The Civil War battlefield is the last place Quakeress Faith Cathwell thought she'd find herself. But with a gift for nursing, Faith seizes this opportunity to join the fight for abolition—and to search for Shiloh, a freeborn childhood friend who was kidnapped and sold south by unscrupulous slave catchers.Knowing it's much too dangerous for her to search enemy territory alone, Faith enlists the help of Colonel Devlin Knight, who is indebted to her for saving his cousin's life. A career soldier, Dev is committed to the preservation of the Union but conflicted about freeing his own slave and confidant, who plans to enlist as soon as Dev gives him manumission papers.Blazing a trail east with the rest of Grant's army, Dev and Faith fight their personal battles—and a growing attraction to each other. When beliefs clash and passions flare, they quickly find that the only thing more dangerous than the war surrounding them is the battle within their hearts.

All D.A. Gil Montgomery wants is a robbery conviction, but what he gets is a mistrial, thanks to the new teacher in town, Patience Andrews. Gil meets his match in the headstrong Patience, who challenges Gil's expertise. Yet as they work together to catch a criminal, the willowy innocent begins to charm the stubborn prosecutor. Gil had made the wrong choice once-with his son's mother. Can he trust his judgment now? Is Patience merely the bane of his existence...or the woman meant to be his wife?

An Unexpected Partnership Quaker Rachel Woolsey dreams of having her own bakery and her own homestead. But the odds are stacked against her—until the handsome ex-soldier she nurses back to health offers to help her. Like Rachel, Brennan Merriday is an outsider. But he'll be the temporary ally she needs, and her foolish attraction will fade once he's gone. At first, the only thing Brennan wants to know about Pepin, Wisconsin, is how fast he can leave it. Perhaps in Canada he'll find peace after a bloody war. Yet repaying his debt to the pretty baker offers unexpected solace. She saved him once. Now he longs to rescue dreams of family—for both of them.  Wilderness Brides: Finding love—and a fresh start—on the frontierAbout the AuthorSince her first Love Inspired romance debuted in 1998, Lyn Cote has written over 35 books. A RITA finalist and a Carol Award winner, Lyn writes contemporary romance and historical. Her brand is "Strong Women, Brave Stories." Visit her website/blog at http://www.LynCote.net and find her on Facebook, GoodReads and Twitter.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Pepin, Wisconsin June 2, 1871In the dazzling sunshine, Rachel Woolsey stood on the deck of the riverboat, gazing at her new home, its wharf and huddle of rustic buildings. After all the lonely miles, she'd accomplished her journey. Relief flooded her when she recognized her cousin Noah standing near the dock, his wife and children at his side.But she stiffened herself against this warm, weakening rush. She didn't want to dissolve in tears at the sight of family. She would make a life for herself here, fulfill her ambition of independence, start her own business, own a home-no matter what anyone said.Her empty stomach churning, she smoothed her skirt, calming herself outwardly, and prayed silently for the strength to accomplish all she hoped. With God's help, I will. Otherwise why did I leave my father's house in Pennsylvania?Finally, at the rear, the paddle wheel stilled, dripping and running with water. Porters carried her luggage onto shore where she tipped them and turned to her cousin. When she told him all her unusual-for a woman-plans, would he be a help or hindrance?Holding his daughter, Noah enveloped her in a one-armed embrace. "Cousin Rachel!"The intensity in his joyful welcome wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket and went straight to her lonesome heart. "Cousin!" She could say no more without tears.Then he released her and his pretty blonde wife handed their little son to him and hugged her close. "We're so happy you have come. It's good to have family near."Rachel sensed a breath of hesitation in Sunny's welcome. And Rachel guessed it must be because she knew of Sunny's unhappy past. How could she let Sunny know she would never, never reveal what she knew? She wouldn't tell anyone here that before marrying Noah, Sunny had borne a child out of wedlock."I'm so happy, Cousin Sunny," she said with heartfelt sincerity. "I'm so happy thee and Noah look…good together."And they did. The two children looked happy and well fed. Noah looked healed, content and Sunny touched his arm with obvious affection. Then tears did come.Maybe this place would be good for her, too. She realized that she did feel welcome, more than in her stepmother's home where she'd been an unpaid servant instead of a beloved daughter. She tried to shake off the bittering thought.At sounds behind Rachel, Noah looked up and frowned. Speaking past her, he asked sharply, "What are you men doing?""The captain say bring this man on shore to the doctor," the black porter said.Rachel swung around and saw that two porters were carrying an unconscious man, one holding his shoulders and one his ankles. A third porter followed with what looked like a bulging soldier's knapsack."We don't have a doctor here," Sunny said, sounding worried."Well, then we suppose to leave him anyway," the porter said, appearing abashed. "We got no one to nurse or doctor him and his fare run out two stops south."Rachel's sense of right balked. "So thee's just going to abandon him?"The porters looked ashamed, helpless. "That's what the captain order us to do."Rachel struggled with herself. She couldn't take out her umbrage on these innocent men. She would tell the captain what she thought-The boat whistle squealed. The porters gently laid down the shabby man and his travel-worn knapsack and then hustled onto the boat, which was already being cast free.Within moments the boat was