But there is no romance in being pursued by a man who wants her dead for educating the children of former slaves. Unlike the heroines she reads about she doesn't have a trusty companion to rescue her...until she literally runs into A.J. Adams, a former Confederate cavalry officer. Now, she just has to convince A.J. he really is the honorable man and hero depicted in the dime novel she is reading.Branded a "traitor" for more than ten years, scarred by harsh treatment in an inhumane prisoner of war camp, A.J. Adams wants revenge. Allison Webster's arrival into his life provides the bait to destroy the men who murdered his wife and daughters and kidnapped his little brother. The men pursuing Allison are the very same men he has sworn to kill. Falling in love and admitting he might actually be a hero means surrendering his need for vengeance. Surrender is not part of A.J.'s battle strategy.

    He must, however, work a deal with her. She needs money to save her ranch and he needs access to the spring on her property. Seems simple, right? But nothing’s ever easy with Pearl. The woman is steely and stubborn, but she’s lovely too, with a carefully concealed, vulnerable side. As much as he tries not to notice, thoughts of Pearl distract him plenty. She stirs all sorts of protective notions. He yearns to shield her from the dangerous outlaws that lurk in the nearby canyons. When whispered rumors turn into deadly threats, Levi vows to do whatever it takes to keep Pearl safe.

    Now that she is nearly a grown woman and her father is ailing, she must make difficult choices about the future. Several men--ranging from the undesired to the unthinkable--vie for her attentions, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to a forbidden love that both terrifies and intrigues her. Can she betray the memory of her lost loved ones--and garner suspicion from her friends--by pursuing a life with him? Or should she seal her own misery by marrying a man she doesn't love? This sweeping tale of romance and forgiveness will envelop readers as it takes them from a Kentucky fort through the vast wilderness to the west in search of true love.

    On the strength of three letters she has traveled by railroad, riverboat and stagecoach to meet her new life out west. Grady McGuire, her intended and the author of those letters, though formally dressed and still holding a bouquet of wilted prairie flowers, is unfortunately passed out drunk in a buckboard behind the saloon.That new life isn’t beginning quite as she envisioned it. As she attempts to salvage the promises they made to each other, she finds herself involved with others in town with their own stories to tell:Addison Pruitt, Sarah’s saving grace, owns the very fine Russell Hotel and keeps the irritating John Russell close as she spends his money.Diego, the Mexican hotel cook possessed of an exquisite repertoire of French dishes, has a secret that he hopes he never has to tell.Jim, Booker and the boy Abraham, Grady’s long-suffering hands, are her new family. They run the ranch Grady didn’t intend to inherit and love him even though they can’t keep him out of trouble.Ellen, Grady’s strong-willed mother, lies under a headstone out by the river, but won’t quite stay dead.Last but not least, there is Elijah Blue, a member of the tribes, shotgun rider and horse trainer, who drove cattle with Grady from the time they were barely out of childhood, and is now waiting to see if his friend can make amends with the woman from the East, the one in the black traveling dress covered with dust, the one that he noticed the minute she stepped down off the stage.

    Her father’s railroad swindle cost Felicity everything, including her engagement to Edmund Ormond. But Felicity isn’t the demure debutante she appears to be. She rolls up her lace edged sleeves to survive the trail to the Oregon Territory, a journey of 2,000 miles of trial and error, where every mile travelled is drier than the one before. Where the game is scarce and the graves common, and life depends on keeping the oxen alive.Rye Jones, with eyes as cold as a Kansas river crossing, studies her at night over the campfire. How much of her father’s deceptive wiles did Felicity inherit? The wagon train leader invested in the Garrety-Brown Railroad and lost his medical practice, his wife and his child. But Rye is drawn to Felicity by her determination to leave her past in the prairie grass.Felicity must choose: a scratched out existence in the Oregon wilderness with Rye or escape to a life of ease in New York with Edmund.

    . .Only the boldest of women would set off for the Dakota Territory without a man by her side. But schoolteacher Jana Hartmann is determined to build a new life for herself and her frail sister, Greta. True to her courageous spirit, Jana takes the only job she can find in the town of Bismarck—modeling dresses in a shop window—which has every man staring and every woman gossiping. Adding fuel to the fire, she’s agreed to help raise money in the annual kissing booth, where one handsome cowboy wants to buy every kiss for himself.A scorching attraction . . .Drew Malone is a lawyer, rancher, and father of two little boys. Although Jana is immediately attracted to the handsome and helpful Drew, she fights it, torn between a budding romance and her responsibility to Greta. But Drew persists and sweeps her away for a romantic Christmas at Rimfire Ranch in the Badlands, where Jana finds herself having to win over the toughest critics of all— Drew’s young sons. As Greta becomes more independent, Jana lets down her guard and opens her heart to the three Malone men. But when the boys are kidnapped on her watch, Jana blames herself and flees to the frontier. Drew must race against the clock to get back his sons . . . and to make Jana his Rimfire bride.

