Widows, Brides, and Secret Babies

Series · 21

books · 2020

By Elissa Strati, Margaret Tanner, Jovie Grace, and more

Books in series

Mail Order Millie

2020

When Millie Camden prematurely becomes a widow, she is left homeless and penniless. Against her better judgement she has no other option than to become a mail-order bride. Daniel Carson finally succumbs to the pressure and orders a mail-order bride. On the surface, she appears to be everything he needs, and he is smitten, but what is she hiding? Can these two resolve their differences and make their marriage of convenience work? And what will happen when he discovers her secret? Author's Promise: This is a heartwarming historical novella with a happily ever after ending and no cliffhangers. It is a clean and wholesome story with nothing more than hugs, kisses, and holding hands.

Mail Order Jennifer

2020

Samuel Bennett died saving his employer’s son. And what did they do? Banished his widow Jennifer and her baby. After exhausting all other options, Jennifer is left with only one choice – become a Mail-Order Bride. A desperate cowboy needs a wife to save his ranch and decides a Mail-Order Bride will solve his problems. When the two finally meet they discover each of them have been duped. Will this case of mistaken identity be a recipe for disaster, or will it lead to a match made in heaven?

Mail Order Colette

2020

On the run from an abusive man and left in the family way, Collette needs to get out of Atlantic City as fast as she can. When someone suggests she answer an ad for a mail-order bride, she takes a chance and jumps on a train before even sending a response. But will time run out for her?

Mail Order Angelique

2020

To keep himself out of the clutches of a scheming woman, Clinton McKenzie needs a wife. In desperation, he decides to correspond with Angelique, the mail order bride his dead brother had been writing to, and ask her to be his wife. Angelique accepts Clinton’s marriage proposal and travels from Cheyanne to marry him. Clinton’s shock turns into amazement, then anger when he meets his intended bride. She has a baby with her. Who is the child’s father? More importantly, what happened to him? Can he forgive Angelique’s deceit? How can a marriage built on lies ever succeed?

Mail Order Marcella

2020

Marcella Bronson’s brother-in-law threatens her to find a husband or he will find one for her. All she wants to do is take care of her two-year-old cousin whose parents have died, but she doesn’t want to be kicked out of the family home, penniless, either. Her salvation rests in the hands of the rancher who seeks a mail-order bride - a newspaper ad she found. Unfortunately, her plans go awry when she’s kidnapped and mistaken for her dying sister. Now she needs to figure a way out of this mess and convince her soon-to-be-husband that she and the little girl really do need his help.

Mail Order Clara

2020

Clara Winslow was about to be bartered off in a loveless marriage to her despicable neighbor. When she sees an ad for a mail-order bride that promises wide open skies, travel, and adventure-Clara jumps at the chance, omitting her promise to take care of her baby brother. James ‘Mule’ Clanton was desperate for help. He knew he was stubborn, hard-headed, and old-fashioned, but a woman was just what he needed to help cook, clean, and mend while he worked. The outlaws have repeatedly threatened his ranch, but when he takes one look at his feisty new bride, it’s enough to make him turn tail and run! Can love bloom under false pretenses? Will her prickly husband be more than she can handle in the Wild West?

Mail Order Victoria

2020

She has to protect her baby . . . He is desperate for help . . . Trouble preys on their livelihood . . . Widow Victoria Bailey is desperate to prevent her in-laws from gaining custody of her eighteen-month-old daughter. If becoming a mail-order bride is her only option, she’ll take the risk. At least on a Texas ranch she’ll have quiet and peace. She doesn’t have time to let the groom know she’s bringing her daughter. Surely no man can object to one perfect little girl. Widower Greg Hardy is desperate to get help with his home and his children. He needs to be pursuing whoever is rustling his cattle. A mail-order bride seems to be exactly what he needs but should he keep his children a secret? To insure he doesn’t scare off a prospective wife, he omits the fact that he has five children aged from eight months to twelve years old. Their marriage starts with misunderstanding. They decide to work together to fight against a common foe. Will the fight take a toll on their fragile happiness?

