Nellie Wallace is a young widow with two children. In post-Civil War New York, the men are scarce and none want the burden of a wife with children. Her dead husband's family is wealthy, and cruel. Desperate to escape their influence, and eager for a home, a husband, and a stable life for her children, Nellie decides to make a new life in San Francisco as a mail-order bride.

Ben Logan fell in love once, to a city girl who left him at the altar to run off with another man. A mail-order bride appears to be the answer to his need for a wife to warm his bed, as long as she loves the country life as he does. He doesn't need much, but he won't risk his heart again. When Emily arrives, her curves tempt him nearly as much as her smile. But his ex-fiancée is back, and determined to have Ben for herself, even if it means murder.

From the day she was born, Rita Baxter's mother encouraged her to follow her heart. Filled with innocent dreams and faith that her hard work training to be a Prima Ballerina on New York's bright stage will lead to fortune and fame, Rita is crushed when she loses her mother and must take a job dancing in a burlesque chorus line to keep a roof over her head. Witnessing a brutal murder is the last straw. The police promise to keep her safe, but Rita has learned to be a realist.

Hope Montoya knows someone is poisoning her, but who? She suspects her mother was also poisoned and knows her father was murdered. Who wants her family eliminated? She vows to fight! She realizes she won't last the eight months until she turns twenty-five and her uncle no longer controls her or her estate. Never will she be dominated by a man as she was by her father, as she has seen her mother and grandmothers dominated. If she marries, she gains control now, but only if she weds a man she can trust.

Five years ago, a band of outlaws murdered Josephine Shafter's parents and younger brother. Desperate for vengeance, Jo has spent every day since serving the law as a bounty hunter. But the trouble with justice served is that now that her family's killer has been brought in, she has nothing to do and no one to hunt. She decides it may be time for a new life and a fresh start. She longs for the arms of a strong man around her, and for a child of her own. But the Chicago dandies don't know how to kiss a woman who is tougher than they are.

Catherine Evans fell in love when she was three years old, a head-over-heels, forever kind of love. The very first moment she saw 12-year-old Duncan McKenzie, she told God and her pony that she was going to marry that boy. For 13 years, she loved him with every beat of her heart. And on her 16th birthday he walked away from her father's ranch and from her. And from that day forward, Catherine Evans swore off all men. Her heart turned to stone, her will to iron, and her vow to God changed. And she would never, ever love another man as long as she lived.

Ed Talbot isn't husband material. He's an outlaw, was forced into his father's gang at the age of 13, and is wanted dead or alive in more than one territory. But now his father is dead, he hates the life, the blood, and his brother's rages. When a stagecoach robbery goes awry, Ed ends up with a satchel full of charming letters from an enticing young miss. Unfortunately for Miss Lizzie Cobb, her betrothed is now dead, and Ed Talbot sees a way out.

After Cordelia Channing endures the lethal winter alone in the Rocky Mountains, she is discovered by Thomas Nash, a solitary mountain man who wants only to hunt and be left alone to grieve the woman he could not save. Delia aches to go east, but over the days and miles, she finds her battered spirit yearning for this self-reliant trapper, who stirs her longing and wakes her heart.

1887. Debutante Julia Crawford endures a lifetime of subtle ridicule as the plump, silly daughter of a premiere Boston family. Julia strikes out on her own to gain independence, traveling to the Midwest to marry an aging shopkeeper and care for his mother. Julia finds her new home rough and uncivilized after the sophistication of a big city, while closely held secrets threaten to ruin Julia's one chance at love.

Raised in the hills of Tennessee, Emma Simms dreams of the day she’ll escape her life of poverty to start over in the excitement of Knoxville. But when her mother dies and she’s left with no one but her stepfather, Luke Simms, her dream abruptly becomes a nightmare. Luke plans to send Emma to Knoxville all right - straight to a notorious brothel. River Joe, the mysterious Cherokee-raised frontiersman, knew from the first time he set eyes on the beautiful Emma that he had to have her as his own.