Friday, April 18, 2014

Jessica Dotta

Price of Privilege

Born of Persuasion
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Born of Persuasion
The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston's position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia's first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother's mysterious past. Before she knows what's happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country's most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.



Mark of Distinction

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Mark of Distinction
London is said to be the glittering jewel of society, a world unto itself - but to Julia Elliston it is a city of shadows. Her life is swiftly dissolving into scandal. And in Victorian society, even a whisper of scandal - substantiated or not - can be the death of a young woman's reputation.

When Julia discovers that Lord Roy Pierson, her guardian and one of most influential men in England, is the father she has never met, she begrudgingly accepts his protection. But Chance Macy's power is far-reaching as well.

Thrust into society as the Emerald Heiress, Julia is the toast of London, a celebrated curiosity. But in reality she's trapped between the clutches of two powerful men. Aided only by a gentleman whose intentions she prays she can trust, Julia must finally take control of her own fate - but outwitting one's foe rarely goes according to plan.













Hillary Manton Lodge

A Table by the Window
Family Secrets & Heirloom Recipes Series #1

by Hillary Manton Lodge





A Table by the Window, Family Secrets & Heirloom Recipes Series #1   -     By: Hillary Manton Lodge

The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D'Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn-does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career?
After the death of her grandmother, Juliette discovers an antique photograph of a man who looks strikingly like her brother. As the truth behind the picture reveals romance and dark secrets, Juliette struggles to keep the mystery away from her nosy family until she can uncover the whole story. Inspired by her grandmother's evolving story, Juliette resolves to explore the world of online dating. To her surprise, she finds a kindred spirit in Neil McLaren, a handsome immunologist based in Memphis, Tennessee. With a long-distance relationship simmering, Juliette faces life-shifting decisions. How can she possibly choose between a promising culinary life and Neil, a man a world away in more ways than one? And is it possible her Grandmother's story can help show the way?





BOOK of 2014 by BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS

Lone Star Brides
by Tracie Peterson




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A Sensible Arrangement
A Sensible Arrangement

Marty Dandridge Olson is a widow looking for a way out of Texas. Widower Jake Wythe has secured a job as a bank manager in Denver, only to discover that the bank board wants him to be a married man. With Texas in his roots, he advertises for a Lone Star bride, and Marty answers the call. They both agree they are done with romance and love and will make this nothing more than a marriage of convenience.

Marty works to carve out a new life in high-society Denver as Jake works to guide the bank through a collapsing economy. But when money goes missing at the bank and accounting discrepancies point to Jake, he must find a way to prove his innocence. Yet all he wants to do is go back to Texas and own his own ranch. Marty, on the other hand, owns a ranch--one she's never told her husband about. She hates Texas because it represents the losses in her life. But as the couple grows closer and love begins to bloom, Marty realizes she needs to tell Jake the truth. Can she come to terms with the past and her anger toward God in order to make room for love?





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A Moment in Time
A Moment in Time

Alice Chesterfield is a woman pursued. Having survived an attack that left her scarred and her father dead, she is never free from the fear and memories of the man who is responsible.

Texas seems to be an answer to Alice's prayers, and when she has the opportunity to relocate to a ranch near Dallas, a new man captures Alice's attention. Robert Barnett is unlike any man Alice has ever known: He doesn't seem to mind the scar she bears, nor does he worry about the obstacles that stand in their way--including Jessica Atherton, the woman he's supposed to marry.

But there are storm clouds gathering, and Alice's peaceful sanctuary is threatened when she learns the truth about her father's dishonest dealings and the mother she thought was dead. Disillusioned, Alice must learn to place her trust in God as she seeks a measure of peace for her future...and for her heart.




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A Matter of Heart

A Matter of Heart

Texas born and raised Jessica Atherton is a wealthy young woman whose heart was broken when the man she intended to marry wedded another. But her world is upended when two men come into her life and both manage to stir her heart. Harrison Gable is a rich young lawyer who intends to travel the world and live a life of opulence. His ambitions match Jessica's dreams, but her heart has begun to change.

Austin Todd, former Secret Service agent, enjoys working now as a Texas Ranger cattle inspector. But learning of forged gold certificates and missing printing plates, he's drawn back into the world of intrigue and agrees to help solve the case. Austin is well-thought-of and admired in the community. Jessica is drawn to his kind nature and the unspoken pain she sees in his eyes.






























    All Things Hidden
A novel by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse
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All Things Hidden


Gwyn Hillerman acts as a nurse at her father's medical practice in 1935 rural Alaska. Her family life has been rough ever since her mother, hating Alaska, took Gwyn's younger sister back to Chicago to live.