far from shore, heading north, the paddle wheel turning again. Rachel fumed at the departing craft as she dropped to her knees beside the man.Thin, with a new beard and shaggy chestnut hair, he appeared around Noah's age, in his thirties, and would have been handsome if not so haggard looking. Drawn to help him, Rachel touched his perspiring forehead. Anxiety prodded her. "He's burning up, Noah."Her cousin knelt on the man's other side. "We can't leave him.""Of course we can't," Sunny agreed, holding her little girl back from going to her father.Rachel rose with new purpose. "I'll help thee carry him, Noah." She bent and lifted the man's ankles and Noah quickly grasped his shoulders. They carried him to the wagon and managed to arrange him on a blanket Sunny kept under the wagon seat. Rachel should have had a harder time carrying a man's weight, but he must have lost pounds already, not a good sign.Some of the shopkeepers and customers had come out to watch and a few helped wedge Rachel's luggage on the other side of the wagon bed along with the man's knapsack. They kept a safe distance from the feverish, unconscious man, evidently fearing contagion.A man whom Sunny addressed as Mr. Ashford said, "He doesn't look good. Be sure you don't catch this from him."Rachel understood this sentiment, but didn't let it sway her. Her father hadn't raised a coward.Noah voiced what she was thinking, "We'll do what we can for him. It's shameful to just drop a man off to die.""Irresponsible," Ashford agreed, though he backed away. "But not every river man is to be trusted."Rachel couldn't decide if the man was speaking of the captain who'd abandoned the man or warning them that this man might do them harm-if he lived. Indignation stirred within her.Noah helped Rachel up onto the wagon bench to sit beside Sunny. Rachel accepted Sunny's sweet little girl to sit on her lap. Noah turned the wagon and headed them home.Rachel's attention was torn between the beautiful thick forest they drove into and the man moaning softly behind her. As they rolled into and over each rut and bump, she hurt for him. After traveling alone for weeks, she was moved by the man's plight. If she had become sick, would this have happened to her? "What does thee think he might be ill with?" she asked Sunny."I don't know. I have some skill in nursing the sick, but he might be.. " Sunny's voice faltered.Beyond our help, Rachel finished silently. A pall hung over them and the miles to Noah's homestead crawled by. Rachel mentally went over the medicines she'd brought with her and where they were packed. She questioned Sunny and found that her stock of medicines was meager, too.Rachel closed her eyes, praying for this stranger, for all traveling strangers. The man's dire situation overlaid her joy at arriving here. Pepin was her new beginning. Would it be this man's ending?Brennan Merriday groaned and the sound wakened him. He heard footsteps. Someone knelt beside him. A cool hand touched his brow. "I have broth and medicine. Open thy mouth, please." A woman's voice.His every joint ached, excruciating. His body burned with fever. He couldn't speak, didn't have the strength to shake his head no. A spoon touched his lips. The only act he could manage was letting his mouth fall open. Warm, salty broth moistened his dry throat. Then something bitter. And then more broth. He let it flow into his mouth and swallowed.He moaned, trying to lift his eyelids. Couldn't. Swallowed. He began to drift again. A face flickered in his mind-Lorena's oval face, beautiful as ever with black ringlets around it, a painful memory that lanced his heart. He groaned again.The same firm voice summoned him back. "A few more mouthfuls, that's all I ask."The gentle words fell soft on his ears. He made the effort to swallow again. Again. And then he felt himself slipping away.Half asleep, Rachel sat in the rocking chair, the fire very low on the hearth, keeping a small pot of chicken broth warm. Every time the stranger surfaced, she spooned as much into him as she could, along with willow bark tea for his fever. She was trying to keep him alive till his fever broke.Still he looked emaciated and beneath his eyes dark patches showed signs of his decline. Would she succeed? Or would they bury him without a name? The thought lowered her spirits.She had cared for him around the clock for nearly a week. Weariness had seeped in as deep as her bones, but her overall worry, that they might bury this man never knowing his name, pressed in on her more. Noah had gone through the man's knapsack but had found nothing marked with a name.Even sick, the stranger beckoned. Something about him drew her-more than merely the handsome face obscured by a wild, newly grown beard and mustache and the ravages of the fever. He looked lost somehow. Would he remain a mystery? Who was he? Why had he boarded the same riverboat as she? Was some woman pacing, worrying about him?She'd thought she would quickly put her plans for her business into motion. But once again the needs of others took precedence. Just a little longer. I don't begrudge helping this man, Father. Her chin lowered and she slipped into that fuzzy world of half sleep.A loud groan woke her fully. Pushing away the dregs of a dream about home, she sat up straighter and looked down. In the light from the hearth, she saw that the stranger was awake. And this time he opened his eyes. She quickly moved into her routine. She knelt by his pallet and felt his forehead. She pressed her hand there again. Was she imagining that he seemed cooler?With the top of her wrist, she touched her own forehead and then his. She stared down into his dull eyes. "The fever has finally broken." Cold relief coursed through her.The man tried to talk, his dry lips stuck together.She held up a hand. "I'll get the broth." Soon she spooned more into his mouth. This time he didn't fall asleep while she was feeding him. His dark eyes followed her an...

