The sensational second novel in Joan Johnston’s Western historical romance series set in the world of Bitter Creek. CAN SECRETS AND SECOND CHOICES EVER LEAD TO LOVE? After three months in a mail-order marriage, Hannah Wentworth McMurtry is a widow—pregnant, alone, and near death in the Wyoming wilderness. Though she is saved by a man with a face cut from stone, she still grieves the husband who died on their journey west. Hannah needs a husband, but does she dare marry another stranger? Flint Creed has also lost someone he loved—when the woman he hoped to marry chose his younger brother instead. Now he must find a ranch wife of his own. But every female in the remote Wyoming Territory is too old, too young, or already married . . . until he discovers Hannah on the prairie. Flint doesn’t pretend to love her, but he doesn’t tell her he loves another woman, either. Hannah doesn’t pretend to love him, but she doesn’t tell him about the child she carries. Though danger surrounds them on the Wyoming frontier, the greatest threats of all are the secrets within—revelations that could destroy the new life Hannah and Flint have begun to cherish. The passionate Westerns in Joan Johnston’s Bitter Creek series can be enjoyed together or separately, in any order: TEXAS BRIDE • WYOMING BRIDE • MONTANA BRIDE • SINFUL • SHAMELESS • BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE • SULLIVAN’S PROMISE
A bride on the run in the mountain wilderness…and a killer on the prowl. Just as Chelsey Robards decides to call off her wedding, her soon-to-be husband is shot and killed at the altar. When the bullets start to fly her way, the best man, former Special Ops soldier Duncan O’Hare, drags her to safety. But with an unknown enemy on their trail, can they survive long enough to find out why she’s a target? Mills & Boon Love Inspired Suspense — Courage. Danger. Faith.
After a rough winter spent alone, Ursula Nordegren realizes she must overcome her fears of the outside world and begins a trek down Hope Mountain. Along the way she finds a badly wounded stranger and realizes God may have used her decision to leave as a way of saving the man. Wax Mosby was climbing Hope Mountain in part to atone for his terrible choices. He was hired to drive out the Warden family and now knows he was duped. But when he's wounded during the climb, the last person he expects to rescue him is a beautiful blond woman with the voice of an angel. As both Ursula and Wax weigh the costs of living new lives, the two find an unlikely bond. And they're joined by Ursula's sisters and the Warden family as the final showdown over the family ranch looms with the coming of spring.
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After years of isolation on top of Hope Mountain, Ilsa Nordegren may finally be ready to leave. Raised to fear the world, Ilsa and her sisters never planned on coming down, but when the Warden family arrived in need, they had to help. And it may cost them everything. Having made his fortune, Mitch Warden returned home and found the family homestead abandoned. In a land grab, a ruthless cattle baron had forced his family to escape up the mountain, and when he follows, the last thing he expects is to fall smitten to a black-haired woman who dresses like Robin Hood. Warden is intent on helping his family reclaim their land, but doesn't realize the risks his past has brought. Dangerous men have tracked him, and rather than risk innocent lives, he's determined to end the danger. But that means a journey to the city--and when Ilsa insists on joining him, the mismatched pair suddenly find themselves on a venture they'll never forget.
Book 1: Mail Order Bride Adeline's Story: Adeline Brandt longs to raise a family. Her loving husband Robert promises to fulfill this desire but tragically perishes in the Civil War. Shortly after his death, doctors tell the already grief-stricken Adeline that she is barren; she will never experience the joy of having children of her own. In an attempt to ease her suffering, a childhood friend offers what she thinks is the perfect solution to escape Adeline's woes: to head out west to the frontier as a mail order bride and get a fresh start on life. Adeline hesitates, but decides to accept the offer. A handsome widower named Alexander Raymond is looking for a wife who can help him open the first library in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His plan? Marriage in name only, and young Adeline seems to fit the bill nicely. Can Adeline set aside her pain and sorrow for the chance to love again? And will God bless her with the greatest gift of all? Book 2: Mail Order Bride Lydia's Story: Lydia Dow refuses to marry a Boston dandy. Thrilled by the prospect of escaping stuffy New England for a new adventure in the frontier, she has been corresponding with the charming David Cavendish of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and has her heart set on becoming his mail order bride. But when Lydia arrives, she learns a startling truth: David cannot read or write, but had commissioned a friend to write the letters on his behalf. Stunned by the news, Lydia wonders whose thoughts were really reflected in those letters, and what other secrets David had up his sleeve. When the truth unfolds, will she alienate him forever, or will Lydia become the woman of his dreams, answering his prayers for a life filled with happiness and love? Book 