Showing results by narrator "Lara Asmundson" in All Categories

Plain and timid, debutante Pamela Burke-Smythe is a wallflower at the high-society Boston balls she attends, overlooked by possible suitors. One by one her friends become engaged, and Pamela resigns herself as to life as a spinster.

The well-educated daughter of a lawyer, Trudy Bauer arrives at the St. Louis based Mail-Order Brides of the West agency full of excitement for an adventure of a lifetime. She befriends the agency's maid, Evie Davenport, and the two form a strong and lasting friendship. They vow to stay in contact through letters when Evie takes hold of her destiny and arranges a marriage on the sly. Each brave young woman is ready to face whatever an unknown groom and life in Montana can throw her way.

Come celebrate the holidays in 1895 Sweetwater Springs, Montana, as 10 western romance authors join New York Times best-selling author Debra Holland in telling 14 short stories of love and laughter, heartbreak and healing, and most of all, Christmas joy.

Beautiful, wealthy, and sophisticated, opera star Sophia Maxwell is living the life of her dreams. As the Songbird of Chicago, she's lauded for her pure, rich voice and has a constant circle of admirers vying for her jaded attention. Then she loses her voice during a performance. Her doctor warns her to rest her larynx, or she'll never sing again. Devastated, Sophia retreats to the frontier town of Sweetwater Springs to stay with her sister. She's determined to recover and once again take the stage by storm.

When Lina Napolitano's nanny position ends, she has no desire to return to the crowded family compound in St. Louis and endure the pressure from all her boisterous and overbearing Italian relatives to marry a local man. After eight years of living away from her family, she's accustomed to making her own decisions. Lina wishes to be a wife - just not of the local garbage man or fishmonger.

K.C. Granger is the sheriff of Sweetwater Springs. Red Charlie is a Blackfoot Indian and the blacksmith of Sweetwater Springs. When reports of Indian thievery begin, K.C. enlists Red Charlie as her deputy, even traveling with him to the nearest reservation and taking needed supplies for the starving people. The two of them settle into a comfortable working relationship. K.C. doesn’t know what to do with the womanly emotions of love she grows to feel for her deputy, and Red Charlie believes a relationship with an Indian will only bring trouble to the woman he admires.

Kathryn Ford knows one thing for sure; she will not marry the boring, arrogant man her father has arranged for her since the day she was born, simply as a pawn to enrich his vast holdings. When she discovers she's been disowned for her defiance, the pampered socialite takes her destiny in her own hands. Determined to show her father what a capable a woman she is - without his help or interference - she signs up to be a mail-order bride, totally prepared to give up all the luxuries of her previous life.

As a young woman, Rose Collier gave her heart to Andre Bellaire, her brother's best friend. In spite of their attraction and for reasons unknown to Rose, Andre distanced himself from her. Andre Bellaire is living what he calls his third life. Then his comfortable routine is disrupted by a letter from his best friend Marty saying he’s dying and asking Andre to take care of his sister - the woman he once loved. The former barriers to their love no longer matter. But new ones do - at least for him. Can love bloom again in the winter of their lives?

Mail-order-bride-to-be Heather Stanford dreads the day the matron of the St. Louis bridal agency finds her a husband and sends her west. Heather actually has no desire to marry; she just wants to free her struggling family from the financial burden of another mouth to feed. Still, she holds true to her plan when the fateful day arrives and Mrs. Seymour sings the praises of her prospective groom.

The well-educated daughter of a lawyer, Trudy Bauer, arrives at the St. Louis based Mail-Order Brides of the West agency full of excitement for an adventure of a lifetime. She befriends the agency's maid, Evie Davenport, and the two form a strong and lasting friendship. They vow to stay in contact through letters when Evie takes hold of her destiny and arranges a marriage on the sly. Each brave young woman is ready to face whatever an unknown groom and life in Montana can throw her way.

Jilted seamstress Constance Taylor travels to Sweetwater Springs to live with her estranged father, the livery stable owner. She plans to open a dressmaking shop and bring sophisticated clothing styles to the frontier town. Doctor Angus Cameron is bitter and discouraged from his work with upper-class Londoners and the wretched poor in the East End slums. He arrives in Sweetwater Springs to join the medical practice of his brother, the town doctor. Sparks fly when Constance and Angus clash over her fashionable creations, which he believes are unhealthy.

In 1894, Lily Maxwell, aspiring painter, travels to Sweetwater Springs, Montana, with her precious cocker spaniel to work on an artistic project that could launch her career. After Tyler rescues Lily's dog from being swept away by the river, Lily develops a friendship with him. Yet the two of them dare not give in to their feelings for each other. Can these lonely souls find their hearts' desires under the majestic Montana Sky?

Bridget O'Donnell left Ireland, dragging along her reluctant twin sister, Alana, to create a better life in the new world. The sisters travel to Sweetwater Springs, Montana, intending to live with their uncle's family. Upon arrival, their plans are derailed by news of their aunt's illness. James Whitson, a cowboy on the Thompson ranch, is in town to drop off a letter at the train station. When he meets the twins, he's immediately smitten with Bridget.

Focused on her plan to win Adam back, Bridgette isn't expecting Ian - her college best friend, her love, her big regret - to come back into her life. They sink back into their comfortable friendship as if no time has passed at all, making Bridgette start to question her feelings for Adam. But Ian has a few secrets of his own...secrets that could shatter their friendship once and for all. Bridgette has to make some major decisions - should she speak now? Or forever hold her peace?

These holiday stories are about various kinds of Christmas love - the romance between a man and a woman, the devotion of a husband to his wife's memory, and the love of a child for her goose. You'll hear about familiar characters from Sweetwater Springs and come to know new ones - many of whom you'll see again in future Montana Sky Series books and novellas.

Mail-Order Brides of the West: Darcy takes place simultaneously with Mail-Order Brides of the West: Heather and is set seven years before Wild Montana Sky. See Caroline Fyffe's companion book, Mail-Order Brides of the West: Katherine, to find out what happens to Darcy's friend and fellow mail-order bride when she travels to Y Knot, Montana.

Edith Livingston Grayson can hardly wait to shake the dust of Sweetwater Springs, Montana, from her silk skirts. Finally her exile to the small prairie town is over. She is returning home to Boston with her son, Ben. Home to society. Home to educated, upper-class people. Home to the ocean. She can’t wait to attend cultured entertainment, shop in exclusive stores, sail in the harbor, and use indoor plumbing - well, her brother’s home in Sweetwater Springs had indoor plumbing - but most of the town did not!

Bertha Bucholtz returns to her St. Louis home after an unsuccessful stay at the mail-order bridal agency. Her family house is overflowing with her thin, beautiful sisters and their many suitors, and shy, overweight Bertha is lost among the chaos. Even her baking skills - so praised at the agency - aren't special, for her six sisters and her mother are also excellent cooks. Desperate to be living on her own, Bertha searches for a job as a cook but with little success.

Shrewish Prudence Crawford is the last woman left at the Mail-Order Brides of the West Agency, because she's rejected every match offered to her as not good enough. One-by-one, she's watched her fellow brides leave for their new lives and has heard tales of their happiness, and she wants that for herself - but not just any man. She will only take a husband who offers wealth and status. Can Michael Morgan tame the shrew, or are they destined to have a miserable marriage?

After nearly dying in an assassination attempt, Princess Alessandra of Glorvaird escapes to a place no one would ever think to look for her: small-town Oklahoma and a ranch staffed by a herd of woolly, uncouth cowboys. One cowboy in particular gets under her skin, until she sees his softer side. She knows this interlude can’t last forever, but that doesn’t stop her from wishing it might....