Two orphaned children. Two distinct sets of villains. A man without a country and a woman with too much past. And a rambunctious young country where anything went, especially in the West. Seriously. What could go wrong? Available now on Amazon or from Pelican Book Group.
The story of Pace Williams and Oona Cathleen Moriarty. Can a hardened Western jack of all trades running from an ancient enemy find happiness with a murderer turned nun turned frontier woman bent on revenge? We hope so, 'cause that's what we wrote.
Two novellas featured in Pelican's Christmas Extravaganza series are also part of the Western Dreams canon. "The Logger's Christmas Bride" explores the forbidden love of Steve Miller, a logger, and Viola Chivers, the daughter of the sawmill owner. Can God make something good out of their different stations, and can He do it in time for Christmas?
"The Widow's Christmas Miracle" takes two minor characters from "Redemption's Hope," Red Dawn and storekeeper Laban Jones, and throws them together under nearly unbearable circumstances. Can Red Dawn love a white man, after what whites have done to her people, and can Laban look past his disability and let himself be loved?
Westward Hope
The "hope" that started it all.
The Continental Divide, summer 1846.
All the brightness and the teasing, the fantastic stories, all the elements that made the Michael she’d known were gone. “Don’t ever,” he rasped, “tell me you don’t feel anything. Not after that. Don’t ever lie to me, Caroline.”
“I won’t.” Not after that.
She was trembling, and turned so he couldn’t see her face. Would it be so bad to let herself love him, to finish what they’d begun?
He said he’d marry me. He wants to marry me.
He’d take care of me -- he proved it during the cholera. He won’t leave me again.
He loves me.
And she loved him. She'd never stopped.
But it wasn’t enough, even now.
Caroline knelt again, and dabbled her fingers in the west-flowing trickle. She looked up at Michael, tall and unsmiling in the moonlight. “Michael, the Bible says ‘How can two walk together if they are not in agreement.’ And it says, ‘Be not yoked to unbelievers.’ I can’t marry a man who doesn’t serve the Lord.” She stood and touched her damp fingers to his lips. “This water can’t flow east and west at the same time. It’s a divide, Michael. And that’s how we are.”
She left him, standing in the moonlight. She dared not look back.
It had been hard for Caroline to forgive Michael; it was harder still to let him go. But they couldn’t go a step further until he’d accepted God’s forgiveness – and forgiven himself.
“Westward Hope” takes place during the heady days of the Oregon Trail, when thousands of pilgrims embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Like Abraham, they “went forth to a place they knew not”; and like Abraham, none of them remained unchanged.
The inspirational historical romance is the first in the three-part “Western Dreams” series. "Westward Hope" was the winner in its category in the 2015 Tara and Lone Star contests, and finaled in the 2014 Maggie Awards.
The "hope" that started it all.
The Continental Divide, summer 1846.
All the brightness and the teasing, the fantastic stories, all the elements that made the Michael she’d known were gone. “Don’t ever,” he rasped, “tell me you don’t feel anything. Not after that. Don’t ever lie to me, Caroline.”
“I won’t.” Not after that.
She was trembling, and turned so he couldn’t see her face. Would it be so bad to let herself love him, to finish what they’d begun?
He said he’d marry me. He wants to marry me.
He’d take care of me -- he proved it during the cholera. He won’t leave me again.
He loves me.
And she loved him. She'd never stopped.
But it wasn’t enough, even now.
Caroline knelt again, and dabbled her fingers in the west-flowing trickle. She looked up at Michael, tall and unsmiling in the moonlight. “Michael, the Bible says ‘How can two walk together if they are not in agreement.’ And it says, ‘Be not yoked to unbelievers.’ I can’t marry a man who doesn’t serve the Lord.” She stood and touched her damp fingers to his lips. “This water can’t flow east and west at the same time. It’s a divide, Michael. And that’s how we are.”
She left him, standing in the moonlight. She dared not look back.
It had been hard for Caroline to forgive Michael; it was harder still to let him go. But they couldn’t go a step further until he’d accepted God’s forgiveness – and forgiven himself.
“Westward Hope” takes place during the heady days of the Oregon Trail, when thousands of pilgrims embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Like Abraham, they “went forth to a place they knew not”; and like Abraham, none of them remained unchanged.
The inspirational historical romance is the first in the three-part “Western Dreams” series. "Westward Hope" was the winner in its category in the 2015 Tara and Lone Star contests, and finaled in the 2014 Maggie Awards.