Monday, March 18, 2024

Melissa Coray Walks Three Blazed Trails by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa Coray was the wife of Mormon Battalion Sgt. William Coray. As a laundress, she was allowed to travel with the Mormon Battalion the entire route from Iowa to the coast of California during the Mexican-American War. As part of that two-year venture, she ended up walking across three trails blazed by the men with whom she traveled.

Melissa Burton Coray was the youngest of the four women who made the entire march of the Mormon Battalion. (Earlier in the campaign, the other laundresses were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado, with one of the sick detachments.) She was born March 2, 1828, in Mersey, Essex, Ontario Canada to Samuel Burton and Hannah Shipley. At the age of ten, she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). When the members of the church were driven out of Nauvoo, Illinois, with the rest of her family, she began the march westward.

Eighteen-year-old Melissa was among about 2,000 Mormon refugees at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, when she married William Coray on June 22, 1846. Four days later, the U.S. Army requested the enlistment of 500 Mormons for the war with Mexico.


Captain James Allen and four other officers in uniform arrived with orders from U.S. Army to request the enlistment of 500 Mormons for the war with Mexico. After the persecution, murders, and theft the church members had been subjected to in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, with no relief offered or granted by the federal government, their request was treated with mistrust. However, Brigham Young arrived from Council Bluffs, Iowa within a few day. He had been in communication with certain senators and others to assure them the members were not a hostile force. They still supported the constitution of the United States. He told the members they should enlist. The enlistment pay would help their families move west. 

Melissa knew that her young husband would enlist. He was a military man, having served with the Nauvoo Legion. However, as much as she believed in placing her faith in God, she rebelled at the prospect of being separated from her husband, especially so soon after their marriage.

"If he must go, I want to go," she said. "Why must women always stay behind and worry about their husbands, when they could just as well march beside them."

When William told her that there were to be four women with each company employed as laundresses, Melissa realized there was a way she might accompany him. He was a sergeant in Company B, and if she were in the same company, it would be entirely safe and proper.

On July 13, 1846, William and Melissa arrived at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with other volunteers. On July 20, they marched to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and from there to California.

In her journal, Melissa said that one of the hardest parts of the journey was leaving her father and mother. However, since it was a choice between them and her husband, she thought her duty was to her husband.


 Above map, created by Brian Cole, courtesy of the Mormon Battalion Assoc.

The march of the Mormon Battalion from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California, was the longest infantry march in the nation’s history. Melissa walked almost the entire way. She was inclined to belittle the walking she did, although other members of the Battalion said that she traveled on foot a large part of the 2,000 miles to San Diego and most of the return journey to Salt Lake. "I didn't mind it," she declared. "I walked because I wanted to; my husband had to walk, and I went along by his side." She said many times they had very little food and less water, but she and her husband got along very well. Many of the men in the Battalion ate until they were satisfied. The result was that they consumed their food at the start and did not have any later on when they needed it badly.

But not so with the Coray couple. She had learned differently from experience. She looked ahead and figured how many days the food would have to last until they met the next supply company, and then she used only so much each day. She tried to cook wisely, so that no food would be wasted. Although they did not have all they wanted to eat, they were never in danger of starving. She went from campfire to campfire, urging more care in the use of food. She used to relate how, weary and footsore, they had to walk miles and miles without water, and often the men thought they would die of thirst: "That is something," she said, "that only gets worse when you think of it. When I was thirsty, I tried not to think of it." It was at such a time that she learned to carry a pebble in her mouth. This caused the saliva to flow more freely and lessened her unquenchable thirst.

When the Battalion reached Santa Fe, Colonel Cooke decided to send the women and children and sick soldiers to Pueblo for the winter. At this, Melissa Coray almost lost courage. But it was not so with her husband. Along with Capt. Davis, Capt. Hunter and Sergeant Brown, he went to the Colonel to persuade him to let the four women continue. Just what was said at this conference, the women never knew, but they were permitted to accompany their husbands. She said it was a sad day when they had to bid their companions good bye.

The nausea of early pregnancy made traveling harder for her, and she had to hide it as long as possible. Once, after marching two days without water, she saw a number of men crowded around a small spring from which trickled a little stream of water. As it seeped from the rocks they were sucking it through a quill. She said it was such sights as this that made one's heart almost fail.

William attempted to keep many of the trials of the trip from her, but she knew and shared most of them. One night in Arizona she had a scare that she didn't forget. Mexicans were in the vicinity. The men, concerned they might be attacked, stayed up all night. Nothing happened. About this time, Melissa was becoming extremely weary and footsore. Col. Cooke seeing her fatigue, got down from his big white horse and offered it to her to ride on. In relating this to her grandchildren, she was always careful to designate "white horse" as though this made the event more important.

 


Up until this time, travel through the desert southwest had been only on horseback or on foot. The Mormons brought wagons, and blazed a route across the region that would be followed for the next century and more. At one point they reached a box canyon that was slightly too narrow for the wagons to pass. Using axes, the men widened the road by literally chipping their way through until it was wide enough for the wagons. Their route became used as the Southern Overland Trail, and is today the approximate route of Interstate 8 between Yuma and San Diego.


