Showing results by author "Donna Schlachter" in All Categories

Fort Laramie, Wyoming, Sept 1878 Kate Benton, daughter of a saloon floozy, runs away days before her official introduction into that sordid life, straight into the arms of Tom McBride, fleeing from his outlaw brother’s past. Can these two young people, damaged and labeled by life experiences, tear down the walls of guilt and mistrust that separate them? Will they allow God to change them forever from the inside out? Or are they destined to remain alone forever? Prairie Roses Collection Book 1: SADIE by Patricia PacJac Carroll Book 2: REMI by Caryl McAdoo Book 3: HOPE by Barb Goss Book 4: ...

Wherever you find Carly Turnquist, trouble is sure to follow.At least, that's what her husband Mike says.Back in Bear Cove, Carly's best friend is being courted by a smarmy stranger, and Mike's latest client is unhappy with him.When the client turns up dead and Mike is nowhere to be found, the police suspect him, and the video and paperwork they have that shows someone matching Mike's description maxed out their credit cards and cleaned out their bank accounts is compelling.But Carly knows her husband couldn't kill anybody. Could he?

Elizabeth Maddock, is a widow and a chef, wants a new start. She answers an ad for a chef who wants to serve hundreds daily, and finds herself working at a TB sanitarium in Boulder, Colorado, passing her infant son off as her brother. She comes to love the patients and wants them freed from their plight, yet the town depends on the sanitorium to remain alive and to grow. Evan Hamden, childless widower, searches for a cure for TB. While drawn to Miss Maddock, he resists falling in love, because he has a lifetime of work ahead of him and doesn’t want any distractions such as marriage or ...

She needs a man. He needs a new life. How bad could it be? A widow alone in the Wild West with children to raise and protect. Or maybe they understand more than she realizes. Escaping from a prison in Australia where he was sentenced to life for a crime he didn't commit wasn't easy. Neither was his flight for freedom to the United States. But just in time, a letter suggesting marriage. Land of his own. A new name. But who is this stranger who lands on their door, introduced by letters alone, and calling himself King? Could this offer of royalty be worth marrying for money this time? After ...

Missing horses. A missing Pony Express rider. A sheriff's daughter with a nose for mystery and a penchant for wearing trousers. And a Pony Express rider with a secret.

Finding a recipe for calorie-free muffins isn't as easy as it sounds. Neither is ignoring an obvious mystery in the house next door. Originally published as "Zero Calorie Muffins" in SWEET SPRINKLES CHRISTMAS MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY 2022 ISBN 979-8812903879

Julia Brown changes her name and escapes unfounded medical malpractice claims. Josiah hides in a small town in Iowa with his daughter, trying to escape the abuse of his wife and her mother. A local commune offers them the chance to hide in plain sight as husband and wife. But will they be willing to settle for a loveless marriage? Can they fool the residents with their subterfuge? Or will their pasts catch up with them?

November 1858, Utah Territory. Edie Meredith strives to keep her temper and her tongue under control as she heads west with her brother to California. Raised in an itinerant preacher family, she promises she will never marry a man of the cloth. Tom Aiken, drover of the wagon train, longs to answer his true calling: to preach, and while he realizes not every woman would choose a preacher for a husband, he hopes to soon find his help-meet.

Contemporary cozy mysteries set in smalltown Colorado, featuring the now adult granddaughter of Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant. Margie Hansen, newly graduated and all ready to set out on her own adventures, inherits a mystery bookstore in Edgewater, Colorado when her great-aunt dies suddenly. This collection pulls together four complete novellas into one edition, each featuring a collector's edition of a vintage mystery book along with an edge-of-your-seat mystery that pits Margie against local, modern-day villains.

Morganna has a secret that she's bringing with her--but which will soon make an appearance. And when another shows up, laying claim to what is hers, she must choose. And whichever choice she makes, she could still lose all. NOTE: ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS "MORGANA" IN THE SWITCHBOARD SISTERHOOD series, 2023 ISBN 9781943688951

1882 A poor orphan trying to make the best of a bad situation. An army engineer who wants both family and future. Is there any such thing as the perfect choice? Tina’s family is so poor they live in a covered wagon outside the brand new town of Loveland, Colorado. When her widowed mother dies in an outbreak of the influenza, Tina is left to raise her two younger sisters. Paul Burton, with the US Army Corps of Engineers, is on his way west with John Wesley Powell to survey sites for potential dam sites. He meets Tina and admires her perseverance. When her mother dies, he wants to take care...

