Book picks similar to
Mail Order Mystery by Cynthia Woolf


historical-romance
romance
historical-fiction
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Rainwater


Sandra Brown - 2009
    She cooks, cleans, launders, and cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose busy behavior and failure to speak elicits undesired advice from others in town. Ella’s plate is full from sunup to sundown. When a room in her boarding house opens up, the respected town doctor brings Ella a new boarder―the handsome and gallant Mr. David Rainwater—but Ella is immediately resistant to opening up her home to this mysterious stranger. Even with assurances that Mr. Rainwater is a man of impeccable character, a former cotton broker and a victim of the Great Depression, Ella stiffens at the thought of taking him in. Dr. Kincaid tells Ella in confidence that Mr. Rainwater won’t require the room for long: he is dying. Begrudgingly, Ella accepts Mr. Rainwater’s application to board, but she knows that something is happening; she is being swept along by an unusual series of events. Soon, this strong-minded, independent woman will realize that the living that she has eked out for herself in the small bubble of her town is about to change, whether she likes it or not... Racial tensions, the financial strain of livelihoods in cotton drying up into dust, and the threat of political instability swirl together into a tornado on the horizon. One thing is certain: the winds of change are blowing all over Texas—and through the cracks in the life that Ella Barron has painstakingly built. This is the story of a woman who takes her life’s circumstances in both hands, but who will be forced to reckon with the chaos of her historical circumstances..

Rescued by the Mountain Man


Dana Alden - 2018
    She heads West to work at her stepbrother’s mercantile and maybe find love one day. But, her mule train is attacked before she even gets there. Mountain Man Cal Ayers agrees to lead Amanda safely across the mountains. It’s not long, though, before they realize the attack was aimed at Amanda – and that living with her stepbrother might not be the safest plan. Amanda can’t establish a new life when someone is trying to kill her. And she can’t imagine a new life without Cal, who she’s falling for. But Cal is fighting his feelings as he is already engaged. Can Cal save Amanda’s life, and their burgeoning love, in time?

Free to Love


Leah Atwood - 2015
    A one-time deal, that’s all was meant to be. He only needed enough to see him through until he got the pay owed him. Someone was counting on him, and he couldn’t let her down.Josie Pearson’s heart went out to Sissy Edwards, the orphan girl she’d found hungry on the streets. When Josie decided to adopt her, she was turned down because she was unmarried, and Sissy was sent to an orphanage.When they both feel like giving up, will a controversial new program become an unconventional solution?This is the first novelette (approximately 45 pages) of the new Texas Wildflowers series by bestselling authors Leah Atwood and Susette Williams.The Texas Wildflowers Series:Free to LoveFree to HealFree to ProtectFree to ServeFree to RoamFree to Forgive

The Heart Hears: Kansas MacPhersons (MacPherson Brides Book 4)


Mischelle Creager - 2019
    He needs to banish his distrust of women. War widow Salina Meier Moffett Dunham doesn’t trust men. Shamefully treated by her father and husband, she is on the run with her children to escape a forced marriage or worse—death. In Ainsley, Kansas, she shortens her name to Lena Meier to hide from the man pursuing her. She finds a position as a clerk in the mercantile with the grouchy storekeeper. But there is something within that grumpy man that her heart hears and draws her. She isn’t sure what that thing is until she discovers a book in the storeroom of the mercantile. Returning from the war, Angus MacPherson takes back the running of his mercantile and keeps his distance from the young women in Ainsley. After a run-in with Lena Meier—literally, his buggy ran into her cart, leaving him injured, he agrees to let her work in his store. After all, his MacPherson family creed is to help and protect all widows and orphans. But this woman, this stranger in town, irritates and interests him as no woman has since Amelia, the woman who betrayed him to marry his rich cousin. Matters get worse when his former fiancé, who is now a wealthy widow, returns to Ainsley and wants Angus as her new husband. Can love weave its way through the heart by things unspoken?

