Donna Schlachter

Fort Laramie, Wyoming, Sept 1878Kate Benton, daughter of a saloon floozy, runs away days before her official introduction into that sordid life, straight into the arms of Tom McBride, fleeing from his outlaw brother's past. Can these two young people, damaged and labeled by life experiences, tear down the walls of guilt and mistrust that separate them? Will they allow God to change them forever from the inside out? Or are they destined to remain alone forever?

After Ed asks Margie to marry him, they both settle in for a quiet Christmas season. But when a series of murders mimics the books featured in her store Mystery event, Margie wonders who is out to get her? And is any of this linked to her application to expand her bookstore? Ed doesn't want to believe Margie is involved in any of these murders, but if she's completely innocent, how could one person be at every murder scene? His heart says she's not involved, but the evidence shouts otherwise.If only they could identify the connection between Margie and the murders, they might be able to be one step ahead of the killer. Nothing is easy...especially love and faith...where murder-and Margie-are involved.

When Great-Aunt Rosella calls, everybody comes running. And in this case, Margie Hanson, recently graduated with a degree in library sciences, and her mystery-writing and formerly forensic accountant grandmother, Carly Turnquist, head for Colorado. But when they arrive, Rosella is dead under mysterious circumstances. Can Margie and Carly sift through the multitude of suspects to find the killer?

Kate and Tom McBride, along with their newborn, John Thomas, settle into life in Oregon City, Oregon in November 1879. And while Kate enjoys being a wife, mother, and homemaker, she still remembers her fanciful dreams of last year: become a detective to solve mysteries. Her first case is to find the missing fianc e of a local banker. Tom, however, isn't sure this is a good idea, particularly not when somebody throws a fiery bomb through the window of their home, burning it to the ground. They learn that their pasts may not be as far behind them as they'd hoped, but when their son is kidnaped, they just join forces to reveal who is trying to stop them-from finding the missing woman, and from starting their new life together.

Carly and Mike take the vacation of a lifetime--an Alaskan cruise. Unfortunately, Carly can't turn off her nose for trouble. Or mystery. Pretty soon she's embroiled with a series of allegations, innuendoes, overheard conversations, and even a shoving match. And before she knows it--a body. Can Carly figure out who the killer is before she ends up floating on an iceberg--or worse?

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Book 1: Opposition -- Was it love? No. For him, our coupling was the opportunity to one-up my father, the biggest fish in a very small pond. For three minutes. For me, I don't know that I really thought about anything. Except I did imagine the look on my father's face if he could see me now. And that stayed with me much longer than those three minutes, in the back seat of a 1933 Mercury coupe, on a beach in Newfoundland.Book 2: Momentum -- Was it love? Must have been. How else do you explain a childless couple in their fifties taking in a bastard child, to raise as their own, when everybody around them knew the truth? When they had so much to lose--the respect of their peers, their position in the church, the rung on that ladder he climbed so diligently. Of course, I don't remember how the story began--I was only six months old at the time. And the story has been told and retold so many times I don't know if the truth will ever be known.Book 3: Convergence -- Was it love? Yes. That's what family is all about, so the answer must be yes, right? But I've since learned that family is about a whole lot more than just love. There are complicated dynamics involved in blood relationships, marriage relationships, even those once and twice removed relationships. But one thing I know for certain: it is love now.

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She needs a man. He needs a new life. How bad could it be? A widow alone in the Wild West with children to raise and protect. Or maybe they understand more than she realizes. Escaping from a prison in Australia where he was sentenced to life for a crime he didn't commit wasn't easy. Neither was his flight for freedom to the United States. But just in time, a letter suggesting marriage. Land of his own. A new name. But who is this stranger who lands on their door, introduced by letters alone, and calling himself King? Could this offer of royalty be worth marrying for money this time? After all, she's had love. Now she must think of her children.

In Carly's finale, she has three mysteries to solve. But will the killer finish her off before she solves all? or will a deadly disease be her demise?