Short Westerns

Billy and Ben have just finished putting the final touches on Billy and Joy's new home. Billy stands back and as he admires it, he likes what he sees and can't wait to show it to Joy. It's April 1875 and their second baby is due any day. As Ben watches Billy, he is grateful that Billy accepted their offer of land to build a home on their property so Hildie can be close to her daughter and grandchildren. Beulah loves her new life working at the mercantile, having her own room in a local boarding home, and being able to finally provide for herself. The sheriff advises her that Jed is being ...

Joshua Stanton, a Virginia widower, and his tomboy daughter, Ambrosia, have settled in Belle, Wyoming at Silver Aspen, his family’s ranch after his wife’s passing. Soon after, he inherits Silver Aspen and the title his pa held, ‘The Cattle King.’ As one of the largest cattle barons in the area, running the ranch is a tremendous job for a Virginia crop farmer who spent most of his life studying philosophy, theology, and agriculture. When Ambrosia is expelled from school in the middle of her term, the weight of the world falls on his shoulders. Lady Mia has inherited her mother’s ...

Milly Crenshaw does it again when she succeeds at finding a groom for a destitute social butterfly from Fairfax, Virginia. She sends Miss Garner west to marry an Oregon farmer, Sterling Adams, widowed with four children who desperately need a mother while he tries to prove up his claim. Charity Garner, suffering from the shock of an accident leaving her injured and bereft of her parents and their wealth, has two choices. She can rely upon distant relations she's never met before by relocating to England, or follow the tug on her heart to become a missionary wife to Sterling and a mother to ...

A battered woman is the last thing Oliver Chapman expected to see when he was scouting on the range. He knew he had no choice but to take her home to his ranch to allow her to heal. But getting close to Willow is proving more difficult than the horses that run wild on the prairie.

In this short story, a western cowpoke is willed a gold mine and is followed by outlaws determined to find it and kill him. He is wounded in a gun battle and fights for his life in this first person account of the ensuing chase and encounter . Lots of detail and lots of action. 4,875 words long.

A woman fleeing a horrible fate. A lonely man yearning for love. Brought together by a twist of fate, will they find a Christmas miracle? After her mother died, Pansy Robbins’ life changed forever. Forced to cater to the whims of her step-sisters, ignored by her step-father, and pitied by the servants and staff, she has no one to turn to. Neither mistress nor maid in their stately Savannah, Georgia home, Pansy lives caught in limbo. When an unwanted engagement is arranged for her, Pansy escapes Savannah to find a new home in Colorado. But when she arrives in the town of Hidden Pines, ...

The Matchmaker and the Mother-in-Law Series: Love blossoms for 16 beautiful brides and their charming grooms in this frontier romance series. Each bride must navigate the challenges of being matched with a groom-to-be in the Old west, but a formidable adversary is setting hurdles for each of them to overcome—a mother-in-law. Every book in this series is a standalone, sweet, clean, wholesome romance with surprises, difficulties, and a meddling mother who tests their commitment. Will love truly conquer all? Read every story to find out! Margaret’s Wedding Dilemma She’s fighting to save ...

Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois's acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf... and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda... and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore... and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped - or misshaped - by the potent magic they seek to wield.

The magnetic chemistry between two star-crossed lovers: a billionaire cowboy and a small town girl. Indulge in a luxurious escape to the tropical paradise of Hawaii, where two bestselling authors, Brenda Clemmons, and Katie Wyatt, join forces to bring you a heartwarming tale of love, second chances, and the power of destiny. When billionaire Brock Ellison hires Richards and Sons for a large furniture order, he doesn’t expect to have the owner’s daughter, Laurel, show up to meet him... As fate would have it, their paths cross on the idyllic island of Oahu, where they soon realize that ...

Marry in haste, repent at leisure… Sadie Fitzsimmons must choose between total destitution and marriage by proxy with someone she’s never met. When Sadie steps off the train to meet her new husband for the first time, life in Nebraska is not at all what she had expected. Torn between honoring the vows she spoke to a stranger, and her desire to be free of all obligations, Sadie must face the consequences of her choices. Hamilton Foster had worked hard for his successes. All that was missing from his perfect life was a family of his own. Sending home to Boston for a wife seemed like a ...

When two Amish children are taken by a known killer, will their father break his vow against violence to save their lives? It’s 1826, and Amish congregations are settling in Ohio. Although they do so despite dangers such as bears, wolves, and cougars, they look forward to building new communities in which to worship. But there are worse dangers than bears, wolves, and cougars. When two children are taken by a murderer with a savage past, their father must decide if he can defy his community’s Ordnung and commit violence to save their lives. If not, he knows they will be lost forever—...

All Yancy Landon wants is to get married. However, there’s always somebody eager to ruin a good day, and several misfortunes occur before the big event. Throughout the day, Yancy and Cooper get tangled up with a drunk, a rebellious youth, someone looking for revenge, a shy wife, a disgruntled cowman, and a disgraceful husband. MIDWAY continues The Landon Saga…

The lure of the American West is in the spirit of adventure, in the majestic expanse of unconquered wilderness and in rugged individuals on a quest for identity and sometimes for survival. Owen Wister's unsmiling Virginian... Dorothy M. Johnson's, "A Man Called Horse": These are a few of the colorful, even legendary characters who populate The American West in Fiction, a collection of stories edited by Jon Tuska.

In The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and best-selling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters - many of them set in their authors' best-loved worlds. Join today's finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do.

When Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845 Mexico’s foreign minister in Washington, D.C. angrily left the country and returned to Mexico. Mexico had warned the United States that if Texas became a U.S. state it would be cause for war. By April of the next year a shooting skirmish had broken out along the contested border between Mexico and the state of Texas. -- General Zachary Taylor, who was in charge of the U.S. forces along the border alerted President James K. Polk with the message “Hostilities may now be considered as commenced.” President Polk wasted no time, alerting ...

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...

This fantasy and science fiction teen anthology edited by Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra contains a wide range of stories from fourteen bestselling, award-winning, and emerging writers from the South Asian diaspora that will surprise, delight, and move you. So listen on, for after all, magic has no borders.

A collection of twenty-four adventure, western and humor stories by the short story author John T. Watts. This is the first of two volumes. Volume II being comprised of different subjects and genres.

Valentine’s Day means hearts and chocolate and roses … and sometimes those hearts are broken... This is the perfect series to get you in the mood! Grab some hot chocolate and curl up with this great boxset. The heroines are strong women who know what they want in life but struggle to balance their goals with their love lives. The heroes are willing to work through that struggle to find true love with the women of their dreams. Follow them through all the ups and downs of small-town life as the most romantic holiday of the year approaches! Surprise Valentine Love Story Romance Book 1 A ...

Nathaniel is a well-intentioned, if naive, British cleric feeling blessed to educate a West African village about the benevolent power of God. But as slavers encroach, Nathaniel’s endeavor is daunted by the realities unfolding on the beautiful homeland of his congregation. It seems the Devil has power too. What follows for Nathaniel is a profound spiritual upheaval as he questions his purpose and even his humanity.