Kate and Tom McBride, along with their newborn, John Thomas, settle into life in Oregon City, Oregon in November 1879. And while Kate enjoys being a wife, mother, and homemaker, she still remembers her fanciful dreams of last year: become a detective to solve mysteries. Her first case is to find the missing fiancée of a local banker. Tom, however, isn’t sure this is a good idea, particularly not when somebody throws a fiery bomb through the window of their home, burning it to the ground. They learn that their pasts may not be as far behind them as they’d hoped, but when their son is ...

Calli works as a nurse with the US Army at Fort Bridger, Wyoming in 1880. When a wagon train full of discouraged emigrants passes through on its way east, a pregnant widow delivers her baby then dies. Bradley Wilson, leading this train, has few options. He asks Calli to travel with them until they find a relative to take the child in St. Joe, Missouri. Calli, drawn to both this dark and quiet man and the child, resists. But when she disappears, he wonders if she’s run away or been kidnapped. Can these two put their pasts behind them and move into a new future together? Or will Calli ...

October 1895 John Stewart needs a wife. Mary Johannson needs a home. On her way west, Mary falls in love with another. Now both must choose between commitment and true love. Mary Johannson has scars on her body that can’t compare with the scars on her heart. She is alone in the world, with no family, no prospects, and no home. John Stewart is at his wit’s end. His wife of three years died in childbirth, leaving him with a toddler and an infant, both girls. Theirs was the love of fairy tales, and while he has no illusions about finding another like her, his children need a mother. Though...

Juliette Hart—or J.K. Hartling as her readers know her by—leaves Colorado to strike out on her own following the accidental death of her husband two years prior, after answering an advertisement in a ladies magazine for switchboard operators in Anchorage, Alaska. She knows nothing of the territory or its largest city—simply that she must get away from the suffocating grief of her mother-in-law. Once firmly ensconced in the Lawrence Boarding House for Single Ladies, she determines to use her off-time wisely and continue writing her romance novels. Someday, she hopes to write full-time ...

Catherine Malloy escapes a poor past in response to a mail order bride ad her best friend answered. However, Margaret dies before meeting the man who owns horses and property in Kansas. Benjamin Troudt works for the Hollenberg family at their way station in Kansas, and owns nothing but the clothes on his back. Unbeknownst to him, his pastor is corresponding with a potential wife from back East for him. When Catherine, now calling herself Maggie, arrives, Benjamin knows nothing of the pastor's match-making, and rejects her. However, a seriously ill pregnant woman needs tending. Perhaps ...

In 1868, Tessa, a Mennonite nurse graduates from nursing school and is assigned to the Amana Colonies in Iowa because of her expertise in treating asthma and other breathing problems. As a former student at a women's medical school, she knows more than most about respiratory diseases. She's also had her fair share of heartbreak when, upon her mentor's death, she was forced to abandon her dream of becoming a doctor. Will she be able to use her skills? Or will her gender keep her from helping those who truly need her?Seth, a widower in Amana, is still nursing a broken heart from his ...

Dead men are heavier than broken hearts—at least according to Philip Marlowe, the legendary detective. Margie Hanson discovers a copy of “The Big Sleep” in a box lot of books at an estate sale, and she snags it to sell in her bookstore, along with a spice rack and spices for her kitchen. At home, she discovers neither is what she first thought. Can she solve these two mysteries before somebody succeeds in snuffing her permanently?

An unsuitable match to satisfy a debt. Can Holly find another solution? An unsuitable calling--a man in the kitchen. Practically unheard of. Can Adam find the strength to step into his purpose in life? Or will they both resist God and make their own way?

Sweet stories of second chances from a God of second chances. The stories in this collection will warm your heart and encourage you to keep on going when all your circumstances say otherwise. No matter where you are or what you're struggling with, these stories will touch you where you're at. Each story stands on its own, but in total, paints a picture of a God who offers second chances, and third chances, and more. Stories include forgiveness, living out your dreams, revising your opinion of others, and finding a forever home. A sweet summer read.