Showing results by author "Kimberly Grist" in All Categories

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.

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.

Lois Weaver has been schooled to be polite, ladylike, and honest, to clean, cook, and sew, so at the proper age she would marry. As an adult, she surpassed her father’s expectations with her skills and beauty only to shatter them when she opens a dress shop. She risked everything to open a dress shop. Now the handsome bank owner has come calling. So why isn’t she happy? And why can’t she forget about a certain farmer with big brown eyes?

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?

After the deaths of her mother and stepfather, 20-year-old Carol Stone finds herself in reduced circumstances with two younger siblings to care for. The suggested marriage of convenience is out of the question, so she stalls for time. When Carol learns she is the sole heir of a small home in Carrie Town, a newly expanded railroad village, she throws caution to the Texas wind and packs her bags.

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.

In 1917 every man, woman, and child was called to civic duty as the “war to end all wars” encompassed the globe. When the patriotic call comes, Adella begins her campaign of encouragement by corresponding with the frightened and lonely soldiers. On the cusp of adulthood, the young woman is tired of living a cosseted life and hopes to gain her parents' support when she wants to volunteer her services to the war effort. Her mother worries for her safety, but Adella is more concerned for her heart.

Faith Fairchild is destitute and has no other choice but to comply with her late father’s last wish—to find a husband through a matchmaking service. As a pastor’s daughter, she trusts his advice but believes hard work and commitment combined with a bit of romance will give her the desired goal of "happily ever after". Ranch owner Audie Harris has one single goal—to make the family ranch a success and secure it for future generations. He needs a wife who understands that the isolation and hard work of cattle farming are necessary to achieve his goal.

Mercy Fairchild, a pastor’s daughter, is ready for adventure. She’ll comply with her late father’s last wish—to obtain the help of a matchmaking service and find her a young pastor out West to marry. Yes, she wants God’s perfect plan for her future, but she hopes it will be an exciting plan...perhaps a missionary in a new territory.

Bethany Phoebe Brady loves assisting her grandfather with his bee farm and volunteering at the Counting Stars Children's Home. A tall woman, she’s always felt awkward and unattractive, and now at the age of 27, she’s given up on the dream of a family of her own. Until her grandfather and the orphanage founder come with a proposal that will change her life forever.

Telegraph operator Willow Graham benefited from a unique lifestyle growing up with her grandfather. She’s independent and loves spending time riding and training animals. With her 21st birthday approaching, her family pressures her to return to the city and take up the lavish lifestyle her uncle has planned for her. But another option piques her curiosity –a matchmaking agency’s recommendation that she begins a correspondence with a handsome farmer.

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.