Book picks similar to
The Bad Man's Bride by Susan Kay Law


historical-romance
romance
western
historical

A Husband for Margaret


Ruth Ann Nordin - 2010
    This light-hearted tender romance is the sequel to A Bride for Tom.

Sweetwood Bride


Pamela Morsi - 1999
    BUT IT WAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE....Eulie Toby didn't like playing tricks, but the only way she could keep her younger orphaned siblings together was to get married--and Moss Collier was the perfect choice. Handsome and kind, he seemed so lonely living with his hermit uncle on that pretty sweep of Tennessee mountaintop. It didn't matter if their vows came at the end of a shotgun; Eulie promised Moss she'd make him the best wife in all of the Sweetwood.But a young bride and a ready-made family were the last things on Moss's mind. He had big dreams of going West and nothing was going to stop him--not Eulie's sweet innocence...not her deliciously kissable lips...and especially not that growing warmth deep inside his heart every time she came near. Moss had plans all right--but he hadn't planned on falling in love.Author Biography: Publishers Weekly calls national bestselling author Pamela Morsi "the Garrison Keillor of romance." Her trademark wit and warmth enliven tightly written tales with down-home charm. Her novels, including Sealed with a Kiss, No Ordinary Princess, The Love Charm, and Courting Miss Hattie, have garnered rave reviews from critics and numerous awards including two RITA Awards, a Waldenbooks Sales Award, Bookstores that Care Favorite Romance Awards and the Maggie Prize for Historical Fiction, and Reviewer's Choice from Romantic Times maga-zine. She lives in Texas with her family.

A Cowboy for Keeps


Jody Hedlund - 2021
    First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He'll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt's ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family with Greta. But when old insecurities and surprising revolutions arise, can a union born out of desperation survive?

Tame the Wild Wind


Rosanne Bittner - 1996
    Settlers had murdered his Indian wife and child, and now revenge was all he lived for. Riding westward with a renegade Sioux band, he became Tall Bear, a warrior with a wounded soul, a man with an anger and grief that tore away his gentleness and dreams—until a raid on a Wyoming stagecoach station brought him face-to-face with a feisty, red-haired beauty who would change his life...Faith Kelley had run from her strict, pious upbringing toward the freedom of the frontier and a reckless husband. All too quickly, tragedy left her alone with an infant son and shattered plans. But Faith had drawn strength from the soaring hills, and her tough-minded courage flared when Indians attacked the stage stop that had become her home. She never guessed that Gabe Beaumont, the handsome, dark-haired cowboy who later rode into the station, was the Sioux warrior who had led that raid.  He had changed worlds to claim the woman who was his destiny—and to fight for her love against the shadows and the danger that lurked in his wild heart.

Hitched to the Gunslinger


Michelle McLean - 2021
    The humor was quick-witted and sharp… I didn’t want to put this book down.” -Reading RebelGray “Quick Shot” Woodson is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, he’s ready to hang up his hat. Sure, being notorious has its perks. But the nomadic lifestyle—and people always tryin’ to kill you—gets old real fast. Now he just wants to find a place to retire so he can spend his days the way the good Lord intended. Staring at the sunset. And napping.When his stubborn horse drags him into a hole-in-the-wall town called Desolation, something about the place calls to Gray, and he figures he might actually have a shot at a sleepy retirement.His optimism lasts about a minute and a half.Soon he finds himself embroiled in a town vendetta and married to a woman named Mercy. Who, judging by her aggravating personality, doesn’t know the meaning of her own name. In fact, she’s downright impossible. But dang it if his wife isn’t irresistible. If only she’d stop trying to steal his guns to go after the bad guys herself. There goes his peace and quiet...Each book in the Gunslinger series is STANDALONE:* Hitched To The Gunslinger* The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony

Rachel and the Hired Gun


Elaine Levine - 2009
    But she didn't realize that she had been summoned west to be used as a pawn in a ranch war with her father's neighbor--or that her fierce, sudden attraction to Sager, her father's hired gun, would put her heart and her life in jeopardy.Seducing Rachel and feeding a bitter feud between the two ranches was Sager's plan of vengeance against those who slaughtered his Shoshone family. Instead, Rachel's guileless mix of courage and vulnerability touches the conscience he thought he'd buried long ago, and draws them both into a passion without rules, without limits--one that will change their destinies forever. . . Note: This is a reprint of a previously published book.

