But what if they want only to be loved--without an enormous price tag attached? When one daughter pursues a desirable marriage, she secures for herself a comfortable and glamorous life. But among the duties of privilege, will she also find the happily-ever-after she seeks? Her sister rejects the trappings of wealth, choosing instead to build a new life on the still-untamed frontier. Will she find happiness in independence or discover that she's left her heart behind in New York's glittering society? Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, each woman discovers that being an heiress just might cost her everything--including the chance for true love.

    Sheriff Caleb Stenesrude climbed over the gate in a blizzard and reached up in time to catch the woman as she fell. To his astonishment, a small child, hanging on for dear life, fell with her. Under his breath he thanked the good Lord for bringing them this far and for a dog with a nose and ears to beat all. As the North Dakota storm continued to scream outside the house on the edge of town, Caleb tried to tend to the near-frozen mother and boy. When the woman let out a piercing cry of labor, Caleb realized this would be a Christmas Eve like no other. In the days after, Caleb and the town of Soldahl took Johanna Carlson and her two children into their hearts, but Johanna kept her distance, afraid to tell anyone the truth about her life. Dakota Destiny As folks in Soldahl reel from the war, Pastor Moen’s daughter, Mary, struggles to live with shocking news about the man she loves that arrived by telegram: We regret to inform you that Private First Class Willard Dunfey is missing in action and presumed dead. Thru months of agonized waiting, news came to Soldahl on Tuesday, November 11, 1918 that Victory Day had come. Does she have reason to hope? This volume includes the fourth and fifth books of the Dakota Series featuring the intertwining lives of five inspiring women, all who lived in the early 1900s in the immigrant community of Soldahl, North Dakota.

    Year in, year out, they'll learn that love often comes in unexpected packages.“And Then Came Spring” by Margaret BrownleyMary-Jo has traveled halfway across the world to meet her match, arriving just in time for his funeral. Returning home seems like her only option until her would-be brother-in-law proposes a more daring idea.“An Ever-After Summer” by Debra CloptonEllie had no idea she's not what Matthew ordered. And what's wrong with being a "Bible thumper" anyway? She's determined to show him she's tougher than she looks--and just the girl he needs.“Autumn’s Angel” by Robin Lee HatcherLuvena would be perfect for Clay if she didn't come with kids. But kids are a deal breaker, especially in a rough-and-trouble mining town. The trouble is, there's no money to send them back...“Winter Wedding Bells” by Mary ConnealyDavid's convinced he's not long for the world. He needs someone to mother his boys when he's gone--nothing more. Can plucky Irish Megan convince him to work at living instead of dying?

    Living in areas exposed to nature’s ferocity, prone to Indian attack, and cut off from regular supplies, can hearts overcome the dangers to find lasting love?  Rooted in Love by Carla Gade 1748, New Hampshire Grants (Vermont) Surveyor Shiloh Morgan pursues wild ginseng trade in America’s northern frontier. When he encounters mixed-blood healer Truelove Walden, might love take root in his restless heart and bring healing to hers?  Shenandoah Hearts by Carrie Fancett Pagels 1754 - Great Wagon Road, into the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) As the French-Indian War commences, Magda Sehler wonders if Jacob Owens lost his mind to have abandoned his Philadelphia business and moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Or has he lost his heart?  Heart of Nantahala by Jennifer Hudson Taylor   1757 - (North Carolina) Joseph Gregory plans to buy a lumber mill, but Mabel Walker becomes a formidable opponent. When she’s forced to make a painful decision, she must choose between survival and love.  Her Redcoat by Pegg Thomas 1763 - Fort Michilimackinac (Michigan) during Pontiac’s Rebellion   Laurette Pettigrew grew up in the northern frontier. Henry Bedlow arrived against his will. Their chance meeting changes everything. Will a deadly clash of cultures keep them from finding happiness?  A Heart So Tender by Debra E. Marvin 1764 – (New York) As thousands of Native warriors converge on Fort Niagara, jaded British Lieutenant Archibald Walsh and idealistic schoolmistress Susannah Kimball learn the greatest risk lies in guarding their hearts.  A Worthy Groom by Angela K. Couch 1771 - Sapling Grove settlement on the Holston River (Tennessee) The Cowden temper has been Marcus’s lifelong bane. A trait Lorinda Cowden curses. Now, winning the heart of his bride hinges on fighting a war without raising a fist.     Across Three Autumns by Denise Weimer 1778-1780 – (Georgia) Fighting Loyalists and Indians, Jenny White settles for strength over love . . .until Scottish scout Caylan McIntosh leads her family on a harrowing exodus out of Georgia’s Revolutionary “Hornet’s Nest.”  The Counterfeit Tory by Shannon McNear 1780 – (South Carolina) Tasked with infiltrating an infamous Tory gang, Jed Wheeler has no wish to endanger the leader’s cousin, Lizzy Cunningham. He risks not only his life. . .but his heart.  Love’s Undoing by Gabrielle Meyer 1792 - Fur Post on the Upper Mississippi River (Minnesota) When Englishman Henry Kingsley meets Abi McCrea, the daughter of a Scottish fur trader and Indian mother, will their worlds keep them apart, or have they finally found somewhere they truly belong?

    Alone in the world with only her faith to sustain her, she must prove herself as this tiny community's new school teacher. She cannot, must not, fail. But, there are those who never wanted her there to begin with. Five years after the death of his wife, local merchant Colin Murphy cares about just one thing: raising his daughter, Charity. Colin wants to give her the educational advantages he never had. The new schoolmarm's inexperience doesn't sit well with him, and if this teacher up and marries like the last one did, Charity's heart will be broken once again. A woman who hasn't known love. A man who lost the love he had. In the midst of the wide, sage-covered plains, each is about to discover that life's bitterest circumstances truly can work together for good.

