A Springwater Christmas

Rachel Springwater's first schoolteacher, she crosses paths with rough-hewn barkeep Trey Hargreaves -- who puts a slow burn on her proper Eastern ways.

Savannah Behind her rouge and bangles, the dance-hall girl has a sure and steady heart. Can her kind, gentle love help Dr. Prescott Parrish heal his wounded spirit?

Miranda An unwed mother in search of a place to call home, she finds her heart's desire in Springwater -- and in the arms of rancher Landry Kildare.

Jessica The sparks fly when she comes to take charge of her late brother's bankrupt newspaper -- and finds herself in a heated love match with town mayor Gage Calloway.

SPRINGWATER WEDDING

Once a frontier stagecoach stop, tiny Springwater has grown and changed and entered the twenty-first century. Cattle rustlers may still be stirring up trouble, but now they're high-tech operators in a modern world. Where stagecoaches once rolled along muddy roads, the Internet is now the newest highway in town. But heartbreak is still heartbreak and love still love, and Springwater still boasts a rich legacy of joy, sorrow, and second chances -- as two childhood sweethearts discover when they rekindle a long-ago passion in the place they will always call home.

Maggie McCaffrey left her fast-paced corporate job to take a chance on a more rewarding -- but riskier -- business venture: turning the dilapidated Springwater Station into a bed-and-breakfast. But Maggie didn't count on running straight into J.T. Wainwright, the hometown boy who stole her heart many years before. A tough former New York City cop, J.T. survived a grave gunshot wound and returned to Springwater to find a better way of life. Now, as deputy town marshal, he's facing off with modern-day cattle thieves who are plaguing local ranchers. Stronger than ever, J.T. seems ready for anything -- except, of course, Maggie.

As Maggie's B&B begins to take root, a delightful new cast of Springwater locals passes through its doors. Maggie's parents, Kathleen and Reece, are finding that their forty-year marriage requires a little renegotiating now and then. Cindy, a teenage newlywed with a baby on the way, is learning about love and sacrifice for the first time. And town marshal Purvis Digg is turning Springwater upside down by dating a woman he met on the Internet.

As always, Linda Lael Miller enchants readers with her portrayal of the complex tangle of life and love in a small town. With her trademark sensuality and her þair for wit, she once again brings Springwater to life -- this time, at the dawn of a new era.

Scully Wainwright never intended to be left alone with his ranching partner's fiancée. But his partner's not due back until spring, and he can't leave a defenseless woman and her child unguarded -- not with wolves and Indians threatening. Biding his time with the lovely Evangeline begins to feel dangerously close to setting up a real home. But as a reckless passion sparks between them, Scully and Evangeline discover a destiny -- and a passion -- as boundless as the open frontier.

BRIDGET

She lost her husband to the Civil War; now, starting a new life out West, she never dreamed his best friend, Trace Qualtrough, could spark a forbidden passion.

CHRISTY

All she wanted was a secure, steady home life in Primrose Creek. Lawman Zachary Shaw was hardly husband material -- but he surely sent her heart pounding wildly....

SKYE

Lumber baron Jake Vigil took a chance on Skye?s sweet and healing love. Now, their delicate bond faces the ultimate test when a business deal threatens to tear them apart.

MEGAN

Marshal Shay McQuillan has a lot on his hands -- stagecoach robbers to hunt down, a murdered fiancée to avenge. He certainly doesn't need an identical twin brother he never knew existed turning up out of the blue and telling him what to do. Even less does he want pretty Aislinn Lethaby trying to rescue him from danger. Because, to tell the truth, Aislinn is a sweet distraction from duty whom Shay just can't resist.

Aislinn Lethaby has a fine job at the town hotel. Soon, she'll have saved enough to buy the broken-down homestead she has her eye on and bring her young brothers west. She has no business jeopardizing everything when she sees Shay in danger. But something about the man makes Aislinn lose all the good sense she thought she had -- and follow the longings of her heart.

The Gunslinger

Now that he's finally found his twin brother, all Tristan Saint-Laurent wants is to be a peaceful rancher. What he gets is Miss Emily Starbuck, a determined package of trouble from back East. Tristan knows he should tell Emily and her aggravating sheep to move along, but he doesn't have the heart. Suddenly this man of danger is dreaming of weddings and babies. But the life he's left behind may yet come between him and the woman he's growing to love.

THE LAST CHANCE CAFÉ

With acres of land and a house that have been in his family for generations, rancher Chance Qualtrough has deep roots in Primrose Creek. Now, at the local diner, he is about to encounter his futureŠ.Perhaps it was fate that brought Hallie O'Rourke and her two young daughters to the Last Chance Café. More likely, it was the blinding Nevada snowstorm and a broken-down truck that forced the desperate single mother inside. Hallie couldn't know that she would find not just a hot meal and a few hours' rest, but the start of a new life. And Chance doesn't know that Hallie is fleeing a danger so threatening she dares not ask anyone for help. Even his kind offer of his aunt's house as lodging seems like too great a risk for Hallie.

But her fierce protection of her children wins out, and she knows she has no choice but to accept Chance's invitation. Slowly, as Chance and Hallie break down barriers of fear and doubt, trust takes hold. Hope replaces despair. And a fragile attraction grows into an undeniable passion. From the moment she took a chance with a handsome stranger in a country diner, everything Hallie has ever believed about home and family is seen through new eyes. But Hallie can never forget that just one careless word could bring back the past with full force, and could destroy all that she has made her own.

The youngest McKettrick brother, Jeb, is the wild one who never could stay out of trouble. And trouble is what he gets when he proposes to Chloe Wakefield. No sooner had he and the pretty schoolteacher tied the knot than Jeb discovers she's already married! After a major dustup with Chloe in a Tombstone barroom, an irate Jeb hightails it back to the Triple M Ranch, certain that his chances of winning the spread in a marriage race with his brothers are dashed.

Now Chloe has come to Indian Rock, hoping to find her beloved uncle John and a much-needed teaching post. But when she unexpectedly crosses paths with Jeb, her rage -- and passion -- flare even stronger than back in Tombstone. Chloe never intended to mislead Jeb about her previous marriage to a scoundrel of a man. But when she finds out Jeb needs a bride and a baby in order to inherit the Triple M, she is livid.

Quinn Rafferty was shockingly handsome and used to command. His bold, generous heart was quickly roused to laughter, to anger...and to white-hot desire for the head strong, sable-maned beauty.