Book picks similar to
They Rode Good Horses by D.B. Jackson


western
westerns
historical-fiction
read-horse-fiction

Our Little Secrets


Merry Farmer - 2012
    So when the beautiful and wily Charlotte steps off the train looking for a new life he jumps at the business opportunity she presents. Engaged forty-five minutes after meeting, married the next day, Michael thinks he’s found everything a respectable man should have. Except that Michael is as far from respectable as they come. They agreed not to ask questions about each other’s pasts, but when the past seeps into their present Michael suspects his passionate new wife is not who she says she is. Too bad he’s already fallen in love with her.Charlotte Baldwin has a secret. She fled Philadelphia to escape the sins of her past but someone is following her. What better way to hide than by marrying Michael West, Cold Springs, Montana’s enigmatic shopkeeper? A new name, a new life, and a passionate husband is exactly what she needs to leave her sins behind. But when it comes to keeping secrets Charlotte may have met her match in Michael. When a connection neither of them expects catches up with them, the shocking revelation means Charlotte may have run right into the arms of her enemy.No sin stays a secret forever…

The Gunfighter


Robert J. Conley - 2001
     One day brings the meanest gunfighter in the West – nicknamed the Widowmaker – into town, and though he says he wants to live a quiet life, the whole town’s on the edge of their seat. Who has he come to kill this time? At everyone’s insistence, Barjack does his job to suss out what the Widowmaker really wants – but wouldn’t you the guy’s actually real friendly once you share a drink or two with him… Trouble’s brewing in Asininity, and it looks like it ain’t coming from the Widowmaker. It’s looking like Barjack may need to work together with the fearsome gunfighter to bring peace back to town – if such a thing is possible. Praise for Robert J. Conley “Conley portrays the rough and tumble frontier from the Indian point of view… Veteran novelist Conley works on three levels: murder mystery, frontier political potboiler, and the search for personal identity.” — Booklist “Conley [is] in the ranks of such writers as… Louise Erdrich… and W.P. Kinsella as literary interpreters of the Indian experience.” — Sunday Journal-Star (Lincoln, NE) “Conley [is] among the most productive and inventive of modem Western novelists” — Dale L. Walker, Rocky Mountain News “Conley speaks with a clear Cherokee Indian voice to show how his tribe’s cultural characteristics have survived centuries of abrupt change to give readers an understanding of the fullness and humanity of the Cherokees as a people.” — The Cherokee Advocate Robert J. Conley (1940-2014) was an acclaimed Cherokee author with over fifty books to his name, winning the Spur Award for Best Western Novel twice, as well as another Spur Award for a short story. He was also awarded the 2014 Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Second Chance Ranch: Clean & Wholesome Cowboy Romance


Jenna Hendricks - 2019
    He regrets the pain he caused. Can God help them mend their broken hearts? Montana veterinarian Elizabeth Manning is living the life of her dreams. Dating the hottest guy in town, healing animals, and helping the homeless makes her feel she’s doing God’s work. So when the boy who broke her heart returns after ten years, she refuses to dig up her buried feelings.Logan Hayes kicks himself for leaving Elizabeth so abruptly. Forced home to run his sick father’s store, his passion for his old flame has never been stronger. And he’s desperate to show her how he has grown to win her back.Arguing with her boyfriend over her charitable activities, Elizabeth wonders if he’s really the man God intended for her. If Logan wants to rekindle her devotion, he’ll have to confess the painful truth behind his abandonment.Will Elizabeth and Logan find their way to forgiveness and into each other’s arms?Second Chance Ranch is the first book in the touching Triple J Ranch contemporary Christian cowboy romance series. If you like no-nonsense cowgirls, clean stories, and heartwarming attractions, then you’ll adore Jenna Hendricks’s wholesome tale. Buy Second Chance Ranch to see faith restore love today!

