Shannon McMurphy travels to Asherville, Texas as a mail order bride expecting to marry a rancher. Instead, her intended is a saloonkeeper. Her refusal to marry enrages John Hardy and he slices her cheek with a knife so no other man would want her. She runs into the street and no one helps her until blond, blue-eyed Cinders rescues her.

Cora feels indebted to the man, Eddie, who saved her and her baby Esther. She travels on the Oregon Trail with him. He intimidates her and has her doing most of the work. He’s jealous, and she knows not to look in another man’s direction. An early snowstorm leaves her in danger of frostbite, and when Harrison Walsh carries her off to his wagon to be treated, Eddie becomes enraged and drops Cora’s trunk off at Harrison’s wagon. Harrison Walsh was happily married until three months ago, when his wife died.

Eireann is the last survivor of her family after the Civil War. The war has been over for almost two years and there has been no word of her fiancé, Callen McKeegan. Anxious, she writes to his family in Montana and is promptly sent the means for her to travel to them. They too have been waiting for news about Callen.

A handsome man, Greg Settler, decides to go and make his own mark on the world. He travels to California to try his luck at gold mining. From the first day he realizes he knows nothing about gold mining. Luckily for Greg, his claim is next to Hugo Watkins and his daughter Mercy’s mine. Mercy Watkins has grown up traveling from mine to mine. Her father, a dreamer, always believed they’d make it big at the next mine. Unfortunately, her father dies, but not before he asks Greg to take care of his daughter. In order to save Greg from hanging, Mercy marries him.  

Donald is expecting his mail-order bride; however, she arrives with a surprise—her baby niece. Although she had told the agency about Winnie, this wasn't passed on to Donald. He finds it very difficult to trust anyone, so this immediately puts a strain on the potential relationship. He also relies on a strict routine, whilst this is impossible with a young child involved. 

Susan Farr loses her parents and her home in one swoop. She takes her horse and rides to Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train and start a new life. Mike Todd, the wagon master, doesn’t allow single women to have their own wagons. It causes fights and distractions. Susan solves her problem by marrying Clancy Willis in name only. Unfortunately, Clancy’s true nature doesn’t take long to show, and Susan finds herself married to a drunkard.

Eli Todd is a tall, handsome captain of a wagon train bound for Oregon. Life has taught him if he allows people into his heart, he ends up losing them. Amelia Cruthers is a pretty, young woman with a limp. She’s a hard worker who starts out the trip to Oregon with her parents, until they try to leave her behind. In shock, she watches them cross a river by ferry without her. Thankfully, the kind, strong Eli Todd takes her with him.

Jed Todd has been looking for Lily since the day she was abducted along the Oregon Trail. This time he is the wagon master. Word comes that his trapper friends have found and bought Lily for him. He rides fast and fierce to get to her and is relieved to find her in one piece. The way he felt about her before she'd been stolen wasn't a figment of his imagination. From the moment he saw her again, he knew his love was real.

It’s finally time for Smitty to settle down after all of his trips on the Oregon Trail. He has Lynn and a houseful of orphans, but he also had a wife who he’s always been faithful to. Brenda lied and said she was with child, Smitty’s child, over ten years ago. It’s time to dissolve their marriage. Upon arriving at Brenda’s house, he finds Brenda and her mother May dying of tuberculosis and just as ornery as ever. Lynn knows Smitty is married and respects the vows he took. 

Banned from the wagon train, Samantha Foley wanders through the Colorado Mountains. An early winter storms arrives leaving her at its frozen mercy. Ruggedly handsome mountain man Patrick McCrery comes to her rescue. Patrick, half white and half Indian, he fits in neither world. He lives a solitary life as a trapper. He certainly does not want to get involved with the beautiful Samantha Foley.