On Jan. 29, 1847, the Mormon Battalion reached Mission San Diego, California. She and Sergeant Coray, with others of the Battalion thought their journey ended. After two days, however, they were ordered to the Mission San Luis Rey to do garrison duty and protect the area from the Indians. In six weeks or so Company B was ordered back to San Diego. On March 17, 1847, Company B, which included William and Melissa, arrived in San Diego and took over operation of Fort Stockton. Melissa said they camped at Old Town, near the site which is now known as Ramona's marriage place. It provided the couple four months of a peaceful life.

In July, they marched to Los Angeles where the battalion was disbanded. From there, the battalion members split into several groups for the trip to the Salt Lake Valley.

Melissa had looked forward to the time when her husband would be mustered out so he could make a home for her and the baby she was expecting. Once the Battalion was discharged in early summer, William Coray bought a wagon and horses and the Corays joined a small party led by Capt. Jefferson Hunt. They traveled up the California coast to Monterey.

While in Monterey, Melissa gave birth to a son on October 2, 1847. The baby, whom the couple named William, only lived a few days. He was buried in the little cemetery in Monterey. When Melissa returned to California years later, she tried to find her son’s grave. However, there had been so many changes, she was unable to locate it.

As soon as she was able to travel, the couple started out again. Melissa said the trip was hard; the country was new; and there were no roads. They had to pick their way as best they could. In one place they came to a gorge so narrow that they couldn't drive through it. They had to take their wagon apart and carry it through, a piece at a time.

When they reached Sutter's Mill they found that gold had been discovered. Although the Corays were anxious to get to Salt Lake, they had to remain in the area long enough to get the means to continue. William Coray sent two sacks of gold back east with others to be delivered to his mother and sister still in Iowa so they could make the journey to Utah.

The main company of returning Mormon Battalion veterans left for Utah with the Browett-Holmes Company from Pleasant Valley, near present-day Placerville. The company consisted of forty-five men, Melissa Coray as the lone woman, two cannons, seventeen wagons, 150 mules and horses and about the same number of cattle. On July 4th in 1848, in Pleasant Valley, California, they recognized Independence Day by firing two rounds from a cannon. Addison Pratt wrote: "With these [cannons] we saluted the day, which made the mountains ring."

 

Silver Lake along the Emigrant Trail as seen from Hwy 88

To avoid crossing the Truckee River numerous times, they chose to blaze a new trail farther south through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It took them six weeks to build a wagon trail over what is now known as the Carson Pass. These were the first wagons to travel this route and the first to go from west to east.

Original map courtesy of National Parks Service

For Melissa Coray, this was the second time she had watched the battalion build a road. The first was the last 700 miles to San Diego. Melissa also witnessed a third building of a road—the Salt Lake Cut, which eliminated the wagons going all the way north to Fort Hall in what is now Idaho before going south again. This was constructed just before arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on Oct. 6, 1848.

Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, Melissa was reunited with family members, among them several brothers as well as her father, who had remarried a young widow with a daughter after the death of Melissa’s mother. Glad that the journey was over, she expressed gratitude for the respect and consideration she received from the men with whom she traveled, as well as their support for her husband, whose health had begun to fail. He had developed a cough during the last several months of the march to San Diego, and it had grown progressively worse.

Melissa and her husband decided to build a house just outside the fort surrounding Salt Lake City. By then, William was “greatly reduced in flesh,” so Melissa relied on the help of three of her brothers, Robert, William, and Charles, to make bricks for the home. William tried to help, but was not able to do much. By November, William hoped to live long enough to see his and Melissa’s second child born. The couple moved into their new home on January 20, 1849.

Melissa gave birth to a baby girl on February 6, 1849. The couple named her Melissa, after her mother.

 William Coray passed away on March 7, 1849, less than three months after arriving here. Having just turned twenty a few days before, Melissa became a widow with a young child. Fortunately, she had the support of her family. Just before his passing, William gave her brother, Robert, a sack of gold to help provide for Melissa and the baby.

 

About two years later, Melissa married William H. Kimball, eldest son of Heber C. Kimball. The couple ran the hotel and stagecoach stop at Kimball Junction, at the top of Parleys Canyon in Utah. During the year and a half the Pony Express was in operation, it also served as a station for their riders. The couple had six children.

 

During the 1896 Utah Jubilee, Melissa was photographed along with the still-living members of the Mormon Battalion who attended. She is the third person from the left in the front row.

Melissa stayed in Salt Lake City area, where she died on September 21, 1903.

 

Photograph of Melissa Burton Coray Kimball displayed during 1915 San Diego Exhibition

 

Melissa Coray Peak marker ctsy Ted Muller Ted's Outdoor World blog

In 1990, a mountain peak in eastern California was renamed Melissa Coray Peak to honor the memory of this Mormon pioneer woman and the "thousands of emigrant women who endured similar hardships in settling the West."