Restless Hearts


Mona Ingram - 2014
    Denied her dream of attending medical school, Sarah Howard is desperate to leave Boston far behind. Determined to prove that she can make it on her own, she poses as a married woman and boards a schooner bound for San Francisco. Stuck working in his family’s merchant bank, Jamie Thompson eagerly accepts the challenge of setting up a branch in San Francisco. He’s been restless for some time now, and barely escaped the clutches of the woman determined to marry him. The attraction between Sarah and Jamie is instant and powerful, yet each has something to prove, if only to themselves. Will their single-minded determination derail a blossoming romance?

The Hardest Ride


Gordon L. Rottman - 2013
    A raw rift separates Mexicans and Anglos. A loner cowpoke and a mute Mexican girl fight man and nature to reunite. Out of work cowpoke Bud Eugen comes across Marta, a mute sixteen-year old Mexican girl whose family has been killed by Indians. Bud reluctantly takes her along, even though he’s never had to accommodate another person in his simple life. He’s unable to find anyone willing to take her. In spite of his prejudices, Bud grows to like the spunky girl (and her excellent cooking). Eventually, they both find work on a border ranch. Here, the relationship between the girl and the young cowboy hesitantly grows. But banditos raid the ranch, kidnapping the rancher’s daughters and Marta. Bud, with twelve other men, pursue the banditos into the most desolate reaches of Mexico. Ambushes and battles with banditos, Rurales, and traitors are constant, and the brutal weather is as much a threat as the man-made perils. Life and death choices are made at every turn as one side gains the advantage, then the other. The rancher’s daughters are rescued, and the exhausted party turns back. But Bud presses on alone, against insurmountable odds – determined to fulfill an unspoken promise to Marta.A USA TODAY and Amazon bestseller, this wonderfully crafted tale of 1800s Western life won the Western Fictioneers' Peacemaker Award for Best Western Novel 2014, was a Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award Finalist for Best First Western Novel 2014, and was a Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist for Best Traditional Western Novel for 2013.

The Wild Girl


Jim Fergus - 2004
    Ned has photographed the girl, and her narrative combines with extracts from Ned diaries to tell a story that resonates years later, and that lays bare some of the harsh truths about the American presence in the West.

Into the Free


Julie Cantrell - 2012
    But she’s the only one strong enough to break the family cycle.In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs. For answers,Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other Southern literary bestsellers like The Help by Kathryn Stockett and CrookedLetter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, Julie Cantrell has created Into theFree—now a New York Times bestseller—a story that will sweep you away long after the novel ends.

The Long Shooters


Daniel C. Chamberlain - 2011
    Ballou perfected the art of the judicious killer. His ability with his cherished Stephens target rifle is legendary, making a nearly miraculous shot that no one else – North or South – could accomplish. After the war, he disappears… Samuel Roark is a small-time rancher and part-time lawyer. One personal tragedy after another leaves Samuel gripped by periodic bouts of depression. When a hidden marksman of uncommon skill murders his son, the death leaves Samuel on the brink of total madness.Roark’s wife Sarah, a woman of strength, grace and startling beauty is now both emotionally and physically exhausted by the tragic circumstances that have beset her family. After discovering her husband’s quest for revenge, she does everything in her power to prevent what she fears will ultimately destroy him.Matthew Shaw is a known manhunter and soldier of fortune that people call on when they’re willing to pay someone else to deal with obstacles in their lives. When required, Shaw reluctantly uses his considerable marksmanship to achieve those ends. Now Shaw finds himself caught between a job he truly believes in, and a very good reason to walk away when he realizes he’s falling in love with Sarah, the wife of the man who hired him.

