LAUREN (RESCUE ME ~ MAIL~ORDER BRIDES - Book 2) by Author ZINA ABBOTT *Book Birthday*

Welcome back to Romance Sweet Reads. Today we're going to continue with our feature of a new series of sweet/inspirational, western historical romances. The series, RESCUE ME (Mail-Order Brides) consists of twenty-five books, releasing once per week, every Monday. So, sit back and enjoy!

The second book in the Rescue Me (Mail Order Brides) series, is Lauren, by Author Zina Abbott.

Lauren Brower is traveling to Rawlins, Wyoming to marry a sheep rancher she met through an advertisement. Much to her dismay, a thief snatches her reticule and runs off with her tickets and most of her money. What she still has tucked away on her person is not enough to buy a replacement ticket. She is offered a way to earn her fare plus extra funds, but it means she must delay meeting her intended.

Jeb Carter, Union Pacific Special Agent, is sent to Laramie, Wyoming, to discover who is behind a string of train robberies. He plans to work solo—he always works solo—but his boss has other ideas. He comes upon a hapless damsel in distress stuck at the Omaha Union Depot. Much to his dismay, he soon receives orders to escort her to a crossroads town on the train line. There, she will work for a busy restaurant while gathering information. He is to be her contact.

Lauren encounters an unforeseen development. Jeb joins a posse search that ends in tragedy. In the process of searching for train robbers, will they be robbed of their futures?

Available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Jeb’s footsteps slowed as his gaze focused on a young woman dressed in a black mourning gown who stood on the platform next to the tracks of a train that had recently come from the East. Her fan was hanging from the wrist that clutched her carpetbag. On the ground several feet in front of her, a basket lay tipped on its side. With her head bowed and shoulders hunched, she held her free hand, which was fisted, over her lips. Her back was to him, and her dark, reddish-brown hair under a short-brimmed, black hat caught his eye. He slowed his footsteps and approached her from the side. “You look a bit lost, ma’am. Might I help direct you?”

Her eyebrows raised and lips parted, the woman jerked her head to face him. She glanced to the side and back. “I don’t know.” Her voice raspy, she cleared her throat. Her eyelids rimmed with tears, she blinked.

Upon gazing into her shining brown eyes ringed by dark lashes, Jeb’s breath caught. His heart began to beat faster, and his breathing rate increased. She is not the first pretty woman I’ve seen. Why am I having this reaction? He stepped forward and picked up the basket. “Where are you headed, ma’am?” He handed her the basket.

“West. To Rawlins.” She heaved several deep breaths and biting her bottom lip, she accepted the basket.

“You’re on the wrong platform for the westbound U.P. train. I’m familiar with this depot. If you’d like, I can show you where you will board. Or, if you prefer, I can find a depot employee to assist you.” Why is a young, attractive widow like her traveling alone?

“Oh, I…um…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “My-my reticule was stolen. Some young man…more a boy, really…ran up next to me and grabbed it while he cut the strings with a knife.”

“Did you see what direction he ran?” As he stepped closer, Jeb turned his gaze farther up the platform. He would have seen the miscreant if he ran the direction from which Jeb approached. Where are the railroad police when you need them?

“No. I was so startled, I froze. By the time I thought to call for help, he disappeared between those two cars.” She pointed to where two passenger coaches were joined. “I’m not sure what I will do. I kept my tickets and most of my money in my reticule so it would be easily available. Now, it’s gone. I-I have a little money left in my carpetbag, but not enough to replace my ticket. I appreciate your offer, though.” She pressed her palm to her forehead. “I believe I should find the depot and stay there while I decide what to do.”

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. A member of Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, and American Night Writers Association. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~ BookBub ~ Amazon Author Page

Women on the run! But from what? Will they need rescuing? Or, will these intrepid heroines have the faith and the strength to rescue themselves while finding their ultimate reward? True love!

You can find the entire Rescue Me ~ Mail-Order Brides series exclusively on

KINDLE UNLIMITED

~ ~ ~'

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again next week for another feature on this wonderful series. Until then, stay happy, healthy, and safe.

