But she sensed desire behind the wall Ty erected to keep everyone at a distance . . . a wanting so fierce it nearly broke her heart.They locked horns from the outset, but they could fight each other, or fight together to see their dreams come true . . .

    Laugh and cry with Crissa as she escapes her past to find true love.

    But posing as a lady companion named Amy at Miss Lillian’s Parlor House and Boots is a first for her. She’s finally landed a high-profile case and is on the trail of the notorious Gunnysack Bandit, when one of Miss Lillian’s girls essential to her investigation meets an untimely demise. Only a handful of people are in the house at the time of her death, including handsome Tom Colton, a former Texas Ranger determined to clear his brother’s name. Amy has many reasons to suspect Tom of murder—and one very personal reason to hope that she’s wrong about him.

    In Blue Belle, Montana, everyone knew better than to mess with the Claybornes. The brothers had once been a mismatched gang of street urchins—until they found an abandoned baby girl in a New York city alley, named her Mary Rose, and headed west to raise her to be a lady. They became a family—held together by loyalty and love if not by blood—when suddenly they faced a crisis that threatened to tear them apart....Trouble came to town with one Lord Harrison Stanford MacDonald. Armed with a swagger and six-shooter, he cut a striking figure—but it soon became apparent to Mary Rose that he was too much of a gentleman to make it in her rough-and-tumble town. She asked her brothers to teach him the basics of frontier survival, which he acquired with ease. And soon he possessed a deep and desperate love for Mary Rose. She returned his affection wholeheartedly... until MacDonald revealed a secret that challenged everything she believed about herself, her life, and her newfound love. Now her search for identity and meaning would begin, raising questions that could only be answered if she listened to the truth within her heart....

    Abbott's advances – even visit her grandfather's homestead for an undetermined amount of time. Out of her element, she must rely on neighbor Jonas White and his brood of adopted children. Scandal chased Jonas out of Philadelphia five years ago. A scandal that socialite Miss Castlerock knows about. Since then, Jonas has kept to himself, worked his homestead, and focused on raising his seven adopted boys and his daughter. The last thing he needs is to be reminded of the past and the young woman he once fancied – especially when she's so far out of his sphere... As circumstances force the two to work together, their tentative friendship blossoms into something more. But can two people from such disparate backgrounds find true love with each other?

    and an adversary.Ace Keegan has returned to No Name, too late to enact a rightful vengeance on his most hated enemy. The man who put a hole in Ace's life is dead, leaving a daughter behind to run the family enterprise. Though proud and strong as well as beautiful, Caitlin is caught off guard when Ace's calculated anger inadvertently destroys her good name. But Ace Keegan is a man of honor, determined to make amends by marrying the enchanting lady he wronged—and to nurture patience and love the light she guards in her damage heart until it blazes with the power of a thousand suns.

    But when he spies the marks on her back and hears about her stepfather’s advances, Clayton knows he must spirit Vanessa away to safety. As they make their way west, it becomes apparent that there’s something special between Vanessa and Clayton— far more significant than mere friendship or his sense of duty. Unfortunately, also heading west are Vanessa’s brother Miles and her stepfather Price Venture. Price wants Vanessa back for obvious reasons; Miles wants to earn his stepfather’s respect. Eventually, unexpected confrontations reach a harrowing conclusion. As their family begins to heal, their journey and trials they've faced helps them realize their future is in God's guiding hands.Same author as Shelley Shepard Gray.

    But she fears this stranger who burns to avenge the wrongs of treacherous men. For Caleb is as wild and unpredictable as the uncivilized land he loves. Yet, though she challenges him at every turn, the spirited southern lady knows this proud, enigmatic loner is her destiny. And no matter what peril awaits, they must face it together -- for Willow has become a fever in Caleb′s blood ... awakening a need so fierce that he would defeat the devil himself to possess her.