Showing results by author "Janice Cole Hopkins" in All Categories

Tara's sister gives her a cruise to get her away from her troubles for a while. Her husband had become abusive but was killed in Iraq. Now his parents are trying to gain custody of her son, Ricky. Tara knows she will never trust another man, but would a husband help her court case as her lawyer says, and would she do even this to keep her son? Sean Murphy might be impulsive, but he's also an optimist. He's had about enough of sailing around the world, and Tara might be just the woman to give him the home and family he wants.

Candace Joyner gets to her destination as a mail-order bride, only to find that her intended owns a saloon with working girls upstairs. Learning that he might eventually expect her to work for him, she hides under the tarp of a mountain man's wagon when he leaves town with his winter supplies. She's watched Jude Mason, and he appears to be kind, and most likely a Christian. She'd rather take her chances with him than with the dictatorial, unscrupulous saloon owner. But life on the mountain in the winter is tougher than she imagined.

When Sadie Alexander’s employer dies, she knows she’ll need to leave the household. Desperate, she sees an ad in a newspaper for a bride, so she mails a hastily written letter and travels to California on a wagon train. When she arrives, Mr. Laird is away with his construction business, and his older friend has been left to meet her.

Jocelyn Wright would prefer to be outside, with her twin brother, instead of in drawing rooms and social events. She has had to hide her true self, and pretend to be the young lady everyone expects. But, as Jonas gets ready to attend Philadelphia College, the colonies’ rebellion against the crown heats up, and her family is forced to quarter British soldiers. That's when Bennet Hart comes into the picture, and changes come much too fast, for even her.

Sophie Zimmermann and her father leave Illinois after her mother dies to make the long trek on the California Trail to Genoa, near Lake Tahoe in Utah Territory, to join her aunt’s family. Sophie finds men interested in her for the first time, and she ends up taking her aunt and cousin’s advice to let Baxter Cobb court her. Baxter is a wealthy businessman that any woman should appreciate, so why can’t Sophie forget Abel Boles, the first man she meets in Genoa. Things come to a head at a baking contest.

Brooke Bennett had the best news ever. After years of trying, she and David were going to have a baby. She knew her husband would be just as thrilled as she was and she prepared him a special celebratory supper, dressed up, and waited for him. However, he never came home. Later that night, she clutched a note she found on her pillow into a crumpled mess not believing what he’d written. David was leaving her and the megachurch where he’d been the senior pastor. They'd hit some snags in their marriage, but something like this had never crossed her mind.

Ingrid Palmer doesn't intend to ever marry. Her cruel father has taught her not to risk such misery. Instead, she helps her mother in her dress shop, volunteers at an orphanage, and does as much as she can to help the women's suffrage movement in Kansas City. However, when a brilliant newspaper reporter wants to write about women's rights, Ingrid's world begins to gradually shift.

Simon Carlson couldn’t learn to read and therefore failed at school. Thanks to his bitter father, most people see him as a simpleton or worse. When a new schoolteacher comes to Flagstaff, she treats him as a normal person, even after she finds out that he can’t read or write. She soon has problems of her own, however.

Oliver Hartsell had no idea that when he went to repair Mr. Austin's windows he'd end up proposing to the man's daughter, but that's exactly what happened. He didn't regret it because he’d been secretly in love with Marie for a long time. However, he doubts she feels the same way about him, but he's determined that she will. Yet, life has a way of throwing unexpected surprises.

When Melanie Carter’s older brother decides she’s to marry Lott Jenkins, a wealthy man who has the reputation of being harsh and unbearable, she knows her life has just started on a downward spiral. However, she’s determined to trust that God would not want her with such a man and try to make the best of the awful situation. At a masquerade ball in Edenton, she meets a rather mysterious man dressed as a knight, and she can’t forget him.

Noah Elder gets lonely in the logging camp, and now that he’s a crew boss with a cabin, he could get married, but what woman would want this rough life? Still, he writes to his sister who’s been known to do some matchmaking. He’s pleased when she finds a young woman for him, but he soon learns that Meleah Baldwin, through no fault of her own, has problems too. In addition, trouble comes from an unexpected source. Can they work together to overcome the obstacles?

Mason Greene returns home from the war, but people see his episodes and want to have him committed to a mental hospital. However, no matter how hard he tries, he can't stop being drawn back into the fighting in his mind.

Boone Malone’s father and brothers were town drunks. When Boone gets drunk and does some things he would have never done sober, he thinks he has their tainted blood, and decides never to marry or have children.

Milton Cauley had tried marriage, and it didn’t work out so well. Now a widower, he has no intention of ever marrying again. He’ll devote his time to being the best barber he can be. But a misguided friend orders him a bride from the matchmaker others in Pinyon Falls have used, and Milton is furious. As far as Milton is concerned, the man can just handle the problem himself since he’s responsible for it.

When Dana Field’s father died, leaving her all alone, she talked the new farmer in the area and his mother into letting her work on their farm. He needed the help, she needed to stay busy, and her cake baking didn’t fill enough of her time. However, many of the townspeople didn’t think it was a proper task for an unmarried woman.

On his deathbed, Solomon’s father asks him to move West and hide his Jewish heritage. With misgivings, he does so. However, his life in Nebraska doesn’t turn out as he expected. He’s kidnapped and robbed of all his money. A helpful pastor takes him to the farm of a young woman who’s known for helping those in need, but even as he hides his secret, she inspires him to deepen his Christian faith. However, with some people suspicious of him, he has no idea what his future might hold.

Carmen knows her beau's mother doesn't like her. Although her parents immigrated to the United States from Spain, the woman accuses her of being Indian, Mexican, or some other heritage she considers undesirable. Her beau says it doesn't matter to him what his mother thinks, but Carmen can't help but wonder what will happen if the woman finds out her parents and grandparents were gypsies.

When Emily Rose Howard took in four goats, she didn’t know she was getting more than she bargained for. However, life gets even more complicated when her neighbor’s son brings his army friend home for a visit after the Civil War ends, and her former art professor shows up too. But life in the Appalachian Mountains has never been easy, and Emily Rose is determined to face her problems with faith and determination the way she always has.

Emma has high hopes when her family moves to the North Carolina mountains. Her father appears to have finally quit drinking, and he plans to settle their family, once and for all, near the Linville River. Here, Emma meets Edgar Moretz, an intelligent, passionate, and godly young man. Things are looking up for Emma, but when she is captured by a Cherokee raiding party, her problems have just begun.

Abby Carter was horrified with herself when she blurted out a marriage proposal to Preston King. A proper lady would never do such a thing, but her cousin had just jilted Preston, and she wanted to ease his hurt. She had cared for him much too long. Preston is confused, but knows he needs a wife to help him ranch in New Mexico Territory, so he asks Abby to marry him. But will he ever purge Magnolia from his heart, and will they even survive the long journey west?