But when the matron surprises everyone by announcing her own engagement, Sadie is suddenly next in line for the job. For a young woman who was once an orphan herself, a shot at such an esteemed position is a wish come true.But the matron of the Home cannot be married. Is Sadie willing to give up her dreams of a life with Blaine and a family of her own? Is she prepared to forgo daily involvement with the children as she instead manages the financial, legal, and logistical aspects of the orphanage? And when it's revealed that the Home is spending a lot more money than it's taking in, can Sadie turn things around before the place is forced to close forever?

    She knows she cannot stay, but she doesn't want to leave her sister behind. Her only hope is to accept an arranged marriage and pray this man, sure to be homely and elderly, will adopt her sister. The striking Thomas Johnson is anything but homely or elderly. He has come to the orphanage expecting to wed a plain, obedient woman who will be as silent as a shadow in his home. The beautiful, intelligent, and independent Maurine is a complete surprise. Maurine realizes he could have had his pick of women, so why did he come to an orphanage? Their first night together on the return trip to his home, she comes to understand he doesn't want her as a wife, but as a governess to his children. Within days, she is falling in love with a man who refuses to get close to her, a man who is hiding something about the death of his first wife. This is a tale of two sisters: Maurine, who yearns to be loved by the man who took her as his bride, and Rebecca who finds love in the arms of the son of a wealthy Cherokee plantation owner. Billow Creek Bride is a careful blend of laughter and tears, sorrows and joys as these two women discover strength within themselves to meet the challenges of life and love in the 1830's, and the event that would change history known as 'The Trail of Tears.'

    If only she could out run the lingering nightmares.Charles Bailey, camp foreman and Stony Creek's itinerant pastor, develops a reputation to match his new nickname — Preach. However, an inner battle ensues when the details of his rough history threaten to overcome the beliefs of his young faith.Amid the hazards of camp life, the unlikely friendship growing between the two surprises Isabelle. She's drawn to Preach's brute strength and gentle nature as he leads the ragtag crew toiling for Pollitt's Lumber. But when the ghosts from her past return to haunt her, the choices she will make change the course of her life forever—and that of the man she's come to love.

    Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal—and to fulfill a dying soldier’s last wish by delivering his coded diary.At the home of the Wilherns, one of England’s most powerful families, Langdon attends a lavish ball where he meets their beautiful and intelligent ward, Julia Grey. Determined to maintain propriety, he keeps his distance—until the diary is stolen and all clues lead to Julia’s guardian. As Langdon traces an evil plot that could be the nation’s undoing, he grows ever more intrigued by the lovely young woman. And when Julia realizes that England—and the man she is falling in love with—need her help, she finds herself caught in the fray. Will the two succumb to their attraction while fighting to save their country?

    Horse traders from Virginia, Ethan Sharpe and his brother Devon would defend their livelihood from her interfering kind. When love ignites, friends become enemies separated over the course of a long and brutal conflict. Can the very influences which carved a chasm unite a torn family against all odds?

    Unable to continue to live alone in Chicago, her only option is to accept her sister's offer to move in with her family back in West Virginia. Will Delilah have the faith to pursue a new dream--even if it means giving up the old?In this charming novella, debut novelist Sarah Loudin Thomas introduces readers to Wise, West Virginia--a small town nestled in an Appalachian valley where the everyday miracles of life and faith play out in stories of healing, hope, and love.

    Perhaps she’ll find adventure during a visit to Galway. Her idea of excitement consists of exploring Ireland for yarn to feature in her shop back home, but the adventure awaiting her includes an edgy stranger who disrupts her tea time, challenges her belief system, and stirs up feelings she thought she’d buried with her husband. After years of ignoring God, nursing anger, and stifling his grief, Payne Anderson isn’t ready for the feelings a chance encounter with an enchanting stranger evokes. Though avoiding women and small talk has been his pattern, something about Ellen makes him want to seek her—and God again.Can Ellen accept a new life different than the one she planned? Can Payne release his guilt and accept the peace he’s longed for? Can they surrender their past pain and embrace healing together, or will fear and doubt ruin their second chance at happiness?

    Letitia Morgan comes to Hartville, Colorado, in the late 1800s to follow her God-given calling to heal. Soon she becomes Hartville's ministering angel, reaching out to the children of the town drunk, and skillfully touching all who need her. But not everyone warms to the lovely new physician and Letty ruffles plenty of feathers when she takes on Hartville's thriving brothels. As she rescues first one then another young girl forced into the sordid trade, Letty becomes the target of some of the town's most powerful people. Eric Wagner, Hartville's newspaper editor, finds he got much more than he bargained for when he brought this female doctor to town. As Letty stirs more controversy with each passing day, he wonders if he can save the noble-minded doctor from herself. This is heart-warming and engaging fiction at its best, straight from the pen of a skilled storyteller.

