Showing results by author "Kimberly Grist" in All Categories

A baker abandoned and overlooked due to a childhood injury, she's longing for love and acceptance. A reclusive blacksmith who prefers horses to people. Can they find a way to co-exist or, even better, forge a partnership of the romantic kind? Abandoned as a child, Georgia knows first-hand the results of chasing rainbows, searching for the proverbial pot of gold. That same lure called her father to California, leaving her to grow up in a children’s home. Even though she knows that there is little value in depending on anyone but herself, buried in her heart is the dream of her own happily ...

A woman running from her past, a confirmed bachelor determined to protect his heart, and a town committed to sharing the Christmas spirit. Can a Christmas quilt be the spark that ignites their love, melts their stubborn resolve, and uncovers their hidden desire? Twenty-one-year-old Olive is sick of living her father's lifestyle as an itinerant preacher turned peddler. The latest tar-and-feather incident has made her desperate enough to enlist in a matchmaking venture, of all things—anything to escape further humiliation. Olive accepts a job as a seamstress in Carrie Town, Texas, where ...

A potter in need of a home, a businessman thirsty for the inheritance his marriage will bring; and a proxy marriage that will mold and reshape them both. Since her parents' death; Elly Emerson handles the household and the pottery business to help support the family farm. Left out of the will Elly is faced with homelessness when her new sister-in-law makes it difficult to remain in the family home. Alston Pike, Engineer, and Millwright believes hard work is the cure to mend a broken heart. Enticed by his grandmother's offer to fund his new project, he agrees to marry within three months. Is...

Twenty-year-old Meriwether Walker enjoys the challenge of teaching her varied group of students in the one-room schoolhouse. What she doesn't like is the nomadic lifestyle that comes with it as she rotates boarding with families in the community on a month-to-month basis. Meriwether longs for a home of her own, but since single female teachers have to follow so many rules, she doesn't see any end to her plight, until the letter from the attorney handling her uncle's estate arrives.

He wants solitude. She wants a fresh start. Neither expects a Christmas miracle. Former Union cavalry lieutenant Grady Buchanan has traded battlefields for raising his three nieces—and guarding his heart. Betrayed by his former fiancée and hardened by war, he’s convinced marriage is only worth the risk if his bride is quiet, sensible, and content to leave him to his peace. Bethany Murphy is anything but quiet. A spirited bootlegger’s daughter on the run, she’s determined to build a new life and claim the happiness she’s always dreamed of—whether her reluctant husband realizes ...

Faith Fairchild is destitute and has no other choice but to comply with her late father’s last wish—to find a husband through a matchmaking service. As a pastor’s daughter, she trusts his advice but believes hard work and commitment combined with a bit of romance will give her the desired goal of "happily ever after". Ranch owner Audie Harris has one single goal—to make the family ranch a success and secure it for future generations. He needs a wife who understands that the isolation and hard work of cattle farming are necessary to achieve his goal.

Choosing to participate in a matrimonial agency as a mail-order bride, Magnolia proceeds methodically and uses her skills as a cook to create the perfect recipe for a husband. A successful businessman, the idea of putting another person’s needs in front of his own is foreign. He’s shocked when a young cook from an orphanage intrigues him. Can he measure up?

An orphan longing for security, a reclusive rancher bound by the stipulations of his inheritance, and a proxy marriage that will meet their needs in ways they never expected. Clementine has nothing to her name but a quilt and some second-hand clothing. She's aged out of the orphanage and can't afford to be choosey. But she is determined to make the best of things. "If it's true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, surely any minor flaws like my sassiness will fade away with the aroma of fresh bread." Disappointed in love, Caleb Ellis is content to live a reclusive lifestyle...

Follow six mail-order brides traveling west from the hills of Tennessee. Will their quest lead them to love and happiness underneath the Texas sky? Travel back in time as six brave young women bound by their experience surviving a Yellow Fever epidemic leave the hills of Tennessee and travel West as mail-order brides. Fans of Western historical romance set in the late 19th century will root for each potential bride as she starts her adventure, seeking refuge and a chance for a new life. Will their quest lead them to love and happiness underneath the Texas sky? Inspired by true events ...

A semi-retired bootlegger, Bethel is shaking off the dust of her well-worn boots, not looking back and hoping for a transformation. All she needs is a new dress, a new town, a husband, and a fresh start. Daughter of a traveling merchant, Bethel is tired of peddling her Daddy’s “Special Sauce” and being run out of town by every sheriff east of the Mississippi. So, it’s time to head west. She just needs to sell a few more bottles to help fund her trip. After all, who wants to meet their new husband looking like a gypsy? If only she could shake off that irritating detective waiting at ...

