Rachel Matthews isn't one to rely on others to take care of her. Destitute and alone, she still wants to make her own way and her own money -- even if she's forced into the life of a dance hall girl. Horrified by her circumstances, Rachel's brother sends a friend -- the widely admired cattle baron John McIntyre -- to rescue her, then sets off to earn enough money to buy back the family ranch. But when months pass without her brother's return, Rachel...

Patience Cavanaugh has lost hope of romance. The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with the restoration of a dilapidated boarding house in order to support herself. Despite her desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local sheriff with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life.

"Mollie Sheehan has spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter and honor her father's wishes, even when doing so has led to one heartbreak after another. After all, what options does she truly have in 1860s Montana? But providing for her stepfamily during her father's long absences doesn't keep her from wishing for more. When romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future -- until...

"Dover Station, Montana, is no place for a lawman. A sheriff's badge ain't worth a nickel here -- unless you've got the bullets to back it up . . . When he signed up to be sheriff of this dirty little boomtown, Aaron Mackey knew he was asking for trouble. Once, when Mackey was the U.S. marshal for the whole Montana Territory, he swore no job could get any harder. But that was before he took down a few of the bank-robbing Hancock gang in Dover Station...