An Angel To Tend His Broken Heart


Ember Pierce - 2020
    He’s going to need Josefina’s help.Redden owns an isolated ranch far away from neighbors and the closest town. He was badly hurt in a riding accident and would have died if his friend hadn’t saved him. Now, he needs someone to care for him - probably for many months. But he can’t afford to hire a nurse. What is he to do?Josefina has a terribly dangerous job in a factory, but the worst menace in the factory isn’t a machine - it’s her boss, who has been making advances that she doesn’t appreciate.She receives a letter from her brother asking her to come out west and marry his injured friend, and it seems like the answer to a dozen different problems. But can she really marry a stranger?When an unscrupulous speculator decides he wants their ranch, it will be up to Redden and Josefina to defend the place that they both hold dear.But in a battle against insurmountable odds, they will need luck and teamwork if they are to defeat the man who wants to steal their land and destroy their home.If you like fast-paced clean romance and action-packed stories, you won't be able to put down this addictive Novel by Ember Pierce

Hummingbird


LaVyrle Spencer - 1983
    She fought him with all the stiff propriety her stubborn will commanded ... but in her burned the aching embers of love too long denied--love that would force her to a choice no woman should ever have to make...

The Bounty


Beth Williamson - 2006
    After three years, the notorious bounty hunter Tyler Calhoun catches up with the elusive lady outlaw. The intensity of their dislike for each other is only matched by the growing passion they cannot seem to control. A loner by nature, a cold hard hunter by choice, Tyler fights his feelings for his prisoner the only way he knows how--by denying them. He's not prepared for how deeply his feelings will run, or how hard it will be to hold her life in his hands. Pursued by two hapless cowboys bent on taking Nicky in themselves, Nicky and Tyler are forced to turn to each other for aid, trust, and comfort as their journey progresses on its rocky road. Caught in a web of lies and murder, they hold on to each other as they travel to Wyoming to confront the man that brought them together. Tyler has to decide if his love for her is worth more than the bounty he was sent to find. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, some violence.

Winter's Camp


Jodi Thomas - 2015
    To introduce her brand-new series, Jodi tells the story behind the unforgiving Texas landscape and how one man claims Ransom Canyon—and a timid beauty—for his legacy…A wanderer’s life was all James Randall Kirkland had known since he was an orphaned boy in San Antonio. And while years of adventure had satisfied his younger self, now he’s longing to put down roots of his own and is prepared to go it alone. But when he sees the Apache slave woman with the startling blue eyes, the course of his journey is changed forever.Ever since the Comanche raided her village and took her for their own, Millie hasn’t known any kind of freedom. After years of being outcast, beaten and traded from tribe to tribe, she’s unprepared for James’s patient tone and gentle ways. Still, as her handsome savior slowly earns her trust, Millie struggles between desire and fear, sure it’s just a matter of time before James tires of her and her burgeoning feelings are nothing but another wasted memory.

An Accidental Spy


Stephenia H. McGee - 2015
    But with a forced marriage and a desolate future on the horizon, her hopes are beginning to dwindle. When she discovers an encrypted note on a dying soldier, she seizes the opportunity to use it to deliver a message of her own. Instead, she’s mistaken for a spy and captured. Now her only chance to escape is the handsome soldier in charge of discovering her secrets.After his brother is captured by enemy soldiers, Matthew Daniels vows to rescue him at any cost. When a secret society offers him a chance for retribution, Matthew must decide between his loyalties and his convictions. To prove himself, he’ll have to first unmask the spirited spy holding the key to their plans or risk losing his brother forever.★ An Accidental Spy is a 2020 rewrite of the previously published title Leveraging Lincoln (The Liberator Series book one)

Crow Hollow


Michael Wallace - 2015
    She’s convinced her daughter is alive but cannot track her into the wilderness alone. Help arrives in the form of James Bailey, an agent of the crown sent to Boston to investigate the murder of Prudence’s husband and to covertly cause a disturbance that would give the king just cause to install royal governors. After his partner is murdered, James needs help too. He strikes a deal with Prudence, and together they traverse the forbidding New England landscape looking for clues. What they confront in the wilderness—and what they discover about each other—could forever change their allegiances and alter their destinies.

