Texas Romance

Series · 9 books · 1851-2017

By Caryl McAdoo

Books in series

Vow Unbroken

1851

A spunky young widow hires a farmhand with a bad reputation to help her get her cotton to Jefferson to meet the wagon train, and sparks fly—but can she love a man who doesn’t love the Lord? Susannah Abbot Baylor reluctantly hires Henry Buckmeyer to help her along the Jefferson Trace, the hard stretch of land between her Texas farm and the cotton market, where she is determined to get a fair price for her crop. It’s been a rough year, and she’s in danger of losing the land her husband left to her and the children, but she’ll need help getting both of her wagons to Jefferson safely. She knows Henry’s reputation as a layabout and is prepared for his insolence, but she is not expecting his irresistible good looks or his gentle manner. Soon they are entwined in a romantic relationship that only gets more complicated when Susannah learns that Henry doesn’t know God the way she does. Dangers arise on the road—but none as difficult as the trial her heart is going through. Will Susannah and Henry’s love overcome their differences? And will she get her crop safely to the cotton market with enough money to save the farm? In this heartening and adventurous tale, a young woman’s fortitude, faith, and heart are put to the ultimate test.

Hearts Stolen

2014

Unbeknownst to loved ones, a headstrong young wife is snatched off the prairie by two Comanche braves, carried north of the Red River, and traded to their war chief for ponies. After five years, a small detail of Texas Rangers rides into camp, and she determines that day will bring freedom or death. She’ll remain captive no more. Sassy Nightengale almost gives up hope until a company of Texas Rangers rides into Bold Eagle’s peace camp. She learns they’ve come for the negotiated exchange of stolen white women, except her name isn’t on their list. Purposing in her heart to escape captivity with her blue eyed, four- year-old that day, she does everything she can to be noticed. Famed Texas Ranger Levi Baylor spots the red headed beauty and agrees to the war chief’s price adding his personal horse and weapon to the Republic agents’ offerings. The trade propels the couple on a trail of joy and sorrow. Sweet love blossoms but must be denied. His integrity and her faith in God keep them at arm’s length, not allowing even a kiss. Sassy’s still married to her son’s father, and Levi’s honor bound to deliver her home—to her husband. Can their forbidden love be made holy? God hates divorce. Is it wrong to hope, expect Nightengale to relinquish his wife and son? Will Sassy and Levi find the redemption they seek for their troubled souls?

Hope Reborn

2014

New York dime novelist May Meriwether decides a heroic Texas Ranger will make a great love interest for her new heroine. Bored to tears and loving adventure, she sets out to the Lone Star State with her constant companion and confidant Chester in tow. Dreams for a husband and children are relegated to the recesses of her heart, the self-confessed old maid deems it too late. But the near-perfect widower resurrects a smidgen of hope. Only his impenetrable, superstitious religious beliefs stand in the path to her falling head over heels, those and his love for his dead wife. Would there ever be room for her in his heart? And would he give up his fanaticism for God? An unexpected romance surprises both. Hope is reborn in God’s unfailing love and grace. Can a life built on lies find the Way to confession, forgiveness, and true joy? In a day when the church offers the only stability on the 1850 Texas prairie, these unlikely players find one another and fall in love. But will it be enough?

Sins of the Mothers

2015

Persistent faith brings redemption and reconciliation. Propelled by blind love, Mary Rachel Buckmeyer defies her father to elope with Caleb Wheeler. The newlyweds run off to California then partner with his cousin in his dry goods business. Unbeknownst to the young bride, her new husband sends his kissing cousin ahead. He wants his love and his new wife’s money, too. Betrayal and murder drive Mary, soon a young mother, to the depths of despair. But she hates the man who loves her enough to cover her sins and deliver her out of the horrible pit she’s dug for herself in. Or does she? Mary Rachel travels from frontier Texas to the raw bone boomtown of 1850’s San Francisco gold rush days, then all the way to genteel New York to find redemption for the sins of her mothers.

Daughters of the Heart

2015

God’s perfect plan is sometimes so hard to determine. Gwendolyn, Cecelia, and the youngest, Bonnie, make a pact never to break their father’s heart like their big sister did. Then their determination is sorely tried when suitors show up, and he gets so pigheaded with his rules. Will Henry survive his daughters coming of age? Will they endure and keep their promises to each other? From one man asking to court her—who Daddy sends packing—Gwen goes to three! How can she ever decide? Cecelia knows exactly who she wants, but she’s still a year away from Daddy’s acceptable courting age. What if her beau doesn’t know or won’t wait? And Bonnie hates being the baby and wants to be grown-up more than just about anything…except her man. She is for sure and for certain in love. In his life, Henry Buckmeyer has never been so beside himself. His little girls are so young, just babies, too young. He hates the whole idea of men coming to take them away and is inclined to shoot every one of them, but praise God for a level-headed, loving wife and step-mother! She helps keep him sane amidst the female chaos. Packed with fun, romance, deception, action, heartbreak and tears, this delightful Christian novel keeps the twists and turns coming. Will the Buckmeyer home ever be settled and peaceful again? Will any of his daughters find true love…a man he'll approve and to whom he can give his blessing?

