After the attack, Kate found the wagon master barely alive. He gave her directions to a cabin owned by a mountain man, Homer Manchester, called Man. Kate worried about spending the winter in a cabin alone with a mountain man, but it couldn't be worse than starvation. Or could it?She finds herself trapped in the wilderness, living with a stranger, fighting for her life against Indian renegades and slave traders. She must learn to adapt to a life she never would have dreamed of living and become a ruthless mountain woman to survive.

    She grows up quickly when she witnesses the murder of her family by a gang of outlaws, and vows to make them pay for their crime. When the law won't help her, she takes matters into her own hands. Jess McLowry left his war-torn Southern home to head West, where he hired out his gun. When he learns what happened to Gabriella's family, and what she plans, he knows a young woman like her will have no chance against the outlaws, and vows to save her the way he couldn't save his own family. But the price of vengeance is high and Gabriella's willingness to sacrifice everything ultimately leads to the book's deadly and startling conclusion.This is a harsh and gritty tale of the old West, somewhat reminiscent of Charles Portis' True Grit or Nancy Turner's These is My Words. [This novel was previously published under the pseudonym JoMarie Lodge.]

    With a broken arm and wounded spirit she is escaping the hands of her cruel brother and the marriage he has arranged. She's running to the unknown, praying God will lead her steps. Seeking shelter from an ice storm in a livery stall, Lydia goes to sleep hoping that in this small town of Cottonwood, Iowa she’ll find a job, a place to live, friends, and a future.Dr. Sterling Graham, having just delivered a baby, rides back to town over ice covered roads. He's confident, secure in the knowledge that he is loved and respected by the people of the Cottonwood. Exhausted from the long night, he decides to sleep on the cot in the livery.Sterling’s reputation and career, along with Lydia’s hope for a new life, are put in jeopardy when gossips spread the news that, "Doc spent the night in the stable with a woman." The story grows as ‘facts’ are added.Something needs to be decided that will repair the damage to Sterling’s career and give Lydia the home and safety she needs. The unwelcome solution is that they marry.How do they learn about each other and mesh two lives into a successful marriage which honors God, while coping with issues of trust, pride, epidemic, and injury, along with the fear that Lydia’s brother will find her?Consequences of how gossip, abuse, confession, forgiveness, bossiness, pride, and distrust can affect lives. How living as the Word of God says can bring healing, hope, and love.

    Owning the local bakery, The Sweet Spot, has taken all her time and energy and she’s neglected the social aspects of her life. The small lakeside town of Granite Cove, New Hampshire is full of quirky residents eager to help and hinder her new plan.Mitch Atwater, an award-winning director, returns to town. He has an agenda of his own and is wreaking havoc with her goals and her heart.Can Franny outwit her nemesis, overcome her perfect sister’s surprise return, and escape the cocoon of her own insecurities to take a chance on love to get her very own happily ever after?

    Eva is adamant she won’t leave David, the love of her life behind. But Pa wants her to marry Harold Chapman, the son of a wealthy store owner. Marriage to Chapman will provide Eva with everything a woman could want except love. David Clarke wants to make Eva his wife, even if that means traveling across country. Through the trials and tribulations of the journey across the plains, will Eva’s pa see David for the exceptional young man he is or will he remain blinded by the past?

    Money in hand, he's going to get as far away from Revolt, Kansas, as a fast horse can take him.PBut Cord soon finds that he admires his Trixie's reckless courage -- not to mention she's one great kisser. Maybe he's crazy to hope for a real future with her instead of heading for the hills, but now that someone's staking a dangerous claim to her farm, Cord's decided to stick around as long as the lady needs protecting. That wedding ring he put on her finger means her reputation is safe -- and he's determined to win her heart. Cord Tanner may not be the most refined man on the frontier, but he sure is the lovingest...

    Her fancy gowns and proper manners have no place in the dusty, cruel land inhabited by Indians and rough cowboys. And her fiercely independent streak constantly gets her in trouble. When tragedy strikes, there’s only one person she can turn to--her childhood friend, Garret Shaw--but he’s disgusted with her Society ways. With his ranch under attack from the land-grabbing Jennings, the last thing Garret needs is to be saddled with a high-falutin’ lady. Even if she is his friend’s daughter and her kind ways tug at his hardened heart. Duty to her father forces them to wed, but he knows sure as anything, when the chance comes along, she’ll go back to Boston. No matter how much he wants her, loving her is not a risk he can take. Will Maggie choose a life of luxury and ease over struggle and hardship with an ill-mannered cowboy? Only her heart can answer. CONTENT WARNING: A potty-mouthed proper lady, a reluctant bridegroom and all kinds of trouble.88,573 Words

    In 1848, only seventeen years old, on the Oregon Trail and suddenly orphaned, Josh begins a journey through the unsettled frontier of a wild continent. Just making first acquaintance with manhood, he quickly finds his future linked to Elizabeth Hampton, a coquette from his old hometown. Together they resolve to venture into an uncertain and dangerous future. Accompanied by Jubilee, an escaped slave, Josh and Elizabeth join a wagon train of Missouri emigrants led by a voyageur scout and a town constable turned captain. The couple commences a lusty exploration of the lands they pass and of each other.The scout is the first to recognize the mettle of Josh Bonner, taking the novitiate under his wing. Others in the party, a missionary couple, an adventurous sawbones, and a clan of farmers, quickly recognize the newcomers as a formidable alliance that drives the expedition across the wild prairie. The land, the weather, and human frailty threaten, but cannot daunt their resolve. Populated with compelling characters, colorful dialog, intriguing subplots, and thrilling encounters; Bonner's Road West explores a period of American history largely passed over by contemporary historical fiction.The Growler Brigade picks up the Bonner tale as the train departs Fort Laramie. Soon they hear of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Creek in California. Josh and Elizabeth abandon going to Oregon and opt for California, along with several other wagons. Delacroix, the scout, lets Josh lead the smaller party over one of the numerous cutoffs on the road to test him. The cutoff behind them, the train splits, with the smaller party bound to seek their fortune in the gold fields.Josh leads the small party through The Great Basin and into the Sierra Madre Mountains just as winter begins to close the passes. Barely making it through the Bonners meet Duncan Shipwash, a mining engineer in search of backers. Together, they find a promising claim in an arroyo and plan for an arduous ordeal as the snows shuts them into the canyons.