Mail Order Hannah

2020

Montana 1880 Hannah Wilson has been a temporary Governess to baby Rosie since her mother died shortly after giving birth. On the cusp of leaving to become a mail order bride, tragedy strikes and Hannah is forced to take the baby with her. Cecil Delbert reluctantly sends for a mail order bride. With few unattached women in town and the urgent need for assistance in his store, he has little other choice. How will Cecil react upon seeing a baby he has no prior knowledge of? Will he accept the baby or turn them both away? Author's This is a heartwarming historical novella with a happily ever after ending and no cliffhangers. It is a clean and wholesome story with nothing more than hugs, kisses, and holding hands.

Mail Order Roslyn

2020

Roslyn Welsh is sent by stagecoach to Junction City to marry a man chosen, without Roslyn’s knowledge, by her auntserving as her guardian. His requirements for a wife were that she must be at least twenty-one years of age with a family Bible for proof, and she must have no children. Only, Roslyn is not quite twenty-one, she has a baby, and her aunt has no intention of sending the family Bible with her. The marriage prospect turns into a disaster. She is stuck in a strange town with no money and she is told there is no work for a decent woman with a baby. While she figures what to do, Roslyn accepts an offer to ride the stagecoach to the Ellsworth B.O.D. Stagecoach station to help the stationmaster’s wife. Elam Stewart survived the American Civil War, but his left leg from just above the knee down did not. With no home to return to and realizing there are very few people willing to hire a man with only one good leg, he’s convinced he has no future. While working as a day laborer in the local livery, he becomes intrigued by a visitor named Ross who is anxious to spend time with the horses. Elam discovers Ross’s secret. Then he learns where Ross intends to seek work. Even though he does not have a future, he does have a Spencer repeating rifle. He can have a purpose. Roslyn and Elam ride the same stagecoach to the Ellsworth Station on the Kansas frontier. Between resentments among the stock tenders, difficulties with animals that pass through the station, and the threat of attacks by the Cheyenne, is there a future for Roslyn and Elam at the station? Or will their future take them on another stagecoach ride away from Ellsworth? Please look for my other two books in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series, Mail Order Lorena and Mail Order Penelope, that will be published this summer. Although each story is written as a stand-alone book, the three stories are related and part or all of them involve the stagecoaches and stations on the Kansas frontier in the 1860s after the Civil War.

#10

Mail Order Beatrice

2020

Beatrice “Attie” Kendall has to escape from home with her six-week-old son. With the help of her kind brother, she goes to Atlanta where she consults a matchmaker. After the hard life Attie’s been dealt for her twenty years, she’ll finally have a good home with nice people and a friend nearby. In fact, her husband and their home seem too good to be true. Does she dare trust that her life has really changed? Tate Merritt isn’t ready to get married but he gives in to his grandfather’s coercing. Grandpa raised him and Tate tries to please the older man. Tate doesn’t know what to think about this mail-order bride. She isn’t at all the wife he imagined—plus, she showed up with a baby! The child’s a cute little thing but Tate isn’t sure how he feels about her surprising him. How can he trust a woman whose story keeps changing? Life presents obstacles to further complicate Attie and Tate’s marriage. They’ll have to work together to solve their problems and protect their family. Can they trust one another enough to make this marriage work?

#11

Mail Order Megan

2020

Megan, a young, second tier, Philadelphia debutante, of average looks and stature and not above average intelligence, has enjoyed two seasons but not met anyone who’s made an offer for her hand. Her brother, Paul, wishes to wed and is anxious that she find a home of her own. When Paul’s classmate, Ted, mentions in a letter that he is in need of a wife to entertain visiting executives and there are no candidates suitable in his new location in Benson, Arizona Territory, Paul thinks a marriage arranged between his friend and his sister would be the ideal answer for everyone involved. But of course, fate always steps in to lend a hand.

#12

Mail Order Pearl

2020

Abducted and forced to marry at gunpoint, Pearl Hopkins is held captive until her outlaw husband is killed in a gunfight. With nowhere else to turn, she decides to become a mail order bride, unaware she is pregnant with her dead husband’s baby. Sheriff Alex Farley is lonely, but more importantly, he wants a wife to cook and clean house. He would not be averse to a little brood of Farley’s. With no prospects locally, he advertises for a mail order bride. After returning from a long and arduous assignment, he finds his bride has already arrived and settled into his home. Will Alex accept Pearl and her baby, or will he turn them away? If the marriage does go ahead, will he ever be able to trust her? Author's Promise: This is a heartwarming historical novella with a happily ever after ending and no cliffhangers. It is a clean and wholesome story with nothing more than hugs, kisses, and holding hands.