 


In my last year’s Prairie Roses Collection book, Clara, she along with other characters in the story trod this route cut by the Browett-Holmes Company, now known as the Emigrant Trail or Emigrant-Carson Pass Trail, which was first trod by Melissa Coray. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 


This year I am writing a third book for this series. It is titled Lucy, and is currently on pre-order with a release date of May 2nd. With the exception of a few improvements since Melissa Coray’s day, Lucy will also travel this same trail. To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Ricketts, Norma B., Melissa’s Journey with the Mormon Battalion, The Western Odyssey off Melissa Burton Coray: 1846-1848.International Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Utah Printing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1994.

http://www.coryfamsoc.com/articles/coray.html

https://www.thechurchnews.com/1994/8/13/23256692/california-peak-named-in-honor-of-wife-of-battalion-member

https://www.topozone.com/california/el-dorado-ca/stream/

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/560418-melissa-s-journey-with-the-mormon-battalion-the-western-odyssey-of-melissa-burton-coray-1846-1848

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Holiday Dreams Series

 


I'm excited to share a brand new series with you that will start releases March 21! 

These are sweet and wholesome historical romances set in my fictional town of Holiday. 

If you haven’t read any of my other Holiday stories, start with Holiday Hope, which is the story of Jace and Cora Lee Coleman and the beginning of Holiday. After that check out Henley, and then you'll be ready for this new series. 



Each book can be read as a standalone, but it's fun to read about the characters you meet in other books too. 

DREAMS OF LOVE

 Release Date: March 21

Will dreams of love lead to an unexpected future?

Weathered from too many years of apprehending outlaws, Marshal Dillon Durant is resigned to a life of solitude. The small community of Holiday, Oregon, offers the opportunity for him to build lasting friendships while discovering a sense of belonging. Then he encounters an exasperatingly beautiful woman attempting to break into the local school, leaving him to contemplate the possibility of a new chapter in his life.

Desperate to escape the arranged marriage her father is attempting to foist upon her, Zara Wynn accepts a job as a schoolteacher in Holiday. Intent on a fresh start, she doesn’t want anyone to discover she’s a runaway bride. But concealing her past proves difficult, especially when the astute and handsome Marshal Durant captures her heart.

When her father and fiancé find her, will Zara be forced to abandon her dreams of love? Or will Dillon make them come true?

Amazon

UBL

 

DREAMS WITH FAITH

 Release Date: March 28

Can faith conquer their fears?

John Ryan is committed to his role as pastor in the quaint town of Holiday, Oregon. He values each member of his congregation, and aims to lead by example. However, his resolve is tested when a free-spirited woman arrives in town. John struggles with his growing attraction to her, determined to keep it from distracting him from his calling.

Following a devastating tragedy that leaves her isolated and shattered, Keeva Holt is eager for a new beginning. In need of consolation and clarity, she decides to seek refuge with her brother in Holiday. As she navigates through her grief and attempts to find direction for her future, Keeva’s vibrant spirit and exuberance challenge those around her, including the reserved Pastor Ryan. While logic tells her that John is beyond her reach, her heart urges her to pursue her dreams and embrace the possibilities of tomorrow.

Will John and Keeva learn to lean into their faith and let go of their fears?

Amazon

UBL

 

 DREAMS FOR COURAGE

 Release Date: April 4

Will two lonely hearts find the courage to love?

A loner for most of his life, Rowan Reed wants nothing more than to be left alone. He buys a run-down farm near Holiday, Oregon, intending to turn it into a successful ranch through hard work and determination. When a nosy, albeit beautiful, woman shows up on his doorstep, the instant attraction he feels to her sets off nearly as many warning bells as her barrage of probing questions.

Private detective Rhetta Wallace always unearths the truth. Involved in a lengthy investigation into a man suspected of killing a politician's son, her pursuit leads her to the town of Holiday. Accompanied by her adopted son, Rhetta finds herself squaring off against the grumpy, growling rancher she believes is the suspect. Whether or not Rowan admits his true identity, Rhetta is sure of two things: his innocence of the crime, and the deep affection he awakens in her heart.

Will their dreams for courage help them release the past and embrace a future together?

Amazon

UBL




USA Today
Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Who Says Blondes Have More Fun? 19th Century Ladies Chose Red!

  by Kimberly Grist 


Auburn hair has long been admired for its beauty, as displayed in the works of Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), noted as the greatest painter of the 16th century. His work produced paintings featuring beautiful women with auburn hair, later known as ‘Titian red.’ Other great artists during the Renaissance featured the same vibrant shade, influencing ladies to dye and bleach their hair for centuries.


Madonna and Child
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)


Since statistically, less than 2% of the population was born with the shade of red, perhaps the uniqueness of the color inspired many of the world's most famous painters to feature women with the vibrant shade. Below are a few of the famous examples:

Lady Lilith, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1866-1868)


La Ghirlandata, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1873)

Who Says Blondes Have More Fun

By the Victorian era, the passion for auburn hair increased, and ladies sought to duplicate the desired color. Western women would mix henna powder to create their own shades of red. The term "to henna" became synonymous with dying one's hair, and boxes of “black henna,” “red henna,” “blonde henna,” and “neutral henna” were sold.

This European woman of the 1880's is admiring the results after she has hennaed her hair, her soles, and her nails.
The above-pictured European woman of the 1880s is admiring the results after she has hennaed her hair, her soles, and her nails.


