Showing results by author "Karla Gracey" in All Categories

Catherine Pinkiss is a chambermaid. Her employers are ungrateful and expect too much of all their employees. Knowing that only she can change her life, she takes a chance and replies to an advertisement in the Matrimonial Times. She knows she could be risking her very life, but when a handsome man arrives on her doorstep, will she regret the actions she has taken? Dylan Jones believes that love will never find him again. Left alone to bring up his son after the tragic loss of his first wife, he knows that happiness is fleeting.

Winston Piper is jealous of the happiness his friends have found in recent times, and so, he takes the chance that he might find love by mail order, too. But his fears are not that he won't find the woman he so desperately craves, he worries that she will not give him the chance to make her happy. Can he convince her that her past does not have to overwhelm them and deny them of happiness, and that it is their future he cares about most?

Clara Wilton is bored. Trapped in the life of a Boston socialite, she longs for adventure, purpose, and true love. To enliven her dull life, she accepts a wager - little knowing that it will change her life in every way. Sheriff Nathaniel Hale has finally found the home he always longed for and a job he adores. But, just as he starts to feel that he can truly make a life for himself, a figure from his past emerges, threatening to put everything he has come to hold dear at risk.

Maeve Fitzpatrick has always been brave. Moving from Ireland to America was just a big adventure to her, but the reality has turned out to be so much less than she imagined. Living in grey and dreary Pittsburgh is hardly her dream come true! But she is not one to ever give up on herself - or her goals - and so she places an advertisement to find herself a husband, eager for the opportunity that another change of scenery might bring. But there are obstacles to face that she has never considered, obstacles she cannot change alone.

Frances Harman has spent a lifetime living out of suitcases, a staunch supporter of her papa as he builds an empire as a hotelier. A quiet soul, happiest when out of sight, left alone to pursue her own interests and happiness, she has never felt the lack of companions or excitement in her life. Yet, since his remarriage, she has been forced into a new world, one of parties and balls and afternoon promenades, and has found herself overshadowed by her beautiful stepsister, Maria, in every way. But in a moment of uncharacteristic bravado, she responds to a matrimonial advertisement in the newspaper.

Prudence Wimbourne is a ballet dancer, but a terrible accident ends her career abruptly. Now all her hard work and the sacrifices made by her and her family feel as though they have been for nothing. She longs to escape, and to find a new life with a man who understands how hard it is for her to leave everything behind. Matthew Carrington longs to find a place he might call home. Tired of never having a home and travelling from town to town as a member of a travelling troupe of actors he has saved his earnings, but never knew what to do with them until he meets some of the townsfolk of Faith Creek and knows he could make a life there. But as he builds his own theater, he realizes that there is still something missing.

Belinda Weatherhead has secretly loved Thomas Rawlinson her entire life. Tortured by seeing him every day, the easy friendship he shares with her brother makes him off-limits. So when he leaves town unexpectedly, Belinda decides that it is time she got over him and found herself a man who can see her as she really is. Thomas Rawlinson has always been restless. He longs to get away from the confines of his ranching family, knowing he simply doesn't fit in there. But a year in Philadelphia has him missing the family he loves, and he longs to find a way to return, and to somehow save face whilst doing so.

Harriet Kirk has spent a lifetime being overlooked. Though she adores her sister, Annalise, who is beautiful and urbane, confident and accomplished in every situation, Harriet is tired of always being compared unfavorably to her. Clever and quick, practical and sensible, Harriet has always felt like an ugly duckling, but it has never stopped her from wanting the happily ever after that her sister always seemed destined for. But an unusual twist in their fates has them taking their destiny into their own hands.

Grace Gardner has done everything she can to try and fit into society, but she simply isn't that kind of girl. With her love of horses and passion for the wild terrain of Texas, she fears that she will never find a man to marry her. But, just maybe, if she takes matters into her own hands, she might find the right man after all. Owain Jones left Wales with hopes of making his fortune, and helping out his family. Offered the chance to start again by Sheriff Kimball, Owain makes his way to Faith Creek, but can he ever leave his past behind and build the loving family he longs for?

