Paradise Pines

The dusty trail of a wagon train leads west, but Darrah Benjamin finds it a pathway to love and forgiveness when an arranged marriage becomes much more than a convenience. Wagon scout Chase challenges her determination with his promise - she'll give him her heart and invite him to her bed before they arrive at their destination. Darrah will shape her own destiny and claim a woman's spirit along the way. Charles Danforth, a scout known as Chase, leads a wagon train of emigrants west through plains plundered by murderers. As an undercover agent of President Polk, he has sworn to stop the massacres. Darrah's inadvertent comment gives him the clue he needs to achieve his assignment. His Sioux blood brother helps Chase end the killings, but almost ruins Chase's chance of winning Darrah's heart with his mischief.

An uncharacteristic, last-minute decision to do something "wild and crazy" before entering the stressful world of forensic science sends Raine Presley to Cambria, California. Against a cloud of disapproval from her slightly manipulative, over-protective parents, she signs a seasonal lease at the beautiful Paradise Pines Lodge...and winds up over her head in life and love.Declan Keller's just minding his own business-literally-when Raine drops into his world and turns it upside down. He's far too busy carving beautiful shapes out of chunks of wood to be babysitting a gal from Pasadena. Even so, his father's promise to an old friend obligates him, despite a looming deadline that could make or break his career in the art world. He's praying for anything but Raine when she comes along.Neither Declan nor Raine is prepared for the seemingly divine influence of Paradise Pines-and Miss Angelina Love. A mysterious lady who may or may not own the lodge, Miss Angie possesses an amazing talent for mending ruffled feathers, spouting proverbs, and somehow bending even the most determined of hearts to the power of love.

The Getaway Of A Lifetime...Kinda.Summer Callahan isn't in Cambria for the beach or the ocean or the pine-scented air around Paradise Pines Lodge. She's there as a companion to her flighty cousin, Deah--with the understanding that they will have separate agendas the entire time. Summer just wants to be left alone to dream up the romance novels she writes under a pseudonym.A Real-life Hero Who Rivals a Romance Novel...Really!But never in Summer's wildest writer's imagination does she dream of being caught in an undertow and almost drowning, only to be rescued by a wealthy artist. And when Logan Bullard proves hard to shake, Summer fears for her heart--especially when Deah sets her sights on Logan.A Cupid to pull it all together...?But at Paradise Pines Lodge, what's meant to be has a way of happening...at the best time and in the best way. Miss Angelina Love--who may or may not own the place--has an "in" with Heaven's own "department of romance." And she's determined to see Summer and Logan together.

Lily Fox craves attention. Her amazing voice and ability to mesmerize the miners and lumberjacks in a mountain community saloon brings her more than the notoriety she needs. She draws the attention of the town's hotel owner. If she plays her cards close to her chest and becomes his queen of hearts, the wealthy Scot could give her more than she dreamed. The day Lily Fox sauntered into his hotel with the poise of a self-assured woman, Declan Grainger knew trouble wasn't far behind. Stealing his heart was only the beginning...Declan realizes that underneath Lily's flamboyant behavior is a frightened, insecure woman searching for stability and a proper place in society.

Autumn Warren and her friend Cecily determine to have one last hurrah before the crazy whirl of planning Cecily's wedding. Autumn reluctantly agrees to lay off the barbed comments about her friend's imminent move to Italy (for no better reason than that Cecily fell in love) and the girls rent an apartment at Cambria's Paradise Pines Lodge for the entire fall season. Autumn's reluctant agreement to remain silent regarding her friend's upcoming marriage, in no way indicates a change of heart about letting a man into her own life. She's watched enough friends get married and divorced to sour her on the subject of love and the sanctity of marriage. (Autumn isn't exactly a religious person, but she doesn't believe in divorce, and seriously...given the current divorce statistics, why even risk it?)But when she meets Russ Amundsen and his adorable daughter, Dalynn, she finds herself in danger of losing her carefully guarded heart. And what is it about the mysterious Miss Angelina Love-who may or may not own Paradise Pines-that makes Autumn believe her heart never stood a chance once she set foot inside the lodge?

Ellie (Winter) Wonder has much bigger plans than being a local news anchor. National plans...maybe even international. She certainly won't be stuck in Ojai, California for the rest of her life. She's going places-faraway places, grand places she's only dreamed of so far. Then her brother's little puddle-jumper plane crashes in the Cambria pines, leaving them stuck in lovely old fishing lodge with a strange lady who has a knack for making Winter's mind go places it doesn't want to go. Places like Heaven, and God...and love. Brady Merckle leads a quiet life, far from the one he led as a youth-and he likes things just the way they are. Then Winter Wonder lands in Cambria, and Brady can't help enjoying her company. But she's a driven, determined journalist, and the last thing Brady needs is for some over-curious reporter to dig up his past. He'd best stay a whole village away from Winter. But then the saucy visitor extends her stay, and Miss Angie suddenly decides to spruce up the lodge...using Brady's plentiful brawn. He and Winter find themselves thrown unrelentingly together. Winter has landed, and a Miracle is about to happen.

The night a gunshot wound exposed her true identity, Charly Sinclair lost everything important to her. Braden MacGregor held antiquated ideas on what a proper job is for a woman. Those ideas would keep Charly from living her dream. She loved working with the stable of horses and driving a stagecoach. It was her life. Something she'd been born to do. Now, because she'd covered up her true identity with a lie, Charly couldn't find work. Depending on friends did not please her, but did she have a choice? Braden MacGregor was immovable on his decision to replace Charly. How could he miss what was right in front of him? He'd been humiliated.