Craig Cavanaugh opened his briefcase and drew out the folder containing the manuscript. It was getting dark when he finished reading. No question, he thought, Kitty Traherne can write. Her face came back into his mind. He saw the pain in her eyes, heard the urgency in her voice, as he recalled the passion with which she had told him her reason for writing this highly controversial book. A slight flush had swept over her pale face as she said, 'I think this country is in danger of being drawn into another foreign war, Mr. Cavanaugh.' Kitty Traherne, who had been a field nurse in France during World War I, knew the madness of war firsthand and couldn't bear to see it happen again. She had to risk doing whatever she could to prevent it, however the public might respond--and despite the bitter rift she was creating between herself and her family, the Camerons. She had to tell people about the horror of the last war, remind them of the awful price paid by the young men who were...

'End of the line!' The stagecoach driver's shout sent a chill down Holly Lambeth's spine. What an ominous sound! Was Riverbend, Oregon, to be the end of the line for her? She had come West to escape the swirling gossip about her broken engagement. She had come to escape the humiliation of being jilted. She came here to find a welcome new life, but her cousin's chilly reception tells her she has made a terrible mistake. Here in Riverbend, 2,000 miles from Kentucky, in a town barely more than a mining camp, Holly faces the fact that she is unwanted and unwelcome. Knowing this unhappy truth, Holly reaches another conclusion. Only she can change her situation. Both the sophisticated editor of the local newspaper, as well as the town's dedicated doctor, are attracted to the pretty newcomer. But Holly has more than romance on her mind. An unforeseen opportunity presents a challenge that brings Holly to a decision that will not only change her, but alter her own vision of her future.

When Southern-born Adelaide Pride follows her Yankee employer to California, she faces a private civil war and re-examines her values of love and honor. Twenty-six-year-old Adelaide Pride stepped out of the horse-drawn buggy to gaze one last time at the charred remains of her childhood home. Six generations of Prides had lived and entertained there under warm Southern skies. That was before the Civil War- robbing Addie of her youth, her parents, and the man she would have married! Fortunately, an aunt and uncle had taken her in, but they could scarcely afford to feed themselves. Not wishing to remain a burden, Addie accepted a position as a companion to a Yankee spinster at a health spa in Napa Valley, California. Addie shivered with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Very soon she would journey by train to the remote land that was untouched be conflict and overflowing with financial prosperity and social opportunities. Did she dare to hope that her dreams of love and...

'You see I must go, don't you, Kitty?' Kip asked. Everything in her cried out, No, I don't understand. What about her dreams, her desires, the life they had planned together? Then she remembered the epitaph on the head-stone in the old hillside cemetery, the one that had made such a lasting impression on her: 'What I gave, I have; what I spent, I saved, What I kept, I lost.' It had been true a hundred years ago, and it was just as true now. If she did not let Kip go freely, he would go anyway, and she would lose him. You could not keep what did not want to be kept. Eventually Kip would be lost to her unless--'Of course, Kip, I understand.' When Kitty Cameron, in love with the dashing Kip Montrose, is forced to accept the dangerous career he has chosen for himself, she faces a difficult challenge. In order to follow her heart, she makes a decision that will irrevocably change her own life forever. Determinedly overcoming parental objections as well as her own sensitive nature,...

'Have you any plans for the rest of the day?' he asked. 'Plans?' she echoed. 'Whatever they were, cancel them.' He grinned. Crystal nodded, dazed, knowing somehow that if he had proposed a trip to Mars she would have been helpless to refuse. She had come to Virginia to work, not to fall in love -- certainly not with someone like Kip Montrose. Both Kip and his ancestral mansion, Montclair, had captured her imagination. The history of the house intrigued her as much as its master. Even ten years after the end of WWI, the families of Mayfield, VA, still feel its destructive effects. With his days as a dare-devil flying ace behind him, Kip Montrose is having a hard time settling down in the small Southern town and finding a new direction for his life. At the same time, the twins, Cara and Kitty Cameron, are also trying to rebuild their lives shadowed by loss. Then, the arrival of Crystal Kirk, an attractive young career woman, to rent Eden Cottage, and the return of Garnet with...

