Reluctant Love

📖 The Scoop

A collection of 3 standalone Clean & Wholesome Western romance short stories with guarantee HEA and no cliffhangers.

Hoofbeats as Heartbeats

She was a lady, and he was not a gentleman. That’s all there was to it, in the eyes of Grace. She had followed her family to America, in the hopes of success and striking it rich. And yet, things weren’t quite as easy as they seemed. Gone were the frills they were accustomed to, traded in for leather boots. Horses, too, were a part of the equation, but as adorable as they were, they were turning into quite the problem.

Cookie wouldn’t cooperate, and at the risk of potentially losing her sister’s horse, Grace set out to look for a horse trainer, without much hope. But then she met Smoky, and he had stepped in and offered his help. And, in the words of her sister Jo, her mother, and father, he’d turned out better than they’d all expected. And though she had been dubious at the start, Grace couldn’t help but find herself slowly roped in to the carefree, happy-go-lucky cowboy more and more.

Pieces of a Heart

Martha is a young woman living on her own and also taking care of her farm. She is waiting for her husband James, a soldier fighting for the Union, to return from the war. She leads a hard, lonely life on the land, but the thought of his return gives her courage.

But then, one cold evening at the start of her third winter alone, she hears someone knocking on the door. It’s James, but he is not the man she said goodbye to, three years ago. He seems distant and easily upset, he’s lost a lot of weight, and he suffers from nightmares.

Can Martha cope with the sudden return of her husband after so long, especially when he seems to have changed so much? And when James reveals a secret to Martha that threatens their renewed life together, will their marriage be able to survive?

When Two Hearts Meet

Private Brian Campbell is ordered to relocate to a fort somewhere in the west. A Private of the union army, he's serving with the utmost pride and honor. However, after almost two years on the front lines, he's also exhausted by having to spend his whole time trying to survive.

So, his relocation coincides with a time for changes. After getting to the fort, wanting to celebrate their time off, Brian and his company visit a saloon. There, Brian meets Jane. Jane is a saloon dancer, a woman who tries to seduce men with her passionate dancing.

What happens when those two people meet? And what will happen between them when a great opportunity is presented to Brian, an opportunity that entangles his sense of duty with his love for Jane?

Genre: Fiction / Romance / Collections & Anthologies (fancy, right?)