Marie is pleased to announce she is a regular contributor on Happily Ever After Thoughts (HappilyEverAfterThoughts). Come check out her thoughts on writing, reading and her love affair with books.
Devlin Goodrich needed a change—a new
life, a new town, a new job—and hopefully, the chance to leave behind the haunting memories of his wife’s death and the blame placed upon him by her mother. Accepting the position of Marshal in the
little town of Serenity, New Mexico, far from his mother-in-law, might just fit the bill for him and his young daughter.
Tresia Morgan has a plan. She wants to take
back Sullivan’s Emporium, the family store, from her cousin so when Serenity’s matchmaker offers Tresia the job of taking care of the new Marshal’s daughter in order earn the money needed to put her
plan in motion, how can she say no, especially after meeting the captivating pair?
Despite his heartache, Devlin is not immune
to Tresia’s kindness nor how wonderfully she cares for his daughter, as well as him. But when he’s forced to shoot another killer, his notoriety triples, putting Avery and Tresia in danger. Now he
fears coming to Serenity may have been the worst mistake of his life.
Talia West has loved Sheriff Anson Beaudry all her life, but he’s never looked at her twice—at least not in that way. All that is about to change. Because her brothers are too lazy to do any work, she’s going to lose the only home she’s ever known, and she can’t let that happen. Donning her one dress, she shows up at the local saloon, hoping to earn the money to save her farm, only to be stopped by the Sheriff himself.
Sheriff Anson Beaudry has a bad habit of falling in love with the wrong women. He’s been looking for a lady—or what he thinks is a lady. That certainly doesn’t include Tally West. However, when he sees her, not only in a dress but heading into Hanratty’s, the town’s notorious saloon to look for work, he can’t let her sacrifice herself. Determined to help her, he attempts to find her more respectable employment. Unfortunately, she’s not very good at the typical occupations women normally aspire to.
The more Anson tries to help Tally, the more he’s surprised by her. Though she doesn’t fit the mold of “lady” in his mind, her other traits have him taking a second look…and a third. Unbidden, his feelings for her grow until he questions exactly what kind of woman is right for him. Just as he thinks he knows how he feels, she forces him to choose between her and his badge. Will he make the right decision?
Who ever heard of a mail-order husband?
Evie Miller certainly hadn’t until Jake Hannigan showed up on her doorstep thanks to an advertisement her niece placed in papers all over the country, unbeknownst to her.
Evie has absolutely no need for a husband. She has managed Montaña del Trueno, the Silva family ranch, and raised her late sister’s children to full-grown and married. Now, she plans to spend her
days enjoying the fruits of her labor. But the man did come a long way, so rather than send him home, she offers him a job. Though she has no use for a husband, she can always use another ranch
hand.
Jake Hannigan, a former gambler, has no desire to marry either—not really—he’s just looking for a place to hide until the gambling kingpin in San Francisco stops
looking for him, and what better place to do it than this ranch in New Mexico? He’s happy to accept the position as ranch hand even if he knows nothing about cowboying or how to ride a horse. He’s a
fast learner, though, and it could be entertaining to see who else answers the husband-wanted advertisement.
It doesn’t take long for Jake to catch on, even discovering he has a special talent with horses. He’s also quick to understand what a catch Evie Miller actually is.
As their friendship blossoms, he finds himself dreading the next suitor to come to the ranch and the possibility Evie will accept an offer of marriage. How can he reveal his growing feelings to her
when he came under false pretenses, especially now that word from San Francisco says the kingpin is close and his life is in danger? He has only one choice. To protect Evie and her family, he must
leave and quite possibly break both their hearts.
Gabriel Wescott has waited years for the woman he loves to return from medical school, only for her to arrive in Possibility, Texas, with a husband and sister-in-law, Alexandra Gracen, in tow. Nursing his broken heart, he finds distraction in teasing the straight-laced, oh-so-proper Doctor Gracen, or Dr. Andi as he likes to call her. He’s bound and determined to help her adjust to western life.
Doctor Alexandra Gracen is not sure what to think of the cowboy with the irresistible grin and unwavering good nature, but he is definitely different from any man she’s had to put in his place before. For some reason, he insists on making her a part of the town, but her Bostonian ways are not an easy fit. Though she too blames her sister-in-law for his heartbreak, she’s not about to let him distract her from her lifelong career.
As Gabe slowly cracks the shell of the good doctor, he finds beneath a woman with a soft heart and a passionate nature, who has always been married to her work first. She knows nothing about being a wife and mother, which is what he has always wanted in his life…or so he thought.
Wife For Hire
Mail-Order Bride Merrilee O’Shea’s hopes are shattered when she arrives at the run-down Eternal Hope Ranch in Texas to marry Reece Wescott, only to learn that her husband-to-be has died and she was unexpected. She can’t go back to where she came from--the War between the States took her husband, and her home, and her brother-in-law has tried to compromise her. She has no choice but to accept the job as housekeeper for her late husband-to-be’s brothers, even though one of the brothers, Jared, doesn’t want her there.
Jared considers Merrilee just another mess his brother made that he’ll have to fix and he doesn’t want anything to do with her. He and his remaining brother, Gabriel, are trying to bring the ranch back from the brink of ruin, and he has no time for another responsibility. But as Merrilee settles in, Jared notices that despite all she has lost, she manages to maintain a sweet, sunny disposition. He doesn’t understand it, but he’s drawn to it…and her. He’s determined to resist, because as far as he's concerned, he doesn’t deserve either.
A Kiss in the Sunlight
Sheriff Teague MacDermott’s life has been on hold since the Logan Gang rode through Paradise Falls, killing and wounding many in an attempt to break one of their own out of jail. Four years later, he’s waiting for the last of the Logans to be released from prison and the fulfillment of a promised bullet in his back. So when a pushy journalist arrives and wants him to relive the most horrendous day of his life, he isn’t exactly happy.
In order to prove she’s a good journalist and win a coveted position on her father’s newspaper, Ryleigh Steele plans to write an in-depth story about Sheriff MacDermott and how he stopped the most notorious gang in Colorado. There’s just one problem—the enigmatic sheriff won’t talk about it. Neither will anyone else … and Ryleigh soon discovers she’ll have to make a choice―the story or the Sheriff. She can’t have both. Or can she?
A Kiss in the Morning Mist
Eamon MacDermott, former U.S. Marshal, hung up his guns after the tragedy that befell his family at the hands of the Logan Gang when they tried to break one of their own out of jail.
Believing he might have been able to stop the heartbreak before it ever happened, he blames himself for the death of his brother, his brother’s wife and their son. Not even being shot and left for dead by Tell Logan is enough to exonerate him in his eyes…until he meets Theodosia “Theo” Danforth.
Widowed and running Morning Mist horse farm with the help of her extended family and friends, Theo befriends Eamon with her unshakeable belief that everyone needs kindness. Even Eamon. The problem is convincing him he is worthy.
Can he forgive himself and let the past remain in the past? Or will he pick up his guns again to face the man who nearly killed him and risk losing Theo?
Mischief and Magnolias