Blythe gazed into his eyes. It seemed as if she were looking into his very soul. Could she read genuine repentance there . . . or just regret that he had brought shame to himself, disgraced his family? Suddenly, she knew. This was the real Malcolm -- before the War, before Rose died, before his life became a wasteland. She saw the Malcolm who remained uncorrupted -- gentle, intelligent, gallant before tragedy and loss took their bitter toll. Could she help reclaim that man -- whole, healthy, with renewed vigor and pride in himself and his heritage? Hope stirred in Blythe's heart. Yes! Yes, with God's help, she could. In 1870, Blythe Dorman, the high-spirited daughter of a prosperous Western rancher, falls hopelessly in love with a mysterious stranger -- Malcolm Montrose, a man scarred with tragedy and defeat. A Virginian who has come to California gold fields in the hope of recouping his family fortune, Malcolm again meets with misfortune and disappointment. As part of a secret...

For the sake of peace in the family, Jo-Beth kept her feelings to herself. But she and Wes were pledged to each other, and nothing could change that. Not even war. With the death of her father, Jo-Beth and her family, moved in with relatives. There, her mother makes a living sewing her exquisite quilts---and Jo-Beth discovers a special friend. Wesley Rutherford draws Jo-Beth like a magnet ... and their attachment to one another becomes strong enough to endure a long separation. Their future together seems certain ... until the Civil War forces a decision that places Wes at odds with friends and family. Beginning in the mountains of North Carolina, the American Quilt series takes readers through the Civil War, across the country by wagon train to California, and finally across the Pacific to the romance and wild beauty of Hawaii. At the end of each book, you'll find the pattern for its quilt. Follow it to create a beautiful quilt of your own.

Noramary came out of the parlor into the hall. Stunned by what she had just heard, she felt slightly light-headed and leaned against the closed door for a moment to steady herself. The shock of Winnie's elopement during the night had been followed by a second -- the staggering request of her foster parents that she step into her errant cousin's place as the bride of Duncan Montrose! 'So you see, my dear, why we must ask this of you?' Aunt Betsy's voice rang in her ears. Noramary closed her eyes, bringing back the scene that had just taken place. As her aunt had explained the dilemma Winnie's irresponsibility had caused and what must now be done, Noramary had sat very still, eyes downcast, hands folded in her lap, hearing but not fully absorbing her aunt's words. Now those same words burst upon her, strong and clear: '--marry Duncan Montrose!' Valiant Bride is a historical romance that brings to life a young woman's choice between duty and love.

For Rod it was a moment out of a thousand dreams. Yet the reality was more than he could have imagined. 'Blythe!' He said her name and in his voice was all the hope he'd thought was lost. The woman he saw was even lovelier than the girl he remembered. She was still as beautiful -- tall, slender, the glorious auburn hair, the soft, vulnerable mouth and peachbloom skin -- as when he had first met her at Montclair. At sixteen, Blythe had been shy, eager to be accepted and loved, now she was poised, fashionably dressed, self-confident. But in those same velvety brown eyes Rod saw what he was searching for -- that she still loved him. Would it be possible to bridge all the silent years that had separated them? Or had they changed too much? Had too much happened to make them different from the people they had been when they had fallen in love? Was it too late? Shadow Bride continues the story of the gallant bride of Malcolm Montrose, Blythe Dorman, who struggled so unselfishly to...

Perhaps Jane Peart's finest novel--the story of a young woman in the early 1900s who overcomes adversity by embracing faith Darcy Welburne has seen enough of politics from the long line of judges in her family. So when Grady, her fiance, tells her he is running for sheriff, she sets off to find the new freedom promised by the American West. She escapes to Juniper Junction, thinking a teaching job is waiting for her. When she discovers the position has already been filled, she resigns herself to becoming a Harvey Girl--a waitress at the chain of restaurants in the newly opened Arizona territory. Ashamed to tell her family that she is 'just a waitress,' she becomes a 'marvel of make-believe,' and, ignoring the pinches of her conscience, she embarks on an elaborate deception, sending home letters full of fictitious students, townspeople, and events recreated from the staff and diners of the Harvey House. Her life seems to be going well. She meets Ted, a handsome young...