Untitled portrait by Jules Frederic Ballavoine (1855-1901)

Does She or Doesn't She?

It's easy to see why the ladies of the time were inspired to dye and bleach their hair, attempting to replicate the beauty of lovely women with pale skin and ‘Titian red’ hair. My upcoming new release features two brides: one born a natural red-head, and the other enhances her locks with henna. Our true bride is incensed that her intended doesn't seem to know the difference.


New Release: Book 14 in the Double Trouble Series
Coming Soon: March 15th
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRHVJCVW

As I write, my secondary characters often take on a life of their own as if crying out and demanding their own story. Such is the case for the loveable Sheriff Hiram Hartman. Hiram first appeared in Ace's Tenacious Bride as the brother-in-law of our card-playing, cigar-smoking railroad detective, Ace Caldwell. Later, he appeared in A Match for Gabe, where we last left him waiting for an update on the arrival of his mail-order bride. Poor Hiram, it seems like he's been waiting forever and now he's got double trouble.


Connect With Kimberly

Fans of historical romance set in the late 19th century will enjoy stories combining, History, Humor, and Romance with an emphasis on Faith, Friends, and Good Clean Fun,

Links:
Website: https://kimberlygrist.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/FaithFunandFriends/
Sign up for my newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/a920c145512a/kimberlygrist
Amazon: Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Grist/e/B07H2NTJ71
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kimberly-grist

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Hair Care in the Good Old Days

 If any of you have read either my Clear Creek Bride Series or The Snows of Clear Creek, then you know that my character Gilbert Snow is an inventor. He's known for inventing Snow Flakes. An all purpose soap flake that can be used for laundry, dishes, and as his sale slogan goes, even to bathe your children with! Mr. Snow is known as the Soap King of the Eastern Seaboard, and has been working on his next big invention. Scented shampoo. These stories take place between 1889 and 1892. I wonder how much history of shampoo Mr. Snow dug up before beginning his new invention.

I'm sure he discovered that the 18th Century saw the rise of wigs, and how people used lye soaps or water to grease their hair so the wigs could fit. And sure he knows that the Victorians popularized the use of eggs. They'd split an egg over their heads, then massage it until it turned into a gooey mess, then rinse it with water. It was also during this era that Doctors began to encourage people about the importance of soaps and shampoos.

While bars of "soap shampoo" were available for purchase during the 1800s, at-home, daily shampoos were still pretty far off. An 1891 issue of the Boomerang, says the best thing for washing the hair is hard kitchen soap, rubbed on quickly and washed off, concluding: “Soap suds thickened with glycerin and the white of an egg are responsible for the lovely satiny gloss.”

Practitioners were the place to go to get clean. Otherwise known as the hairdresser and the bathhouse.

With the professionals in charge of your hair, it was not a daily practice. Besides, bar shampoo left one's hair and scalp dry and lacking shine.

So, other methods of hair-cleaning were used. Victorian women washed their hair brushes daily, and the infamous brushing your hair “100 strokes” was done to spread conditioning oils from roots to tips and to remove older or excess oil and dirt. Of course, this was more time-consuming than modern washing, and thus one of the reasons “good hair” created class distinction. After all, women of the upper classes could afford all the various rats, rolls, and other fake additions to bulk out their real hair. In addition, women hardly wore their hair lose unless it was in the process of being put up or taken down. That and if they were having a picture taken of it! And at night, most women braided their hair for bed. 

Then glory of glories, in 1898, powdered shampoo was invented in Germany by Hans Schwarzkopf and made available for sale in drugstores. Less harsh, easier to use, and readily available, this product began the movement of washing one’s hair regularly at home.

Still, in a pinch, if one didn't have bar shampoo, people used whisky mixed with castor oil to cleanse their hair. To style their hair, some women used heated pencils as curlers. Now there's a hair hack that used things you could find around the house—very resourceful!

So we can safely say that Mr. Snow is ahead of his time when he invents his own shampoo and begins to test it on his own family with great results! What are some of the old shampoos you remember that they don't make any more? For me it's Long and Silky. I had very long hair from grade school and on into college. I could sit on it! Everyone used to tell me I should be in a Long and Silky commercial, and yes, I did use those products for a time! Thank goodness the days of using harsh soaps on hair are gone. I'll take some Herbal Essence any day!

Until Next Time,
Kit

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

WHOSE HOME ON THE RANGE IS IT? by Marisa Masterson

 

Kansas Historical Society Collection

I expect the tune comes to your mind immediately when I say the title Home on the Range. Most people in my generation, growing up in the United States, are able to sing at least the first verse. But is that the actual verse to the song?

What do I mean by that? Well, I was surprised when I researched this song's history. It was written by several people during different decades and even centuries. 

That can't be possible! Truly, several people have claimed, over the years, to have been the creators of the song. Who is right and where did the song originate and by whom?

The tune itself is connected to the Chisholm Trail, a route used to drive cattle north to Kansas and the stockyards where the beef could be shipped east via the railroad. The lyrics to the song seemed to differ depending on who sang it. Sometimes the tune was used to sing "Arizona Home". For others, it was the tune to "Colorado Home" or even a song about Texas. The words varied with each of these.