    She was quite content to manage her small Louisiana farm alone -- until a Natchez Indian uprising forced her to flee.To secure safe passage for herself and her neighbors, Elise agreed to become the mistress of Reynaud Chavalier, son of a French nobleman and a Natchez princess.But what began as sacrifice soon became pleasure, as his sensuous touch awakened her to the ecstasies of love . . . From the Paperback edition.

    

    Charlotte's letters have been uncharacteristically melancholy, and her claims that nothing is wrong ring false, so Abigail heads west to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. When her stagecoach is attacked, Wyoming promises to be anything but boring. Luckily, the heroics of another passenger, Lieutenant Ethan Bowles, save the day.Abigail plans to marry when she returns to Vermont, just as soon as she attends to her sister. As the summer passes, she finds herself drawn to this rugged land and to a certain soldier determined to persuade her to stay. When summer ends, will she go back East, or will she find her heart's true home?

    When she feels utterly lost and incapable of dealing with it, her old best friend reappears in her life. Their families have been rivals for more years than she can remember, but she believes in her heart that Damon is a trustworthy person. However, is trusting him a wise t decision?Damon Beeson has turned to a ruthless businessman, since he lost his whole family due to smallpox. Conflicts about ranches borders have ruined his precious friendship with Bella many years ago. Motivated by sordid gain, he knows that expanding his business will be a piece of cake now that Bella’s father is out of the picture. Persuading his long lost friend to sell their ranch will prove to be a much more difficult task than he expected. Will he manage to stay focused on his end goal?No matter how hard Damon tries to stay away from Bella, she has a weird impact on him. An accident helps Damon to realize his feeling and remind Bella that he is his same old self. As soon as they are finally reconnected, an unexpected arrival will almost destroy their newfound love. When Bella will find out about Damon’s machinations, will he be able to convince her that his love is truthful or will he lose her forever?

    But when she challenged the steely-eyed gaze of his stepbrother Jared, something inside her felt a little wild, a little thrilled...a little afraid.He was a big-city lawyer with a killer's stance -- a desperado turned lawman, disillusioned with life and haunted by a past he couldn't escape. But this tender, green girl, with her flashfire temper and her unconventional ways, tempted and tormented him with a sweet, maddening passion.Rivalry would pit brother against brother and scandal would rock their lives. And Noelle would have to convince a man unwilling to believe in love that only he could still the anguish in her heart -- and fulfill the promise of their destiny together....

     Captain John McClain finds himself on the wrong end of a shotgun when attempting to find his child. Heading west to find the mother of his son and the outlaw who shot him, John is forced to escort an enticing woman whose lifestyle goes against his moral standards, yet she calls to every part of him. Heading west to meet the dying father she never knew, and possibly starting a new life, Mae Hawkins didn’t expect the added complication of traveling with the one man she always loved. When they're joined along the road by a minister and his wife, things get beyond complicated for John and Mae who awaken to the lesson that sometimes differences are more imagined than real.

    Thrust onto the frontier. Forced to choose between two men. As the only daughter in a wealthy Boston family, Katie Taylor has a comfortable home, good friends and servants to attend to her every whim. But when her father uproots her family and moves them to a farm in the Territories, her former life disappears forever. Soon she finds herself caught between the desires of two men: Edward, the wealthy businessman who has taken an interest in her, and Sam, the half-Sioux farmhand who has also kindled a passion within her. Now, when she least expected it, she finds herself without a guide in a brand-new land: the territory of love.

    And no other can set the heart racing with such glorious unbound abandon.No other man.Skylar Connor was widowed before she met the man she married by legal proxy. Now she has come to the Dakota badlands for the home and goldmine left her by her late husband. But it is a painted savage who welcomes "Lady Douglas" to the Black Hills. The handsome half-breed son of a Sioux woman and an English lord, he steals Skylar from her stagecoach ... and declares it is he whom she wed sight unseen. Now Hawk has a wife he doesn't want a sensuous vixen who ignites his rage and his desire ... a beautiful schemer he must punish with ecstasy, and let no other man claim.

    When three mail-order brides are delivered to Luke a month later, he’s in an uncomfortable predicament. How will he ever choose his mate? Rachel Hamilton’s long-time love for Luke is reignited with his return to town. So when three mail-order brides appear, she panics. Will she find the courage to tell Luke that she loves him? Or take an anonymous part in the contest for his hand?