After Sundown


Shelly Thacker - 1999
    Marshal Lucas McKenna has brought down some of the most notorious outlaws in the West. Now he’s on a personal mission: hunting the woman who killed his brother. Antoinette Sutton is running for her life. The evidence against her is overwhelming—and no one will believe the truth about what happened. Lucas captures the dark-haired beauty in Colorado, but before he can take her back to Missouri to stand trial, the two are snowbound in a remote mining town. During the firelit nights of a Rocky Mountain winter, lawman and prisoner are caught in a dance of danger…and desire.An RWA RITA Award Finalist: Best Historical Romance of the Year"Fast-paced and poignant. One of the best romances of the year." -The Oakland Press"Refreshing. Capable and strong characters, true emotion...this is a much better offering in the western romance department than many I have read, and if you've been looking to try a novel in this genre, I recommend this one." -AllAboutRomance.com"Shelly Thacker's masterful handling of complex emotions is as impressive as her storytelling ability. This fresh, intriguing, sensual tale is just what romance readers are looking for. 4-1/2 stars (highest rating)" -RT Book ReviewsOriginally published by Dell under the title Into the Sunset. This Author's Preferred Edition has been revised by the author and includes new scenes never before published.

The Rainbow Season


Lisa Gregory - 1979
    Sarah McGowanHer roots were deep in the Texas soil. But her secret shameful love for her sister's husband kept her from happiness.Pride and their love of the Texas land threw them together in an unlikely marriage. Then, as unexpectedly as a spring flood, long pent-up passion exploded in a storm that was to consume them both...

Cinders' Bride


Kathleen Ball - 2015
    Instead, her intended is a saloonkeeper. Her refusal to marry enrages John Hardy and he slices her cheek with a knife so no other man would want her. She runs into the street and no one helps her until blond, blue eyed Cinders rescues her. Sexy, rancher Cinders saves Shannon and offers her a job. To protect her reputation he must marry her. They both agree it’s a marriage of convenience. He admires her spunk and willingness to learn everything about surviving the Texas frontier. He waits for her to ask to go home but she never does. They learn a lot about each other through, stolen horses, Indian troubles, a cattle drive and the busybodies of the town. Their attraction for each other grows, but can they learn to trust enough to love? Join me in Asherville, Texas and see how this love story unfolds.

The Measure of Katie Calloway


Serena B. Miller - 2011
    To protect herself and her young brother from her violent and unstable husband, she flees north, finding anonymity and sanctuary as the cook in a Northwoods lumber camp. The camp owner, Robert Foster, wonders if the lovely woman he's hired has the grit to survive the never-ending work and harsh conditions of a remote pine forest in winter. Katie wonders if she can keep her past a secret from a man she is slowly growing to love.With grace and skill, Serena Miller brings to life a bygone era. From the ethereal, snowy forest and the warm cook-stove to the rowdy shanty boys and the jagged edges of the saw, every detail is perfectly rendered, transporting the reader back to the time when pine was king, men were made of iron, and rivers were choked with logs on the way to the sawmills. Readers will have a hard time leaving the Northwoods when they turn the last page.

