When Catharine Olsen leaves Holland for America as a mail-order bride, she brings along some extra baggage: two sisters, her mother's set of Blue Willow china, and a tragic past. When she arrives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, she promptly marries Peter Andersen and dreams of starting life over in this rugged land. Peter is kind and patient with Catharine and accommodating to her sisters. His mother, however, is not. When she begins a campaign to sabotage Peter's marriage, Catharine is distraught, worried that her secret past will be discovered. Will her life end up as nothing but broken pieces? Or will these trials make her stronger? Readers will love negotiating the clash of cultures and class as a highborn European and a Western wheat farmer learn to love one another and trust God with both the past and the future.
Seeing how successful her older sister's "mail order marriage" has been and longing to strike out on her own, Greta Olsen answers an ad for a mail order bride in Central City, Colorado. But when she meets Jess Gifford, owner of a thriving mercantile, she begins to harbor doubts. He didn't place the ad to begin with and his business in a busy mining town leaves him little time or energy for love. To compound her troubles, she was not the only bride to answer the ad! Will either bride strike the match she hopes for? Filled with amusing and awkward situations that will keep the reader interested and guessing, Twice Promised is another sweet romance from Maggie Brendan.
Anna Olsen knows it's time to leave her sister's increasingly crowded house and start a life of her own. Following her sisters' examples, she becomes a mail-order bride, and after a short correspondence with clock maker and jeweler Edward Parker, she moves to Denver to become his wife. Almost immediately it's painfully apparent that Anna and Edward are very different. Anna is a free spirit who would rather be painting and enjoying the company of friends than cleaning house. Edward is a consummate perfectionist who, on their wedding day, hands Anna a list of chores that need to be done around the house daily. Can this mismatched couple see past their differences to a harmonious future? Or will their disparate passions create obstacles neither is willing to surmount? Maggie Brendan closes her Blue Willow Brides series with a heartwarming tale of true love despite misunderstanding, showing readers that God's timing is always perfect.
Patience Cavanaugh has lost hope in romance. The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with the restoration of a dilapidated boarding house in order to support herself. Despite her desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local sheriff with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: Patience needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse, and Jedediah needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But Patience gets more than she bargained for as she explores the depths of the "hanging lawman"--and finds both betrayal and love. With a keen eye to historical detail and a deft hand at romantic tension, Maggie Brendan invites readers to a Montana gold rush boomtown, where vices and virtues are on full display and love is lying in wait.
Crystal Clark arrives in Colorado's Yampa Valley amid the splendor of a high country June in 1892. After the death of her father, Crystal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt Kate's cattle ranch. Despite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land--even if a certain handsome foreman doubts her abilities. Just when she thinks she's getting a handle on the constant male attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes the ranch. Crystal will have to tap all of her resolve to save the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated? Book one in the Heart of the West series, No Place for a Lady is full of adventure, romance, and the indomitable human spirit. Readers will fall in love with the Colorado setting and the spunky Southern belle who wants to claim it as her own.
Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith, beloved authors of the Amish of Apple Grove series, team up again in an exciting new series for devoted fans and new readers. It’s 1851, and Evie Lawrence is penniless and heartbroken after a failed romance. When a kind elderly man announces his plan to move west and make his fortune, Evie jumps at the chance to go with him and start a new life. She says goodbye to the only home she’s ever known and sets out for the Northwest. There she meets Noah Hughes, a handsome young man who has gambled everything he owns on the chance to make a fresh start. Living the rugged life of a lumberjack, he too is determined to one day make his fortune. The last thing he’s looking for is a bride...so why can’t he get Evie out of his mind? In this first book of the Seattle Brides series, two people learn what it means to move beyond their expectations and embrace the very best God has for them.
To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember. Now that her father was an itinerant worker, Janey didn't have a home she could call her own or any real friends, as her family had to keep moving, following the crops from farm to farm. Someday, Janey promised the willow plate, with its picture of a real house, her family would once again be able to set down roots in a community. Blue Willow is an important fictional account of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and has been called The Grapes of Wrath for children. It won a Newbery Honor and many other awards.
As a wedding planner, Sherilyn Caine should have the perfect wedding experience... After all, she just landed her dream job at the wedding destination hotel, The Tanglewood. The rest should be a piece of cake for Sherilyn's Type A personality. But while everything else goes smoothly, her own wedding plans start to sink right before her eyes. One way or the other, Sherilyn is determined to make this wedding work—until the latest development threatens to call the whole thing off. Is it possible that Sherilyn is allergic to her fiancé? "What a fun read! This is perfect to take with you to the beach or to sit by a fire, although people will be looking at you strangely as you laugh and nod at all the problems Sherilyn has to face. And the recipes are to die for! Anyone who has been to a wedding will love the humor and romance in this book!" - Camy Tang, author of The Sushi Series and Protection for Hire "You’ll want to say 'I do' to this delightful story filled with fun, romance, memorable characters, and all the charm of the South." - Jenny B. Jones, award-winning author of Save the Date and A Charmed Life Series "This book will make you want to check into The Tanglewood Inn for a nice long stay! Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride is filled with friendship and romance and Sandra D. Bricker’s trademark wit and warmth. I want to hang out with these women! Bricker’s novels are like a fun visit with your best friend!" - Judy Christie, author of Hurry Less, Worry Less and fiction titles, including The Glory of Green, Book #3 in The Green Series "I didn’t think Sandra D. Bricker could write another story in this series to outdo Always the Baker, Never the Bride. I was wrong. With her gift for natural, sparkling dialogue and her ability to throw believable, tension-causing conflicts into the path of our heroine, Sherilyn, Bricker has written another winner in Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride. While it was wonderful revisiting characters from the first book, new lovebirds Sherilyn and Andy stole my heart and awakened my empathy as soon as I met them. Before you start reading the book, you might need to check your own planner—it’s hard to set it down once you dive in!" - Trish Perry, author of The Tea Shop Series, including Perfect Blend and Tea for Two
