Nearly the start of a new century, and a new life for Rachel. Her father has moved her out west, after the death of her mother, so he can take on a job in a frontier town. Everything here is different. Rachel has to get used to so much, and it seems the Lord has handed her much, much more than she can handle by herself.In town she meets a young man full of confidence and swagger. There is an attraction she can't deny...until she sees the gun he wears on his hip and realizes that Jake Landers is a man of violence. She finds it hard to reconcile that with what she knows of Christian life. Until she hears him speak, and finds the gentle soul behind his words.Violence does follow him, hot on his heels, and Rachel finds herself swept up into the middle of it. God will protect them, she's sure of it.She just doesn't know what path that protection will lead her to.

    He's been too busy helping to provide for his family. Now that he's heading west, Dex is hoping to start a family of his own. However, his attempt to acquire a mail-order bride fails miserably when the lady writes back ridiculing his terrible spelling. Rachel Oliver may be the last person he wants to know what a dunce he is, but she's also the smartest woman in town--and it's clear he needs her help.Rachel Oliver has lingered in town for three years secretly mooning over Dex Stanton, but now she's done. If the fool wants to write to a mail-order bride company, so be it. Once she begins giving Dex lessons, however, Rachel realizes she may not be prepared to give up just yet.As their time together runs short, can two of the most stubborn people in town set aside their pride long enough to find love?Love by the Letter is a companion novella to A Bride for Keeps, Melissa Jagears's full-length debut novel available fall 2013. Includes an extended sneak peek at A Bride for Keeps.

    When a tragic accident leaves her a widow soon after becoming a wife, Aundy takes on the challenge of learning how to manage a farm, even if it means her stubborn determination to succeed upsets a few of the neighbors. Born and raised on the family ranch, Garrett Nash loves life in the bustling community of Pendleton in 1899. When his neighbor passes away and leaves behind a plucky widow, Garrett takes on the role of her protector and guardian. His admiration for her tenacious spirit soon turns to something more. He just needs to convince the strong-willed Aundy to give love another try.

    Clinging to her battered faith, she heads west to escape her grief and runs headlong into the man who caused it. Tall and headstrong, Eliza expected to remain an "unclaimed treasure." Devastated in the wake of the war, she sets out for New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains in search of peace and new purpose but finds that the western frontier is a wild place where former enemies--Yankees and Rebels, Freedmen and Indians--square off in the quest for land and gold. Eliza must confront her prejudices and fears, and Jacob Craig embodies that conflict. The mountain man wins her trust with his gentle strength, but he harbors a secret. As a Union sharp-shooter, he met her fiance on the field of battle and cost him his life. Eliza must learn that she will not find purpose or peace anywhere until she finds in God a faith more precious than gold. A real ghost town comes to life in this award-winning story of love, forgiveness, and the sovereignty of God.

    How can she fulfill this desire for a husband except to ask for the new matchmaker’s help? When her life is threatened, she learns the depth of the baker’s feelings for her.William Sandoval is a successful baker who could provide well for a wife, but protocol prevents him from fraternizing with the only females he encounters, his customers. Learning that Marianne Gordon is willing to help the local business owners with matchmaking gives him hope for finding a wife. To his surprise, the match Marianne identifies for him has been the very customer who had stirred his heart all along.Will these two find a way to get what they both want? Can love overpower doubts and confusion?