Book picks similar to
The Gate to Eden by Cathy McDavid


historical-romance
romance
historical
western

Small Town Hero


Kim Koby - 2018
    Rebecca is saving herself for marriage. After a crushing betrayal, she spins out of control when she catches her fiancé and best friend in bed together. Grief-stricken and desperate, she finds herself stranded in Tennessee and forced to rely on the kindness of a stranger.Ryan knows heartache. The only woman he loved walked away the day he proposed to her. He knew in that instant he'd never trust his heart to another. At least he has his dog to keep him company and a good job as a local firefighter.When Rebecca ends up in Ryan’s path, they blend like oil and water. While he’s content with what life gives him, she escapes by seeking her identity in expensive things. Can two broken souls find salvation with their complete opposite?

The Patrician


Joan Kayse - 2012
    When his trading empire is threatened by an unknown enemy who not only wants to see him ruined but dead as well, he uses every means to put an end to it. He turns to a beautiful barbarian seer, a slave with hair the color of firelight and eyes that shine like emeralds only to be betrayed into a fate worse than death—slavery.Bryna of Eire lives each day burdened by the yoke of Rome and her own guilt for leading her beloved brother and clansmen into Rome’s clutches. She curses the gift of sight which her master exploits, keeping her under lock and key, telling fortunes and fattening his purse. When an opportunity to be freed of her confinement comes, Bryna takes it, though her instincts warn that lying to the sensual, golden-eyed man that plagues her visions risks her very soul.Betrayed into slavery, Jared labors under the lash envisioning revenge on the seer who sent him into this hell. But when fate throws Bryna into his arms, he finds exacting vengeance a different matter. As they escape, evade bounty hunters and face their pasts, Jared must battle not only his enemy but his heart. Can the differences that separate them draw them together to save their lives and their love?

The Teacher's Bride


Natalie Dean - 2017
    Marston isn’t so sure about this arrangement. Will he finally cave-in…just in time for a Christmas wedding? Greta Samuelson was only fourteen the year Kansas bled, but by the time the Civil War had ended, she was a woman of steel. The war had left only broken pieces of men for single women to comb through, so there wasn’t much for her in Atchison, Kansas. She longs to go west where her brother is. When the wagon train driver arrives in town, he’s got a letter he wants her to see. It’s from a schoolteacher announcing his desire for a wife, primarily asking for a woman of good composure, strong sensibilities and sufficient education to assist him. Greta has not had a great deal of formal education, but she has a good writing hand, and sends back a letter saying she is interested. When Marston first meets Greta, he is disappointed. He had expected a mature, scholarly woman, not a mere slip of a twenty-year-old girl. Greta, however, sets out to prove she is a woman to contend with, even for a thirty-two-year-old teacher. She rolls up her sleeves and takes on the Wild West with as much fortitude as she had shown while living through the Civil War. But can she win Marston’s heart in time to be a Christmas bride? Or will he decide she is too young for him… AUTHOR’S NOTE: Enjoy this clean historical western romance short story! I have plans to turn it into a series to keep you happily reading. Also included are 3 bonus stories! Don’t miss out on this one…it’s one of my best written stories yet!

Mail Order Susanna


Charlotte Dearing - 2020
    A vulnerable mail-order bride, traveling alone.Beau Bailey is tasked with protecting travelers on an east Texas train route. A famed Texas Ranger, Beau tangles with plenty of rough outlaws.His scars come from years of collaring hardened criminals.When he meets Susanna, a lovely, elegant young woman traveling alone, she stirs his protective instincts. She’s a mail-order bride going to Sweet Willow, a town he knows well. Beau’s gut tells him there’s a problem waiting for her.Susanna is on her way to marry a man who Beau believes is dead...

