Showing results by author "Kimberly Grist" in All Categories

A woman running from her past, a confirmed bachelor determined to protect his heart, and a town committed to sharing the Christmas spirit. Can a Christmas quilt be the spark that ignites their love, melts their stubborn resolve, and uncovers their hidden desire? Twenty-one-year-old Olive is sick of living her father's lifestyle as an itinerant preacher turned peddler. The latest tar-and-feather incident has made her desperate enough to enlist in a matchmaking venture, of all things—anything to escape further humiliation. Olive accepts a job as a seamstress in Carrie Town, Texas, where ...

A potter in need of a home, a businessman thirsty for the inheritance his marriage will bring; and a proxy marriage that will mold and reshape them both. Since her parents' death; Elly Emerson handles the household and the pottery business to help support the family farm. Left out of the will Elly is faced with homelessness when her new sister-in-law makes it difficult to remain in the family home. Alston Pike, Engineer, and Millwright believes hard work is the cure to mend a broken heart. Enticed by his grandmother's offer to fund his new project, he agrees to marry within three months. Is...

Mathematics teacher Daisy Murphy agrees to participate in a new matchmaking service organized by her pastor and the matron of the orphanage where she has spent the last 15 years. Romantic, yet practical, she's systematically eliminated all candidates but one and anticipates getting to know him better through months of correspondence. Time is not on the side of David Taylor. He has a nephew and niece to think about, and his attorney has warned him he will lose custody of both to their rich grandfather if he doesn't have a wife.

A harsh, scar-faced, rancher, An impulsive, whimsical teacher go together like dandelions and daydreams. Well, she thinks so anyway… Carrie Ann Dixon’s impulsive nature has cost her a teaching position. Destitute, she agrees to seek the help of a matchmaker. She believes there’s a happily ever after within reach for everyone, and she’ll work hard to make her dream come true. Casting her past failures aside, she’s thrilled with the idea of moving west and requests a match with someone who embraces adventure and will be enthusiastic about building a romantic relationship. Gabe ...

Choosing to participate in a matrimonial agency as a mail-order bride, Magnolia proceeds methodically and uses her skills as a cook to create the perfect recipe for a husband. A successful businessman, the idea of putting another person’s needs in front of his own is foreign. He’s shocked when a young cook from an orphanage intrigues him. Can he measure up?

A semi-retired bootlegger, Bethel is shaking off the dust of her well-worn boots, not looking back and hoping for a transformation. All she needs is a new dress, a new town, a husband, and a fresh start. Daughter of a traveling merchant, Bethel is tired of peddling her Daddy’s “Special Sauce” and being run out of town by every sheriff east of the Mississippi. So, it’s time to head west. She just needs to sell a few more bottles to help fund her trip. After all, who wants to meet their new husband looking like a gypsy? If only she could shake off that irritating detective waiting at ...

A debutante baker with a stammer. A compulsive widowed blacksmith with two young daughters. Will they find a way to coexist or even better, forge a romantic relationship? Ada Pike longs to leave the life of a socialite and use her skills as a baker to love and nurture a family. A move to the country will perfectly suit her first steps into life on her own. Barrett Montgomery rejects the idea of a mail-order bride. What he needs is a housekeeper—someone he can fire if things don’t work out the way he likes. Can a matchmaking agency work miracles to bring two people with opposing goals ...

Raised by her guardian and influenced by the mostly male population of Carrie Town Texas, Rebecca benefited from a forward-thinking, unorthodox education not typical for a young woman in the late Nineteenth century. As an adult, she is armed with skills that most would covet, yet she lives in a boarding house, works as a waitress and struggles financially. Most single women in the area didn’t stay single long. Most, but not her. The one man she had said yes to was dragging his feet. The townspeople all agree she is in need of a husband. Even the young girls in her Sunday School Class have...

A marriage made in Heaven between a bootlegger’s daughter and a hard-hearted sheriff, they go together like moonshine and bad decisions. Will Abilene find a way to penetrate the barriers of the sheriff’s heart? A hopeless romantic, Abilene is on the run again, dreaming of her happily ever after- an understanding husband, a house in the country, and peace. Sheriff Mark Joseph learned the hard way that love only leads to heartache and is not worth the risk. The last thing he needs is a wife. Long work hours with a healthy dose of danger are the best antidote to a broken heart. Will ...

