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Revell Books
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VIRTUES AND VICES OF THE OLD WEST SERIES


TRUSTING GRACE


All of her life, Grace Bidwell has longed for children but now the chances of her dreams coming true are looking slim. Widowed and caring for her elderly father, she struggles to maintain her late husband's farm until she places an ad for a hired hand.

Robert Frasier arrives in town with three pitiful bedraggled children who have nothing but the tattered clothes on their backs and a load of hurt, pride, and anger. Believing this is divine intervention in her life, Grace welcome them with open arms. As feelings grow between her and Robert, Grace will have to convince him that she is a woman who can be trusted with his heart.

Get swept away into Montana's lush Gallatin Valley, nestled among towering mountains and proud pines, in this emotional story.


A SWEET MISFORTUNE

Rachel Matthews isn't one to rely on others to take care of her. Homeless and alone, she still wants to make her way and her own money to buy back the family ranch--even if she's forced into the life of a dance hall girl. Horrified by her circumstances, Rachel's brother, who is away mining for gold sends a friend to rescue her.

Cattle baron John McIntyre is focused on acquiring as much land as possible in Montana and has little time to deal with a dance hall gal. Rachel isn't sure she can take one more day in John's home--especially once she discovers that he's the one who holds ransom the key to her family's future.

Sparks fly between this spunky, independent heroine and ruggedly handsome hero as they navigate the snarled terrain of pride, greed, faith, and love in Maggie Brendan's delightful series in the Old West.






THE TROUBLE WITH PATIENCE

Patience Cavanaugh has lost hope in romance. The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with the restoration of a dilapidated boardinghouse in order to support herself.

Despite Patience’s desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local marshal with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: She needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse. He needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But as she gets to know this “hanging lawman,” Patience finds there is far more to him than meets the eye—and it could destroy their tenuous relationship forever.
With a keen eye for historical detail and a deft hand at romantic tension, Maggie Brendan invites you to a Montana gold rush boomtown, where vices and virtues are on full display and love is lying in wait.
The Blue Willow Bride series...

Perfectly Matched - Book 3 in THE BLUE WILLOW BRIDES

Anna Olsen knows it's time to leave her sister's increasingly crowded house and start a life of her own. Following her sisters' examples, she becomes a mail-order bride, and after a short correspondence with clock maker and jeweler Edward Parker, she moves to Denver to become his wife. Almost immediately it's painfully apparent that Anna and Edward are very different. Anna is a free spirit who would rather be painting and enjoying the company of friends than cleaning house. Edward is a consummate perfectionist who, on their wedding day, hands Anna a list of chores that need to be done around the house daily.

Can this mismatched couple see past their differences to a harmonious future? Or will their disparate passions create obstacles neither is willing to surmount?

Maggie Brendan closes her Blue Willow Brides series with a heartwarming tale of true love despite misunderstanding, showing readers that God's timing is always perfect.


Twice Promised - Book 2 in THE BLUE WILLOW BRIDES


Seeing how successful her older sister's "mail order marriage" has been and longing to strike out on her own, Greta Olsen answers an ad for a mail order bride in Central City, Colorado. But when she meets Jess Gifford, owner of a thriving mercantile, she begins to harbor doubts. He didn't place the ad to begin with and his business in a busy mining town leaves him little time or
energy for love. To compound her troubles, she was not the only bride to answer the ad! Will either bride strike the match she hopes for?

Filled with amusing and awkward situations that will keep the reader interested and guessing, Twice Promised is another sweet romance from Maggie Brendan.





Releasing September 2011
Deeply Devoted ~ Back Cover:

A Blue Willow tea set, a tragic past, a worn letter, and devotion to her two younger sisters, is all that mail order bride Catharine Olsen brings from Amsterdam to Cheyenne, WY to meet her future husband. 

Peter is a gentle, but hard-working wheat farmer, who doesn't realize the extent his meddling mother will go to in order to discredit his bride after he decides not to marry the lady she chose for him. Will Catharine's secret past threaten the idyllic life she has created with her new husband?

Visit Revell Publishing for more info



-- Romantic Times Book Reviews, www.RTBookReviews.com


Enjoy romance in the old west with Maggie's Heart of the West series...




