Chapter 1 Sometimes a single word can haunt a person for life. For Violet Mason, that word was stock. They called her one thing her entire life. Breeding stock. The men in Cedar Springs whispered it like a dirty joke. The women muttered it with pursed lips and sharp eyes. And Violet, she heard it…
Chapter 1 Rosemary Fletcher realized disaster had found her when she saw the name in red ink. Her herb shop in Copper Creek still smelled of mint and wood smoke. Jars lined the shelves. Bundles of herbs hung from the rafters. Outside, wagon wheels rattled past on the frozen street. Inside, the open ledger showed…
Chapter 1 The morning the widow arrived at Northridge Ranch, Jonas Hail felt winter pressing harder than ever. The cold wrapped around the valley like a heavy blanket, hiding every shape under white. Snow rolled across the open land in slow waves, and the wind carried a bite sharp enough to cut through wool and…
Chapter 1 The year was 1868, and the Colorado high country was a land that God had made beautiful and then abandoned to the elements. The peaks rose like jagged teeth against a sky so blue it hurt to look at. Snow fell eight months of the year. The summers were brief and violent, with…
Part 1: “Stay quiet,” I whispered as I locked the bedroom door behind me. “If anyone finds out I’m here, we’re both dead.” Those were the first honest words I had ever spoken to Luca Moretti while looking directly into his eyes. It was nearly three in the morning inside the massive estate overlooking Lake…
Chapter 1 The wind howled through the tall pines as Daniel Mitchell stood in the doorway of his mountain cabin, watching the newest mail-order bride climb into the wagon that would take her back down to civilization. He did not call after her. He did not ask her to stay. He simply stood there with…
Chapter 1 The moment Jacob Thornton rode into the Hartwell Clearing, the entire place seemed to stop breathing. Folks had been whispering for days that he was coming to choose a wife, and everyone believed he would pick Lily — the younger sister, the beauty of the family. But when Jacob stepped down from his…
Chapter 1 The transaction took place on a Tuesday morning in front of the general store, under a sky the color of old pewter and a wind that had been sharpened somewhere up in the mountains and hadn’t dulled on the way down. Janelle kept her hands folded in front of her, fingers laced so…
Part 1: Vanessa Reed stepped out of the limousine with billionaire Adrian Carrington’s hand resting proudly against her waist, and instantly every camera outside the Whitmore Gala turned toward them. Flashes exploded across the marble entrance. Reporters shouted questions over each other. Her silver gown clung to her body like liquid metal beneath the lights,…
Chapter 1 The buyer’s wagon rolled into the Lark yard before the sun cleared the cottonwoods, and the sound alone made Mave’s chest tighten like a fist closing. Dust lifted behind the wheels and pressed against the kitchen windows, turning the morning light dull and brown. Inside the small house, everything felt frozen — as…
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