#13

Mail Order Christine

2020

Desperate to save her son, can love be the answer? Widowed and on her own, Christine fears for her son and is caught between two hard men. The cruel brother-in-law who wants her farm, or the man who sent for her as his mail-order bride, but he doesn't want children. Forced to hide her son, she can only pray that Everett will change his mind. Then she falls in love with him. They say love never fails, but can love reach the dark places of a man's heart in time to save her son? A sweet and clean historical romance set in 1870s Texas

#14

Mail Order Barbara

2020

Fleeing an abusive stepfather, two sisters find a home with the Sisters of Mercy. But the Board of Governors won't permit girls over 16 to remain. Can a city girl find happiness as a Mail Order Bride out west? And what happens when she shows up with a baby?

#15

Mail Order Mallory

2020

Mallory Price elopes with her childhood sweetheart in post-war Savannah, against her well-to-do family’s wishes, with nothing but a travel bag of dreams and visions of happily-ever-afters in her head. However, tragedy strikes a mere two months later, leaving her a widow with a baby on the way. Crawling back to a family that has disinherited her is not an option, so she leaps at the opportunity to become a mail-order bride. She prays her would-be groom in Dallas is a good man and won’t object to becoming a father in record time. Former bounty hunter Duke Stratton can think of only one thing he’s missing in his quest to transform himself into a respectable businessman, and that’s the acquisition of a proper wife. There’s one undeniable problem—no high society lady is going to ally herself in holy matrimony to a fellow with his dubious reputation. Thank heavens he discovers a shortcut to the courting process and fills out an application for a mail-order bride. When Mallory steps off the train, his old bounty hunting instincts go on full alert. Why in tarnation would a woman of her beauty, education, and obvious good breeding agree to such an outlandish marriage proposal? That is, unless she has something to hide... Duke is very good at ferreting out secrets, so he knows it’s only a matter of time before he uncovers Mallory’s. He just hopes it is something he can live with, because he’s never been good at admitting defeat or giving up what’s his.

#16

Mail Order Olivia

2020

Who to believe? Olivia thought Robert was dead. A year-and-a-half later and newly widowed, she comes across Robert’s ad for a mail-order bride. Seeking protection for herself and her daughter, she goes after the truth and gets far more than she bargained for. Robert believed Olivia never wanted to see him again, and is finally ready to move on from the heartbreak. When his mail-order bride turns out to be Olivia, the sight of her brings back all the pain of losing her the first time. Seeing her with another man’s child adds salt to the wound. Can this couple move past the pain and betrayal to find a new happiness?

#17

Mail Order Lorena

2020

Trusting the acceptable wrong man led to the ruin of her life and self-respect. Can trusting the unacceptable right man return to her what was lost? The man who promised to provide and protect left Lorena Mayfield to do the providing and protecting. She went from being the daughter of a respected Little Rock, Arkansas clergyman and widow of a fallen Confederate officer to living a “fate worse than death.” Is there a way to escape the life in which she finds herself trapped and still protect the only person left to her she dearly loves? Eustace Cantrell lost his Georgia home, his livelihood, and his family during the American Civil War. To make matters worse, he fought for the losing side. First hired as a low-paid stock tender for the Butterfield Overland Despatch stagecoach company, he now has a chance at managing his own station. His dilemma is, Ellsworth Station in Kansas is a home station. It is to be run by a family, not by a single, hardened combat veteran who feels nothing for anyone, least of all himself. Lorena needs protection from her late husband’s family so she can reclaim her own. Eustace needs restoration of his soul. Can each of them escape their pasts and together find their future? Please look for my other two books in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series, Mail Order Roslyn (available now) and Mail Order Penelope (available August 14, 2020). Although each story is written as a stand-alone book, the three stories are related. Part or all of them involve the stagecoaches and stations on the Kansas frontier in 1865 through 1867.

