Book picks similar to
Smolder on a Slow Burn by Lynda J. Cox


western
romance
historical-romance
historical

Boaz's Wager


Ruth Ann Nordin - 2014
    But in order to get them back, he needs to marry a woman who’ll be their mother. Eva Connealy left Omaha, Nebraska to be a school teacher. While in Montana, her stagecoach is attacked, and the men decide to sell her. While the men in Lewistown post bids for her, Boaz makes a wager of his own and wins the right to marry her. Despite the shaky beginning, Boaz is sure she’ll adjust to her new life as his children’s mother. But she wants to be more than a mother. She also wants to be a wife and vows to figure out how to take their marriage of convenience into something much, much more.

The Wives of Bowie Stone


Maggie Osborne - 1994
    Knowing that she can save the life of a condemned man by offering to marry him, Rosie Mulvehey opts for a marriage of convenience to ex-cavalry man Bowie Stone, who promises to save her rundown farm as his part of the agreement.

Lady Gone Bad


Sabine Starr - 2012
    Lady has never met a cowboy she couldn't entice, or a lawman she couldn't outrun. But when Lady tangles with a sexy U.S. Marshall, she's tempted to stick around long enough to watch him lay down the law - in her bed. U. S. Marshall Rafe Morgan wants to lock up Lady Gone Bad for good - and he won't let his attraction to her slow him down. But when his attempt to bring Lady to justice goes awry, Rafe is nearly hanged - and by dawn, his face is plastered next to hers on every "Wanted" poster in Texas. Now on the run together, Rafe and Lady find themselves in very close quarters - and even more compromising positions. As Lady surrenders to Rafe's touch, she slowly begins to reveal all her secrets - including her real name. Maybe "Lady Gone Bad" isn't beyond redemption after all. Either way, Rafe is in for one wild ride...

A Bride to Soothe the Wounded Rancher


Lorelei Brogan - 2019
    But when the false accusations of a man in town make her drunk father demand that she gets married, she will have to find an immediate solution. With nowhere to turn, she flees to the West as a mail-order bride for a mysterious stranger. And as more pieces from her husband’s past and present turmoil come to light, Fern is not sure if what she feels deep inside is fear or love. Will she eventually be brave enough to see the man who is hidden behind the deformed face? Charley’s life during the last years has been quite solitary. His scars have disfigured not only his face but his soul too and the ghosts from his past don’t let him move on. Only until a beautiful woman appears in his life aiming to become his mail-order bride, there forms a ray of hope in his darkness. But will he let her touch his heart and heal his wounds? Or will he repel her too, afraid that there is no one in this world who could have true feelings for him? Just when Fern and Charley succeed in putting together pieces that were broken for years, will their past leave them alone for long enough to enjoy it? Or is the situation about to get unstable once again, bringing about consequences they couldn’t even imagine?

Montana Dawn


Caroline Fyffe - 2010
    Instead, he stays and delivers a beautiful baby girl. Unable to leave the pretty young widow and her little son and newborn unprotected in the Montana wilderness, he brings them along on his family’s cattle drive, to the absolute delight of the other friendly cowboys. Luke, third son of Montana’s wealthy McCutcheon family, is different from his brothers. As the offspring of a Cheyenne warrior, he carries a chip on his shoulder for all to see. His flashing eyes and handsome face make Faith feel she’s stepped into some long-ago tale where men cherish their women--and keep them safe. If only she could trust him! Faith is on the run, and although she’s pampered and protected by Luke and his family, she just can’t risk the consequences of sharing the details of her past--one that’s hunting to take her back to the nightmare she’s just escaped. Happy-ever-afters are for fairytales, she reminds herself sternly as her heart feels the warm pull of his. Still, she can’t help but dream of a loving family, a home to call her own, a beautiful and bright…Montana Dawn

Beyond the White River


Kristen McKendry - 2012
    Now she has returned, a strong, independent, and compassionate woman, and she’s brought with her a flock of unwanted and orphaned children she’s collected the way other women gather flowers by the roadside to raise as her own on her remote farm.Joe Condie is intrigued by this tough, independent woman and her boys and, after numerous rejections, finally wins Faith’s resistant heart. But with Joe's marriage proposal, Faith feels vulnerable all over again. Faith has forgiven and healed from the terrible wounds of her past, and she wants to be Joe's wife, but not until she can trust him with her darkest secret.When Faith gets up the courage to reveal what happened in her past and that the man who caused her troubles is still freely walking around Mustang, Joe must find it in himself to forgive and let go of his anger before it drives a wedge between him and the love he’s fought so hard to win.

