Showing results by author "Rachel Wesson" in All Categories

1852 Illinois. Eva Thompson has her future mapped out. Marriage to David Clarke and a family is all she wants. Her Pa has other ideas. He insists on taking the Oregon Trail to a better life and favors Harold Chapman as Eva's suitor. Marriage to Harold will provide Eva with everything she needs except . . . love.

Bridget Collins is in dire straits - she needs to get out of New York, fast. With two young siblings under her wing, her options are limited. Her priest sends her as an outplacement agent on the orphan trains that run from New York to out west. With almost 40 orphans under her care, she's relieved that fellow and more experienced outplacement agent Carl Watson is there to guide her. But Carl is dealing with his own trauma and finds it difficult to handle the pain the orphans are dealing with.

What begins as a practical arrangement slowly transforms. Amid the snow-capped peaks and harsh beauty of the frontier, Ivy finds not just purpose, but belonging. Yet shadows from her past aren't finished with her. When a violent man comes calling—claiming Ivy as payment for her brother's betrayal—she and Cormac must stand together or risk losing everything.

Becky Thompson doesn't take no for an answer. She knows what she wants, and his name is Scott Jones. Scott Jones's future was stolen along with his heart. He cannot love Becky, but can he keep her safe? After months of illness, deprivation and betrayal, with the end in sight have their problems only started?

Johanna Thompson understands her father's wish to go to Oregon. Can she use the time together to convince him to let her follow her dream? Rick Hughes inherits two small children, a wagon and a dream to go to Oregon. But it's not his dream. Johanna and Rick need to work together to save their families from disaster but doing so could comprise both their dreams. Can they find a way to overcome the difficulties on the trail and find a new life together?

Mary Ryan leaves the orphanage and heartbreak behind and follows her friend Katie to Clover Springs to become a mail order bride. She's nervous, but reminds herself that Davy Sullivan must be a nice man or Katie wouldn't have recommended him.

Bella Jones and Kathleen Collins are as close as sisters and that's how they want things to stay. But fate intervenes. Kathleen's brothers have disappeared; they traveled from New York on the Orphan Train and nobody has heard from them since. She can't shed her gut feeling something awful has happened to them. She goes looking for them, but is she prepared for what she will find?

Life isn't easy for a young woman alone in 19th Century Colorado, but when Emer Matthews needs to escape an untenable situation, she only has herself to depend on. She has no time for men having seen firsthand the high price women pay for love, so she seeks solace with the sister she's never met, Sorcha. But when Emer gets to Boston, she discovers her sister has moved to Clover Springs and she's left alone with no money and no means to go back to Colorado.

Eighteen-year-old Sorcha Matthews's happy future is shattered when her soul mate, Luke, is tragically killed before she even gets to unite with him in Clover Springs. She flees Boston rather than face a life filled with horrific abuse. Widower Brian Peterson needs a wife to look after his two daughters. He isn't interested in romance but no self-respecting woman will live on his homestead without a ring on her finger. Sorcha needs a husband, Brian needs a wife. Is this a match made in heaven? Or is Socha jumping from the frying pan into the fire?

Recently widowed, Laura has no intention of tying herself to any other man. She is finally free of the life she choose after leaving the orphanage. But when evil catches up with her, she is left with no option but to run to Clover Springs. There her friends will provide some protection and safety.

Virginia, 1933: Lauren Greenwood was born to look pretty and land a rich husband. For her and her high-society family, it’s easy to forget that America is in the devastating grip of the Great Depression, where children run wild in the streets, endless queues for soup kitchens line sidewalks, and desperation hangs in the air. But when a young servant comes to Lauren, pregnant and begging for help, her world crumbles. Someone she loves is responsible, and when she finds out the shocking truth she must decide: Protect the Greenwood name or be cast out?

Can Almanzo, now a grown up, take control of his destiny or . . . will he let being an orphan destroy his chance of happiness? He needs to leave what happened on the trail behind him but fate intervenes. Matilda Masterson is rescued from the trail, yet the danger she's in continues. Can the citizens of Portland save her? Or will the price they pay be too high?

Daniel Sullivan needs a wife; the bank insists they will only finance his business if he gets married. What's he to do when the woman he's interested in is promised to another?

Connie Fitzwalter never imagined that her passion for music would lead her into a world of danger and intrigue. When her old family friend, Stephen, who works for the foreign office, tells Connie the true scale of the violence against Jewish people in Germany and Austria, she can stand aside no longer. Together, Stephen and Connie devise a daring mission to help families escape the clutches of Nazi persecution. Under their cover as music enthusiasts traveling to high-society concerts in Europe, Connie and her sister Dottie begin by smuggling money and valuables for families over the border.

Returning from University, Ellen is disenchanted with her chosen career. Leaving home wasn't what she wanted. She missed Clover Springs, in particular a certain older man. Could she convince her family her true vocation lay as a wife and mother?

Little Beaver, while happy with his lot as deputy sheriff in Clover Springs, wants what his friends have—a wife and children. But his heart is stuck on Asha, a woman who lives on the reservation and her father refuses to allow Little Beaver court her. Tragically, through no fault of her own, Asha is thrown off of the reservation and left to survive in the wilds. Heartbroken, Little Beaver vows revenge. His friends tell him he will destroy everything he has worked so hard to achieve, and rather than saving the woman he loves, he may place her in further jeopardy.

Germany 1939 – To save her baby, Trudi Beck must hand her over to strangers who will take her across the sea to a foreign country. Trudi has already lost her husband to the Nazis, her stepsons are taking the train too. Walking away from the train station with empty arms is the hardest thing she's ever done. London 1939 – Newly married, Sally Matthews, is alone again. Her husband is away training for war, leaving her days and home empty. She volunteers to help with the children from the Kindertransport, becoming captivated by five-year-old Tom and his baby sister, Liesel.

Kenny Clark knows Santa is magical and only he can find his family. Kathleen Collins fights poverty and desperation every day in her bid to find new homes for the orphans of New York. But what about her happily ever after?

It's 1911, and Lily's plans for her factory are not progressing as fast as she would like. Maria, her sister Rosa, and friend Leonie are still working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Maria and Conrad have agreed it's pointless finding new jobs when they will soon be joining Lily's factory. Rosa can think of nothing but her upcoming marriage, and Leonie worries how she is going to look after her four siblings when their mother falls very ill.

Book 7 in the Orphan Train series takes listeners on a journey to Ireland, where Lily and Charlie find themselves on an adventure. Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary in New York, Kathleen is left in charge and is facing a host of problems. With the new factory opening soon, the Chivers children searching for a permanent home, and a couple of stray orphans in need of her care, Kathleen feels like she's in over her head. As she tries to navigate these challenges, she finds herself wishing Lily would come home soon. Charlie surprised Lily with tickets for the Titanic's maiden voyage.