Blessings,

Nancy

BELLE (RESCUE ME ~ MAIL~ORDER BRIDES - Book 1) BY AUTHOR MARGARET TANNER

Welcome back to Romance Sweet Reads. Today we're going to begin our feature of a brand new series of sweet/inspirational, western historical romances. The series, RESCUE ME (Mail-Order Brides) consists of twenty-five books, releasing once per week, every Monday beginning today. So, sit back and enjoy!

The first book in the Rescue Me (Mail Order Brides) series, is Belle, by Author Margaret Tanner.

To save her life, Belle Sharmon lets everyone think she has perished in a fire.

Stowing away on a freight train, Belle and her small son meet up with a Confederate soldier. Why is the man still in uniform when the war has been ended for five years?

What secret does this soldier hide?

After a short time, Belle and the soldier go their separate ways, but not before he has infused her with hope.

Months later, at the Mail-Order Bride Bureau, Belle meets Leigh, a man who can rescue her.
If she marries Leigh, will her secret remain safe? Or will ghosts from the past endanger their future?

Available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

A shanty town in San Francisco – 1870

Three-year-old Jacob, or Jake as Belle Sharmon always called her son, clung to her hand as they left their tumbledown shack. The only thing in its favor was the fact it was cheap, and away from the tenement slums and houses of ill-repute closer to the dock area of San Francisco.

Most of the people living in this shanty town were not criminals, only desperate, down on their luck people like her. Before her husband, who was a bootmaker, had died twelve months ago, things had been only slightly better; although they were able to live in a room behind the shop he rented from Ebenezer DuPont.

Mr. DuPont was a horrible runt of a man. Not only did he own a few tumbledown shops and houses where he charged exorbitant rents, he was also a pawnbroker and money lender, as well as being her landlord. The interest he charged was so high most people who borrowed from him struggled to ever pay it back. Men sometimes paid with their lives when they couldn’t pay; as for the women, she shuddered at what he expected them to do.

“Ma, candy stick,” Jake interrupted her musing.

“I can’t, not this week. I have to pay the rent money to Mr. DuPont.” It broke her heart having to dash the hope in her son’s voice. He had little enough in life to look forward to.  I have to do something to get us out of this grinding poverty trap we’re in, she thought desperately. But what.

Margaret Tanner is an Award winning, Amazon Best Selling author. She writes sweet Historical Western romance now. Having always loved history, she started out writing Australian historical romance then graduated to westerns

She lives in Australia, is married and has three grown up sons and two gorgeous little granddaughters.

Frontier Australia and frontier America, have many similarities, isolated communities, a large single male population and a lack of eligible women. This leads to many interesting plots.

She has always loved Westerns, soaking up all the Western TV shows and movies when she was young. Bonanza was her all-time favorite show. Little Joe Cartwright was her hero. Western Author, Zane Grey was her favorite author.

Facebook Reader's Group ~ Amazon Author Page

Women on the run! But from what? Will they need rescuing? Or, will these intrepid heroines have the faith and the strength to rescue themselves while finding their ultimate reward? True love!

You can find the entire Rescue Me ~ Mail-Order Brides series exclusively on

KINDLE UNLIMITED

~ ~ ~'

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again next week for another book in this wonderful series.

May your 2023 be blessed with good health, good fortune, faith and love.

Nancy

MILLICENT'S MIRACLE by Author Nancy Fraser (Thanksgiving Brides - Book 3) **Book Birthday**

Welcome back to Romance Sweet Reads. Today we’re featuring another new sweet/inspirational romance series, Thanksgiving Brides. The series is historical/western historical set prior to the 1900s.

We’ll be continuing with the third book in the series, Millicent's Miracle, by author Nancy Fraser. Millicent's Miracle is the prequel to an Oregon Trail story Nancy published earlier this year titled, Ella (Prairie Roses Collection). In the new book, we'll get to explore Ella's brother Connor's romance with Millicent, and get to reconnect with Ella and her children. Here’s your sneak peek at Millicent's Miracle...