#18

Mail Order Matilda

2020

Matilda (Tilly) Freeman is in a dire position. With little money, her reputation in tatters because of a man’s lies, she answers an advertisement for a mail order bride. Brodie Miller desperately needs a housekeeper to help him run his stagecoach business. He is not looking for romance. Only women without children need apply. After corresponding, Brodie and Tilly decide they are suited for each other. On the way to wed Brodie, Tilly’s coach is held up and she finds herself landed with eight-month old Daisy. How can she let such a sweet child be sent to an orphanage? Brodie is shocked when his mail order bride turns up with a baby. Tilly has lied to him. The one thing he didn’t want was a child to complicate his life. Why is Brodie so dead set against having a baby in his life? Will Tilly be able to persuade him to let her and the baby stay? Or will it be little Daisy who will thaw his frozen heart, so they can all have their happily ever after ending?

#20

Mail Order Miranda

2020

Miranda Barton doesn’t want to be a burden anymore, especially since her sister just had her first baby. She decides her only option is to become a mail order bride. Just as she is set to leave for Texas, her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a tragic accident. She has no other choice, she must take her infant niece with her and hope her future husband will understand. Cade Tanner lost the love of his life—and the mother to his twin sons. He has no idea how to take care of toddlers while managing his ranch. His only option, place an advert for a mail order bride. When a woman named Miranda responds, Cade hopes she’s the answer to his prayers. What he doesn’t expect is for her to arrive with a baby of her own. Will three children under the age of three be more than Miranda can handle? Can Cade find a way to make room in his heart for another woman? And will Miranda and Cade find a way to find happiness together? \*This book was previously published under Jennifer Branson's other pen name, Jenna Brandt. Widows, Brides, and Secret Babies Mail Order Miranda Mail Order Miriam Mail Order Mix-Up Series Mail Order Misfit Mail Order Misstep Mail Order Miscast Mail Order Misaim Mail Order Misplay Mail Order Mister Mail Order Mishap

#23

Mail Order Penelope

2020

After she loses the love of her life, can she find love in the man she finds? Penelope Newton Humphry lost her husband to the war as surely as if he died in combat. Her sweetheart since her early teens, she waited until the war ended to marry Jeremy, only to realize he never fully returned. Dying from pneumonia, he leaves Penelope with nothing but his unborn child. Penelope knows she must remarry—and soon. With her father and brother killed during Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, Kansas, her mother’s mind half-gone, and the farm sold to a neighbor to be fully relinquished once her mother, suffering from cancer dies, she accepts the offer of marriage from a man living near Fort Wallace she met through correspondence. Only, during the stagecoach ride to western Kansas, she discovers matters are not as she was led to believe. As a regimental field surgeon, widower Dr. Marcus Garrett saw enough mangled bodies during his four years in the American Civil War to give him a lifetime of nightmares. With the war over, the turmoil within still rages. Only his responsibility for his thirteen-year-old son, Theo, being raised by his older sister, keeps him going. In a moment of weakness, he reenlists to serve as a post surgeon. Currently stationed in Fort Larned in Kansas, he knows to be assigned officers' quarters so he can be reunited with Theo, he needs a wife—someone willing love a boy whose father is a stranger to him. Traveling in tandem with the stagecoach for protection along the Smoky Hill Trail to Fort Monument to care for soldiers wounded in a confrontation with Cheyenne warriors, the last thing he expected to encounter was a young widow with a fourteen-month-old child headed the same direction. He tries to convince to return to eastern Kansas—to safety. She is determined her future lies to the west. In exchange for a family for her and baby Jeremy, can Penelope learn to love a man who must first find peace within before he rebuilds a relationship with his son? Please look for my other two books in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series, Mail Order Roslyn and Mail Order Lorena. Although each story is written as a stand-alone book, the three stories are related. Part or all of them involve the stagecoaches and stations on the Kansas frontier in 1866 and 1867.

#29

Mail Order Isabella

2020

A deathbed promise, an accidental family, and a mail-order marriage… Isabella Hill signs a mail-order bride contract only hours before promising to raise a dying friend’s babe as her own. With her wedding date looming, there’s no time to contact her would-be groom by letter, so she decides to deliver the news of her change in circumstances in person—praying he won’t object to the idea of a ready-made family. Otherwise, she and her precious bundle might soon find themselves living in the streets. Tex Sullivan’s rebel younger brother forges Tex’s name on a mail-order bride contract, only days before Tex is supposed to marry the catch of the season. While he scrambles to set the scandal straight, he finds himself face-to-face with a lovely, impoverished debutante from Atlanta—with an infant in her arms, no less! Tex never asked for a woman like Isabella to come into his life, but is it possible she’s exactly the kind of wife he needs?