And Constance Oberlin was determined to find him. The police weren't doing enough to find the missing construction worker, so the feisty lawyer decided to try to solve the case herself...with a few prayers thrown in for him to come home safely to his wife and twin sons. But working with Detective Rand O'Neill, a widower, proved more exciting than she'd realized. Especially when her dreams began to feature the ruggedly handsome lawman who'd lost his faith....

Award-winning author Lyn Cote delivers the final installment in her emotive series with Carly, a young woman facing war and its outcomes in the 20th century.

No one is more surprised than Sunny Licht when Noah Whitmore proposes. She's a scarlet woman and an unwed mother--an outcast even in her small Quaker m community. But she can't resist Noah's offer of a fresh start in a place where her scandalous past is unknown. In Sunny, the former Union soldier sees a woman whose loneliness matches his own . When they arrive in Wisconsin, he'll see that she and her baby daughter want for nothin g...except the love that war burned out of him. Yet Sunny makes him hope once more--for the home they're building, and the family he never hoped to find.

Lawyer Eleanor Washburn defends wayward teenagers and supervises volunteers for Habitat for Humanity without missing a beat. But she is unnerved by fascinating single dad Pete Beck--especially since his chaotic life includes a little girl wishing for a mother. Sweet Cassie has Eleanor yearning for what's been missing from her lonely existence. Soon, both dad and daughter are chipping away at Eleanor's defenses. Can she find the courage to risk losing her heart to this ready-made family?