3: Mail Order Bride Rosanna's Story: Orphaned when her parents perished during the smallpox epidemic, young Rosanna Ellington is left with a little brother to care for. As a smallpox survivor, Rosanna finds it difficult to live an ordinary life, her appearance now tarnished by scars-cruel reminders of the devastating disease. When a family friend suggests for her to respond to an ad seeking a God-fearing mail order bride, Rosanna finally feels a glimmer of hope: the Cheyenne man states that "appearance and status of wealth are not important." Without revealing her condition, Rosanna hopes that her future husband will be willing to marry her, but when she arrives, she is stunned to learn that Alexander Malone did not place the ad after all: his sister had been the person secretly corresponding with her all along. When they meet, will Alexander see past Rosanna's flaws and find her inner beauty? Book 4: Mail Order Bride Isabella's Story: When Isabella discovers that she is with child, she flees her abusive husband in search of a better life. Without references, Isabella realizes that work is hard to find, so when a maid named Lilly finds her on the streets of Boston and offers her a potential position where she works, Isabella is relieved and soon begins to work for the Crawford family. But sometimes, the grass is not always greener on the other side. When faced with the threat of even more abuse from her employer, Isabella must flee yet again. In a hurry, she discovers an advertisement for a mail-order bride from a man in Cheyenne named Mr. Augustus Cranston and responds. Out of sheer desperation, she decides to begin her travels out West before she has the chance to receive a reply to her letter, accompanied by her new friend, Lilly. After she makes the long trip to Cheyenne, however, Isabella finally meets Mr. Cranston and is faced with a new dilemma. Will her suitor be the man who can commit to a lifetime of love, or will God have other plans for of Isabella and her unborn child?
Josephine Nordegren is one of three sisters who grew up nearly wild in southwestern Colorado. She has the archery skills of Robin Hood and the curiosity of the Little Mermaid, fascinated by but locked away from the forbidden outside world--a world she's been raised to believe killed her parents. When David Warden, a rancher, brings in a herd much too close to the girls' secret home, her older sister especially is frightened, but Jo is too interested to stay away. David's parents follow soon on his heels, escaping bandits at their ranch. David's father is wounded and needs shelter. Josephine and her sisters have the only cabin on the mountain. Do they risk stepping into the world to help those in need? Or do they remain separated but safe in the peaks of Hope Mountain?
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A DESPERATE DECEPTION THE PROMISE OF FOREVER When Karl Norwood’s mail-order bride meets an untimely demise on the way to the Montana Territory, Hetty Wentworth steps in to take her place. Hetty has no idea how she’s going to pretend to be all the things she isn’t—including the mother of two kids. She only knows her deception is necessary if she’s going to save two orphans from the awful fate she suffered as a child. Karl smells a rat when a much younger woman than he was expecting arrives with two children who look nothing like her. But his mail-order bride is so beautiful, he doesn’t object—until he realizes that his charming new wife has been lying . . . about everything. Can a woman forced to keep secrets and a man hindered by distrust ever hope to find happily ever after in each other’s arms? Praise for Montana Bride “[A] swiftly paced romance.”—Publishers Weekly “Montana Bride is a compelling read and definitely a noteworthy addition to a great series.”—Fresh Fiction “Joan Johnston knows how to spin a story that will get to the readers every time. [Montana Bride] is no different. . . . It was emotional, heartfelt and real. It was honest. . . . It was simply magic from a master storyteller.”—Night Owl Reviews “If you are a fan of historicals, a fan of beautiful descriptive writing, and a fan of steamy romance, you won’t want to miss out on Montana Bride.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews “Johnston has a keen eye for quirky circumstances that put her characters, and the reader, through a wringer. Laughing one moment and crying the next, you’ll always have such a great time getting to the happy-ever-after.”—Romance Junkies Reviews The passionate Westerns in Joan Johnston’s Bitter Creek series can be enjoyed together or separately, in any order: TEXAS BRIDE • WYOMING BRIDE • MONTANA BRIDE • SINFUL • SHAMELESS • BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE • SULLIVAN’S PROMISE
After growing up as an orphan, Josiah English wants nothing more than to have his own ranch and raise Arabian horses. Riding for the Pony Express seems like the ticket to his dream. And when he meets the stationmaster’s beautiful sister, it seems he may be within reach of the happy life he craves. Mara Reid is thrilled to finally meet the man of her dreams, and the fact that they both want to raise horses in the Sweetwater River valley seems like confirmation straight from God. But when the Express shuts down and Mara's family home is in peril, the danger looming over Mara's life may not be half as destructive as that threatening her heart.