In 1934, a certain Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin claimed to have written it in 1904 and sued for copyright
infringement. Why? Because Bing Crosby had recorded the song, and it was playing on the radio. (Later, Gene Autry's recording became the 'go to' for this song.) That was what started a search to find out who really wrote "Home on the Range".

In the end, it seems to have originated with Brewster Higley. This man left Indiana and homesteaded in Kansas. His poem was published in 1876 by a Kansas newspaper.  Little wonder then that it is the state song of Kansas.

Still, it is interesting to see how different people tweeked the song's lyrics to be able to copyright their own versions of it. I encourage you to visit https://songofamerica.net/song/home-on-the-range/ if you would like to see the three most popular versions.


My Western Home
by Dr. Brewster Higley

Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam
Where the Deer and the Antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not cloudy all day.

Chorus:
A home! A home!
Where the Deer and the Antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not clouded all day.

(Courtesy https://songofamerica.net/song/home-on-the-range/)



www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB1YRZ5C

An eager groom and a surprise baby are out to change this woman's life!

Patience Mallory needs a way to Colorado. There, she can claim the map showing where her father buried the gold trusted to him.
She wants it. No! She needs that gold.
Royce Maxwell needs a woman. He wants more than a cook for the trail. The man is desperate for someone who can care for his fussy baby. Not just anyone though. He trusts the Lord to send the wife he needs.
When Patience stumbles into his life, he grabs her literally and figuratively. He rushes her into marriage before the wagon train leaves.
Will life on the trail convince Patience that she married well or will coming to know her groom be what sends her running at the end of the trip?

HOW DOES THIS DETERMINED WOMAN BECOME A WIFE HEADED TO NEW MEXICO INSTEAD OF TO COLORADO? 


This is a sweet Christian historical romance. If feisty pioneers or traditional western gunplay offends you, I suggest you avoid this book. If you love western romance and inspirational books, this one is for you!


Friday, March 1, 2024

Look what our authors published in February!



Our authors have worked hard to bring you your next 

favorite stories. 

Here is what we published in February!



Silas’s Brides: Double Trouble - Book Twelve

P. Creeden

Bounty hunter, Silas Jones has never had any interest in marriage until he expressed interest at his family Thanksgiving. Then his mother and his sister each send him a bride at the same time!

Release date: February 1, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLGVWDY8

 

Miss Iris: Sweet Historical Western Romance

The Brides of Fiddler's Gap Book 2

By Kit Morgan

A lonely rancher
A visiting heiress
And one Leopold Wadsworth III...

Iris Jameson wasn't about to be saddled with the likes of Leopold Wadsworth III. Her friend Penelope had already escaped the cad! And now Iris' parents want her to marry him? Ha! The arrogant snob could go jump in a lake for all she cared. Still, it was a sticky situation, and her only hope of quelling her parents' ludicrous plans was to go somewhere and lay low for a while. A long while. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She went to Fiddler's Gap to visit Penelope!

Release date: February 13, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVNR3YBQ  

 

Eclipsed by Love, Books 1-3


1878 Solar Eclipse Inspired Romance Book 1

By Zina Abbott

Mail Order Blythe – the book that started it all. Blythe is forced out of her job as a maid … the employer gives Blythe the ticket money to join the soldier at Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming Territory who agreed to marry her...Eli Morgan, a science and math instructor at the University of Iowa, …with two professor friends … traveled by railroad to remote Rawlins, Wyoming Territory …to view the 1878 total solar eclipse… he meets a young widow … Sensing she needs help, he takes her under his wing. …

A Bride for Devlin – Set mostly in Rawlins and the Little Snake River Valley, Wyoming Territory, Devlin is hired as a local sheriff by his ranching neighbors who are tired of the pervasive cattle rustling. Friend Jesse encourages him to join in seeking a wife through correspondence. …At first, Cassie likes the idea of her and younger sister, Dolly, marrying neighboring ranchers. When the man she wrote to does not respond, she decides against the pair. …

Lauren –…After years of investigating railroad crime in Nebraska, Jeb is assigned to search out and arrest the outlaws involved in a string of railroad robberies in Wyoming Territory….Jeb’s boss lines [Lauren] up as a confidential informant working at Rock Creek Station…. In exchange for a ticket to … She falls for Jeb, but knows she must honor her commitment to marry another.

Release Date: February 16, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CTXSV3Y3

 

An Agent for Liana - Pinkerton Matchmakers Book 49

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Loner Dale Claybourne spent the last five years as a dedicated and decorated Pinkerton agent. Confident in his abilities, he’s not afraid to face down thieves, swindlers and even murderers. But he quells at the mandate of having to train a female agent and, even worse, to marry her before receiving his next assignment.

Gregarious Liana LaFontaine served as a seamstress for the Denver Pinkerton Agency. Now she yearns for a taste of the adventurous life of being an agent. Her ability to speak several languages and her ease with getting people to talk are her strongest assets.