IF IT'S MEANT TO BE...When preacher's daughter Spring Kirkland left snowy Wisconsin for sunny Florida, a rekindled romance was the last thing on her mind. On a mission to save her beloved mother's life, Spring meant to uncover a well-guarded family secret. But in doing so, she unexpectedly unearthed a long-buried yearning....A decade ago, Marco Da Palma had convinced himself that Spring was beyond his reach. Now here she was, still single--and as alluring as ever. A successful physician, Marco had far more to offer her this time around. If only he dared believe that the one thing that mattered was the one thing he'd had all along: a heart full of love....

Dr. Jake McClure's basset hound has fallen in love. With a single mom, her adorable twins and the orphaned kittens they rescued. Man's best friend suddenly won't budge from Jeannie Broussard's home--and Jake can understand why. Jeannie's place is full of love, laughter and everything Jake has been missing in his life lately. As Jake spends time with Jeannie and her girls, a bond forges between them, and soon Jake is wondering if he's the perfect fit in this fatherless family....

Nothing is impossible--as far as idealistic schoolteacher Verity Hardy is concerned. The lovely widow is certain teaching freed slaves in a Virginia town torn apart by the Civil War will help heal bitterness and old wounds. But she's finding that the school's cynical builder, Matthew Ritter, has little reason to have faith in her--or anything else.An ex-Union captain, Matt has seen more than his share of destruction. And the threats he's getting about the school are almost enough to make him give up. But Verity's spirit and courage inspire him to fight once again for what he believes in--and to show her they can reach their dreams together. . . .

All Jack Lassater could count on were the computer systems he designed and his assistant, Gracie Petrov. But his right-hand woman had been keeping a secret: She'd loved him silently for years.A sense of duty and Jack's need for her prevented Gracie from resigning. Could her strong faith serve to help Jack reconcile with the father who'd abandoned him? And could it mend Jack's wounded spirit, so their partnership would mix business and marriage?

DETERMINED DAD!Loner Cash Langley trusted and loved far too few. So when he lost his family--all but his precious orphaned niece--he was eager to build his world around the infant girl. But the baby was left in the custody of Jane Everett, his sister's closest friend! Shocked and outraged, Cash insisted that he should raise the child.As tender-hearted Jane struggled to resist Cash's demands, she prayed to understand heaven's plan. Could her steadfast love warm his cold heart--and bring faith to his chilly soul?Welcome to Love Inspired™--stories about life, faith and love that will lift your spirits and gladden your heart!

Bride by Mail Mail-order bride Judith Jones has barely arrived in Pepin, Wisconsin, before she's whisked away to prepare for her wedding to Asa Brant. Though something about Asa seems so familiar, how do two strangers become husband and wife? Especially when Judith senses Asa's hidden sorrow. His kindness in helping two young orphans could win her heart...if only he'd open up to her. Determined to start over after four years of brutal war, Asa moved away and sent for a mail-order bride. He had no idea the woman answering his ad would be the sister of his former soldier in arms. The less he reveals, the fewer painful memories there are to confront. But Judith's compassion—and two loving children—might just show them the path to true happiness...

Someone has a mean sense of humor and is springing nasty pranks at the local high school. High school principal Keely Turner is determined to find out who is playing dangerous pranks at her school before something terrible happens. Burke Sloan, the deputy sheriff responsible for helping and protecting Ms. Turner, finds himself falling for her. As they work to overcome the obstacles in their path, they discover the depths of God's love and of their love for each other.

"A wonderfully satisfying finale to Lyn Cote's fascinating saga of Texas history. Riveting, engaging, unpredictable....Not to be missed!"—Kathy Herman, author of the Phantom Hollow and Sophie Trace Trilogies Her Abundant Joy is the third and final book in the Texas: Star of Destiny series by Lyn Cote, a RITA Award-winning author in 2006 for Best Inspirational Romance. Following The Desires of Her Heart and Her Inheritance Forever, Her Abundant Joy is a heart-soaring story of love and faith as a beautiful German immigrant tries to escape her past and find peace in the arms of a Texas Ranger.