Millicent (Millie) Carter is beside herself. Pawned off by her uncaring father, after her mother’s passing, the last thing Millie wants is to be stuck in some small town in the middle of nowhere. What she wants is to return to Chicago and the life she’s known there. Despite her misgivings, she finds the kindness she experiences with her aunt and uncle more tolerable than she expected. As a matter of fact, she doesn’t even mind returning to church, something she’d not done since her mother took ill.

Connor Miller is doing his best to revitalize and run the family’s farm and continue his job as the area’s only wainwright. Both his parents are gone, leaving him in charge of more than he’s prepared to handle. He’s also taken in his widowed sister and her three children following her husband’s questionable demise. Scandal has followed the family for as long as he can remember. First his father, and now his sister’s late husband. With only his strong faith to keep him going, he trudges on.

When Connor and Millie meet, there is an immediate awareness. Yet, Connor knows he has no time to devote to courting, no matter how badly he wants to settle down with a wife and family of his own. For Millie, the handsome farmer is far preferable to the older men her uncle has introduced her to through his congregation.

Perhaps there’s an agreement to be made. Or, will they both let their feelings pass in favor of their obligations?

Available exclusive in eBook on Kindle Unlimited

Also available in Print

Prologue

Late Summer, 1869

Chicago, Illinois

Millicent (aka Millie)

Millicent Carter turned full-circle in the ornate dining room of her family home. Hands planted firmly on her slender hips, she dared to shoot her father a stormy glare. “But... Papa... please—”

“You’ll do as you’re told,” Millie’s father insisted. “And go where you’re told. That’s my final word on it.”

“I don’t want to leave Chicago,” she insisted. “I’ve no desire to live in some backwater town in... um... Missouri of all places. They probably don’t even have indoor plumbing.”

Sylvester Carter huffed loudly, his handlebar mustache lifting and falling with the exaggerated response. “Don’t be so melodramatic, young lady. Of course, your aunt and uncle have indoor plumbing. Perhaps not as luxurious as that fancy marble your mother demanded, but adequate all the same.”

“What about my friends? My studies?”

“Your studies were an indulgence after finishing school. They’re not necessary. It’s not like you’ll ever have to work for a living. As for your friends, they’re one of the reasons I’m sending you away. I believe they’ve become a bad influence on you.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Millie reminded him. “I can take care of myself.”

“Really? It certainly didn’t seem like it when I had to send my carriage for you last week when your so-called friends left you at the mercantile to run off and visit that bawdy traveling show.”

“I chose to stay put. Would you have rather I’d gone with them? I knew better than to be seen in such a risqué place.”

Her father signed deeply, and Millie hoped he was about to give in to her request.

“I do appreciate your wise decision, but who’s to say you’ll make the same one the next time. Now that your mother is gone, I worry about your insistence on independence. I... my firm... has a reputation to uphold. I can’t have my twenty-year-old daughter running around unchaperoned.”

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Millie asked. “You’re not worried about me. You’re only worried about how my behavior will reflect on you in the eyes of your stuffy clients.”

“I’m smart enough to admit I don’t have the foggiest idea how to raise a daughter. That was always your mother’s job. I don’t want to worry about you while I’m away on business. You’re too old for a nanny, and I refuse to burden my household staff with more work.”

“So, your solution is just to ship me off to relatives?”

“I thought you loved your uncle Malachi and aunt Rebecca. You always seemed to enjoy their visits.”

“I do. Of course, I do. Mother doted on her big brother, and was quite proud of the fact he’d become a minister.”

“That’s another reason I’m sending you to them,” he told her. “It’s a much more respectable life—living with a reverend—rather than running with your school chums here in Chicago.”

“How will I get there? You’re obviously too busy to take me. Surely you don’t intend to let me ride the stage on my own.”

“I do not. Your cousin, Billy, and his fiancé, Caroline, will be coming here to get you. Caroline’s older sister is coming along to chaperone. They’ll arrive a day early and do some shopping, then meet us at the coach station so the three of you can return to Maryvale together.”

