He'll help her find her missing brother before Christmas. But can she trust him?Starla Logan's brother disappeared three years ago. With no family left, she receives a surprise letter from him. Zachary is in trouble in Denver and needs help. She leaves immediately and arrives at the Broad Street Boarding House just before Christmas. She'll find Zachary, no matter how long it takes. But when the handsome man staying at the boarding house next door offers to...

Another chance for love in a town called Last Chance . . .Celia Thornton would give anything to start over after the blizzard ends her loveless marriage.Jack Wendler needs to leave New York immediately after one too many business deals left his investors penniless.Figuring marriage in remote western Nebraska must be better than the reckoning he's facing in New York, Jack pens a response to a marriage advertisement. When he arrives with a bag of lett...

Celia Thornton would give anything to start over after the blizzard ends her loveless marriage.Jack Wendler needs to leave New York immediately after one too many business deals left his investors penniless.Figuring marriage in remote western Nebraska must be better than the reckoning he's facing in New York, Jack pens a response to a marriage advertisement. When he arrives with a bag of letters--including his own--answering the widows of Last Chance's advertisement for hus...

Some secrets can't be kept . . .Lara Cummings came to Last Chance with her sister for a new life, far away from the farm where her inquisitive nature always seemed to land her in trouble. Living on her cousins' ranch sounded ideal . . . until the drought came. Now, Lara's opportunities to have a family of her own are shriveling as quickly as the chances the ranch has for survival.Mitchell King wants as far away from Colorado as he can get. But opportunities...

When Emma Daniels's well-to-do family finds itself destitute, she answers an ad for the Gilbert Company seeking young women to be waitresses at hotel restaurants along remote railroad lines out west. The rules for a Gilbert Girl are strict: work hard, act respectably at all times, and no courting allowed. None of them present a problem for Emma, at least until she meets the hotel's builder, Monroe Hartley. His smile and teasing manner were the last things Emma expected to find on the Color...

Dora Reynolds is just another Gilbert Girl at the Crest Stone Hotel, and she needs it to remain that way. If anyone found out who she truly is, she'd lose her friends and her position. But when money begins to disappear from the hotel's safe and a handsome new desk clerk arrives, she finds her security—and her heart—under threat.Jacob Gilbert has finally found the opportunity he needs to prove to his father that he's more than the spoiled, carousing youngest son. Someone is stealin...

Edie Dutton left Kansas with nothing but a few pieces of clothing, a handful of stolen bills, and a forged letter of reference. Since then, she's found a home as a Gilbert Girl at the Crest Stone Hotel. Even despite her transgression at the hotel last fall, she has a second chance to live the life she wants. But Edie Dutton is not her real name, and arriving along with all the newcomers to town comes word that her past may be on its way to put her future in jeopardy.Fremont County ...

A lonely cowboy. A young widow. A Christmas to remember.Elizabeth Hartley Campbell arrives at the Crest Stone Hotel, widowed and searching for the brother she hasn't seen in seven years. Distraught to learn he's left, she takes a job as a Gilbert Girl at the hotel's restaurant. She quickly befriends the other girls and finds comfort in helping the hotel prepare for Christmas—until a wayward cowboy wanders in from the snow and sits at her lunch counter.Lando...

A missing girl. A damaged heart. A love that risks it all.Penny May would do anything to forget her past, even traveling all the way to the Colorado Territory to become a Gilbert Girl. Learning to be a good waitress wasn't easy, but Penny is happy with her new life and friends at the Crest Stone Hotel. At least until the handsome and infuriating county sheriff arrives in search of his kidnapped sister.Sheriff Ben Young never thought his work could endanger ...

A wanted man. A heart in hiding. A love to free them both.The Crest Stone Hotel is the perfect place for a man like Thomas Drexel to hide. Wanted for crimes he didn't commit, Thomas hopes he can blend in as a handyman at the newly-opened hotel. But his past threatens his future when one of the hotel restaurant's waitresses discovers his identity.Caroline Beauchamp ran from Boston to escape an arranged marriage to a despicable man. She's safe in the hotel, h...

It’s our annual Halloween kickoff—for the next four Black Cats, extra spooky stories will be creeping and crawling into every issue. This time, we have vampires and scarecrows and werewolves (oh my!) as well as sinister strangers for your reading pleasure. Plus other tricks and treats.Here’s the complete lineup—Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:“Skip Trace,” by Angela Zeman [Michael Bracken Presents short st...