An Impossible Dream Calliope Perkins has been told she can never have children, but does that really mean she cannot be a mother? Jacob Becker’s wife died giving birth. No one can replace his wife, but the children need a mother. Can the magic of Christmas heal two broken hearts?

Secrets and scars gave him a stony heart. All she has left is hope, and Christmas is on the way. Regina Collins had answered the letter and left her home in Missouri to make her way to the mountains of Colorado. That was in April. She’d come full of hope with the expectation of starting a new life. But her life in Colorado didn’t look much different than the one she’d left. Sam Morgan needed a wife to help care for his five-year-old son. He married Regina just like he’d said he would, but if Regina thought he’d be the loving husband, she was mistaken. He’d provide for her, give her children, and protect her. But he wasn’t giving her his heart.

Whitney Smith always knew her aunt and uncle didn’t love her. It’s no surprise when she learns they sold her to Sheldon Walker to pay off their gambling debts. Adventure tells her to answer an ad from a sheriff in Montana looking for a wife in time for Christmas. Desperation tells her to steal the mans’ address and flee on the next train, not caring that he’s not exactly expecting her. Sheriff Clark Holden doesn’t wish to spend another holiday alone. Although no one has responded to his ad just yet, he’s hopeful someone will soon. What he doesn’t expect is for one of those ladies to show up, knocking on his door. Instinct says she’s on the run, and he can’t help but want her to stay. Along with her new life starting in Montana, Whitney distracts herself with their wedding plans and preparing for their first Christmas together. She’s forgotten all about the deal her family made. When a storm rolls in, trapping Whitney and Clark in his mountain cabin, she believes it’s a blessing. Snow and ice are no match for Sheldon Walker, however, who has come looking for her. And has found her. Can Clark protect Whitney from the man threatening to take her away or will Sheldon take back the woman he paid for? Check out the other fabulous stories in the Mail Order Brides' First Christmas Series!

When Catherine Lee finds herself widowed and on the verge of losing her home, she quickly agrees to become a mail-order bride. She can withstand another loveless marriage so long as she has a place to live and food to eat. However, just before she arrives in Grover's Gulch, Colorado to be married, she discovers that she is expecting a baby—a child her intended knows nothing about. Jonathan Clark needs a wife to help him run the new boarding house he's opened in town. It'll be hard work, cooking and cleaning after any number of boarders. When he learns Catherine is expecting, he worries she won't be up to the task. Not to mention, of course, that he never saw himself raising another man's child. But Catherine wins over both Jonathan and their boarders with her quiet friendliness, lovely singing voice, and thoughtful touches throughout the boarding house. As Christmas, their feelings for each other, and the birth of their child grow near, a dangerous encounter in the mining town makes Jonathan question whether Grover's Gulch is the right place for Catherine and a new baby. Will Catherine be able to change his mind? Or will she find herself celebrating Christmas alone? A Christmas Carol for Catherine is part of the multi-author sweet and clean Mail-Order Brides' First Christmas series. It can be read as a standalone, or enjoyed as part of the series.

All of her life, she's only wanted to be wanted. He just wants to inherit a legacy. When Hannah Gallagher's mother dies giving birth to her, her no-good father leaves her with her mother's parents. They didn't have much, but they loved each other. When her grandmother passes suddenly, her grandfather forces her to respond to an advertisement for a mail-order bride. Reluctantly, she agrees, but does everything she can to make sure the groom to be won't pick her. After all, who would choose a barely educated woman who only knows how to grow the basic of vegetables and shoot squirrels for supper? And then her life turns upside down when she receives a letter asking for her hand in marriage. Doubts assail her as she gets ready to leave the only home she's ever known and tries to convince her grandfather to travel with her. Briggs Blackwood is stuck between a rock and a hard place. While ranching is in his blood, and he loves it, he has to meet one requirement to take over his family legacy: get married and produce at least one grandchild within five years of his mother's death. Briggs never wanted to get married. Even though his mom and dad's relationship had been loving and kind, he doesn't know if he can have a loving marriage like theirs. Hoping his father changes his mind, Briggs waits until the very last minute to find a wife. After placing an ad for a mail-order bride, Briggs reluctantly settles on a woman from Illinois. Once she arrives, he finds her to be more than he bargained for. Will Hannah and Briggs discover just how much they need each other? Or will life's challenges become too much, with the only solution to annul the marriage and go their separate ways?

Rancher Gibson Bainbridge travels to Pine Knot to investigate how his younger brother was swindled out of his mining claim. He finds the suspect, businessman Bernard Heinrik, at a poker table and squares off opposite him. Gib goads the man into betting big, staking the mining claim and then ends up with the winning hand and retrieves the deed. Goal achieved, he heads back to the hotel, planning how he’ll leave in the morning and arrive triumphant in Redlands at the family home in time for holiday festivities. Mail-order bride Trudel Andersen traveled from Los Angeles to Pine Knot to meet up with her fiancé, Mister Heinrik, with whom she’s been corresponding for several months. But he’s a day overdue in meeting her. She waits in the hotel lobby with her lace-making materials and her little dog, Butterscotch. Released from the orphanage two months earlier, Trudel has been on her own and terrified she will always be so. When Gibson realizes he’s the cause for the lovely lady’s misfortune, he’s stuck with a dilemma. If he confesses what he did, he’ll have to offer the woman a ride back to where she came from. Propriety demands they marry, and both agree it’s only for the duration of the trip. But will forced proximity deepen the relationship into something more?