“Maryvale,” she repeated. “It sounds so quaint. I’ll be bored,” Millie announced boldly. “To tears.”

For the first time since her father had told her of his plans, he snorted an outright laugh. “Knowing my headstrong and independent daughter the way I do, I have a feeling you won’t stay bored for long. As a matter of fact, I almost feel sorry for the people of Maryvale, as well as the entire state of Missouri.”

Nancy Fraser a Top 100 best-selling and award-winning author. She is the 2022 winner of the NEST (National Excellence in Story Telling) award for her western historical romance, An Honorable Man for Katarina.

She's also the granddaughter of a Methodist minister known for his fire-and-brimstone approach to his faith. Nancy has brought some of his spirit into her Christian romances. And, her own off-beat sense of humor to her clean & wholesome books.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Nancy's Sweet Reads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub

Thanksgiving Brides is a six-book series from some of your favorite authors. You can find all of the books in the series on Kindle Unlimited

~ ~ ~

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again soon.

Blessings,

Nancy

LOVING LILA by Author Zina Abbott (Thanksgiving Brides - Book 1) **Book Birthday**

Welcome back to Romance Sweet Reads. Today we’re featuring another new sweet/inspirational romance series, Thanksgiving Brides. The series is historical/western historical set prior to the 1900s.

We’ll be starting with the first book in the series, Loving Lila, by author Zina Abbott. Here’s your sneak peek...

A time for love in nineteenth century America, a time to be thankful.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, 1882, Lila Cleod is called home from the Iowa City, Iowa, where she works as a nanny and attends the University of Iowa. However, this Thanksgiving, she doubts she will find much to celebrate or be thankful for. Her father has died. After the funeral, she will learn if he left her, his oldest daughter by his first marriage, anything in his will. She suspects his second wife and Lila’s half-brother, three-year-old Wellborn, will get the lion’s share. Will she be able to complete her course of study and qualify to become a teacher?

David Montgomery, having been sent by his father to escort his three younger half-siblings home from a visit to their New York grandparents he does not share, looks forward to returning to his job on Littleton, Colorado’s High Line Canal construction project. After reboarding the train in Iowa City, Iowa, his siblings point out a young woman dressed in mourning clothes sitting within the pair of facing benches they formerly occupied. What David notices is the obnoxious, middle-aged drummer leaning over the back of her bench and placing his face too close to her ear. It is the man's loud bragging that annoys David. Deciding not only to reclaim his former seats, but hopefully, to rescue the young woman without adding to her discomfort, siblings in hand, he makes a bold move.

Will this Thanksgiving season bring Lila only sorrow, or will it include the promise of love and future blessings?

Available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter 1

Iowa City, Iowa – September 6, 1882

To keep her fingers from visibly trembling, Lila Cleod clutched the white handkerchief in both of her hands. She turned her head and, without focusing on anything, gazed out of the window of the passenger coach she had entered several minutes earlier. Papa is gone. How could it happen? He is... was... too young.

“Don’t you agree, miss? I didn’t catch your name. What was it again?”

As the irritatingly nasal voice of the gentleman broke through her consciousness, she squeezed her eyes shut. “I did not share my name, sir, nor do I plan to. Please honor my earlier request to not converse. I need time for my own thoughts.” Cannot he see I am in mourning? She popped her eyes open and stared at the black skirt, part of the mourning gown loaned to her by her employer and increasingly good friend, Francine Sewell. It was a mistake lifting the black veil off my face so I could see and breathe better. She opened one of the hands gripping the white handkerchief and stared at the cloth. I should have dyed it black.

“Now, that is no way to be. There is nothing like a pleasant conversation to help distract one from their woes. I must say, I believe you have the largest carpetbag I have ever seen. Allow me to put it on the rack above your head to make room for me to sit down.”

When pigs fly.

