She'd been raised to bake in her parents' bakery, and after their deaths, she had planned to carry on the family tradition. Devastated to find out she was losing her family's business, she needed something to do to support herself. When she received a letter from her twin sister's husband in Arizona Territory, suggesting she come out to be the bride of his best friend who was opening a restaurant, it seemed like the perfect solution to her problems. Tripp had gone to the best culinary school in the country, and he knew exactly how to create the perfect meal. He spent hours and hours coming up with just the right menu for his restaurant, only to be told he couldn't get a loan for it unless he married. When his best friend came up with the solution of sending for his baker sister-in-law, it only made sense. Her ideas of the perfect menu were different than his, though. Would the two be able to stay together long enough to convince the bank he was a good risk? Would Sadie be able to convince Tripp that the two of them belonged together after all?

    Now, in "A Taste of Fire", she spins a poignant tale of promises made and kept, as a deathbed vow sends a feisty young woman to find the Texas cattle rancher she must save from danger...and claim as her beloved.Antonie Ramirez could ride and shoot as well as any man—and better than most. Now, the headstrong beauty had come to Texas to honor her father’s last words: find the cattle rancher named Royal Bancroft and repay him for saving their lives long ago.Royal Bancroft didn’t who was behind the outlaws trying to drive him off his land, but he would fight to the death rather than lose it. Yet with his sister and brother kidnapped, he felt defeat run through him like a chill wind… until a girl with cornsilk and a steady gunhand rode into his life.Antonie was wild, hard, and hurting inside, and Royal knew from the moment he saw her that, if he tried to tame her, he’s break her spirit. Instead, he would let her ride with him as an equal partner, fight beside him for a future, and come to him as a woman on fire for blazing love…

    She had dreams of Hollywood stardom, not dirty diapers and pigs. But when Robert Smith, a country boy from head to toe, offers her and her daughter a chance at a normal life, reputation intact, Evalyn can’t help but accept. Little does Robert know, Evalyn is keeping a huge secret. While Evalyn’s family members deal with prejudice in 1940s Texas, fertility, changes of the heart, and even a ghost come back from the dead, Evalyn must fight for her family or lose everything she has grown to love.

    Matt Slade is the orphaned son of hardscrabble Texas settlers. Sarah knows about every Civil War battle from studying newspaper accounts. Matt fought in the bloodiest of them under Generals Longstreet and Lee. If Matt and Sarah ever crossed paths, it should have been for an unremarkable moment. He would tip his hat. She would nod and pass on by. Except that as survivors of a Comanche attack, Matt and Sarah spend far more than a moment together. They come to know each other, depend on each other and love each other. Humiliated by Sarah's love for "Rebel trash," her jilted fiance extracts a revenge so vicious, he boasts that he destroyed the young lovers. Did he? Or when Matt and Sarah meet again years later, can they put their lives and their love back together?

    Just a hardscrabble childhood and brothers who taught her to shoot first and ask questions later.Justin Wells left Boston in disgrace, heading out alone on the dusty trail to Texas. But when the once-respected clergyman encounters a feisty redhead in handcuffs with a dying U.S. Marshal at her side, their journey takes a dramatic turn.His high-society expectations and Sarah’s outlaw habits clash from the start. With a price on her head and towing an orphaned baby rescued from the brink of starvation, Justin and Sarah make the difficult journey toward Rocky Creek. There, justice will be meted out. Perhaps—they hope—with a healthy portion of grace.Filled with mishaps, laughs, and adventure, Margaret Brownley’s inspiring romance will keep readers cheering for Sarah as she struggles to become a true lady.

    But nothing was more precious to Faye than her five children. In a changing world, a milieu where family values are constantly challenged from without and within, the Thayers would face the greatest challenges and harshest test a family can endure, to emerge stronger, bound forever by loyalty and love. It is only when Faye is gone that they can each assess how far they have come, and how important their family album is.(

    Lucy, a pampered New Englander, is dragged by her husband and coldhearted brother-in-law on a wagon train bound for California. The first casualty of the arduous trek is her husband. Lucy longs to return home, but that would mean abandoning her little stepson. How fortunate then that rugged Clint Palance, a former trapper and Indian scout, is watching over them both! As the journey progresses, Lucy faces deprivation, heartache, hardship, and more death. Then, with California just around the bend, Lucy must part from Clint. Will she find him again? Or must she return to a dull life in Boston, forsaking forever the beautiful West she has grown to love?

    Mad Dog Stone was a drifter looking for a few days' work. He walked into her life, threatening Mariah's peace of mind and stirring emotions she tried to hide. Their love was born against all odds, difficult to count on, impossible to hold. Together they would learn the bittersweet truth--that love exists only if you believe. . . .

