Tessa O’Connor is tired of the high society lifestyle, and the pressure is on for her to marry a wealthy man. Fearful of becoming trapped in a life that would make her increasingly miserable, she decides to try the mail-order bride approach.

Moments after Lisbeth is born, she’s taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come. Though Lisbeth leads a life of privilege, she finds nothing but loneliness in the company of her overwhelmed mother and her distant, slave-owning father.

Ivy Jeffries falls hopelessly in love with Jonas Armstrong, a man who has forced himself into a somewhat reclusive lifestyle owing to his sordid past. Ivy is elated when he finally lets his guard down and kisses her. She thinks they are now moving forward into a relationship, until he tells her it meant nothing to him. How could a kiss like they shared mean nothing to him, when it meant the world to her?

If any place on God's earth was designed to help one heal, it is Meadowland. Surely here, at her brother-in-law's Kentucky farm, Rose and her daughters can recover from the events of the recent past—the loss of her husband during the 1918 influenza epidemic, her struggle with tuberculosis that required a stay at a sanatorium, and her girls' experience in an orphanage during her illness. At Meadowland, hope blooms as their past troubles become rich soil in which their faith can grow.

Winner of the 2001 Christy Award, Lynn Austin captures the turmoil of the Civil War in this stirring novel. From vast plantations to the cramped closets of the Underground Railroad, it follows one young woman's inspiring journey of risk and sacrifice.

In the waning years of the 19th century, Bessie Daniels grows up in the small town of Hot Springs in western North Carolina. Secure in the love of her father, resistant to her mother's desire that she be a proper Southern belle, Bessie is determined to forge her own way in life. Or, as her Cherokee great-grandmother Elisi puts it, to be a whistling woman. Life, however, has a few surprises in store for Bessie....

Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now the young mother of two children, Eliza faces a different kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants them to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her departed mother's grave - and returning to the land of her captivity.

Millie’s mind is racing and there seems to be no clear line between right and wrong. Either path leads to pain, and she’ll do anything to protect the ones she loves. So she decides to bury the truth and begin again, helping Bump launch a ranch in the wilds of Colorado. But just when she thinks she’s left her old Mississippi life behind, the facts surface in the most challenging way.

Seven years ago, orphaned and alone, Em finally arrived at a new home in Iowa after riding the orphan train. But secrets from her past haunt her, and her new life in the Western wilderness is a rough one. When her guardian is shot and killed, Em, now 19, finally has the chance to search for her long-lost sister, but she won't be able to do it alone.

When Lady Moira Brennan leaves her home at Brennan Castle for the wilds of her own homestead claim in the Montana territory, she has no idea that a husband awaits her. Sold into marriage by her uncle, she arrives to find a bleak landscape of scarce farmers, all desperately trying to scratch out a living on their claims. Pryor MacAteer came to Montana himself only three years ago, and his farm has prospered. All that he needs to make it complete is a wife and family, one whose passage he paid, and whose name is on the marriage contract.

Weary of the burden of caring for her younger siblings, and eager for a new life, Abby Sanders accepts an offer to travel west as a Mail Order Bride. She dreams of a quiet, peaceful life away from the noise and chaos of her family, a place where she can follow her own thoughts at her own pace. So when John Clinton, her husband to be, meets her at the station with a small child in tow, she's ready to back right out of their deal. She didn't expect this ready-made family, but she finds herself growing to care for them, despite her misgivings.

Jesse King doesn't want to go west, but her husband has never been all that concerned with what his wife wants. When tragedy strikes, Jesse is rescued by the Lakota Sioux, among whom she finds unexpected peace, a sense of belonging, and the love of a lifetime. A compelling tale of one woman's extraordinary faith as God leads her from prairie schooner to tepee, from tepee to frontier fort, and on to a growing state capitol.

Fragrant blossoms herald spring, but the orchard is also a place of secrets and heartache. After the death of her husband Frank, Eliza is left with three young children and mounting debts. When a gentle stranger enters her orchard, she experiences a peculiar sensation of familiarity with the man. But will his unknown past jeopardize all that she has fought for?

Mollie Sheehan has spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter and honor her father's wishes, even when doing so has led to one heartbreak after another. After all, what options does she truly have in 1860s Montana? But providing for her stepfamily during her father's long absences doesn't keep her from wishing for more. When romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future—until her father voices his disapproval of the match and moves her to California to ensure the breakup. Still, time and providence are at work.

Left destitute and alone with her mother after her father abandoned them, Erin Saddler is shocked when she learns her mother has arranged for her to be a mail order bride to a Mr. Rich McNettle. But they are out of money, and marriage is their last chance for a stable life. So Erin agrees to travel west to wed this man she's never met. But when a stagecoach accident and a brave man step in to her destiny, she begins to believe that God has other plans for her.