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. A member of Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, and American Night Writers Association. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~ BookBub ~ Amazon Author Page

Thanksgiving Brides is a six-book series from some of your favorite authors. You can find all of the books in the series on Kindle Unlimited

~ ~ ~

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again soon.

Blessings,

Nancy

HARVEST HEARTS by Author Nancy Fraser (Pumpkin Patch Romances - Book 4) **Book Birthday**

Welcome to Romance Sweet Reads. Today, it's my pleasure to continue with this brand new multi-author series of sweet/inspirational romances. Pumpkin Patch Romances are a series of nine books by some of your favorite best-selling and award-winning authors.

Next, we will be looking at book 4 in the series, Harvest Hearts by Author Nancy Fraser.

Widowed Claire McMillan returns to her hometown of Cider Mills, Michigan to care for her 92-year-old grandmother who’s been diagnosed with dementia. A cozy mystery author, Claire plans her professional and personal time down to the quarter-hour.

Michael (Mick) Cousins is a retired navy seal who’s come to Cider Mills to take over his late uncle’s farm. He spent many summers working for Uncle Carl and has no doubt he can handle the day-to-day operations of a small family farm. What he doesn’t realize is that, in the time he’s been away, Scarecrow Farms has grown into a thriving business with a half dozen employees.

When Claire takes Gram on outing to the local harvest festival, the last person she expects to run into is the one man she crushed on throughout high school.

Mick can’t believe the young girl with the thick glasses who helped him cram for his chemistry exam is now a beautiful, mature woman. Can these two former acquaintances kick it up a notch now that they’ve outgrown the pressures of high school cliques?

Or, will Claire’s reluctance to risk her heart a second time, put an end to their mutual attraction as quickly as it began?

Available in eBook exclusive on Kindle Unlimited

Also available in PRINT

They’d just settled in at one of the open picnic tables when a tall, older gentleman approached them. Claire recognized him instantly. Harold Perkins. The high school principal when she attended, and good friend of the late owner of Scarecrow Farms. The younger man at his side looked vaguely familiar, yet she couldn’t quite place him.

“Molly Beckham,” Harold called out loudly. “Is that really you?”

Molly raised her head, meeting the man’s gaze. “Yes, it is, Harry. My goodness, you’ve gotten old.”

Harold snorted a laugh. “And you’ve not aged a day, Molly.”

Leaning to her left, Molly peered past Harold to the other man. “I know you,” Molly said, her gaze narrowing.

“Yes, ma’am, you do.” The man’s deep voice surrounded the few words. “I had you for tenth grade English. And eleventh.”

Molly smiled demurely. “Couldn’t get enough of me with just one year?”

“I guess not, ma’am,” he said, a light chuckle escaping.

Claire studied the man closely.

“That’s not what I remember, though,” Molly explained. “You used to come to the house. I thought you were there to court my granddaughter, but that wasn’t it, was it?”

“No, Mrs. Beckham. Your granddaughter was tutoring me so I wouldn’t fail chemistry.”

Claire’s head shot up, her gaze locking with the stranger’s clear blue eyes. “Mick?”

His broad grin brought back long-buried memories of the very first crush she’d ever had. Mick Cousins, star quarterback for the Cider Mills Tigers.

He nodded, then asked, “Claire Beckham?”

She returned his nod with a quick dip of her head. “Yes, it’s me. Although it’s Claire McMillan now.”

“You’re living here in Cider Mills?” he asked.

“Only for the past two months,” she admitted. “I’ve come back to live with my grandmother.”

“Just you? No family?”

She shook her head and cast a quick glance in Gram’s direction. Fortunately, she was engaged in a conversation with Harold and barely registered Claire’s and Mick’s exchange.

“Just me. My sons both attend college. The oldest is a senior at Ohio State, and the younger a freshman at Notre Dame.”

“You can’t possibly have sons that old,” Mick suggested.

“Of course I can,” she responded. “Our thirtieth high school reunion was this year. That makes us... um... mid-forties?”

“Pushing fifty with a vengeance,” he corrected.

“Yes, I suppose we are.”

