Both a thriller and a Jewish woman's memoir, Hadassah takes readers to ancient Persia (now known as Iran), into the inner sanctum of the palace and back out into the war zones of battle and political intrigue. This gripping drama of a simple peasant girl chosen over many more qualified candidates to become Esther, Queen of Persia, captures the imagination and fires the emotions of men and women alike.

    Also left behind is Abishag’s betrothed, Joseph, who has already waited many months to claim his bride. Now, he must wait until Israel’s king no longer needs her. Torn from the comfort of her small village, Abishag is thrust into a world of unfamiliar customs, royal expectations, and palace intrigue. She is greeted suspiciously by the king’s concubines, warmly by Queen Bathsheba, and reluctantly by King David himself. Adonijah, the king’s son, is bitter over his father’s choice of Solomon as Israel’s next king. He determines to ruin Abishag to prevent her from being given as a prize to Solomon at their father’s death. Suffering personal losses, as well as scorn from much of the royal court, Abishag begins to question God’s goodness in placing her in the king’s service. Can she find someone there who understands that one who comforts the king is in great need of comfort herself? Will Abishag’s time with the king end in despair or joy?

    They're unprepared for the savage mountain winter that traps them in a desperate struggle for survival. At this critical moment, lawman Brett Wilder arrives in town. He's looking for the gunslinger who crippled his father-and he suspects Jack. When Annalee and Brett meet as they each search for Jack, they must face what they believe about the sovereignty of God, justice, and mercy. They also must discover whether their growing love for one another will melt like snow into an icy mountain stream or bloom like a rose in the desert.

    She'll show the good-looking lawman he's wrong, even if it means setting out on a risky race across Texas to catch the real killer. Rett doesn't want to convict an innocent man. But he can't let the Boston beauty sway his senses to set a guilty man free. When Elizabeth follows him on a dangerous trek, the Ranger vows to keep her safe. But who will protect him from the woman whose conviction and courage leave him doubting everything—even his heart?

    Not many people in Mitchell, a small town in the Dakota Territory, would understand him living with the Sioux Indians who rescued him as a boy. Haunted by the murder of his parents as they traveled West in their covered wagon, he knows it wasn’t Indians who killed them, and his many unanswered questions about that night still torment him. His only desire is to live quietly on his homestead and raise Arabian horses. Until he meets Anna, a beautiful young woman with secrets of her own. Is it his eery and unusual wolf eyes that draw Anna to him? Falling in love was not part of his plan. Can Philip open his heart and tell her how he feels before it’s too late?With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in Mitchell, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger even as his inner battle gets in the way. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family out there in the wilderness?

    How could God grant her the desire of her heart, then do nothing to prevent it from being taken away? Can she wait for God’s perfect timing, or will she take matters into her own hands…again? About to age out of a Missouri orphanage in 1858, shy Rachel listens with terror as the orphanage matron tells her she’s practically auctioning her off to the highest bidder for her hand in marriage. Rachel prays, asking God to help her and her younger brother Charlie escape, but how? When God provides what Rachel believes to be her liberator, the seed of an idea sets in motion an adventure that will bring happiness and heartbreak and nearly cost Rachel her health. When trouble comes, it comes in a big way and those who care for Rachel wonder if she will ever recover. Rachel and Charlie face danger and sorrow, see new territory, and grow in their faith. They just might even find the desire of their hearts and realize God had bigger plans than they ever imagined.

    In order to support her little brother, Thaddeus, and her grandmother, she relies upon her skills in beetle-wing embroidery that have been passed down to her through generations of Indian women.When a stranger appears with the news that Thaddeus is now Baron Sunderson and must travel to England to take his place as a nobleman, Ottilie is shattered by the secrets that come to light. Despite her growing friendship with Everett Scott, friend to Ottilie's English grandmother and aunt, she refuses to give up her brother. Then tragedy strikes, and she is forced to make a decision that will take Thaddeus far from death and herself far from home.But betrayal and loss lurk in England, too, and soon Ottilie must fight to ensure Thaddeus doesn't forget who he is, as well as find a way to stitch a place for herself in this foreign land.

    His greatest surprise, however, comes when he wins a run-down English estate-with the spirited sister of the previous owner still in residence!

    Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen's relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family's New Jersey garden and landscaping business. Annie Allen doesn't care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone--like their mother and father--and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie's letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise--and find the woman he's grown to love--before she's lost forever.

    As she rose through the harem ranks, her true identity carefully concealed, her faith in eclipse, Esther had no inkling that the fate of a nation would hang upon her courage. Based on meticulous historical research, Trudy J. Morgan-Cole weaves the biblical story of Esther into secular history. Her deep narrative, involving more than 70 characters, brings to life the Zoroastrian society of ancient Persia and chronicles the known exploits and foibles of king Xerxes in authentic detail. Her amazing story shows how God turns women with common fears, struggles, and identity crises into heroines of faith. If you liked Terri Fivash's Joseph, you'll love Trudy J. Morgan-Cole's Esther.