Even while Randall was speaking, it was Pietro I saw, the tenderness in his dark eyes looking at me, the caress in his soft voice. In Randall's voice there was not a shred of emotion; nor was there any in his expression. How should I respond? What should I say? I knew this was the hardest decision I would ever have to make. Either choice would demand a different price. Was I prepared to pay it? Was love enough in the one to bridge all the other differences of nationality, religion, and heritage? Was family loyalty, future security enough to decide for the other? What was my destiny? The heroine of Destiny's Bride is Druscilla Montrose, who first meets Randall Bondurant when she is a bridesmaid at his wedding to her cousin Alair Chance. Eight years later, after Alair's mysterious death, they meet again in a chance encounter. This leads to a strange series of events in which Druscilla debates, then accepts the position offered her by Alair's widower. Against all advice, Dru...

'Sara! You must come out! You're wanted downstairs right away,' Lucie hissed through the keyhole on the locked bedroom door. 'Stepmama is furious and Father has sent word that he's coming home early from the Exchange. She says he's in a rage over what you've done!' 'I haven't done anything! It's not my fault if those two hotheads decide to fight a duel!' came her sister's indignant voice from the other side of the door. 'Oh, Sara, please!' Lucie pleaded. 'Father will be here any minute. You must do as you're told!' She shook her head and sighed ruefully, 'You're stubborn, Sara.' 'No,' denied Sara. 'I am strong.' Thus begins the bittersweet story of beautiful Sara Leighton, the headstrong heroine of Folly's Bride, the fourth in the Brides of Montclair series. As with her predecessors, happiness does not come painlessly to this newest bride of Montclair. Her unusual beauty and her independent spirit places her on a collision course with romance, frustration, disappointment, and...

'Why, Cara, why did you do it?' 'Maybe no one wants to see me as I really am. Maybe in this family it isn't all right to be different. And I am different, Kitty, whether anyone wants to admit it or not.' 'But, Cara,--it just seems like tonight you set out deliberately to cause trouble.' 'Even you don't understand, do you, Kitty?' 'I do, I mean I'm trying to. You're my twin, I want to understand!' 'Yes, I know we're twins, but who am I?' demanded Cara hotly. 'We're not like paper dolls cut out of the same cardboard!' Although identical in appearance, the Cameron twins were dramatically different in temperament. Cara, vivacious, adventurous. Kitty, sensitive, introspective. But these differences had never kept them from being each other's best friend, confidante, and close companion; that is -- until one fateful summer -- the summer everything changed. It began as a carefree vacation at Cape Cod; a summer filled with sailing, swimming, shell-searching, dances, and parties. But...

When Joy Montrose received her commission to paint a mural depicting the healing miracles of Jesus at Good Samaritan Hospital, she never anticipated forming a close friendship with Evan Marshall. But the bond between the talented young artist and the gifted surgeon has grown, even though their lives are worlds apart. Now, with the family estate falling suddenly and unexpectedly into Joy's hands, she finds herself sifting not only through the memorabilia of generations but through her own heart and aspirations. Is it truly love that she feels for Evan? If so, can she at all reconcile it with the wounded healer's lack of faith in God or with her personal need for freedom to pursue her calling as a painter? In this final book in Jane Peart's beloved Brides of Montclair series, the faith and lives of an American dynasty wind to a poignant, present-day culmination as a young woman struggles with choices of love and obedience that will shapes the years to come.

Slowly she turned to face the door just as Graham came through at full stride. At the sight of him a wild kind of joy seized her. Graham halted on the threshold. He drew in his breath sharply, and in spite of himself, his pulse thundered at the sight of the tall, willowy figure. The last time he had seen Avril she had been a child. Here in her place was a graceful young woman. 'Avril, my dear,' he said, finding his voice. 'Welcome home!' Fortune's Bride, the third in a series of award-winning novels by Jane Peart, is a revision of the story of Avril Dumont, a wealthy young heiress and orphan, who gradually comes to terms with her lonely adolescence. There is romance and heartbreak, true love and fulfillment in this story of Avril's seemingly unreturned but undaunted love for her bachelor guardian, Graham Montrose. Readers of Fortune's Bride will be smitten with the charm of the old South as they follow Avril's development into womanhood, and meet the people who give her a sense...