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Heart of Mercy by Sharlene MacLaren


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Whispers on the Prairie


Vickie McDonough - 2013
    It wasn't her idea to leave Chicago and head west in search of gold, but her uncle's ambition left her no choice. Neither was her intention to settle in Kansas City with her ailing aunt, but being penniless and without possessions brings little bargaining power. Pretty soon, she resigns herself to her fate, however unfortunate. It isn't as if she has a home to go back to. A Country Boy Seeking to Right a Wrong...Ethan Harper, the youngest of three brothers, enjoys a peaceful existence helping run his family's stage shop along the Santa Fe Trail. Only one cloud continues to darken his horizon—guilt over the tragic death of his oldest brother's wife. The only acceptable penance Ethan can think of is finding another woman to marry his brother and help raise his motherless children.A Match so Incompatible, It Just Might Work...When a series of misfortunes strands Sarah Marshall and her aunt at the Harpers' Stage Stop, the status quo is overthrown as the presence of an attractive young woman, however unversed in the ways of prairie living, wreaks havoc on the lives of the Harper brothers, all three of them vying for her attention. But will any of them prove himself worth giving up the life Sarah always dreamed of?

The River


Beverly Lewis - 2014
    Since Anna's death, it had been such a barrier...a place and a moment she could not seem to move past. A line I can't move beyond...The River Tilly and Ruth, two formerly Amish sisters, are plagued by unresolved relationships when they reluctantly return to Lancaster County for their parents' landmark wedding anniversary. Since departing their Plain upbringing, Tilly has married an Englisher, but Ruth remains single and hasn't entirely forgotten her failed courtship with her Amish beau.Past meets present as Tilly and Ruth yearn for acceptance and redemption. Can they face the future in the light of a past they can't undo?

Road to Deer Run


Elaine Marie Cooper - 2010
    Her brother, Asa is dead — killed by the King’s army, so when she stumbles across a wounded British soldier, her sense of right and wrong is challenged. Should she help a soldier of the enemy who took her brother’s life, or let him die, cold and alone?The war has also broken British soldier Daniel Lowe’s spirit. A severely wounded prisoner of war, he escaped his rebel captors while on a death march to Boston. As the pain in his injured leg worsens, he wonders if the young woman looking down at him is an angel or the enemy.Need and compassion bring these two young lives together, but will the bitterness of war keep them apart? Or can they find their way to love and forgiveness on the Road to Deer Run?

Beyond All Dreams


Elizabeth Camden - 2014
    She is thwarted in her attempts to uncover information, but her determination outweighs her shyness and she turns to a dashing congressman for help. Luke Callahan was one of the nation's most powerful congressmen until his promising career became shadowed in scandal. Eager to share in a new cause and intrigued by the winsome librarian, he joins forces with Anna to solve the mystery of the lost ship.Opposites in every way, Anna and Luke are unexpectedly drawn to each other despite the strict rules forbidding Anna from any romantic entanglement with a member of Congress. From the gilded halls of the Capitol, where powerful men shape the future of the nation, to the scholarly archives of the nation's finest library, Anna and Luke are soon embroiled in secrets much bigger and more perilous than they ever imagined. Is bringing the truth to light worth risking all they've ever dreamed for themselves?

Love at Any Cost


Julie Lessman - 2013
    Hoping a summer visit with her wealthy cousins in San Francisco will help her forget her heartache, Cassidy travels west. But no sooner is she settled in beautiful California than Jamie McKenna, a handsome pauper looking to marry well, captures her heart. When Jamie discovers the woman he loves is poorer than he is, Cassidy finds herself bucked by love a second time. Will Jamie discover that money can't buy love after all? And can Cassidy ever learn to fully trust her heart to a man?With delectable descriptions and a romantic sensibility, bestselling author Julie Lessman brings the Gilded Age to life in this sumptuous new series. Readers will faithfully follow Lessman to the West Coast for more romance, passion, and surprising revelations found in Love at Any Cost.

Playing by Heart


Anne Mateer - 2014
    But then a shocking phone call from her sister, Jewel, changes everything.With a heavy heart, Lula returns to her Oklahoma hometown to do right by her sister, but the only teaching job available in Dunn is combination music instructor/basketball coach. Lula doesn't even consider those real subjects!Determined to prove herself, Lula commits to covering the job for the rest of the school year. Reluctantly, she turns to the boys' coach, Chet, to learn the newfangled game of basketball. Chet is handsome and single, but Lula has no plans to fall for a local boy. She's returning to college and her scholarship as soon as she gets Jewel back on her feet.However, the more time she spends around Jewel's family, the girls' basketball team, music classes, and Chet, the more Lula comes to realize what she's given up in her single-minded pursuit of degree after degree. God is working on her heart, and her future is starting to look a lot different than she'd expected.

The Preacher's Lady (Sugar Maple Hearts #1)


Lori Copeland - 2016
    She's pledged her unending love to Bo Garrett.At seventeen, Bo rides off for a month--just a month--to see a little of the world before he settles down with Elly. He falls in with the wrong people and the wrong life. His promises to Elly and the Lord are forgotten in a misspent youth. Eight years too late, he returns, having come to the end of himself and rededicated his life to God.Can Bo convince Elly they were meant to be together despite all the bumps in their path?