He’s a cattle rancher not interested in finding love. She’s a young woman on the run, seeking protection. She needs to escape… Elizabeth Baker’s life looks nothing like she hoped. When her mother suddenly dies, Elizabeth grieves her passing while evading the inappropriate advances of her stepfather. She has to get away from him and decides to go to her dearest friend, Hannah, for help. Can Lizzie escape her stepfather before it’s too late? And if she does, can she ever trust another man again? He wants to remain single… Mack Douglas sees his best friend, Briggs, and his new wife, Hannah, on a daily basis. He doesn’t begrudge their happiness and has no desire to get married and be responsible for someone else. When Hannah implores his help on behalf of her friend, however, how can he say no? Will Lizzie and Mack be able to find common ground and build a marriage worth fighting for, or will their marriage end before it’s even had a chance to begin?

Jessie Miller was restless to begin her own life. She loves her siblings but raising nine children practically on her own wasn't what she had planned. She longed to travel, to see more of the world than the little small town she grew up in. Except she had no means to get out on her own. She was trapped... until she saw his ad in the matrimonial weekly. William Atwood, son and heir to his grandfather’s extensive ranch, thought he had it all. He had money, he’d traveled at his leisure, and he had all friends a man could want... but he wasn’t expecting his grandfather’s will to say he had to marry by his 25th birthday or forfeit it all. Desperate times meant desperate measures. Turned out his grandfather had taken matters into his own hands and placed an ad on his behalf... for a mail order bride. He had to marry her, he had no choice. But now that she’s here on his ranch he wonders if need and desire could be one and the same...

Beatrice Collier has had a hard life. Born into poverty, she was orphaned at six and raised in a state-run facility. As a child, she never knew the joy of the holidays. When she turned eighteen, she married for security, rather than love. Having never really known true affection, she had no inkling what she was missing. Ten years into their marriage, Beatrice’s husband was killed in a freak accident in the textiles factory where he worked, leaving her alone again at twenty-eight. With no real education, and jobs at a premium she finds work as a woman’s companion to support herself. When her current employer dies, she’s once again out of work. Rather than search for another job, she answers an ad for a mail order bride and sets out on a cross-country journey from her Pennsylvania home to the state of Washington. Maxwell (Max) McCauley owns four hundred acres of prime property and makes his living as a horticulturalist, overseeing the largest privately owned acreage of Western White Pines in the western U.S. Well educated, a stickler for detail, his expertise is in demand, making him far too busy to properly court a woman. Yet, his home needs a woman’s touch. He needs a woman’s touch. Rather than waste time searching for a wife in an area where women are still few and far between, he asks his housekeeper to do whatever it takes to find him a suitable wife. The older woman takes her task to heart, placing advertisements in a half dozen newspapers. However, her brutally honest ad about Max’s business, and often inclement weather in Washington state, repels more women than it attracts. And, at the end of the week-long advertisement, there are only two applicants. Max wasn’t sure what he was expecting when his housekeeper told him that the woman she’d chosen for him was a widow. However, it definitely wasn’t the strong-willed, independent spitfire with dark red hair and the most magnificent golden eyes. His previous plan to stay at arms-length until they got to know one another went out the window within twenty minutes of Bea’s arrival. Despite her outwardly attractive appearance, there’s a sadness to Bea he can’t quite identify. Beatrice can’t believe what she’s reading when she receives the telegram offering her the chance to become Mr. McCauley’s wife. Perhaps, at last, she’ll find a real home, with a man who can support her, and with whom she can work side-by-side. Her only concern is how he’ll react when she tells him the one secret she’s been keeping from everyone for as long as she can remember. As much as she dreads the admission, she knows they can’t marry until she’s confessed. Will he send her packing on the first train headed east when he finds out the truth?

She needs a groom… Grace Johnson grew up in an orphanage. With no idea who her parents were or why they gave her up, she decides to stay on at the only place she’s ever called home. When a fire breaks out and destroys the orphanage, there is no place for her to stay long term. The director suggests Grace become a mail-order-bride. Grace struggles with leaving. The orphans have become family to her, and she hates the thought of never seeing them again. What other choice does she have but to say goodbye and move on with her life? He doesn’t know he needs a bride… Preacher Pete Tucker’s been lost ever since his young wife, Susannah, died in childbirth three years ago. With taking care of his son as well as the church, he struggles with keeping it together. When Pete’s friends suggest he gets remarried, he balks at the idea, feeling it would be a betrayal to the only woman he’s ever loved. But when his son almost gets run down by a wagon, the least he can do is put an advertisement in the paper, making it clear he’s not looking for a love match. When Grace Johnson arrives in Mountain Springs, Colorado as an answer to his ad, Pete discovers he may be in for more than he bargained for. Will Grace be able to find the family she’s always longed for? Will Pete allow love to enter his life once more? Or will they have a marriage of convenience?

When Sadie Alexander’s employer dies, she knows she’ll need to leave the household. Mrs. Ludlow’s son had already made improper advances, and now it would be hard to avoid him. 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. Being an orphan, she has no family to turn to. If the offer isn’t still open or the man looks unsuitable, she’ll try to find a job there. However, when she arrives, Mr. Laird is away with his construction business, and his older friend has been left to meet her. Sawyer Laird couldn’t believe that he finally got a response from his advertisement for a bride after all this time, and it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. He still has construction contracts he needs to fulfill in Placerville, a gold-mining town that was no place for a lady. Well, she would just have to wait a while. He sure hoped she’d be the understanding sort. Getting off to a rocky start at their first meeting, they both begin to see the other’s point of view, agree to call a truce, and decide to start over. However, Sadie is still leery of this man who puts his business above his potential wife. She’s not sure she wants to live that kind of life.