Weathered Too Young


Marcia Lynn McClure - 2010
    In all the world there was no one who cared for her. Still, there were worse things than independence -- and Lark had grown quite capable of providing for herself. Nevertheless, as winter loomed, she suddenly found herself with no means by which to afford food and shelter -- destitute.Yet Tom Evans was a kind and compassionate man. When Lark Lawrence appeared on his porch, without pause he hired her to keep house and cook for himself and his cantankerous elder brother, Slater. And although Tom had befriended Lark first, it would be Slater Evans -- handsome, brooding and twelve years Lark's senior -- who would unknowingly abduct her heart.Still, Lark's true age (which she concealed at first meeting the Evans brothers) was not the only truth she had kept from Slater and Tom Evans. Darker secrets lay imprisoned deep within her heart -- and her past. However, it is that secrets are made to be found out -- and Lark's secrets revealed would soon couple with the arrival of a woman from Slater's past to forever shatter her dreams of winning his love -- or so it seemed. Would truth and passion mingle to capture Lark the love she'd never dared to hope for?

Tame a Wild Heart


Cynthia Woolf - 2014
    The very first moment she saw twelve-year-old Duncan McKenzie, she told God and her pony that she was going to marry that boy. He was handsome. He was kind. He was strong and smart and all the good things a boy should be. For thirteen years she loved him with every beat of her heart. And on her sixteenth birthday he walked away from her father's ranch, and from her. He didn't look back over his shoulder. Not even once. And from that day forward, Catherine Evans swore off all men. Her heart turned to stone, her will to iron, and her vow to God changed. She'd run her father's ranch. She'd succeed. She'd survive. And she would never, ever love another man as long as she lived. Duncan McKenzie left the ranch ten years ago, desperate to escape temptation in the form of a budding young lady too innocent to claim for his own. But Catherine's frightened father summons him home. The ranch is under attack and the old man's stubborn daughter refuses to seek help. Duncan left a sweet young girl behind a decade ago. He returns to a defiant siren, a woman whose heart is as wild as the land she would sacrifice her life to protect. When Catherine's father coerces her into marrying Duncan, the fire in her eyes spells trouble, but it's the kind of trouble Duncan has no desire to resist. Marriage is the only way he can protect her. Especially when Duncan's own past comes calling in the form of one extremely dangerous and vengeful outlaw, Catherine's cowardly enemies want the ranch badly enough to kill for it, and his reluctant bride is very much in their way.

After The Ashes


Cheryl Howe - 2003
    After the death of her mother, she follows her younger brother out west, hoping for a fresh start with her last living relative. Instead she finds a ruthless bounty hunter looking for the brother she knows she must protect at all costs. She doesn't expect the price to be losing her heart to a man who promises her nothing but shared passion.Christopher Braddock wants information more than the bounty of a bumbling kid who got mixed up with the outlaw Braddock has been searching for since the war. But when his prey's sister tries to throw him off her brother's trail, Braddock isn't noble enough to not let her try. What he doesn't expect is the spark that brings his body, and worse, his numbed emotions back to life. His unexpected feelings for Lorelei has Braddock crossing the line from bounty hunter to outlaw. He'll do whatever it takes to keep Lorelei safe, including breaking her heart.

Petticoat Ranch


Mary Connealy - 2006
    Can she find a way to love a headstrong mountain man? When Clay McClellan discovers his brother has been murdered, he's bent on finding the killers and seeing them properly hung. But first his Christian duty demands that he marry his sister-in-law. After all, Sophie needs someone to protect her - right? Faith and love help unruly wed newlyweds find common ground and a chance at love on the Texas frontier.

Suddenly a Bride


Cynthia Thomason - 1999
    A devastating tornado destroys Abigail Chadwick's homestead and kills her beloved father, leaving her with grief, five orphans, and the challenge of rebuilding her farm alone. She wasn't prepared for the miracle that showed up on her doorstep in the handsome form of Sam Kelly, a stranger who was just passing through. When he decides to stay and help her, Abby discovers that Sam's gentle kindness might mend more than just tattered buildings. But what about the mystery that surrounds his past? Can she really believe he'll stay?Homespun Hearts is a story about faith, family, and believing in miracles, set in America's heartland by award-winning author, Cynthia Thomason. Homespun Hearts was awarded the National Readers' Choice Award for best long historical romance.