Lois Weaver has been schooled to be polite, ladylike, and honest, to clean, cook, and sew, so at the proper age she would marry. As an adult, she surpassed her father’s expectations with her skills and beauty only to shatter them when she opens a dress shop. She risked everything to open a dress shop. Now the handsome bank owner has come calling. So why isn’t she happy? And why can’t she forget about a certain farmer with big brown eyes?

A delightful mail-order bride in reverse that’ll melt your heart. A blacksmith in need of a miracle, a livery stable owner requiring rescue- Will an arranged marriage bring more than either bargained for? A widowed blacksmith, Joseph Evans, is hardened, hard-pressed, and weighed down by the needs of his unusual family. If only he could find a housekeeper. But they’re in short supply, and Joseph needs one with the patience of Job. “I don’t want a wife. What I need is a miracle.” Livery stable owner Birdie Murphy needs another pair of hands to save her family home and business. In ...

Opposites attract, but does this former debutante have what it takes to be wife, mother, and live on a ranch? Can a controlling cowboy who is more concerned with his axle than his wedding, find a way to steer a courtship in the right direction? Victoria Wilson is a beautiful, misunderstood spinster, and the person all the other women love to hate. She's ready for a change. Does she have the courage to take a chance on the matchmaking venture her pastor recommends? This couple brings a whole new meaning to the adage that opposites attract. Fans of historical romance set in the late 19th ...

"Ordering a wife through the mail is unnatural. Having your mother order one on your behalf is infuriating.” Asa Bailey grew up hard, on a daily diet of driving cattle, drinking coffee, and eating dust. Since his father’s premature death, the weight of the responsibility for the success of the ranch and the added pressure of his mother’s contrary and snobbish nature weighs like a millstone strapped to his neck. Disappointment from the betrayal of his childhood sweetheart has left him skittish about matters of the heart. The last thing he wants is a wife. Unfortunately, his mother ...

A marriage made in Heaven between a bootlegger’s daughter and a hard-hearted sheriff, they go together like moonshine and bad decisions. Will Abilene find a way to penetrate the barriers of the sheriff’s heart? A hopeless romantic, Abilene is on the run again, dreaming of her happily ever after- an understanding husband, a house in the country, and peace. Sheriff Mark Joseph learned the hard way that love only leads to heartache and is not worth the risk. The last thing he needs is a wife. Long work hours with a healthy dose of danger are the best antidote to a broken heart. Will ...

Twenty-two-year-old Garnet Adams longs to marry and have a houseful of children. Forced to support her widowed mother, she embraces her role as a teacher, although the Carrie Town board of education's rules for female teachers leave no opportunity for a social life. She contents herself playing the violin at church. Tall, bearded, and rough around the edges, Deputy Noah Scott would rather hunt than socialize. Garnet thinks he’s a rude, insensitive drifter, and Noah's sure the last person he'd want to court is a schoolmarm - especially with her unladylike sneeze.

Raised by her guardian and influenced by the mostly male population of Carrie Town Texas, Rebecca benefited from a forward-thinking, unorthodox education not typical for a young woman in the late Nineteenth century. As an adult, she is armed with skills that most would covet, yet she lives in a boarding house, works as a waitress and struggles financially. Most single women in the area didn’t stay single long. Most, but not her. The one man she had said yes to was dragging his feet. The townspeople all agree she is in need of a husband. Even the young girls in her Sunday School Class have...

Twenty-year-old Maggie Montgomery is a petite young woman ahead of her time. She's had a wonderful childhood and enjoyed spending time with her father and five brothers and is happiest working in the smithy with them. A competent cook and housekeeper, as a favor to the local doctor, she moves in to assist his wife, who is struggling to recuperate from a bout of pneumonia.

After the deaths of her mother and stepfather, 20-year-old Carol Stone finds herself in reduced circumstances with two younger siblings to care for. The suggested marriage of convenience is out of the question, so she stalls for time. When Carol learns she is the sole heir of a small home in Carrie Town, a newly expanded railroad village, she throws caution to the Texas wind and packs her bags.

Eighteen-year-old, Emma Brady, loves nothing better than working in the garden, but her cooking skills leave a lot to be desired. While other young women in the late nineteenth century are reading about proper housekeeping, she studies herd improvement. Emma's dream is to implement plans for the ranch’s profitability. Unfortunately, things are not running in her favor. Emma has been in love with Brian Scott, or Scotty as she’s always known him, since she saw him take up for a small boy at school. The youth who demonstrated so much character taking on the injustice of the schoolroom is ...