    But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children. For months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning—until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity. Narrated primarily by the two wives, and based on a real-life legal case, The Wives of Henry Oades is the riveting story of what happens when Henry, Margaret, and Nancy face persecution for bigamy. Exploring the intricacies of marriage, the construction of family, the changing world of the late 1800s, and the strength of two remarkable women, Johanna Moran turns this unusual family’s story into an unforgettable page-turning drama.

    A girl disguised as a boy.A villain with a brothel to fill.A hero wondering why he’s in love with a lad in breeches.Serving murder, mayhem and pies, Stealing Mercy is a romantic adventure set in 1889 on the eve of the Great Seattle Fire when more than the city is set on fire.

    But after losing her last job, she's beginning to see that her feather-to-the-wind mentality can be unsatisfying in the long run. She's been helping a string of friends solve their relationship problems, and when one pal points out to Babette that she could make a career out of curing people's romantic ills, she decides to dub herself "The Love Doctor" -- a match-mender-for-hire. Living in Birmingham, Alabama, with its elite class of wealthy women, Babette has access to the ideal clientele, including the well-known Birmingham socialite Kitty Carelle. Having unceremoniously dumped her lover, Kitty now regrets her hasty decision and wants him back. Trouble is, the man Kitty seeks to recapture is none other than Jeff Eubanks -- Babette's ex! The carefree Babette of three years ago had written him off with a shrug, yet now she can't help remembering that he did give her the absolute best sex of her life...not to mention his charm, good looks, and brains. To save her newfound career and prove she can stick with something--if not someone--Babette is determined to mend Kitty and Jeff's broken relationship, but Jeff has other plans. He was crazy about Babette when she suddenly bailed on their relationship, and after Kitty did the same he became convinced that no woman can ever commit. To prove his point, Jeff issues Babette a challenge: no flirting for a week, and he'll talk to Kitty. That is, if, after seven tempting nights on the beach with Jeff, it's still with Kitty that she wants him to reconcile.

    Their contest culminates in a British Artillery Park when Nathan hangs for espionage – but, in a surprising twist, still triumphs.Filled with love and conflict, murder and betrayal, Halestorm whisks readers into an era of wrenching choices and extraordinary sacrifices. Novelist Becky Akers dramatizes the characters and period through meticulous research, clever dialogue, and a fast-moving plot whose climax will stir your deepest emotions.“Halestorm reveals just how relevant the issues of the American Revolution remain today. Akers’ realistic historical characters make difficult choices that affect their personal happiness and the future of an emerging nation. This stunning tale emphasizes the true cost of freedom and the debt we owe to those who make the sacrifice.”— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of the award-winning Narrow Lives

    And in First Love, Wild Love, she continues her bestselling traditional on the sprawling plains of western Texas where a sheltered beauty loses her heart to a rugged rancher leading a dangerous double life... First Love, Wild Love Reared in the civilized society of far-off England, Calinda Braxton was unschooled in the ways of passion until she arrived in the exotic wilds of the untamed western frontier and a rugged, gunslinging stranger stole into her hotel room - and her bed! Roused from slumber by his breathless kisses, the beguiling innocent surrendered to her bold seducer's virile charms...never dreaming that he was a Texas ranger on a dangerous secret mission... or that his searing caress would awaken her heart to the soul-stealing ecstasy of a magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime love!

    An outlaw known as the Black Wolf of Lincoln dares to stand before the slender, golden loveliness of Lady Servanne de Briscourt—and in one swift, trembling moment, the future of a kingdom is changed.Betrothed to Prince John's champion, the Dragon Lord of Bloodmoor Keep, Servanne becomes the unwilling pawn in a treacherous game...and the defiant love of a dangerous rogue whose secrets can rock a throne. Together they will be swept into the rich pageantry of royal power, throwing wide the huge gates of Bloodmoor to unleash the fury of a thousand armored knights. All the ancient hatreds spawned by a family's sins are revealed, threatening the lives—and the reckless love—of the Black Wolf and the only woman who can tame his bold, wild heart.

    And now, at twenty-three, she must book a safe passage from her home in colonial Boston, to England, to fulfill her mother's dying wish. There is no time to spare, and when her ship is boarded by pirates and she is taken captive by the infamous el Tigre, she is furious.Logan Jeffries is nothing less than shocked when his fiery prisoner challenges his every move. As the undefeated Captain of the Imperial Destiny, he suddenly has no idea how to react when this small woman becomes his greatest adversary. Tempers flare and emotions climb as they embark on a journey that carries them deeper and deeper into a world of adventure, danger, and passion. But when the time comes, will Amber be able to surrender her independence to the man who has captured her heart?