Kirjahaku

Jeannie Brown leads a hard life, treated like a servant in her own home by her sisters as well as her father. But she is clever and resourceful and manages to get along very well. Then at the age of ten, she meets Horatio Heath and falls in love. Her life parallels his, but now all the things that we saw in his life are seen from her perspective. Jeannie must overcome nearly insurmountable obstacles in order to meet her goals in life as she struggles to attain the love of her heart's desire.

Charlotte Miller has not had an easy life. She has survived the loss of two beloved husbands and divorced a third, a difficult task to accomplish at the time. Since her third husband, Bill, died two days ago, Charlotte is in limbo. She has a lot of responsibilities, including their nine children and one on the way. Her step-son has told Charlotte that she and her children are welcome to remain on the family ranch, but she is getting a much different feeling from her daughter in-law. Unwilling to become a slave in her former home, Charlotte packs up her children and leaves for New Eden, Oregon, the town she helped found over twenty years ago. Charlotte knows that hotel living is not what's best for young children. They need fresh air and sunshine. But what are the odds of finding a place large enough for herself and nine children? While Charlotte grapples with these basic problems, she meets two very different men who want to take the place of her late husband. One is the new sheriff, a much younger man, while the other is a free soul who couldn't possibly be serious about a woman with so many children. Charlotte's children are growing up and becoming individuals much too fast for her. A critical rift develops between her two oldest sons, a rift that threatens to destroy their love for each other and even their loyalty to the rest of the family. Charlotte faces all her difficulties head-on, as mothers have done for generations; but is even Charlotte Miller wise enough to overcome all these problems?

Abandoned by their parents, the O'Connell children fight to stay together. Evicted from their one-room tenement flat, they are virtually homeless, as so many other children were in New York City in the 1850's. Gregory, the eldest at age ten, takes on the responsibility for his three younger siblings, a man's job. His eight-year-old sister Belinda serves as a surrogate mother for the youngest two children. Theirs is a tenuous existence, supplemented by the Catholic school attended by the oldest two. When there is some sort of windfall, they all share in it equally, as they also share all their hardships together. Will they somehow manage to survive and still remain together as a family? Only time will tell.

Amanda and Danny are totally devoted to each other as brother and sister, despite the fact that Danny is adopted and there is a six-year age difference between them. They are so close that they even have their own private language as some twins do. The only force that is stronger than the love that binds them is their love for their parents. This story begins at the very beginning of Amanda's life and follows the brother and sister through a myriad of family events, testing their closeness. Even their own parents are unaware of how strongly Amanda and Danny feel about each other. Their love overcomes illness, injury and the callous treatment of the two innocents by the adults who have been given charge of them. One segment of their lives involves the abduction of their mother, Ariadne. To find her, the two children set off on a dangerous journey, following her trail into Canada.

Ariadne Miller is anything but ordinary. From early childhood, she has been able to do things that other children can't do. She can speak to animals, hear their thoughts and hear the thoughts of the people around her. Adopted as a small child by Charlotte and Bill Miller, she has managed to hide most of her unusual abilities until one night, barefoot and in her nightgown, she rushes out into the winter cold to rescue Hairy, her beloved pet bunny. Charlotte is at her wit's end. Should she punish Ariadne and hope to hide her talents or should she help her to develop to her full potential? When Ariadne grows older, her thought-reading talent causes a major rift between her and her older sister, Theresa. Ariadne fears for her very life and flees from the big white farmhouse she loves so much. What will happen to her out in the world alone? Ariadne's life changes forever in just a short time when she meets Amanda McCane and her son Danny on the stagecoach leaving New Eden.

Richie Richardson had a hard childhood. That has made him determined to become a success, mainly in the field of finance. His ease at making money and his entanglements with various women have made him a legendary figure during his young adulthood.Upon seeing him for the first time, men are always surprised that he is a man of small stature and women find it hard to believe the stories they have heard about his prowess in bed. Richie isn't bothered by anyone else's attitude toward him, for he has grown comfortable in his own skin and does what he pleases when he pleases.