“Where’s Edna with the cider and doughnuts?” Molly asked, her voice raised to grab Claire’s attention.

“I’m sure she’ll be here soon, Gram. The line was long.”

“Perhaps, I should go hustle them up a bit,” Mick offered. “Put the fear of the new boss in them.”

His words caused Claire to refocus. “You’re Carl’s nephew? Now the owner of Scarecrow Farms?”

“Yes. Not that I was expecting all this. When I left home, this was nothing but a family farm with a small vegetable stand by the road.”

“Life... and thirty years... has a way of changing things,” she said softly.

Mick shot her another of the devastating smiles she remembered. “I suppose it does, Claire. Sometimes for the better.”

Nancy Fraser a Top 100 best-selling and award-winning author. She is the 2022 winner of the NEST (National Excellence in Story Telling) award for her western historical romance, An Honorable Man for Katarina.

She's also the granddaughter of a Methodist minister known for his fire-and-brimstone approach to his faith. Nancy has brought some of his spirit into her Christian romances. And, her own off-beat sense of humor to her clean & wholesome books.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Nancy's Sweet Reads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub

You can find the entire Pumpkin Patch Romances series on Kindle Unlimited

~ ~ ~

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again soon for the next book in this series, Autum Dreams, by Author Jessica Parker.

Blessings,

Nancy

PINE TREE INN by Author Nina Jayne (Christmas at the Inn - Book 1) **Book Birthday**

Welcome to Romance Sweet Reads. Today, we're beginning a peek at a brand new holiday series, Christmas at the Inn. A whopping twenty-one brand new romances from some of your favorite best selling and award winning authors.

Book 1 in this new sweet/inspirational contemporary romances series is Pine Tree Inn by author Nina Jayne. Enjoy!

Frozen hearts, a room mix-up, and a blinding blizzard conspire to throw couples together. Can they dig out of the past and find new love?

Aria just graduated with her MBA. With no job lined up and still stinging from the betrayal of her fiancé two years ago, all she wants is a quiet Christmas at the Pine Tree Inn and to forget about life’s disappointments.

Nora is a 55-year-old widow who lost her husband five years ago. She’s looking for a quiet place to try and figure out the rest of her life without Robert.

Oliver and Benjamin Holt are a father and son spending Christmas at Pine Tree Inn to try and mend their broken relationship.

Four people, two suites, and hearts that are broken. Can a Christmas miracle heal their frozen hearts?

Available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter 1

Aria Lawson placed her favorite sweater in the bag next to her cuddly, warm socks. When her parents had told her they were going to France for the holidays, Aria decided to celebrate getting her MBS by going to an inn in the mountains of Colorado.

While her parents took it as progress for their only daughter, Aria was taking the trip to sort out her life. Yes, she’d just graduated with an MBA, but she was between jobs, had no relationship, and needed to put her life in order. She felt like she was on a wild ride with no destination.

Gene had destroyed her life six months ago. It was on a Monday, and he hadn’t called her at all that weekend. Then the phone jingled the tune to the popular love song which now turned her stomach.

Aria cringed as the scene replayed. With a smile, she had answered, “Hey, Baby.”

“Aria.” Gene said her name as if she was a problem. “I have something to say. Something that’s been coming for some time.”

Despite the raw sound of his voice, Aria had convinced herself that he was going to ask the big question and set the date. He was just tired.

Hi reader friends. I am Patricia Carroll and I write Christian Contemporary Romances under the pen name of Nina Jayne. That was my mother's name and she was the one who taught me to read and love books. So in her honor, I use her name on my Contemporary books.

I am a Christian and blessed beyond my imagination. I live in Texas with my awesome husband who takes care of me and supports me in my writing.

I love stories that encourage and make readers happy. My stories are always clean and wholesome without sex and foul language. I hope to entertain readers and leave them with a sense of hope, joy, and warm hearts.

Website ~ Amazon Author Page

Twenty-one authors, twenty-one sweet contemporary romances all in one place!

Find the entire series on Kindle Unlimited

Blessings,

Nancy