Stranded with the Stagecoach Owner

A Frontier Marriage of Convenience Romance

By: Sutton Rivers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

What happens when the only safe road out washes away—and the only man standing beside her is the one she never meant to love?

When relentless spring floods trap Clara Hensley in Juniper Hollow, the practical schoolteacher refuses to panic. She has survived loss before. She knows how to rely on ledgers, plans, and careful exits. What she doesn’t know how to rely on is a man.

Gideon Rourke never meant to marry again. After burying his wife, he poured everything he had into the stage stop—into schedules, repairs, and keeping travelers moving. Love feels like a risk he cannot afford twice.

But when rising waters strand Clara and her young brother at his inn, necessity turns into a marriage of convenience. A temporary arrangement. A practical solution.

At least, that’s what they tell themselves.

As mud-choked roads isolate the town and the river threatens everything they’ve worked to rebuild, Clara finds unexpected steadiness in Gideon’s quiet strength. Gideon, in turn, discovers that Clara’s fierce independence hides a heart tired of carrying every burden alone. Together they face washed-out crossings, restless travelers, and the lingering grief neither of them has fully laid to rest.

But when the floodwaters recede and the stage begins to run again, Clara receives the opportunity she once believed she needed to survive—a secure teaching position elsewhere. Safety on paper. A guaranteed future.

To stay would mean choosing love over certainty.

To leave would mean returning to the life she thought she wanted.

In a town rebuilt board by board and prayer by prayer, Clara and Gideon must decide whether a marriage born of necessity can become something far deeper—something worth the risk.

Because sometimes the bravest journey isn’t crossing a flooded river—it’s opening your heart again.

Stranded with the Stagecoach Owner is a faith-filled historical western romance featuring a marriage of convenience, a widowed hero, forced proximity, found family, and emotional healing—with a tender, hard-won happily ever after.