Impulsive by nature, Liana jumps into situations she doesn’t have the experience to handle. Dale fights his growing admiration for this French beauty while keeping close to guard her safety. At odds over almost everything, the pair has to solve the mystery of who is stealing from a Virginia City saloon—a task made even harder because of the wild attraction that shouldn’t be present in a marriage of convenience.

Release date: February 19, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPW17YMX

 

Margaret’s Wedding Dilemma: The Matchmaker and the Mother-in-Law

By P. Creeden

She’s fighting to save the family farm. He’s longing to prove himself. Together, their love might just set the world on fire.

Margaret Blackwood works dawn to dusk to keep her father’s beloved ranch alive, determined to stay out of debt while navigating a world intent on running roughshod over a single woman’s ambition. Virgil Stockton, still stinging from past mistakes, soars into Margaret’s dusty West Texas town in a zeppelin of his own invention, hoping to start fresh and find a purpose as spectacular as his fiery experiments. However, Virgil’s overbearing mother, Beatrice, descends on the fledgling couple, bent on snuffing out their romance before they even think of exchange vows. But Beatrice is about to find out she’s not the only firecracker in Blanco County.

Release date: February 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ73BW98    

 

A Journey for Patience: The Reluctant Wagon Train Bride-Book 14

By Marisa Masterson

I am desperate to find my uncle. He has the map. How will I find Pa's buried stash without it?
Two things keep me from traveling on the wagon train that will take me to Fort Collins and to my uncle who is stationed there. The wagon master refuses to take on an unmarried woman with no father. The second is my younger sister.
--from the journal of Patience Mallory

HOW DOES THIS DETERMINED WOMAN BECOME A WIFE HEADED TO ARIZONA INSTEAD OF TO COLORADO? WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR HER AND HER HUSBAND TO MAKE THIS SUDDEN MARRIAGE WORK?

This is a sweet Christian historical romance. If feisty pioneers or traditional western gunplay offends you, I suggest you avoid this book. If you love western romance and inspirational books, this one is for you!

Note--While the immediate conflict is resolved in the story, the plot will continue in A Journey for Christiana.
**Although part of a multi-author series, this book is completely standalone and not related to the other books in the series other than A Journey for Cristiana.**

Release date: February 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB1YRZ5C


Heaven Inspired Bridal Collection - Baker's Edition


By Kimberly Grist

What's Cooking? It must be Romance.- The Heaven Inspired Romance Bridal Collection - Bakers Edition contains three stories connected to the Heaven-Inspired matchmakers who worked together to create beauty from ashes.

A Baker for Bear
A debutante baker with a stammer. A compulsive widowed blacksmith with two young daughters. Will they find a way to coexist or even better, forge a romantic relationship?

Shoo-fly Pie by Selah
Can his mail-order bride handle the diversity that comes with her husband’s dangerous vocation? Together will they blend their opposing desires to create a recipe for love

Apple Pandowdy by Alice
Two men in competition to capture the heart of a cautious cook. Is this a recipe for disaster or true love?
Release date: February 21, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTYJKM3B

 

Miss Arabella: Sweet Historical Western Romance -  The Brides of Fiddler's Gap Book 3

By Kit Morgan

A lonely hotel owner.
A woman hoping for a better future.
And the man that could ruin it all…

Arabella Driscoll answered an advertisement for a mail-order bride and got more than she bargained for. A lot more! Ellis Palmer was not only handsome, but the owner of a small, but beautiful hotel. So what if the town was made up of a handful of people? She could get used to living in a teeny tiny town if it meant marrying the handsome Ellis. He was everything she could want in a husband and more. Problem was, because of her, he not only broke his arm, but cracked a few ribs to boot! Who knew when they’d be married? In the meantime, she’d nurse him back to health. But a trip to the sheriff’s office threatens to tear her dreams apart. Will her future husband still want her if he finds out what the sheriff has locked up? Find out in this sweet, clean, western that delivers pure fun and romance!

Release date: February 27, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWQ1CP8W

 


 Not all of our authors make their books available on pre-order. However, for those who do, those advance sales go a long way toward boosting their sales rankings. 

Here are future releases:

 

March releases:

Jocelyn's Wedding Dilemma: The Matchmaker and the Mother-in-Law

By Zina Abbott

     Jocelyn not only came to the realization that she reached the age of bordering on being a spinster, she also recognized why the local men did not choose to court her. She knew it was not because her looks or personality repelled men. She could sum it up in one word—Mama. Mama had always been opinionated and eager to tell others the best way to do things, but her tendency to insert herself into other people’s lives had grown ever since Papa died. Jocelyn knew, if she wished to find a husband, she needed the help of a matchmaker, an out-of-town address, and a lot of subterfuge.

     City born and educated Kent had chosen well when he purchased his remote ranch, hired his drovers, and worked his cattle. The one thing the region lacked was decent marriage prospects. After resorting to hiring a matchmaker service, and wading through letters from several women, he finally found a correspondent whose letter caught his interest. In spite of his impression she held something back, he sent the funds for her to join him for the purpose of marriage. After Jocelyn arrived, everything about her pleased him. Little did he know what would follow—or, more to the point—who.

