Josephine Nailor is desperate to escape a terrible situation. When the opportunity arises via a newspaper ad, she and her best friend slip away from their oppressive fathers and head for Richmond. Neither can relax until they’re far away from their tiny hometown. With wealthy young widow Lydia Harrison’s help, Josephine and six other young women have a new life waiting in Tarnation, Texas. Michael Buchanan is fairly content running his mercantile and being mayor of Tarnation. The town is dusty and tiny, but it’s growing. He believes it holds all he needs to be happy—except a wife. There are no available women in town, but he hopes Lydia Harrison’s Bride Brigade will offer a woman he can wed. He is immediately attracted to Josephine. But Josephine has every reason to mistrust men in general and politicians in particular. Will her misgivings ruin her chance at happiness?

A desperate young woman A second chance A life-changing decision. Angeline Chandler didn’t invite the attack that created her condition but she’s suffering the result. Disowned by her family and left alone and destitute, she gets a second chance when a kind woman rescues her and invites her to travel to Tarnation, Texas with six other young women for the purpose of marriage. The prospect of marrying one man while carrying another’s child worries Angeline. Who would want her with another man’s baby? Grady McIntyre is a minister whose wife died soon after their son was born. The woman who has been helping with his toddler has told him she’s too old to continue. When Angeline’s name is suggested as a part-time nanny, he seizes the chance to hire her. Their attraction is instantaneous but Angeline resists. A minister needs a virtuous woman, not a fallen one. Soon they marry and both are happy. Trouble rears its ugly head until matters come to a crisis. Will detractors destroy the happiness Angeline and Grady have found?

A desperate plan… A masquerade to achieve a goal… Lies that create a web… Cassandra Bradford has the cast off wardrobe to pose as a lady. Her goal is to marry a wealthy man who can provide her young brother with a sound future. Drat the luck! The first man she sees in Tarnation is a dusty cowboy who sends her heart pounding. Not for her. She has a better life in mind. Samuel Drummond is one of the wealthiest ranchers in that part of the state, but he wants that kept quiet. His first wife married him for his money then left when she became bored with ranch life. He won’t let that happen if he remarries. He intends to find a woman who wants him no matter how poor she thinks he is. When both Cassandra and Sam learn omissions the other has made, there are fireworks between them. They must work through their anger and hurt to achieve happiness.

Escape…A painful past…Hope for the future…Ophelia Shipp wants safety, a home, husband, and to raise a family. To achieve her goal, she travels halfway across the country to a tiny Texas town, Tarnation. What awaits her there must be better than what she left. She longs for a respectable man who will be a gentle and kind husband.Elias Kendrick had a difficult childhood but he has overcome poverty to build his empire in Tarnation. Now that he owns a successful saloon and the opera house, he is ready to marry and start a family. He’s vowed his children’s life will be different from his—if only he can find the right woman.Two opposites attract—or are they? Ophelia and Elias must learn to overlook their superficial differences to work out their chance at lasting love.

A shameful past… Rachel Ross secret haunts her. She joins other women leaving Virginia for Texas, object matrimony. Vowing never to trust again, she is rebuilding her life. She likes the dusty little town of Tarnation and is attracted to Zane Evans. Her past has made her cautious, but she allows him to court her. Zane Evans is a former Pinkerton agent who wants to forget all he saw in that profession and the war and found a good life in Tarnation, Texas. He has carefully planned his future. When he meets Rachel, he is instantly attracted. One event reveals her past in a spectacular way. Will Zane forgive her silence?

How to escape marriage to an odious man . . . Leave the state. Lorraine Stuart joins a group of women traveling to Tarnation, Texas, a town with numerous bachelors but no unmarried women. She longs to meet a man who will admire her and the writing ability that has her published in several publications, by a pseudonym, of course. Just her luck, out of all those in Tarnation, she falls for the most stubborn man she’s ever met. But the handsome newspaper owner is the only one who makes her heart flutter. Grant Pettigrew has worked hard to establish the Tarnation Gazette. He is intrigued by Lorraine but he won’t let a woman write for his newspaper. Besides, he can’t afford to hire anyone yet. The redhead is gorgeous and ignites dreams of family, but he’s never met a more obstinate woman. Will two immovable forces join to form a forever love?

Prudence Lynch’s beloved grandmother trained her in midwifery and in folk medicine. Always ostracized because they were different—until someone needed their help—they lived in poverty at the edge of a tiny Virginia village where rumors plagued them. After Granny’s death, Prudence leaves for Richmond. There, Prudence is fortunate to be chosen to accompany Lydia Harrison to Tarnation, Texas. She believes she’s left trouble and gossip behind to establish her healing business and begin a new life. Doctor Riley Gaston wants a wife and children. He’s threatened to move from Tarnation to seek a wife, but he would never actually leave the community he loves. One of the young women Lydia brings home mesmerizes Riley. That is, until he learns her so-called profession is folk healing, which is he views as dangerous as it is worthless. Prudence is as stubborn as Riley. Trouble causes them to reconsider their opinions. Is their change of heart too late?