    He has long since passed away, but his book remains, gathering dust on my shelf when it should have been entertaining good folks like you. So here it is at last: a western with heart written on an old manual typewriter. The story takes place in the badlands of West Texas (where he lived), and is chock-full of all the sprawling drama, heartache, triumph, tragedy, and gun-slinging grit one could desire. The cover of the book is adapted from an oil painting brushed by our father back in 77—one of many. I remember it hanging on the wall when I was a kid. I believe it was his favorite, so thought it only fitting that it be the cover. Now, finally, after all these years, our dad will get the recognition he deserves for both his writing and his painting. I sure hope he can see what's going on down here, 'cause I know it would make him smile. So take a deep breath, and let the troubles of the modern world slip away as you journey back to a simpler time (two simpler times, actually), the old west, and the 1940's....

    So when her husband, a founding member of the cult, suffers a massive heart attack, Caralynne allows her husband to die. Caralynne’s secret seems safe until Dayne MacFarland returns, determined to learn the truth about the cult. His investigation and his rekindled love for Caralynne lead the pair toward a confrontation with the group’s elders. Can Dayne’s love for Caralynne bridge the gulf of anger and bitterness that divides the community? Or will Caralynne’s deadly secrets prove too high a price for her redemption?

    A terrible hurricane strikes and the grand ship begins to sink. Just before it goes under, a rescue ship appears on the horizon. But it only has room enough to save the women and children. Laura soon finds herself sailing away toward New York city on a ship filled with orphans and widows, to meet John's family whom she’s never met. Desperate for a miracle, Laura braces herself to face life alone. (Inspired by a True Story)

    McKenzie is desperate, after all, to save her beloved younger sister, Kaydie, from her evil, abusive husband, who robs banks for a living. And so, it is with reckless determination that McKenzie runs away from the comforts of home and hearth to head West and meet her new husband-whom she'll divorce, of course, after she rescues her sister. "Desperate times call for desperate measures" is the reasoning that also prompts Zachary Sawyer, a rugged rancher after God's own heart, to post an ad for a mail-order bride in various newspapers across the country. Managing a ranch and caring for his adoptive son, Davey, has become more than one man can handle alone, and Zach prays for God to send him a wife with whom to build a life and share his dreams.When McKenzie arrives at Zach's ranch, she immediately puts her plan in motion, searching for her sister and doing all she can to keep her new husband from forming an attachment. But his persistent kindness and significant self-sacrifices begin to change her heart-and ruin her plans. God has a way of working things out to the good of those who love Him, though, as McKenzie and Kaydie will soon see.

    When he refuses, Elenora becomes the competition across the street. Is this town big enough for the two of them? Miles can’t help but stick his well-polished boot in his mouth whenever he comes face-to-face with Elenora. Can he find a way to win her heart while destroying her business? Miles’s mother, Maude, is bent on Elenora becoming her new daughter-in-law while Elenora’s daughter, Tildy, thinks Miles would make a perfect papa. How far will these meddlers go to unite this enterprising pair?

    But he desires an heir. When Lorinda is finally out from under the control of men who made all the decisions in her life, she promises herself she will never allow a man to control her again. But how can she provide for her infant son? Marriage seems like the perfect arrangement until two people from Franklin's past endanger Lorinda. How can he save her? And how will this affect the way they feel about each other?

    Her widowed mother and baby sister are depending upon her for their survival back home in Boston. And the self-appointed mayor of the rugged mountain community is counting on Miss Cooper to prove herself a fitful teacher for the young and old alike. Lord Alexander Barnes is determined to bring a bit of English civility to the wild terrain of Emerson Pass. Using his own resources, the widower and father of five builds a schoolhouse and recruits a young teacher from the east to provide an education for both the adults and the children in his rapidly growing mining town. But when the lovely, and much younger than anticipated, Miss Cooper arrives to town, Lord Barnes finds himself providing more than just employment when the boarding house proves to be an unsafe accommodation for the school mistress. As Miss Cooper takes a room in the Barnes' home, the five Barnes children are delighted. They are sure Miss Cooper is the perfect woman for their lonely father. But when a friend of the Englishman turns up dead, the hope for progress in the untamed town seems immediately lost. Can Miss Cooper and Lord Barnes bring change to the closed-minded locals? And will their endeavor open their hearts to something more? The first installment of USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson's historical romance series brings a touch of whimsy and an extra dash of mystery to Edwardian romance. Readers will fall in love with the courageous Miss Cooper and swoon for the magnanimous English Lord as they struggle to save their exciting new world at the turn of the 20th Century.