     Born of Indian blood, Lydia is the adopted daughter of a poor white farmer. Viewed as a savage, she is never accepted by the community. When violence against her family escalates, she leaves the Ozarks to join a westward wagon train, hoping to find her Indian family, a home, and place where she can be accepted. Wary of strangers, she resists her growing attraction to the handsome gun-slinging trail boss, who arouses the savage heart she has always feared. Joe only wants to collect his fee for leading a wagon train of pioneers to California so he can pay off the gambling debts he inherited from his father. Haunted by the gambling, womanizing ways of his father, Joe has sworn off serious relationships. He doesn’t expect an Indian maiden to capture his heart.But how can their love survive the hatred for Indians that surrounds them? Can Lydia give up life with her Indian family to find a home with the man she loves?

    Aries read the ad Ben McCabe had placed in the paper and prayed the position hadn't been filled. She knew nothing about cooking, ranching, or being a wife for that matter. Aries had been trained by one of Philadelphia's best physicians, her father. Trained, but not board certified; trained but not allowed to practice. She longed to be a practicing physician, but no one wanted a woman doctor. Her father's death, which left her with nothing but gambling debts and a young brother to provide and care for, forced her to put aside her love of medicine. Answering this ad was the only way Aries could think of to provide for herself and her brother. She felt badly about deceiving Ben, but what she didn't know was that Ben had deceived her from the moment she'd read the ad and been sent the money to travel to Montana. There was no turning back. Aries knew that as she heard the clickety-clack of the train taking her closer to a man she knew nothing about and who wanted no part of a woman in his life -- and certainly not a wife.

    Stranded with her mother- and sister-in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger.Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he's being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost.Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws—as well as feelings they both thought were long buried...74,000 words

    Desperate but determined, lovely Brandy answers an advertisement for a mail order bride, hoping to build a new life out West for herself and the five orphans she’s taken under her wing. She needs a guide to reach Fort Laramie by wagon train and turns to Thunder, a Cheyenne scout, for help. When he curtly refuses, Brandy is undaunted. And when he’s jailed after a gunfight she makes a devil’s bargain: he gets his freedom and she gets a guide.Thunder has learned the hard way that prejudice runs deep for half-breeds. Now, his only desire is to live among the Cheyenne people. He doesn’t want the temptation beautiful Brandy offers and the wild passion that explodes between them only hardens his resolve to avoid what he cannot have: another man’s soon-to-be-wife. Can he truly walk away from Brandy and the ragtag family? Or has his destiny been sealed by a kiss.

     Cassie Morgan has to take fifteen young ladies all the way to Texas from New York, but she is unsure if it's a good idea to be driven there by a rugged cowboy. How will she keep her heart intact? When Valentino Hayes is offered the job of driving a bus full of orphans to Texas, he jumps at the chance to find his long lost brother. Now to convince the beautiful Mrs. Morgan to permit it. Will the trip to Texas be more than they expected?

    After being unjustly court-martialed for the murder of four Yankee soldiers and narrowly escaping the hangman's noose, he sheds his identity and heads west to live among the Apache. As Shatto, he finds solace among his adopted brethren. But the new influx of settlers and soldiers into the Arizona Territory spells danger for the Apache people.Independence Taylor blames herself for bringing the small pox into her home that led to her mother and brother's deaths. Abandoned by her grief-stricken father, she undertakes a dangerous journey to join him at his military outpost to beg forgiveness. En route, her military escort is attacked by Apaches. She has been advised to take her own life rather than be captured, but Shatto intervenes before she can pull the trigger.Indy's initial fear of the mysterious Shatto is tempered by the bargain he strikes with her father to subdue the warriors by training a select group of troopers in Apache warfare. Imbued with the power of the wind spirit, Shatto attempts to bring peace to the troubled land.As tensions mount between the settlers and Apache, so does the undeniable attraction between Shatto and Indy. Can the would-be lovers broker peace...or will chaos rule and destroy their burgeoning passion?

    Re-issue. Approximately 70,000 words (about 250 printed pages).The Sheriff and the OutlawPolly Brown was nothing like typical women whose only dream was to marry and start a family. The daughter of a notorious outlaw, Polly grew up wearing six-guns and learning to ride horses and cook over an open fire. But while being pursued by an enemy with a grudge, Polly decides her best option is to pose as a mail-order-bride. In the disguise of a proper lady, she knows there is no way her enemy will recognize her. Little does Polly know that the husband waiting for her is the handsome sheriff of Indian Trails.Sheriff Ben MacLain isn't a man to be easily fooled. He quickly realizes that Polly is not who she says, but Ben after seeing how quickly his daughter has taken to Polly, he finds himself in on hurry to send her away. Instead he tries to strike a deal: marriage or jail. With outstanding warrants for Polly's arrest, Ben knows this may be his only chance to convince Polly to stay, and although he plans to have a marriage of convenience for the sake of his daughter, the passion that draws the two together cannot be denied.