The Heiress of Winterwood


Sarah E. Ladd - 2013
    . . but what comes after?Darbury, England, 1814Amelia Barrett, heiress to an ancestral estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend’s infant baby. She'll risk everything to keep her word—even to the point of proposing to the child’s father, Graham, a sea captain she’s never met.Tragedy strikes when the child vanishes with little more than a sketchy ransom note hinting to her whereabouts. Fear for the child’s safety drives Amelia and Graham to test the boundaries of their love for this infant.Amelia’s detailed plans would normally see her through any trial, but now, desperate and shaken, she examines her soul and must face her one weakness: pride.Graham’s strength and self-control have served him well and earned him much respect, but chasing perfection has kept him a prisoner of his own discipline.Both must learn to accept God’s sovereignty and relinquish control so they can grasp the future He has for planned for them.

Texas Angel: Texas Angel / Heaven's Road


Judith Pella - 2008
    But that did little to save her when it was discovered that her deceased mother was a runaway quadroon. Disowned and shamed by the Hearne family, Elise and her baby find themselves on their way to the wild frontier of Texas--as slave.When Elise inadvertently meets Benjamin Sinclair, a fiery evangelist determined to convert the lawless Texans, their lives become intertwined in the midst of tragedy--shattering their fragile existence and forcing them to discover the faith that sustains.This volume also includes the full-length novel Heaven's Road, the story of Micah Sinclair, the reckless but courageous stepson of Elise.

Fairer Than Morning


Rosslyn Elliott - 2011
    Eli is the suitor of Ann's dreams. Like her, he enjoys poetry and beautiful things and soon, he will move to the city to become a doctor.Ann travels to Pittsburgh, accompanying her father on business. There she meets Will Hanby, a saddle-maker's apprentice. Will has spent years eking out an existence under a cruel master and his spirit is nearly broken. But Ann's compassion lights a long-dark part of his soul. Through his encounters with Ann's father, a master saddler, Will discovers new hope and courage in the midst of tremendous adversity.When the Millers must return to Ohio and their ministry there, Will resolves to find them, at any cost. If Will can make it back to Ann, will she be waiting?

The Dancing Master


Julie Klassen - 2013
    But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village. . .and to her mother's tattered heart?Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a "good match" in Regency England.

The Making of a Gentleman


Ruth Axtell Morren - 2007
    Just moments from the hangman's noose, Jonah Quinn escapes from infamous Newgate Prison. Taking prison volunteer Florence Hathaway hostage is a masterstroke, but Jonah intends to end their acquaintance once he's free. God, however, has other plans.The caring spinster's mission is to turn Jonah's life around. The burly fugitive scoffs at the notion he can be groomed into respectability, much less win a royal pardon. He knows that donning a waistcoat and cravats does not change a man. But a woman's stubborn faith? That can accomplish miracles. Florence sees right into the depths of his roguish heart, and Jonah finds himself wanting to become that man she sees....

A Life Once Dreamed


Rachel Fordham - 2020
    She found it in Penance, a rugged town of miners and lumberjacks in the Dakota Territory, where she became Miss Aggie, respected schoolteacher and confirmed old maid. But the past has a way of catching up with people.When childhood friend and former sweetheart James Harris accepts a position as the town doctor, Aggie's pleasantly predictable days suddenly become anything but. James wants to know why Agnes left behind the life they had dreamed of creating for themselves--but he is the one person who can never know.In the shadows of the Black Hills, can a healing light be shed on the past? Or will the secret Agnes can't seem to outrun destroy her chance at happiness?Fan-favorite Rachel Fordham brings to life the dusty streets of an 1880s frontier town in this story that affirms where you come from matters far less than where you're going.

Red Siren


M.L. Tyndall - 2009
    . . An ambitious Naval Officer longing for a promotion . . . Is their love strong enough to defy the noose?Can ladies be pirates? In 1718 Charleston, there are few other choices left to women in need of large sums of money. And Faith Westcott needs such a fortune to protect her two sisters from forced marriages or their aloof and often-absent admiral father will do just that upon his return from overseas. The only problem is, he has assigned a naval officer to keep guard over Faith and her sisters while he is away—a very handsome naval officer, and one whom Faith recognizes as a victim of her piracy from long ago.Dajon Waite longs to make a success for himself in the British Royal Navy, not only to cover a host of past sins but to prove to his father and brother that he isn’t the wastrel they accuse him of being. When he is stationed in Charleston, Carolina to rid the nearby seas of pirates, he is thrilled to meet up with his long-time mentor, Admiral Westcott. But Dajon must pass a test before receiving the promotion he desires: protect the admiral’s unruly and headstrong daughters! Not an easy task when Dajon’s past dealings with women ended in disaster and shame—including a run in with a lady pirate.

A Worthy Pursuit


Karen Witemeyer - 2015
    He never comes home empty-handed. So when a wealthy railroad investor hires him to find his abducted granddaughter, Stone eagerly accepts.Charlotte Atherton, former headmistress of Sullivan’s Academy for Exceptional Youths, will do anything to keep her charges safe, especially the orphaned girl entrusted to her care. Charlotte promised Lily’s mother she’d keep the girl away from her unscrupulous grandfather, and nothing will stop Charlotte from fulfilling that pledge. Not even the handsome bounty hunter with surprisingly honest eyes who comes looking for them.When Miss Atherton produces documentation that shows her to be Lily’s legal guardian, Stone must reevaluate everything he’s been led to believe. Is she villain or victim? Then a new danger forces Charlotte to trust the man sent to destroy her. Stone vows to protect what he once sought to tear apart. Besides, he’s ready to start a new pursuit: winning Charlotte’s heart.