Jonny Cable isn’t like his twin brother. Andy might have chosen to settle down and marry, but Jonny has a duty to fulfill in the army. It shouldn’t matter that he sometimes yearns for a different life—one where he can stay in one place and make a simple living running a hotel. Or that he should long for companionship like his brother has with his own lovely wife.

Ambassador's daughter Marietta Winthrop has given up her own prospects of marriage and family to be a companion to her melancholic aunt. She secretly longs for adventure and the love of a man who won't try and change her but knows she is hoping for too much. She knows that all the men of her acquaintance would banish poor Aunt Clara to a sanatorium and she will not let that happen. But keen of mind, and inspired by a special day spent at the botanic gardens, Marietta begins to wonder if there just might be more to life after all.

Bernadette Havering is a vivacious and independent woman. She knows her mind and never intends to let a man dictate what she should or should not be able to do. In a world where women having a job is frowned upon, she longs for a profession and wants to make history by becoming one of the very first women in the United States of America to gain a law license. But why should she give up a husband and family in order to do so? Can she truly have both?

Bryony Shaw has never before thought of leaving Baltimore and her safe place in service, but things change for her when she is forced to become the nanny of her employer's son, Edwin. Finally finding the courage of her convictions, she confronts them about their lack of care. An orphan herself, she knows the pain of feeling abandoned and cannot bear the thought of such a young boy feeling that way, too. But what follows, nobody would ever have expected.

Isabelle Landry is beautiful, wealthy, and courted within the highest echelons of Massachusetts' society. But every man her Mama thinks a suitable match, she finds dull and often repulsive. She longs for a simpler life, one where her worth has nothing to do with her annual income or her vast inheritance. A new friend gives her the confidence to follow her own path, and she answers an advertisement, praying it might change her life forever.

When everything you know and believe is telling you "no", do you have the strength to listen to the true voice of your heart? Far away in Iron Creek, stagecoach driver Nelson Gustavson is fighting his own loneliness and places an advert for a bride. As replies flood in, he begins to fear that he’ll have to settle for someone, or search hard to make a connection. That is, until he finds Bronwen’s letter, a blunt and honest reply that he feels compelled to respond to. As Bronwen and Nelson connect through their letters, she feels his warmth radiate through his honesty.

Bored and lonely New York socialite, Carolynne Forbes, longs to leave her wealthy past behind her and become a musician. She has both the talent and the dedication required, but does not know how to defy her family's expectations, or Society's rules. But a chance meeting with an acknowledged rake sparks her courage to find out if she truly does have what it takes. But can she convince him that he is as deserving of happiness and fulfillment in his own life too?

Immerse yourself in nine mail order bride stories in the Sun River Brides series. Come along for the ride to meet feisty Boston city girls who know what they want, and rugged Montana men who just need to be loved. It's 1900, and things are changing fast in sleepy Sun River. As the town begins to expand, its inhabitants are getting restless, looking for love and adventure.

You can travel the world, but love will always find its way to you. From joining the army to please his father to going into business to help the man who saved his life, Harry Wallsey has lived his life for other people. Now, Harry is content with his life in Iron Creek, helping run the newspaper he helped establish—but as a lover of poetry and literature, even this life is not one he ever wanted.

As an orphan who was raised by the Chippewa Indian tribe, Garrett Harding has grown up caught between two worlds. But now, he has had enough of the loneliness - now, Garrett wants a wife. Katy Jones is desperate. After a deadly pandemic left her a widow, Katy now finds herself trapped in a disease-ridden town. Needing a way out of town fast, Katy advertises as a mail-order bride, and it seems that fortune is on her side when Garrett sends her his reply.

Susanna Greyshott's family were once wealthy and well-to-do, but they have fallen upon hard times, and she and her Mama have been forced to make changes and do the best they can under the circumstances. But it has made Susanna hard as flint, unwilling to forgive and even less willing to open her heart. She is quite prepared to move to Texas, where she believes she may finally be able to build a life for her and her Mama where they are beholden to no-one, but a face from her past could ruin it all. Can she truly let herself accept all the benefits and happiness that Faith Creek longs to offer? Will she learn to forgive and accept the love that has always been all around her?