The Ruby Brooch


Katherine Lowry Logan - 2012
    A faded letter and a well-worn journal reveal that she was abandoned on her father’s doorstep as a baby. The only clues to her identity are a blood-splattered shawl, a locket that bears a portrait of a nineteenth-century man, and a Celtic brooch with mystical powers. Following notes in her late father’s journal, Kit sets out on a quest to solve the murders of her birth parents and discover her true identity. Under the guise of the Widow MacKlenna, Kit calls on the power of the ruby brooch and is swept back in time to Independence, Missouri, in the year 1852.Upon arriving in the past, she meets Cullen Montgomery, an egotistical Scotsman with a penchant for seducing widows. The San Francisco-bound lawyer happens to resemble the ghost who has haunted Kit since childhood. She quickly finds the Bach-humming, Shakespeare-quoting man to be over-bearing and his intolerance for liars threatens her quest.If she can survive his accusations and resist his tempting and passionate embrace, she might be able to find the answers she seeks and return home to a new life without changing history or leaving her heart on the other side of time

The Mistress of Trevelyan


Jennifer St. Giles - 2004
    It has long been whispered that Trevelyan Manor hides dark secrets and sinister deeds -- including the murder of Benedict's wife. But Ann refuses to pay heed to spiteful rumor.As she grows to cherish her young charges, Ann also finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome Benedict, whose passionate persuasion introduces her to a new world of sensual pleasures. But even while falling in love with the master of Trevelyan, Ann wonders if his attentions are intended to blind her to the secrets of the past -- and if Benedict holds he key to her destiny...or her destruction.

Midsummer Night


Deanna Raybourn - 2013
    Not to mention her devastatingly handsome partner in crime, Nicholas Brisbane. Midsummer Night is the long awaited novella of their wedding, a dashing—and potentially deadly—affair not to be missed…Midsummer in Victorian England—an auspicious time for a wedding. Brisbane has taken charge of the music. Julia has, perhaps mistakenly, allowed her sisters to choose the dress. And Belmont Abbey is overflowing with guests awaiting the blessed day. What could go wrong?Combine the close-knit chaos of village life, pagan traditions bursting through staid Victorian conventions, and the congenial madness that tends to swirl around Lady Julia's family and you get an unforgettable wedding. But add in a dangerous past nemesis who has come to wish them not-so-well, and their day to remember just might take a fatal turn...

Once Upon the Prairie


Lenny Davis - 2014
    Once Upon The Prairie - A Western Romance Novella (The Brides Of Courage, Kansas, Book 1)Married to the meanest rancher in Kansas, unhappy Mina Morlock lives in a golden cage, as her husband is also the richest man in the state.Her husband's foolishness puts him in awful opposition to the charismatic cowboy Jesse Bartleby and his men.Drawn to Jesse, but married to Neville Morlock, Mina does the right thing — and finds a happily-ever-after that she had not dared to dream of.Enjoy this clean sixty-page Western romance by Lenny Davis.The Brides of Courage, Kansas, Series of historical Western Mail Order Bride Romances:"Once Upon the Prairie," Book 1"She Came One Winter," Book 2"A Bride In Spring," Book 3"Heart of Summer," Book 4

The Inheritance


Joan Johnston - 1995
    But the moment they met, the slate-eyed barbarian took Daisy's breath away. She proposed a marriage of convenience. But she hadn't reckoned on flash-fire passion with the savage new duke ...Nicholas Calloway came to England to discover the truth about his bastard birth, then sell his inherited estate --- with Duchess Daisy's help. Her price was marriage. He agreed, determined to have her on his own terms --- only to find himself hostage to the fiery redhead he couldn't leave behind ...

The Trouble with Patience


Maggie Brendan - 2015
    The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with the restoration of a dilapidated boarding house in order to support herself. Despite her desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local sheriff with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: Patience needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse, and Jedediah needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But Patience gets more than she bargained for as she explores the depths of the "hanging lawman"--and finds both betrayal and love.

The Courageous Bride’s Unexpected Family


Ava Winters - 2020
    How can she protect them, when a figure from their past is coming to take her away? When the determined and beautiful Rosie Quin saw her one true love and savior leave their town, all her hope was lost. She was left alone at the saloon of the cruel Tobias Cox. When she could take his beatings no more, she ran away.When the strong and kind Jeff Kiney lost his wife at childbirth, he thought his chance on love was lost too. Having difficulty in connecting with their little daughter, his only saviour is another mother figure. When Rosie, his old love, turns up on Jeff’s doorstep seeking shelter, they find themselves attracted to each other.Could Rosie be the blessing that Jeff was searching for and Jeff be the knight in shining armour that Rosie needed?But now, Tobias comes after Rosie and Jeff for revenge, and it all comes down to one choice.Will Rosie and Jeff defeat their demons from their past and finally be able to create a loving family, or will Tobias's fury tears down their hopes forever?"The Courageous Bride’s Unexpected Family" is a stand-alone Western Historical Romance Novel with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