The Good Deed


Renee Perrault - 2013
    When he leaves for America in 1924 to make his fortune for their future, Lydia is heartbroken, and her ruthless younger sister Myra, is still determined to have Edward at any cost. Edward finds life in America difficult. Immigrants, especially Irish Catholics, are shunned, and the influence of the Ku Klux Klan has spread like an epidemic throughout America. When Edward is critically injured in a logging accident, Lydia immediately leaves Ireland for America. Her voyage in steerage is arduous, and an incident aboard ship, changes her and Edward’s life forever. A mentally unbalanced Myra follows Lydia to America. When her plan of revenge is derailed by her own greed, she finds herself in danger, and in need of Lydia’s help to survive. Bringing life to the struggles of Irish immigrants in the 1920’s, “The Good Deed” will captivate readers who enjoyed Andriana Trigiani's, “The Shoemaker's Wife”. "An intriguing book, and an enjoyable read." -S.J.S. Stanton for Chanticleer Book

Blood Dance (The Lost Lansdale #3)


Joe R. Lansdale - 2000
    Family, friends and farms lost in the conflict, they’ve been drifting for the past decade—driving sheep, punching cattle, chasing Indians. It pays a man’s bills, mostly… but just mostly. More than panning for gold, it turns out, though that had seemed like a good idea at the time.And so they find themselves in the Dakota Territory, looking at a cold December with empty pockets and emptier prospects. Which is how otherwise (mostly) upstanding southern gentlemen come to contemplate signing-on as hired guns for a train robbery.If the robbery came off well, no one was double-crossed, and the boys retired to live a comfortable life south of the border, it wouldn’t be much of a Western. Fortunately, Lansdale knows better, and has written a rip-roarer. You probably guessed that from the title, though. Long-unavailable, having fallen between the cracks of the publishing industry, Joe R. Lansdale's Blood Dance is a genuine Western Adventure to rival any of the classics. Fans of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour, take note.

Argosy Junction


Chautona Havig - 2009
    Sheep, mountains, and a family wounded by the spiritual abuses of a cult capture his heart on his first vacation from the metropolis of Rockland. While he learns how destructive the church can be to its own, the Argosys discover a Jesus they forgot.

The Stone House


Marita Conlon-McKenna - 2004
    It is time to return from Dublin, London and New York to Rossmore and the old stone house overlooking the Irish Sea where they grew up. But ancient jealousies surface as each sister confronts the past and the decisions they have made.For work-driven Kate it is time to take stock of her role as a high-flying ambitious lawyer and single parent; life is a battle between work and looking after Molly with little time for a proper relationship. Even Patrick, the man she once fell for, has ended up marrying her sister. Beautiful and intense Moya must take a hard look at her marriage to the charming but unfaithful Patrick and consider her own worth. For wild child Romy who has travelled the world and hasn't put a foot on Irish soil for years, it is time to finally stop running and find the courage to confront her family.A good and caring mother, Maeve Dillon has somehow over the years labelled each of her three daughters: Moya the beautiful, Kate the brains, and Romy, the bold and wild one. Now it is finally time for all three to break out of the box.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls


Anton DiSclafani - 2013
    It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm—a world now partially shattered. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country.Weaving provocatively between home and school, the narrative powerfully unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future. Part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is an immersive, transporting page-turner—a vivid, propulsive novel about sex, love, family, money, class, home, and horses, all set against the ominous threat of the Depression—and the major debut of an important new writer.

Black-eyed Devils


Catrin Collier - 2009
    Amy Watkins and miner 'Big' Tom Kelly were in love. But can they keep their feelings secret or face the threat of death in a community torn apart by the miner's strike? Tonypandy, South Wales, 1911. Starving, striking miners fight soldiers and police on the picket lines for the right to earn a wage that will feed their families, while Irish labourers are brought in the take their place in the pits, for half their pay. Handsome 'Big' Tom Kelly, an Irish worker, comes to Wales looking for a better life and believes he has found it when he falls in love with Amy Watkins, the daughter of a strike leader. At night, the miners search out the Irish men, drag them from their beds, beat them and then hang them from the street lamp posts. Can Amy and Tom keep their love a secret forever? All they want is a future together. But in a world full of hatred, anger and violence, their dream seems impossible. Until another strike leader offers them a way out.

Black Dragon, Black Cat


Brian Edwards - 2010
    In ancient China a young girl trains with a great master for many years, learning the principles of kung fu and becoming a skilled and honorable warrior.