    Crafted by two masters of inspirational fiction--Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn--and combining the engaging historical settings, rich characterization, and heartwarming messages quintessential to both authors, The Meeting Place is another timeless story for you to cherish.Set along the rugged coastline of 18th century Canada in what was then called Acadia (now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), The Meeting Place re-creates a world that was home to native Indians, French settlers, and English garrisons. Such diverse populations did not live in accord, however. Instead, they were isolated within their own groups by a brewing political tension under the difficult English rule.Amid such chaotic times two women, both about to become brides and both trying to live lives of quiet peace, meet in a lush field of wildflowers. Louisa, a Frenchwoman, and Catherine, who is English, continue to meet secretly through the seasons, sharing both friendship and growing faith.The outside world does not mirror their own tranquil happiness, and the dreaded crackdown by the English throne threatens far more than their growing bond. In the face of a heart-wrenching dilemma, Louisa and Catherine strive to maintain their faith and cling to their dreams of family and home. Winner of the Christy Award, presented by the Christian Bookseller Association to honor the best in Christian fiction.

    Which is why Clyde Baxter, a West Point cadet on the verge of graduation, presents a problem. Their attraction is instantaneous, but it threatens Evelyn's lifelong dream of going to college. Clyde's brilliance in the new field of electrical power has him poised for a promising career in the Army's Corps of Engineers. The one thing he never anticipated was Evelyn White, a woman whose soaring ambition matches his own. As they fall in love over the course of one magical summer, they believe dreams are enough to weather any challenge. But when they are tested by forces neither saw coming, will the fragile bonds forged during those dream-filled summer days be strong enough to survive the storm?

    Ivy worries that she herself will be looked over by prospective parents. Not willing to be left behind, the lonely, frightened little girl acts impulsively to secure herself a stable future.

    When her plans for a festive holiday with her family in Stirling crumble beneath the weight of her brother’s bitterness, the young schoolteacher wants nothing more than to return to the students she loves and the town house she calls home.   Then an unexpected detour places her in the path of Gordon Shaw, a handsome newspaperman from Glasgow, who struggles under a burden of remorse and shame.   When the secret of their shared history is revealed, will it leave them tangled in a knot of regret? Or might their past hold the threads that will bind their future together?   As warm as a woolen scarf on a cold winter’s eve, A Wreath of Snow is a tender story of love and forgiveness, wrapped in a celebration of all things Scottish, all things Victorian, and, especially, all things Christmas.

    Cassidy Sinclair is alone with a niece to care for--"and extreme times call for daring measures. Tarah St. John's life changes drastically when she reaches out to two abused boys. The impetuous Laney Jenkins is determined to hold on to the reins of her destiny, regardless of any man. When Emily St. John jumps to buy the focal mercantile, she has no idea of the battle that will ensue. Can these determined women open their lives to new possibilities in faith and love?

    From Kansas to Texas, the Grand Canyon to New Mexico, the stories cross the country with tales of sweet romance and entertaining history.In Karen Witemeyer's "More Than a Pretty Face," a young woman works her hardest to escape poor choices from her youth. Tracie Peterson offers "A Flood of Love," where reuniting with an old flame after more than a decade offers unexpected results. Regina Jennings's "Intrigue a la Mode" delights with a tale of a young woman determined to help support her family, despite warnings of danger nearby. And Jen Turano's "Grand Encounters" heads to the Grand Canyon with a tale of a society belle intent on finding a new life for herself.

    To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country—or worse. If she does not report truthfully, she'll betray the oppressed and fail to wake up the folks back home.Peter Lang is an American graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party—to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.As the world marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny.

    Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she's paid to finally feel like she's somebody.To Pastor Ezekiel Freeman, Abra will always be the little girl who stole his heart the night he found her, a wailing newborn abandoned under a bridge on the outskirts of Haven. Zeke and his son, Joshua--Abra's closest friend--watch her grow into an exotic beauty. But Zeke knows the circumstances surrounding her birth etched scars deep in her heart, scars that leave her vulnerable to a fast-talking bad boy who proclaims his love and lures her to Tinseltown. Hollywood feels like a million miles from Haven, and naive Abra quickly learns what's expected of an ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. But fame comes at an awful price. She has burned every bridge to get exactly what she thought she wanted. Now, all she wants is a way back home.In this riveting and highly anticipated tale of temptation, grace, and unconditional love, "New York Times" best-selling author Francine Rivers delivers big-canvas storytelling at its very best.

    But, while traveling in New Mexico territory, she witnesses a murder that changes everything. Suddenly, her own life is threatened--until she's rescued by fast-talking cowboy Noah Buchanan. Isobel's only chance for survival is to marry the rugged trail boss--who needs her to fulfill his own destiny. As the mismatched newlyweds unite against Lincoln County's tumultuous violence, Noah's deep faith challenges Isobel's quest for vengeance. And will lead them on a journey neither ever imagined.

    Despite eight-year-old Maelle's desperate attempts to keep her siblings together, each child is taken by a different family. Yet Maelle vows that she will never stop searching for her brother and sister... and that they will be together one day in the future. Seventeen years later, Maelle is still searching. But the years have washed away her hope... and her memories. What are Mattie and Molly doing now? Where has life taken them? Will she ever see her brother and sister again?