Authors

Margaret Tanner is an award winning, best selling author. As well as writing historical novels set in frontier Australia she has discovered a love for writing Western Romance. Her novella, Edwina of Connecticut is one of the 50 novels in the American Mail Order Bride series. Christmas Cowboy is in the Western Christmas Anthology, Silver Belles And Stetsons. . She has had numerous short stories published over the years, but writing Historical romance novels is her passion. Her favourite historical period is the 1st World War. Not only has she painstakingly researched this era, but was fortunate enough to make a poignant pilgrimage to the battlefields of Gallipoli (in Turkey), France and Belgium. She is married with three grown up sons, and two gorgeous grand-daughters. Margaret lives in Australia. She has recently retired from work, and hopes to concentrate on her writing.

P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author Pauline Creeden. Her stories feature down-to-earth characters who often feel like they are undeserving of love for one reason or another and are surprised when love finds them. P. Creeden married her college sweetheart, who she also met at a horse farm. Together they raise a menagerie of animals and their one son, an avid reader, himself. Animals are the supporting characters of many of her stories, because they occupy her daily life on the farm, too. From dogs, cats, and goldfish to horses, chickens, and geckos—she believes life around pets is so much better, even if they are fictional.

Ginny Sterling

Author · 45 books

Ginny Sterling is an avid romance writer. She lives to tell sweet, inspirational, tender tales that tug at the heart, leaving the reader smiling, laughing, or crying. She favors writing contemporary romance books - including FLYBOYS, Healing Hearts, Flirt’s Battalion, and More. October 2023 will deliver TWO book releases! • Remember Moments – Healing Hearts Sweet Romance Series • Forever Flippant – Flyboys Romance Series Each book written is sure to be an adventure, bringing laughter and love to your heart! https://linktr.ee/ginny\_sterling?subs...

Jo Grafford

Author · 50 books

Jo is an Amazon bestselling author of sweet Christian romance full of faith, love, family drama, and a few Texas-sized detours into humor. She loves to visit with readers in her Cuppa Jo Readers group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Cuppa.... To join her New Release Email List, visit https://www.JoGrafford.com. Jo also writes sweet historical romance as Jovie Grace.

Caroline Clemmons

Author · 43 books

Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To make up for this tragic error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest. Click on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there. Follow her on BookBub. Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter at www.carolineclemmons.com to receive a FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you? She loves to hear from readers

Patricia PacJac Carroll

Author · 28 books

Cheryl Wright

Author · 17 books

Being a writer can be... interesting. Walking down the street and watching people go about their day-to-day life, but thinking strange, even dangerous things. I still clearly remember the day I stood at the traffic lights in downtown Melbourne. There she was, sitting in her car, waiting for the lights to change green. Tapping her fingers impatiently. Something inside my head went off. Kaboom! An idea formed, and became the beginning of a novel. Instead of sitting patiently at the lights, she was nervous, extremely anxious as she was being pursued by killers. The next thing she knew, an angry, crazy man was slamming her windscreen with a sledgehammer and she was running for her life. Yes, the life of a writer is quite unique.

Kathleen Lawless

Author · 23 books

Kathleen Lawless blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys, which doesn’t stop her from creating a wide variety of interests and occupations for her many alpha male heroes. Her hero, Steele, in HER UNDERCOVER COWBOY, is a modern-day cowboy, so when she was wooed by a man called Steel—while he’s not a cowboy, he is an alpha male and her forever hero. Which is why all of her stories end Happily Ever After. Not that she can ever stick to just one genre. So many stories to tell—never enough time. With over 30 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction and stories for young adults. Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP Reader Group to receive a free book, updates, special giveaways and fan-priced offers. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1

Zina Abbott

Author · 17 books

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. Her novel, Family Secrets, was published by Fire Star Press in October 2014 and her novelette, A Christmas Promise, was published by Prairie Rose Publications in November 2014. The first two novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine and A Resurrected Heart, are now available. The author currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys family history and any kind of history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Marie Higgins

Author · 57 books

Marie Higgins is an award-winning, best-selling author of clean romance novels.