Sondra Kraak

Unfulfilled dreams have left Grace Thomas vowing not to let her imagination roam wild again. Resigning herself to the realistic dream of owning a dress shop, she accepts a position as a housekeeper at Monaghan Lumber Camp in order to earn funds. The plan is simple, easy, and safe. But Torin Monaghan is not. The reclusive brother who seems indifferent to her presence is ironically the one stirring up her imagination once again.Torin Monaghan will not be deterred from his passion to preserve the beauty of nature. Even if it appears as if he's going against his family. Even if the quirky and wistful seamstress invading his space is proving a distraction. To his frustration, Grace Thomas is not easily dismissed, and neither are the ways she's opening his eyes to a different sort of beauty.When past threats bring new trouble to Pine Creek, Torin and Grace must become vulnerable-to each other and their community-and through risk, discover that reality is more fulfilling than their dreams.

When a big-hearted debutante collides with a small-town blacksmith set in his ways, it can mean only one thing-a war of hearts has come to Pine Creek.Cameron Wallace thrives as both the blacksmith and the minister in his community of Pine Creek. Out of the fires of a chaotic childhood, he's forged a peaceful life filled with safe relationships and predictable routines. But when the smithy he's been renting is sold out from under him, the impulsive woman who buys it stokes the embers of emotions he'd rather keep unlit-and even has the audacity to lend a helping hand to his smithy work.Samantha Klein has never been afraid to push boundaries when it comes to helping those whom society-and God-have overlooked, be they orphans, immigrants, or injured animals. When her latest attempt to aid a group of Chinese women lands her in a newspaper scandal, her high-society family sends her packing from Seattle. Setting out on her own, she purchases the Pine Creek smithy and hatches another plan for helping her immigrant friends. But only weeks after arriving in Pine Creek, her plan turns to ashes, and she's overwhelmed by needs she can never hope to meet, including her own need to be seen and cared for. And the one who seems to understand her is the man who won't let her anywhere near his heart, no matter the attraction that burns between them.As Cameron struggles to find a new normal, and Samantha yearns for someone to share her burdens, old hurts and dangerous secrets make them both terrified to admit that what they need-and what God has planned for them-just might be each other.

She's about to lose her home. He never wanted to see his again. And a stalker is staking a claim . . . Mary Smith was never one to back down from a challenge. Her father's health may be failing, but their dairy farm was her mother's dream, and Mary will do whatever it takes to keep her father from selling it-even if it means sneaking off to the next town to earn money by playing the piano in a questionable establishment. No one seems to understand why home is so important to her, least of all her childhood nemesis who's just wandered back into town. When injured Texas Ranger Luke Thomas is forced to return to Pine Creek, Washington, he's hailed as a hero and thrust into the town's first race for sheriff. But no one knows the secret he carried to Texas, nor the secret he's brought home. Setting his perfect aim on returning south, he refuses to get tied down by the town's admiration, his brother's disapproval, or the spirited, hardworking dairy girl who's less annoying than he remembers. But strange things are happening at the Smith dairy and in Pine Creek, and Luke's instincts tell him Mary is in far more trouble than she realizes. One thing is certain: "home" is about to get more complicated for them both.

The one room schoolhouse isn't big enough to hold thirty-four students, let alone the egos of two teachers. He can't afford to lose the position, and she refuses to lose her heart. Washington, 1891 She's running from rejection and disgrace.Humiliated after her broken engagement, Claire Montgomery flees her comfortable life in San Francisco for a teaching position in Pine Creek, Washington, a dot of a town nestled in the rugged Cascade Mountains. She's determined to succeed-for once in her life-only to discover, upon her arrival, that success will have to be won. Thanks to a school board error, two teachers have been hired. Scandal has him looking for a new start.When scandal forces professor Barrett Clarke from his position as a college professor, he returns to Pine Creek where his uncle, chairman of the school board, sets forth an irresistible offer: teach one year in return for ranchland. For this would-be rancher, nothing is more tempting than resurrecting his childhood dream, and nothing can deter him from earning that land. Except perhaps Claire Montgomery. Losing the battle for the classroom means losing the ranchland, but winning may mean losing Claire's heart. Someone will win something; the question is who? And What? One Plus One Equals Trouble is the first book in the Love That Counts Historical Christian romance series. You'll find well-developed characters, witty banter, tender journeys of faith and love, and feel-good happily-ever-afters all set in the beautiful mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Discover Sondra Kraak's small mountain town of Pine Creek, and fall in love with the characters who make these historical western romances books you won't soon forget. Start with One, and then keep counting Book 2: Two Ways HomeBook 3: Three Words and a KissBook 4: Four Dreams of YouBook 5: Five Simple GiftsNovella: First to Fall