An Affair to Dismember


Elise Sax - 2013
    That’s why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her Grandma Zelda — who is more than a little psychic — recruits her into the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What’s more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has her clairvoyant “gift.” But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy. When Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor’s death was murder. It’s not too long before she’s in way over her head — with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she’s unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued — either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?

Shades of the Past


Kathleen Kirkwood - 1999
    Little does she expect to remain at the estate beyond the funeral itself, or to find herself caught up in the secrets of Sherringham’s turbulent past or those of the deceased noblewoman’s dark, brooding nephew ― Viscount Adrian Marrable. A Mysterious Viscount: Twice wed and twice widowed, the darkly handsome lord is implicated in both his wives’ tragic and untimely deaths. Adrian is captivated by Vanessa’s golden beauty and willingly fulfills his late aunt’s dying wishes. His generous financial support allows Vanessa to remain at Sherringham and pursue her passion for photography. But her growing attraction to the enigmatic viscount proves as unsettling as the ghostly figure that appears in her photographs. Royal Sherringham: An expansive castle-mansion complex in the English West Midlands, its long history dates back to the times of the druids. What mysteries does Sherringham hold, and why did Adrian’s late aunt flee her beloved home to live in self-imposed exile? Now, as the Marrable family gathers after years apart, Sherringham’s unseen residents stir. What might they reveal, if the planes between the spiritual and material dimensions are breached? Will Vanessa find an adversary or an ally in the otherworldly presence that beckons from her photographs as secrets are unearthed, shade by shocking shade? Dare Vanessa embrace her blossoming love for the dark viscount or, like her late employer, flee Sherringham forever?

Unlaced


Kristina Cook - 2004
    Instead, she’s caught up in a whirlwind of balls, marriage proposals, and ton intrigues. Worse, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to her sponsors’ maddening neighbor, Henry Ashton, the Marquess of Mandeville. The handsome, arrogant, sometimes infuriating Mandeville stokes a passionate fire within her that won’t be denied, no matter the consequence.Deep, emotional scars secretly plague Henry, Lord Mandeville. As a result, he’s avoided romantic entanglements at all costs. Only, now he needs a wife—someone from a wealthy, powerful family to further his political aspirations. Instead, he finds himself all but obsessed with the beautiful but unconventional Lucy Abbington—a woman whose passions and wit stir desires he’d rather ignore. And yet…she might just be the one woman who can heal his wounded heart.Lucy and Henry’s heads say no, but their hearts say yes. Will they find themselves undone by love?

Rainwater


Sandra Brown - 2009
    She cooks, cleans, launders, and cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose busy behavior and failure to speak elicits undesired advice from others in town. Ella’s plate is full from sunup to sundown. When a room in her boarding house opens up, the respected town doctor brings Ella a new boarder―the handsome and gallant Mr. David Rainwater—but Ella is immediately resistant to opening up her home to this mysterious stranger. Even with assurances that Mr. Rainwater is a man of impeccable character, a former cotton broker and a victim of the Great Depression, Ella stiffens at the thought of taking him in. Dr. Kincaid tells Ella in confidence that Mr. Rainwater won’t require the room for long: he is dying. Begrudgingly, Ella accepts Mr. Rainwater’s application to board, but she knows that something is happening; she is being swept along by an unusual series of events. Soon, this strong-minded, independent woman will realize that the living that she has eked out for herself in the small bubble of her town is about to change, whether she likes it or not... Racial tensions, the financial strain of livelihoods in cotton drying up into dust, and the threat of political instability swirl together into a tornado on the horizon. One thing is certain: the winds of change are blowing all over Texas—and through the cracks in the life that Ella Barron has painstakingly built. This is the story of a woman who takes her life’s circumstances in both hands, but who will be forced to reckon with the chaos of her historical circumstances..