Just Kin

2016

Love covers a multitude of sin. A stolen kiss ignites a fire that burns all the way from Texas to New York City. Torn apart by war, rejection, and a letter with news she never wanted, Lacey Rose takes her shredded heart and runs. Charley figures out something isn’t right, but is duty-bound to the Confederacy until a deathbed order sets in motion a series of events that tests his love, honor, and commitment to the breaking point. Can the two lifelong friends see past the pain to finally realize God’s plan for them to be more than just kin?

At Liberty to Love

2016

Obedience is better than sacrifice…and trumps romance, no matter how sweet. Profound loneliness propels a childless widow west with the idea of choosing an orphan to share her life. On the way, a fellow traveler takes her by surprise. She never dreams, is unprepared, doesn’t need another man, but can’t get him out of her head…or heart. He’s so perfect—every bit the one she’d searched for as a young woman—except his mistrust of God has erected a wall she cannot breach. Marcus Ford blames God and struggles for peace after losing his wife and baby. Not once has he considered another woman could be the answer, but the widow is like none other he’s ever met. He falls hard, but plans are taking him east. Hope dashed sends two hearts into the pit. If only Ford could forgive God or the widow ease up on her adamant resolve. Will God’s mercy shine a beacon in the fog of despair and prove sufficient to heal their souls?

Covering Love

2017

Love may cover a multitude of sins, but not knowing all the facts can also get a man killed. A family calamity gathers the clan, then a dying request tests loyalties and changes lives. New York City’s posh society, living on a rugged Texas hill country ranch, and the isolation of Alaska’s frozen tundra share little commonality and make going from one to another difficult at best. Still, destiny drives Crockett and his sister Charlotte where neither wants to go or thinks they belong. Second and third generations of the Buckmeyer progeny encounter danger, challenges, heartaches, and joys. But then reunions are all the sweeter for it. This tale continues the breathtaking—and sometimes heartbreaking—family saga of the Buckmeyers, Baylors, and Nightingales that readers around the world have come to love.

#10

Chief of Sinners

2017

Obedience can overcome ruinous choices, and with repentance of wicked ways, God’s faithful forgiveness and mercies never fail. Set in the afterglow of the Azusa Street Revival, this epic addition to the Texas Romance family saga sweeps through three decades of triumphs and tragedies—from the Texas Hill Country to the beaches of Normandy and beyond. The faithful flock to his father’s revivaltent where Buddy Nightingale leads praise and worship, but like King David, the young psalmist battles a generational curse, lust. On his first night back in Marble Falls, Texas—the place he heard the angels sang fifteen years prior—he beholds Sandra Harris, an eighteen-year-old beauty, attending strictly for the entertainment of the Spirit filled meetings. Love strikes both, but her Church of Christ father wants no part of any holy roller. Sometimes choices we make take us places we never intend to go, but God . . .

Author

Caryl McAdoo

Author · 27 books

Born in California, Caryl McAdoo got to Texas in time to celebrate her first birthday. As a Dallas seventh grader, she remembers a homework essay on ‘What will you be doing in 2000?’ Looking into the future, she saw herself as an inter-galactically famous author, streaking from planet to planet signing books. She laughs, “But I didn’t start writing again until the late ’80s, then was so blessed to find the DFW Writers’ Workshop in ’93.” Her first book debuted ’99, then for the next nine years, she averaged a title a year from four traditional presses: two non-fiction, four novels, and three mid-grade chapter books. In March 2014, her first historical Christian romance VOW UNBROKEN debuted from Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In April that year, she re-released LADY LUCK'S A LOSER (formerly The Apple Orchard Bed and Breakfast) with a new chapter. In September 2014 HEARTS STOLEN, book two in the Texas Romance Family Saga historical romance series, debuted as her first new Indie, and in November A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, her first Biblical fiction series The Generations launched. So four titles in 2014. Book three of the historical Family Saga HOPE REBORN debuted in January 2015 to start off a whole new year with eleven new titles planned. THE PREACHER'S FAITH comes in February, Caryl's first contemporary in Red River Romance series. THEN THE DELUGE COMES, volume two of The Generations, follows in March. Since 2014, she's published over sixty new books, averaging over seven new titles a year through 2020. She completed the 'Texas Romance Family Saga' with a total of ten novels, plus several 'Texas Companion Books'! Plus, she's eight books into a second series, the 'Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga' and debuts a third New Beginnings saga's book one WAGONS WEST in November 2022, her fifth book for the year. Also known as Grami, she adores twenty-five grandsugars, and she and O’Pa—her high school sweetheart and husband of fifty+ years write together. She’s dedicated to advancing God’s Kingdom through her novels, praying her story gives God glory! Caryl loves to share her testimony, pray, and praise and worship Him; He frequently gives her new songs. She believes all good things are from Him and that her books will minister His love, mercy, and grace to her readers. Irving, Texas remained her lifelong home until 2008 when she and Ron followed God’s leading to Red River County in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State. There at The Peaceable, the twenty acres of blessings they call home, the McAdoos raise chickens and goats while waiting for God to open the next door!