The Beginning


Cassie Hayes - 2014
    Not willing to return to her father's restrictive home — or face the arduous six-month voyage back to Boston — she hatches a plan to start her own business. She'll never have to trust her future to a man again. Jack Dalton struck it rich in the Sierra Nevada and is having a mighty fine time spending his gold at dance halls and saloons in town. He can't for the life of him figure out why so many of his drinking buddies are signing up for ads in the matchmaking paper that snooty 'Miss Priss' is starting up. The last thing he wants to do is to settle down. When an unscrupulous charlatan threatens to shatter Delilah's dream, Jack takes pity and steps in to lend a helping hand. Then he gets suckered into partnering with the very woman he desperately wants to avoid. Long hours working together force them to face their deepest fears and admit they're drawn toward one another. Can they let go of their pasts and find hope for their future or will they let their fears tear them apart?

The Texan's Wager


Jodi Thomas - 2002
    But still, she can't help thinking that something about this strong, silent farmer could be the key to leaving her troubled past behind...and making a worthy wager with her heart.

Always You


Jill Gregory - 1996
    Melora tried to keep her distance, but his touch was fire in her blood.  And when they became the targets of a violent ambush, Cal's first reaction was to protect her.  Then she knew she would do anything to save them both...Cal had planned his revenge with meticulous care.  First, take the girl.  Then lure Wyatt Holden to his death.  But he hadn't counted on Melora.  She was a distraction of the most dangerous kind, his enemy's woman, a woman he'd vowed to hate--a captive, who disarmed him with her beauty, igniting a flash-fire passion and a reckless disregard for fate...

Intimate Deception


Laura Landon - 2012
    In Victorian England, a woman possesses only one item of value: her virtue. Without it, Fentington will not want her—nor will any other man. But at least she will be free. Now she must find a man with whom to pass the fateful night, a man who will ask no questions, make no other demands. Because for a woman preparing to risk everything, no ordinary man will do…After losing two wives in childbirth, Vincent Germaine, Duke of Raeburn, vows never to marry again. Racked with guilt over the lives lost in his quest for an heir, he is careful now to take his pleasure only with London’s most discreet courtesans. Yet when he learns that a passionate encounter with a bewitching stranger may have put yet another life at risk, Vincent sets out to find the unsuspecting girl—and discovers a woman of incomparable courage, beauty, and strength. But can two strangers brought together by desperation find true love against all odds?

The Rancher Takes A Bride


Sylvia McDaniel - 2000
    This cunning widow is determined to find wives for her brood of handsome sons.Rose Severin speaks to the dead or at least she pretends to until she can earn enough money to make her way to New York and become a famous actress like her mother. Travis Burnett is resolved to rid the frontier town of imposters like Rose. But Eugenia thinks the fiery Rose is just the woman for her obstinate son. She schemes to keep Rose at the family ranch where Travis soon realizes that the supposed spiritualist is more than just a pretty swindler.

Return to Quail Crossings


Jennifer McMurrain - 2014
    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.

The Tenderfoot Bride


Cheryl St. John - 2002
    She's young. Timid. And entirely inappropriate for the hardships and workload she's hired to handle. And she has secrets...

Texas Mail Order Bride


Linda Broday - 2015
    But when mail-order bride Delta Dandridge steps off the stagecoach and claims he sent for her, he scrambles to set her straight. The tempestuous woman makes him see red and also challenges all his vows to remain a bachelor. It turns out Delta Dandridge is going to set Cooper Thorne straight about a few things...

The Wrangler


Jillian Hart - 2012
    When she hires wrangler Dakota Black, she isn’t prepared for the attraction she feels for the self-professed drifter who has no need for emotional ties.Dakota Black is powerfully drawn to Kit from the moment he sets eyes on her. She may be beautiful and courageous to a fault, yet it is her way with horses that captures his heart. Can this drifter leave his past behind and place his trust in the woman who might be his one chance for true love?