Release date: March 5, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR9RSX53


Eclipsed by Love, Books 4-6 - 1878 Solar Eclipse Inspired Romance Book 2

By Zina Abbott

Figgy Pudding by Francine –After months of correspondence with a different professor, [Francine] travels to Iowa City over Christmas break to meet Jason in person. She brings her signature figgy pudding….Jason, astronomy professor at the University of Iowa, is drawn to Francine. … Perhaps finding the lucky coin in his serving of figgy pudding will help him put things in perspective.


Ellie – …Rand has no desire to marry. … he learns Eli Morgan, who foisted Ellie’s first letter onto him, sent her to join him. … Will Rand find more than dry bones of creatures lone dead on Como Bluff?

Loving Lila – Lila was sixteen when she traveled home to Denver with Francine… she viewed the 1878 solar eclipse and met famed female astronomer, Margaret Mitchell. … Years later in Iowa, she … intends to earn her four-year degree. Her plans change when she is called home because of the death of her father... David knows Lila intends to return to her classes in Iowa. Can he convince her to stay in Littleton and build a life with him and his family instead?

Release Date: March 8, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CV7LCS2X

 

An Agent for Dixie - Pinkerton Matchmakers Book 58

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Foreign diplomacy is the Zivon family business but Alexei resists the polite constraints, not lasting a year in law school. The four successful years working as a Pinkerton agent prove he was meant to follow a different path. Now, he’s faced with the biggest challenge of his career—training a female agent who has no practical skills. Alexei figures he can convince her to just observe as he solves the case, because nothing will interfere with his success rate.

Since childhood, Dixie LaFontaine lived in her older sister’s shadow but applying to become a Pinkerton Agent is her first major decision. Being matched with confident Alexei is intimidating, especially when the assigned case involves them pretending to be brother and sister at a health spa where jewelry has gone missing. Dixie has no qualms about pretending to be a French heiress needing care for her arthritis. Soon, she falls victim to Alexei’s charm and realizes that hiding her feelings might be as hard as ferreting out the thief among the spa’s clientele.

Will Dixie focus on learning the skills of an agent, or will she concentrate on turning her marriage of convenience into a lasting love?

Release Date: March 14, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5L12HK

 

Hiram's Brides - Book 14: Double Trouble

By Kimberly Grist

Two brides, a teacher, and an imposter. If anyone can sort out the truth, shouldn’t an experienced sheriff be the man for the job? His true bride is quickly losing confidence.
"Typical man, so easily bamboozled by a dimpled smile, flash of an ankle, and twisting skirt. It will serve him right if he marries the wrong woman."

Release date: March 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRHVJCVW

 

Cowboy Justice - A Texas Rangers - Sutton Brother’s Romance Book 1

By P. Creeden

He lived and breathed the Texas Ranger code - until one woman’s siren song called him to turn renegade and gamble all he had for a future with her.

When Phineas Stockton leaves Boston where he was training for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, he returns to his hometown in San Marcos, Texas to find his brother has married and his mother has moved to a ranch of all places. But determined to make it on his own, he turns to his uncle and the Texas Rangers.

While in training, he has a perilous encounter with the leader of the notorious Deadwood Gang, which forces him to make tough decisions. Phineas’s quest for justice transforms into a trial by fire when he crosses paths with Charlotte Cody, forcing the stoic Texas Ranger to balance the Code of the West with the yearnings of his heart. Driven by his steadfast morals, Phineas pursues frontier justice, willing to risk it all for honor and love. But Charlotte has a past that could threaten their future together. Will their budding romance survive the harsh realities of the Code of the West? Or will vengeance and violence sabotage their chance at happiness?

Their devotion is tested through gripping adventures and perilous twists of fate.

Release date: March 25, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRYRZYGY

 

Hazel Finds a Hero - Uncertain Sweethearts Book 2

By Marisa Masterson

Hazel Concord finds mysteries compelling. Soon after she arrives at the mission for the Kansa tribe, she learns about men illegally selling liquor to the Kansa men. When one of the boys confides about a new delivery of alcohol, she sneaks away to spy on the moonshiners.

She dreams of catching the lawbreakers. Unfortunately, they catch her. She escapes from the men, except they make it clear they know she is from the mission. That makes it impossible for her to return there.

Paul O’Hanlon returns home late from a trip to a nearby town. He picks up a passenger and starts on the adventure of his life with the lovely blonde.

What will it take to convince Hazel he is no hero. After all, he keeps saving her from dangerous scrapes. Will she ever love him and not some imagined hero?

Releases March 29, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKFNLG8B

 

April Pre-orders:

 

Florence's Good Deed: Rejected Mail-Order Brides Book 6

By Zina Abbott

After being forced by a man who developed a fixation on her, Florence Crowley suspected she might be with child. Her sister recommended Florence seek a husband through correspondence—one who lived far, far away.

Rejected! At the end of a long train ride, her groom informs her he refuses to raise another man’s baby. He buys a return ticket but does not provide additional cash for food, Florence’s funds are limited. By the time she arrives in Columbus, Ohio, in order to eat, she is reduced to begging.