    Now she just has to find a way to get the money.Alyce harbors a secret passion for speed and automobiles, and she's spent many an afternoon driving around the rustic track in the field behind her home. When she discovers that her father's company has sponsored a racing car that will compete in several upcoming events--races in which the driver will be paid and could win as much as five thousand dollars in prize money--she conspires with her father's mechanic, Webster, to train and compete.But when her friends cast aspersions on Webster's past, she realizes she may have trusted the wrong person with her secret. Will Alyce come up with the money in time, or will she have to choose between her hasty promise and the man who holds a piece of her heart?

    With an Everlasting Love (over 400,000 copies in print), a delightful, spellbinding love story with an intriguing twist, will forever change the way Christians feel when they read, "Behold, the bridegroom is coming..."Christianna simply couldn't believe it. Though she was a comely woman, she was an outcast, a despised half-breed. Yet before her was a letter from a passionate but unseen lover--the legendary Joshua of Jerusalem, a righteous Jewish man of great wealth whom everyone spoke of with reverence and awe.She had never seen him, yet he wanted her as his bride and promised to love her unconditionally...forever. He asked her to love him preeminently--above all other relationships, above her own desires, and above her own life. Yet they wouldn't meet in person until their wedding day more than a year later.Could she make such a commitment? Christianna thought so...until a surprise encounter with the mysterious but handsome Kosmos, who lavishes her with the personal attention she longs for. Now her mind is filled with doubt. Why was Joshua taking so long to come? Had she been a fool to believe that such a great man would want her?

    Her father, however, is cold and withdrawn. And their Christian houseguest, the photographer Benjamin McCabe, seems arrogant and judgmental. When Valerie commits her own life to Christ she finds herself drawn to Ben. But her father, against her wishes, is prepared to sell her into a loveless marriage with someone else. Will Valerie be forced to abandon her newfound love? Or will she and Ben, against the backdrop of this country's most ruthless war, become in their own way, unwilling warriors?

    She saves every penny she can from her wages as a telegraph operator and keeps applying for work someplace besides the middle of the prairie. She won't let herself fall in love with anyone who doesn't have the same ambition as she--until Ben Purcell steps off the train and into Lily's heart. Ben Purcell will have his stable home at last. Raised by an itinerant salesman father, Ben has longed for land and a home. To gain that end, he takes a job managing a livery in Browning City, Iowa, where he hopes to earn enough money to buy a farm. A wife isn't in the picture, but then he meets Lily and begins to change his mind--until someone seems bent on killing him. Rumors that a train robber left gold somewhere around the livery have circulated since the Civil War ten years earlier. Most people dismiss them as nonsense. Others take them seriously. Someone takes them seriously enough to want Ben gone, even dead. Learning the identity of the culprit draws Ben and Lily together until her chance to head for the city finally comes through, and she must choose among the golden lights of the city, the train robber's gold, or something even better.

    But sometimes love shows up when you least expect it... Elizabeth Simmons longs to escape the mold society has for her and realize her dreams of independence. When offered a job caring for an injured family acquaintance, Elizabeth gladly leaves her pampered life in Philadelphia behind and sets off for the newly-formed Arizona Territory. However, she soon discovers the awful truth behind her new arrangement. Michael O'Roarke stepped away from bright prospects back East in order to keep tabs on his unprincipled father in frontier Arizona. That burden, along with the demands of starting his own freighting business, claims all his attention...until he finds himself captivated by the feisty Elizabeth. Will losing her heart to Michael undermine the independence Elizabeth has worked so hard to achieve? Or could this land of danger and hardship also prove to be her land of promise? Land of Promise is the first book in Carol Cox's ARIZONA TERRITORY BRIDES, four sweet, inspirational stories of strong women with bold faith who played a part in taming the Western frontier. If you like wholesome, historical Western novels grounded in faith, you won't want to miss a single title in the ARIZONA TERRITORY BRIDES series. Scroll up to grab your copy of Land of Promise and start reading today! Also available in the ARIZONA TERRITORY BRIDES series: Book 1: Land of Promise Book 2: Refining Fire (pre-order now to receive your copy on October 18, 2016) Coming soon: Book 3: Road to Forgiveness Book 4: Copper Sunrise CAROL COX is the author of 30 inspirational novels and novellas. With over one million copies of her books in print, those titles range from historical romantic suspense to contemporary romance and cozy mysteries, often set in her native Southwest. When she isn't busy researching or writing about the Old West, Carol spends her time helping her husband (a pastor who also operates a saddle shop) and working on a never-ending series of crochet projects. She and her family enjoy rural life in northern Arizona, where the deer and the antelope really do play--often within view of the family's front porch.