Book picks similar to
Lacy's Legacy by Elaine Manders


romance
historical-fiction
historical
widow

Love Comes Softly


Janette Oke - 1979
    They would stake a claim of their own on the new frontier, and build a home for themselves and their family.But just after they'd arrived and Clem had chosen the perfect setting for their new home, an accident took his life...leaving Marty alone and pregnant. Then, on the day of his funeral, Clark Davis came along...and asked Marty to marry him!Marty was infuriated -- but with no money, no shelter, and a baby on the way, what choice did she have? Besides, Clark said he only wanted her to be a mama to his baby girl, Missie. If Marty was still unhappy come spring, he would pay for her ticket back East.Determined not to be a burden to Clark, and intending only to earn her keep. Marty threw herself into her new role of "Mama." But she had never been anyone's mama before, and she didn't even know how to keep a house! If only she could do right by this lonely man and his daughter just long enough to earn her train fare back home...Now, Marty must learn wholeness and love through patience and faith

Secrets & Charades


Cindy Ervin Huff - 2017
    When battlefield nightmares disturb his peace and his tomboy niece, Juliet, needs taming, somehow a mail-order bride seems like a logical solution. Dr. Evangeline Olson has no idea her niece is writing to a rancher on her behalf, and she sure isn’t interested in abandoning her medical practice for a stranger. But when an inheritance threatens to reveal a long-buried secret, she travels west to become Jake’s wife. Jake soon realizes Evangeline is more than he bargained for, especially when her arrival causes a stir in the community. As the two try to find their way in a marriage of convenience, their fragile relationship is further tested by cattle rustling and kidnapping. Can their hearts overcome past hurts to create a real marriage?

Let Your Heart Beat Again


Janith Hooper - 2017
     After four months on the job, twenty-four-year-old Rebecca Harper has become something of a jack-of-all-trades on the Cooper Bar-6 Ranch...except for her cooking. But the four strapping sons who run the ranch in their father's absence need wise counsel more than unburnt bread, and Rebecca is perfect for the job. Whether dealing with the driven eldest, the belligerent youngest, or the personalities in between, she recognizes the source of each young man's pain is a lifetime of a father's indifference. As soon as the rogue returns, Rebecca aims to give "Mr. Cooper" a thick piece of her mind. Not that dishing out hard truth will make her feel any more alive. Past betrayal has taught her to live at arm's length from anyone who might mean too much to her. So she cooks and cleans and counsels, at once harboring anger against a man she has never met and numbing herself against the life she has forgotten to desire. Until one night, one thunderstorm, and one heroic stranger changes it all. In that fleeting moment, Rebecca Harper dares to hope her heart will beat again. * * * Breath Without Life novels portrays seven bachelor ranchers, each so broken down by old wounds that he cannot conceive of ever finding love. Be there when one Cooper after another meets the one incredible woman who can make him whole again. Every book within this series is a stand-alone love story, though ranch life circumstances run chronologically through all six novels.

A Bride for Keeps


Melissa Jagears - 2013
    Not again. He's already been jilted by three mail-order brides and figures a wife just isn't in his future. However, a well-meaning neighbor hasn't given up on seeing him settled, so she goes behind his back to bring yet another woman to town for him.Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. A mail-order marriage in faraway Kansas is a last resort, but she'll do anything to leave her life in Massachusetts and the heartbreak she's experienced there.Although Everett doesn't see how a beautiful, cultured woman like Julia could be happy sharing his simple life, he could really use a helpmate on his homestead. Determined to prove she's more than just a pretty face, Julia agrees to a marriage in name only. Faced with the harsh realities of life on the prairie and hesitant to explore the tentative feelings growing between them, can Everett and Julia ever let each other in long enough to fall in love?

Ella: Escape West by Wagon Train


Sadie Conall - 2018
    Marry a wealthy man and provide a home for those she loves? Or have the courage to go west by wagon train to California and chase a dream of her own?

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?

The Widow's Plight


Mary Davis - 2018
    She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future? Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first, but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother. Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?

Summer's Fury


Katie Wyatt - 2015
    Her secret “be completely honest with him”Summer’s heart skipped a beat. Honesty. She hadn’t been completely honest with Mister Kearny!Will Mr. Beauregard Kearny be all that he seems? Will he find it in his heart to forgive her when he finds out the secret she’s been hiding? Can Summer rise above her misfortune and find true love and happiness?Will they survive what Mother Nature has in store for them? ˃˃˃ So catch up with the folks at Laramie including intimidating US Marshal Beauregard Kearny with a menacing smile, happy Mary, and of course beautiful petite Miss Summer Percy from Pennsylvania. . ˃˃˃ “a story of hope, fear, romance, suspense and true love.” . Y'll scroll up and grab a copy today.

