Showing results by author "Lauraine Snelling" in All Categories

The dream of their own farmstead and a good life in America had brought Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund across the Atlantic to pioneer the virgin prairie of Dakota Territory. But Roald's tragic disappearance in a winter storm turned Ingeborg's dreams into a living nightmare. Against nearly impossible circumstances and overwhelming grief, she struggles to keep the farm and her family together.

Anji Baard Moen, a recent widow, returns from Norway with her children. She quickly settles back into life in Blessing, teaching Norwegian history in the high school and writing articles for the Blessing Gazette. When tragedy strikes, Anji steps in to run the newspaper and soon finds a kindred spirit in the widower who owns the printing press. As they spend time together, Anji wonders if there's something more than friendship growing between them.

Lilac Nielsen's dream has come true: handsome young Reverend Ethan Pritchard has finally noticed her. Yet she must balance this new courtship with the pursuit of another dream—the publication of her artwork in a New York paper. She has secretly been submitting a series of drawings under a pen name, and if anyone traces the drawings back to her, the entire Nielsen family could be put in danger.

Deborah MacCallister, head nurse at the Blessing hospital, has loved Toby Valders since her school days, but she's had enough of their on-again, off-again relationship. Toby truly cares for Deborah, but he's never felt like he could commit to marriage or a family. When Anton Genddarm, the new schoolteacher, comes to town, the young women of Blessing see a chance to force Toby's hand with a little strategic matchmaking.

Assuming the Lord wants her to practice medicine in a remote African outpost, Astrid Bjorklund enrolls in a missionary training school. She prays her former sweetheart will one day understand. But when a family crisis calls her home, Astrid hears of a deadly measles outbreak on a nearby Indian reservation. Feeling inexplicably constrained to help, she wonders if God might be leading her to a “mission field” that’s much closer than she imagined.

As winter settles over the ranch, the Engstrom brothers are much on the mind of Cassie Lockwood. The way Lucas smiles at her should set her heart to tripping. But it doesn't. Shouldn't there be some attraction to him if they are going to be married? His vow to make her love him does not seem to be working, no matter how considerate and charming he is. Ransom Engstrom is another matter. After Cassie's train trip to a shooting competition, she realizes she misses Ransom more than Lucas.

Award-winning author Lauraine Snelling continues the story of Ruby Torvald in book two of her Dakotah Treasures series. Ruby's most recent boarder at the Dove House is schoolteacher Pearl Hossfuss. Avoiding an arranged marriage, Pearl has deserted her home in Chicago to teach in Little Missouri. There she has befriended Ruby and fallen for carpenter Carl Hegland. But her father threatens to take her back home. Ruby must turn to God for the strength to stand up to her father.

When a disastrous decision by the trainmaster forces Jesselynn Highwood and her companions to separate from the wagon train, she races back to Fort Laramie to find a guide to take them to Oregon. But the guide has a far different plan, and following her heart, Jesselynn agrees to join him, her ragtag band in tow. Back east, Louisa Highwood and her brother, Zachary, are captured by Union soldiers for smuggling medical supplies into Richmond.

As Opal begins, it's 1886 in the wild and untamed Dakota Territory. To avoid a drifter's murderous clutches, tomboy Opal Torvald is forced to leave the ranch she loves. But when she returns - older and more lady-like - she meets Jacob, a new ranch hand from back east. Now Opal must choose between an old friendship and a new romance.

While her sister fights to hold on to the family legacy, Louisa Highwood works tirelessly to save the lives of wounded soldiers. Putting her own safety on the line, she covertly ventures behind enemy lines to procure desperately needed supplies for the army hospital in Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, Jesselynn Highwood and her ragtag band of freed slaves and thoroughbred horses seek refuge along the Oregon Trail, unable to imagine what awaits them.

For as far back as he can remember, the dream of becoming a writer has burned brightly in Thorliff's heart. But when he arrives at college, things are not as he had imagined. Thorliff longs for the familiarity and nurture of his loved ones back home. The distance has created a rift between Thorliff and his childhood sweetheart. The only bright spot in his life is his job at the town newspaper. Will he be forced to leave one dream behind to pursue the other?

Though she has known hardships in her life, Ingeborg Bjorklund chooses to focus on all she has been given. Blessed with children and grandchildren, she enjoys the friendship and support of the entire Blessing, North Dakota, community. And after several years of widowhood, she has reached a place of contentment with her life.

In Minnesota in 1911, Nilda Carlson is torn between society life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Still new to America herself, Nilda focuses on the area's immigrant community, but she'll have to fight to get her ideas accepted by the locals and donors alike. In the meantime, one of her greatest joys is her weekly piano lesson with the handsome schoolteacher, Fritz. But just as Nilda is beginning to realize she has feelings for him, a stylish, affluent young woman moves to Blackduck and monopolizes Fritz's attention.

The rich farmlands of the Dakota Territory in 1887 are finally beginning to yield the abundant harvest the pioneers had dreamed about so long. The establishment of the railroad has brought significant changes to the small town of Blessing as well as prosperity to the Bjorklund family and their neighbors. Among the townsfolk is reverend John Solberg. The reverend, rejecting the persistent efforts of matchmaking mothers, develops a friendship with Mary Martha through their common love of books.

Just a few short weeks into her yearlong nurse training assignment at the Blessing Hospital, Miriam Antonio is called home to Chicago, where her mother is gravely ill. With siblings to care for, Miriam pleads to be allowed to finish her training in Chicago. Her nursing supervisor grants her a brief reprieve but extracts a promise that Miriam will soon return to Blessing and fulfill her commitment. While in Chicago Miriam has tried to get Trygve Knutson and Blessing out of her mind, but his letters make that impossible.

A preeminent figure in faith-based fiction, Lauraine Snelling has over two million copies of her works in print. In Whispers in the Wind, the second installment of Snelling’s Wild West Wind series, Cassie Lockwood is dismayed to discover her father’s South Dakota valley land is already occupied. Meanwhile, Cassie’s arrival spurs the revelation of long-hidden secrets among the locals and leaves her questioning whether or not she will ever find a place to call home.

Having experienced her share of sorrow, Rebecca has grown afraid of opening her heart to love. Can she overcome her fears or will she settle for something less than love?

Joshua Landsverk left Blessing two years ago, but he's never forgotten Astrid. Returning to town, he seeks to court her, and love begins to bloom. When the opportunity opens for Astrid to go to Chicago for further training, she finds it difficult to leave home and Joshua. They agree to correspond, but after receiving only one letter from him, she learns he's left town again. Believing Joshua no longer loves her, Astrid makes an impetuous, heart-wrenching decision.

Ellie Wold can't wait to graduate from high school. She and Andrew Bjorklund have been waiting to get married since...well, since forever, and in June they will finally wed. When Andrew announces they have to postpone the wedding, she's disappointed but takes it in stride--there must be a good reason, or Andrew's pa wouldn't ask it of them.

Astrid Bjorklund wants to use her medical training to serve God and feels that He might be leading her in the direction of missionary work. Smarting from a misunderstanding with Joshua Landsverk, the young man she thought she loved, she heads east to a missionary training school, hoping to eventually use her skills in some remote outpost in Africa. When she is called home unexpectedly to help in a family medical emergency, Astrid learns of a deadly measles outbreak on the nearby Indian reservation.