Sarah's Duke: and Ellie's Gentleman


Georgiana Louis - 2015
    She doesn’t need a great fortune or a title, she would actually prefer not to have to go into London ever again. She has little to offer other than her beauty and a pleasant temperament, but she is hoping that will be enough to secure her a man who will be kind to her. Oliver Lyre is the newly inherited Duke of Lincoln. Born as the spare son, he never expected to inherit his father’s mantle, and has neither the skills nor the desire to enjoy the benefits of his rank. He knows that he must marry a lady befitting of the position, but when he rescues the beautiful Sarah Collins one night, he can’t imagine living without her lovely smile in his life. Should he marry the delectably sweet virgin who would undoubtedly make a horrible Duchess, or do what duty demands of him? Ellie's Gentleman: sweet short story Ellie Sommers is twenty years old, beautiful, lively and intelligent. She has finally returned to her family home after another long London season. She wants nothing more than to stay in her beloved country town and ride her horses. Enter Robert Blakely, a widower and a true gentleman. He has come to spend Christmas with his long-time friend William, Ellie’s father. Robert has no wish to marry again and is shocked to discover his own interest in the beautiful daughter of his friend. The only problem is that he is twice her age and a widower who has convinced himself he will never marry again.

Hopes and Brides: Regency and Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Collection


Joyce Alec - 2020
     ************ Miss Ophelia Grey Must Fake a Courtship to Save a Man She Has Never Met. Miss Ophelia Grey is thoroughly relieved when Lord Marchmont decides their courtship should come to an end. However, she is utterly astonished when, within a few days, he is back at her side and begging for a second chance. Lord Peter Marchmont does not think that Miss Grey is the right match for him. Waking up to discover a note stating he must court Miss Grey otherwise his brother Edward will be ruined, Peter realizes he has no choice. Struggling to find answers, Peter eventually tells Miss Grey the truth and discovers that she might be the help he has been looking for. Together, Ophelia and Peter look for clues that will protect Edward and allow them to bring their courtship to a close. However, they soon begin to find that their hearts are changing and that perhaps, they might not wish for their courtship to come to an end after all. Read The Aristocrat’s Charade and many more in this historical box set. ************ This clean and wholesome box set features the following books: Promise of the Earl An Earl’s Wager Alice’s Arranged Marriage Entangled with the Viscount The Aristocrat’s Charade Bewildered Earl The Viscount’s Heart An Earl’s Love Unexpected Earl Westward for Love Broken Betrothal The Bride’s Heart Etta’s Secret Jessie’s Regret This is a sweet historical romance collection with Regency-era romances, set in London, and mail-order bride romances, which take place in the American West. If you’re looking for a variety of romance stories, this romance collection will help you discover that love comes in all shapes and sizes. Enjoy reading about forbidden love, arranged marriages, friends to lovers, cozy mysteries, and much more.

Sentence of Marriage


Shayne Parkinson - 2009
    Her life seems mapped out for her by the time she is twelve. Amy dreams of an exciting life in the world beyond her narrow boundaries. But it is the two people who come to the farm from outside the valley who change her life forever, and Amy learns the high cost of making the wrong choice.

Her Dear and Loving Husband


Meredith Allard - 2011
    With elements of Twilight and The Crucible, Her Dear & Loving Husband is a story for anyone who believes that true love never dies. James Wentworth has a secret. He lives quietly in Salem, Massachusetts, making few ties anywhere. One night his private world is turned upside down when he meets Sarah Alexander, a dead ringer for his wife, Elizabeth. Though it has been years since Elizabeth's death, James cannot move on. Sarah also has a secret. She is haunted by nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and every night she is awakened by visions of hangings, being arrested, and dying in jail. Despite the obstacles of their secrets, James and Sarah fall in love. As James comes to terms with his feelings for Sarah, he must dodge accusations from a reporter desperate to prove that James is not who, or what, he seems to be. With the help of their friends, witches Jennifer and Olivia, James and Sarah piece their stories together and discover a mystery that may bind them in ways they never imagined. Will James make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Sarah and prevent a new hunt from bringing hysteria to Salem again?

The Actuary


K.T. Bowes - 2015
    The gorgeous Rohan Andreyev is determined to pursue her but the spiteful women who surround him, conspire to make Emma's life unbearable. When Rohan's work as an actuary spills over into his personal life, Emma finds herself at the centre of a dangerous conspiracy that will leave her in the hands of ruthless men. Into the intrigue comes Rohan's business partner, Christopher Dolan. Irish, handsome and with an agenda of his own, Emma struggles to understand whether he is friend or foe. The men in her life seem determined to win or destroy her. Emma has a choice to make; whether to stay in the sleepy town of Market Harborough or disappear with her son forever. Whatever she decides, there is one good reason why her fate will be linked to Rohan Andreyev's until the end of time. She loves him, but he is the Actuary and his job isn't quite what she believes.