Prairie Promises


Kelly Eileen Hake - 2011
    Clara Fields tries to escape a difficult situation by finding a bride for a storekeeper’s son, only to discover that the task is more complicated than she thought. The shotgun wedding that results from Opal Speck’s hasty confession—that Adam Grogan is the father of her unborn baby—ends up creating more problems than it solves. Gavin Miller’s mistaken proposal to the wrong cousin leads to tension when Marguerite Chandler—the wrong bride—and Daisy—the right bride—both arrive in town.

Santa Fe Woman


Gilbert Morris - 2006
    But when the severe economic depression of the 1800s destroys the family’s fortune, the Haydens must venture west together along the Santa Fe Trail in search of a new livelihood. With her father in poor health and her Aunt Kate–a dedicated Christian–keeping charge over the younger siblings, Jori hires Chad Rocklin right out of prison to lead their wagon train. And in a journey marked with danger at every turn, romance, faith, and family prove to be the biggest fortunes of all.

The Ranger's Wife


Eveline Hart - 2017
    Having moved to the American Frontier to escape his life as a political pawn for his family, he is content. Everything changes when he receives a letter from his father explaining that he is to marry one Elizabeth “Piper” Renwick. During their trip from Boston to Detroit, Jack learns what it means to be in love while dealing with bankers, a heist, and ultimately Piper- a woman capable of outwitting him at every turn. Will their adventure together on the frontier draw the two of them together or force them apart?

The Chef's Mail Order Bride


Cindy Caldwell - 2015
    She'd been raised to bake in her parents' bakery, and after their deaths, she had planned to carry on the family tradition. Devastated to find out she was losing her family's business, she needed something to do to support herself. When she received a letter from her twin sister's husband in Arizona Territory, suggesting she come out to be the bride of his best friend who was opening a restaurant, it seemed like the perfect solution to her problems. Tripp had gone to the best culinary school in the country, and he knew exactly how to create the perfect meal. He spent hours and hours coming up with just the right menu for his restaurant, only to be told he couldn't get a loan for it unless he married. When his best friend came up with the solution of sending for his baker sister-in-law, it only made sense. Her ideas of the perfect menu were different than his, though. Would the two be able to stay together long enough to convince the bank he was a good risk? Would Sadie be able to convince Tripp that the two of them belonged together after all?

The Vigilante's Bride


Yvonne Harris - 2010
    He just wanted to reclaim the money stolen from him, but ends up with a feisty copper-haired orphan thrown over his shoulder who was on her way to marry Sullivan's bitter enemy.Emily McCarthy is an orphan out of options. Forced to marry because she was too old for her orphanage, she doesn't take kindly to her "rescue." Still she trusts God can turn any situation to good especially when it seems Sullivan may just be the man of her dreams. But Sullivan's crossed a dangerous man unused to losing and Emily may just be the prize he's unwilling to sacrifice.

The Rancher And The Shepherdess


Caroline Clemmons - 2016
    What is she to do now that she is in a strange place with almost no money, no prospect of a job, and no idea how she’ll survive? Plus, her late husband’s family wants her hung for his death, though his fall wasn’t her fault. Garrett McDonald hadn’t planned on marrying for several months. When urged by the sheriff to consider a young widow, he agreed to meet with her. One look was all he needed to convince him to wed the beautiful woman. She said she’d had experience with farming and animals and was willing to work hard. But life on a tiny Irish farm hadn’t prepared her for Montana. Gormlaith’s hard work and spirit convince Garrett she is the one for him, but life has surprises in store.

Not What He Expected


Annie Boone - 2015
    She's missed out on love and romance and she's decided to take matters into her own hands. If love won't find her, then she will surely find love. Is becoming a Mail Order Bride a good idea or will she just find more disappointment? Meet Levi. He's the handsome ranch owner Lucy is headed to meet. There's just one little problem. She's a little overweight and she neglected to share this detail about herself. How will Levi handle this touchy issue when they finally meet? The beautiful, and equally determined Clara hits the quaint Nebraska town about the same time Lucy does and sparks fly. Who will win this cat fight? "Not What He Expected" is the first publication by Annie Boone. Pick it up and see if you like her short story style.