Dr. Jeremiah Vaughan finds his life suddenly turned upside down when his medical license is stripped away after he loses an affluent patient. In a snowball effect, he then loses his engagement to Gwyn's sister, Sophia. When the government decides to send a group of families to Alaska in hopes of making a better life, Dr. Hillerman sends a letter urging Jeremiah to join his practice. Thinking his secret would be safe in the isolated Alaska Territory, Jeremiah agrees.

Gwyn and Jeremiah soon recognize a growing attraction to each other. But when another suitor enters the scene and Jeremiah's secret is revealed, their hopes for a future are threatened.

















The Brickmaker's Bride
by Judith Miller
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The Brickmaker's Bride
Yearning for a fresh start, Ewan McKay travels with his aunt and uncle from northern Scotland to West Virginia, promising to trade his skills in the clay business for financial assistance from his uncle Hugh. Hugh purchases a brickmaking operation from a Civil War widow and her daughter, but it's Ewan who gets the business up and running again. Ewan seeks help from Laura, the former owner's daughter, and he feels a connection with her, but she's being courted by another man--a lawyer with far more social clout and money than Ewan. Besides, Ewan has resolved he'll focus on making the brickmaking operation enough of a success that he can become a partner in the businessand be able to afford to bring his sisters over from Scotland.But when Hugh signs a bad business deal, all Ewan's hard work may come to naught. As his plans begin to crumble, Laura reveals something surprising. She and her mother may have a way to save the brickworks, and in turn Ewan may have another shot at winning Laura's heart.



An Untamed Heart
by Lauraine Snelling
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An Untamed Heart
Eighteen-year-old Ingeborg Strand is certain she is destined to be an old maid. She's had several suitors but none she deemed worthy of spending her life with. That is, until she meets a university student from Oslo, and feelings stronger than friendship begin to develop between them. But tragedy strikes, and the future begins to look bleaker than ever.

Grief settles heavily over Ingeborg, and her mother suggests that she leave Norway and start afresh in America, as so many others have done before her. But how will she accomplish that with little money and no one to accompany her?

It isn't long before she meets Roald Bjorklund, a widower who has been planning to go to America for some time, lured by the promise of free land. He's a good man, a hard-working man--and he has a young son who desperately needs a mother. He's clearly interested in Ingeborg, but is he the answer to her prayers? And what about love? This isn't how she's always imagined it.

Ingeborg Strand has a heartrending decision to make...



To Everything a Season
by Tracie Peterson
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To Everything a Season
Trygve Knutson has been promoted from well drilling to heading a construction crew for the fast growing town of Blessing, North Dakota. Though devoted to the land and his family, he sometimes dreams of other horizons. But is he willing to leave Blessing permanently?

Miriam Francini hopes to become an accredited nurse in a large city hospital. She is simply tolerating her assignment at the hospital in rural Blessing because it will give her the experience she needs to accomplish her goal. She can't wait to finish her training and head to New York to begin a nursing career.

Then Miriam meets Trygve Knutson and all her plans are suddenly in a jumble. She quickly realizes she doesn't want to live without him, yet she's a smart, independent woman--she's even a suffragette. She can't let anything get in the way of her own plans, even if she's in love. Or can she?







Where Courage Calls
by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
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Where Courage Calls
Beth Thatcher just graduated and her goal is to become the best teacher she can; but she didn't expect that her first assignment would land her in the tiny mining town of Coal valley, in the teaching position that no one else wants. Should she take this position, leaving behind all that she knows? Her inspiration, the diary of Aunt Elizabeth and her father's encouragement to pursue her dreams and ambitions finally allows her to press forward, take the risk of something completely new and accept the position...at least for now.


A Beauty So Rare
by Tamera Alexander
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A Beauty So Rare
Pink was not what Eleanor Braddock ordered, but maybe it would soften the tempered steel of a woman who came through a war--and still had one to fight. 
Eleanor Braddock, a spinster at 30, has long since dismissed any hope of marriage. But when a dying soldier whispers his final words, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. But this compassionate deed takes a harsh turn, and Eleanor finds herself dependent upon the richest woman in America and the most despised woman in Nashville--her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, mistress of Belmont Mansion. A clandestine act of kindness leads Eleanor to an unlikely path for her life--building an orphanage, a place that will house widows and orphans from the Civil War. And while Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve.

Marcus von Quint, Archduke of the House of Habsburg and second in line to the Austrian throne, arrives in Nashville in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him. Collaborating with botanist Luther Burbank, Marcus seeks to combine his own passion for nature with his expertise in architecture. But his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the orphanage run contrary to the wishes of practical, frugal Eleanor, who sees his ideas as costly nonsense.

Yet as the construction project continues, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground--and a love neither of them expected. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor to marry, and even if he were, someone who knows Marcus's secrets is about to reveal them all.