Recently mustered out of the U.S. Army, Asher Henderson stops in Columbus, Ohio, on his way to New York. Always a flirt, he first steers his friend, a German-speaking former soldier, toward a woman who does not speak English. He then pursues a beautiful young woman pleading for food money. For amusement, why not buy her a meal in exchange for a few hours of harmless teasing? When Florence suggests a potentially dangerous scheme to help the German-speaking woman, Ash’s attitude changes. He volunteers to protect her.

Florence is drawn to the former soldier but worries he might try to take advantage like the man who left her carrying a child. However, she cannot resist his offer to escort her to her sister’s home. Will she ever see him after that, or will he end up being nothing more than a fond memory—a man who momentarily helped during a time of crisis?

If you read Elise in the Rescue Me (Mail-order Brides) series, then you met Florence and Asher. However, Florence’s Good Deed is written to be a stand-alone story.

Release date: April 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ9ZLVMN

 

A Journey for Christiana: A Reluctant Wagon Train Bride-Book 18

By Marisa Masterson

A grumpy man meets a strong-minded woman. You bet the sparks are flying!

(This book is the sequel to A Journey for Patience. Reading that one first will enhance a reader's enjoyment of this romantic novel.)

Christiana Mallory has no choice but agree to become Moody Dutton's cook. After all, her sister Patience insists that each of them has to find a way to join the wagon train headed south. Patience is determined to retrieve a map showing where their pa hid a jar filled with gold coins.
When Patience immediately marries Moody's cousin, Christiana is determined not to do the same. She holds Moody at a distance, fighting with him so that she won't give in and make calf eyes in his direction.
Only, when danger threatens her sister's life, Christiana truly sees Moody for the protective man he is, and she wants him. The problem is that she was too successful at putting a wall between them.

How will she convince him see that she is no longer a reluctant bride but is a woman eager to marry him? Will they survive the trail to find their happily ever after?

Western adventure from a Christian worldview awaits you in this book. Get cozy and enjoy the romance.

Release date: April 16, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB1WPRQ2


A Marshal for Constance

By P. Creeden

Gerald Tucker leaves the ranch in San Marcos, Texas, to find himself after losing the only woman he'd ever thought he'd loved. Uncertain of his future, he finds an advertisement for a US Marshals training camp in Silverwood California.

Release date: April 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSHRPNZ8

 

Jana: Prairie Roses Collection - Book 41

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Jana Luykan is desperate to move with her sixteen-year-old brother, Marco, to their aunt and uncle’s farm in California. For the past six months since their mother’s death, she has struggled to keep him in school and out of mischief. In Council Bluffs during the final days before joining a westbound company, Jana is shocked to arrive home from her evening job to find Marco bleeding and two ruffians insisting they’re joining the Luykans on the wagon train. If she doesn’t agree, then they’ll tell the sheriff about Marco’s participation in a saloon robbery. She’ll do anything to protect her brother—even pretending these men are her cousins.

Bounty hunter Rik Sanderson trails two bank robbers to Council Bluffs. This pair has proved elusive over the past month, and he’s anxious to capture them and collect the bounty. About to give up, he spots them in a group of pioneers signing up with a wagon train company. He gets a job as a hunter for the company, figuring he’ll wait the week until they reach Fort Kearney to turn them in there. When he realizes they are holding a woman, who he aided in a saloon scuffle, and her brother hostage, Rik vows to watch over the innocents.

By the time the wagon train reaches the fort, Jana is a wreck from keeping up the pretense of the two strangers in her camp. Mister Sanderson seems to always be watching—an action that doesn’t soothe her nerves. She’s afraid he knows of Marco’s involvement with the robbery. Rik confides his suspicions about her “cousins” and that he’ll turn them over to authorities the next day. Jana begs him not to arrest Marco. The fort commander extracts a pledge from Rik to see Jana and Marco get to California safely and performs a marriage—for propriety’s sake. Rik struggles against his long-held vow not to get personally involved but realizes he can be a good influence on the young man…an influence he never had growing up.

The grueling trip tests the strength and endurance of this makeshift family. Will the challenges pull them apart or force them to cleave to one another for survival?

Release date: April 26, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1GM9CF

 

 

Gianna's Wedding Dilemma: The Matchmaker and The Mother-In-Law

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Tired of the limited chances to meet eligible men, governess Gianna Rafaello turns to a matchmaker for help. After reviewing the profiles of three men, Gianna starts a correspondence with a businessman, Blake Wymer, in Pueblo, Colorado. Within a few weeks, she recognizes their life goals are aligned and accepts his request to travel to meet in person. Gianna has always wanted to live in a small town, and everything seems rosy…until she meets his disapproving mother.

As the oldest Wymer sibling, Blake inherited the family’s furniture store upon his father’s death three years earlier. Thinking he was letting her work out her grief, he allowed his mother, Elfrida, to continue making the company decisions. But he and his brother, Axton, want to modernize, and Mother resists. She is also dead-set on Blake being married by year’s end and invites single women to supper. Without revealing his plans, Blake is smitten with a woman he’s been corresponding with and has invited her to town.

Gianna arrives, and the two feel destined to be together. As expected, Elfrida is livid. Can Blake stand up to his mother for the first time in his life to save this budding love?

Release date: April 30, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRN1NLNC