A delightful mail-order bride in reverse that’ll melt your heart. A blacksmith in need of a miracle, a livery stable owner requiring rescue- Will an arranged marriage bring more than either bargained for? A widowed blacksmith, Joseph Evans, is hardened, hard-pressed, and weighed down by the needs of his unusual family. If only he could find a housekeeper. But they’re in short supply, and Joseph needs one with the patience of Job. “I don’t want a wife. What I need is a miracle.” Livery stable owner Birdie Murphy needs another pair of hands to save her family home and business. In ...

Memphis Rose Griffin loves teaching at Counting Stars Children's Home. The girls and staff are like family and working here ties her to her mother, whose last wish was for Memphis to take her place as teacher. But something's missing. Now at the age of 28, her teenage dream of having her own family has all but faded. Her pastor and the orphanage founder presents her with a proposal that will change her life forever. Should she become their first candidate for their new matchmaking venture?

Can his mail-order bride handle the diversity that comes with her husband’s dangerous vocation? Together will they blend their opposing desires to create a recipe for love? Selah Anderson agrees to participate in a matchmaking service organized by her pastor and the orphanage's matron, where she spent most of her life and become a mail-order bride. The man of her dreams will share her love of creating delicious confections and running a successful bakery. People will come for miles to purchase her specialty-shoo-fly pie. Stagecoach driver Emerson Clark isn’t looking for love. But he ...

Two men in competition to capture the heart of a cautious cook. Is this a recipe for disaster or true love? Alice Connelly agrees to participate in a new matchmaking project organized by her pastor and the orphanage's matron. She can find no peace accepting a role as a mail-order bride and instead becomes the first volunteer to accept a job in a local restaurant and relocate to Carrie Town, Texas. She hopes the experience will help her to discover what she wants in life. But in a town where single men outnumber women thirty to one, she’s more confused than ever. Thrilled to put her skills...

Two brides, a teacher, and an imposter. If anyone can sort out the truth, shouldn’t an experienced sheriff be the man for the job? His true bride is quickly losing confidence. "Typical man, so easily bamboozled by a dimpled smile, flash of an ankle, and twisting skirt. It will serve him right if he marries the wrong woman."

Twenty-year-old Meriwether Walker enjoys the challenge of teaching her varied group of students in the one-room schoolhouse. What she doesn't like is the nomadic lifestyle that comes with it as she rotates boarding with families in the community on a month-to-month basis. Meriwether longs for a home of her own, but since single female teachers have to follow so many rules, she doesn't see any end to her plight, until the letter from the attorney handling her uncle's estate arrives.

"Ordering a wife through the mail is unnatural. Having your mother order one on your behalf is infuriating.” Asa Bailey grew up hard, on a daily diet of driving cattle, drinking coffee, and eating dust. Since his father’s premature death, the weight of the responsibility for the success of the ranch and the added pressure of his mother’s contrary and snobbish nature weighs like a millstone strapped to his neck. Disappointment from the betrayal of his childhood sweetheart has left him skittish about matters of the heart. The last thing he wants is a wife. Unfortunately, his mother ...

An orphan longing for security, a reclusive rancher bound by the stipulations of his inheritance, and a proxy marriage that will meet their needs in ways they never expected. Clementine has nothing to her name but a quilt and some second-hand clothing. She's aged out of the orphanage and can't afford to be choosey. But she is determined to make the best of things. "If it's true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, surely any minor flaws like my sassiness will fade away with the aroma of fresh bread." Disappointed in love, Caleb Ellis is content to live a reclusive lifestyle...

Eighteen-year-old, Emma Brady, loves nothing better than working in the garden, but her cooking skills leave a lot to be desired. While other young women in the late nineteenth century are reading about proper housekeeping, she studies herd improvement. Emma's dream is to implement plans for the ranch’s profitability. Unfortunately, things are not running in her favor. Emma has been in love with Brian Scott, or Scotty as she’s always known him, since she saw him take up for a small boy at school. The youth who demonstrated so much character taking on the injustice of the schoolroom is ...

Twenty-two-year-old Garnet Adams longs to marry and have a houseful of children. Forced to support her widowed mother, she embraces her role as a teacher, although the Carrie Town board of education's rules for female teachers leave no opportunity for a social life. She contents herself playing the violin at church. Tall, bearded, and rough around the edges, Deputy Noah Scott would rather hunt than socialize. Garnet thinks he’s a rude, insensitive drifter, and Noah's sure the last person he'd want to court is a schoolmarm - especially with her unladylike sneeze.

Twenty-year-old Maggie Montgomery is a petite young woman ahead of her time. She's had a wonderful childhood and enjoyed spending time with her father and five brothers and is happiest working in the smithy with them. A competent cook and housekeeper, as a favor to the local doctor, she moves in to assist his wife, who is struggling to recuperate from a bout of pneumonia.