Wainwright Family Saga

Alice Wainwright can't remove the port wine stain birthmark that brands her face, but she can remove the stigma of spinsterhood by agreeing to a loveless marriage.Gambling wastrel, Joshua Whitehead, wants her money. Alice simply wants to hide away from society and relieve her brother of his family responsibility. But hiding away isn't an option when Joshua's groom, Hawk, steps out of the shadows and breaks up her engagement.Anger and pride fuel Hawk's stubborn vow to make his own way in the world and turn his employer's ill-mannered stallion into a champion racehorse, but he can't turn a blind eye to a woman in peril. The blinded Civil War veteran is in need of friend, and Alice is in need of a champion to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life. Yet, as Alice and Hawk's worlds collide and friendship turns to love, both hold back a part of their hearts that hides a secret fear.Unfortunately, Joshua knows about the skeletons in Alice's closet, and where all the bodies are buried in Hawk's fragile psyche. He's not above blackmail, and uses their secrets against them. In a desperate attempt to break free from Joshua's clutches, Hawk and Alice risk everything to save each other. But is it too late to face the truth about themselves before they're torn apart?

Widow, Lydia Wainwright, travels west to Kansas to begin a new life as a frontier schoolmarm, but a train wreck derails her plans and leaves her burned and injured.Drew Spurlock races to the wreck and mistakes the delirious Lydia for his long-lost cousin, Minnie, a woman he contracted to care for his two love-starved children.Suffering from amnesia, Lydia is nursed back to health by Drew and the children. During her convalescence she strives to believe Drew's version of her life, yet each time she faces her image in the mirror, she's wracked with doubts about her true identity. As she cares for Drew's children and stubbornly throws herself into her new life, she embraces the freedom of Kansas and the stirrings of the women's suffrage movement.Drawn to her independent spirit and quick wit, Drew is disturbed by facts that don't add up. His cousin Minnie was never a woman to ride horse back, and when did she suddenly develop such a passion for farm animals? He fears he's made a mistake, but when he digs for answers and unearths the truth, he delays revealing his secret so Lydia will stay.When Lydia remembers her identity and discovers the secret Drew has kept from her, she struggles to make the right choice. Can she respect and trust a man she loves who allowed her to live a lie, or must she leave him and the two children who are as dear to her as life itself?