No Place for A Lady ~ Back Cover:

Longing for a new start, Crystal Clark arrives amid the splendor of the high country in June 1892. After the death of her father, Cyrstal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt's cattle ranch. Depsite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land--even if a certain handsome foreman named Luke doubts her abilities.

Just when she things she's getting a handle on the constant mail attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes. And saving the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner means Crystal must take charge of a cattle drive, ready or not. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated?






The Jewel of His Heart ~ Back Cover:

Juliana Brady is alone in an 1890s Montana mining town, with few prospects for making a living. But she is determined not to be dependent on the charity of others.

Josh McBride is trying to scrape up a living from his sheep herd while he builds his ranch. But when he discovers some rare stones on his property, he's tempted by the prospect of fast money.

When their paths cross, Juliana and Josh must make a choice--the world's riches and promises, or the eternal value of love.



A Love of Her Own ~ Back Cover:

Still cautious after a broken engagement, April McBride fully intends to guard her heart when she travels to Lewistown, Montana, to attend her brother's wedding. One look around the small mining town convinces April that doing so won't be difficult--just a bunch of dusty shops, bad service, and ill-bred cowboys. But a run-in with horse trainer Wes Owen opens up vast possibilities for frustrations, embarrassment, friendship, and...love?

Can April and Wes see past their differences to envision a future together? Or are they destined to live the rest of their lives alone?

Book three in the HEART OF THE WEST series, A Love of Her Own is an adventurous, spark-filled ride through love in turn of the century Montana.




What readers are saying:


You won’t want to set this book down until you reach the final resolution. It has multiple love stories layered beautifully and passionately. Book one in the Heart of the West series takes readers on a cattle drive through the mountainous countryside of Colorado and to places where feelings run deeper than the valleys. It leaves you waiting and wanting book two.
—ROMANTIC TIMES 4.5 STARS


For fans of Lori Wick and Kim Vogel Sawyer, Maggie Brendan’s beautifully woven story captures the rugged, adventurous life on the American frontier—and the quest for love by the pioneers who live there.




Grab your hat and hold on to the reins for an exciting ride! An exciting historical novel by a rising new author.
—DiAnn Mills, Award-winning author – When the Nile Runs, Beyond the Memories, Awaken My Heart, and Lightning and Lace


When a rough-and-tumble cowboy meets a genteel lady from the South, sparks fly...but "sparks" is a good way to start a fire. This gentle romance set amongst the rugged beauty of the Colorado foothills will warm a reader's heart.
—Kim Vogel Sawyer, Bestselling Author of My Heart Remembers and the Sommerfeld Trilogy


“Maggie Brendan is adept at weaving a sweet love story, and The Jewel of His Heart showcases her penchant for capturing the Old West in authentic dialogue, in vivid descriptions, and in the struggle of two hearts destined to become one. Within these pages indeed lies a jewel.”
Tamera Alexander, Bestselling author of From a Distance, Beyond This Moment, and The Inheritance


“With its tender love story and vivid imagery of a time gone by, Maggie Brendan’s gentle style of prairie romance is reminiscent of Janette Oke, capturing the heart of both the Old West and the reader with romance that will make you sigh.”
Julie Lessman, author of the Daughters of Boston series


Brendan blends colorful characters, lively dialogue, and intriguing historical details.
Amanda  Cabot, author of Paper Roses and Scattered Petals



ROMANTIC TIMES

Authors in the Spotlight
Book Title: A LOVE OF HER OWN

Description: She has everything her heart desires . . . except the one thing money can't buy Still cautious after a broken engagement, April McBride fully intends to guard her heart when she travels to Lewistown, Montana, to attend her brother's wedding. But a run-in with horse trainer Wes Owen opens up vast possibilities for frustration, embarrassment, friendship, and . . . love?


Author Spotlight: Maggie Brendan
Have you had the opportunity to see the fantastic modern interpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass? If so, then you caught more than Johnny Depp still being impossibly handsome; you were also captured by the spirit of optimism and escape--the spirit of the West. You also saw Biblical inspiration brought to life as Carroll's original work functions around the verse “For now we see through a glass, darkly…now all we know is hazy and blurred, but then we will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into our hearts right now.” 1Cor. 13:12 (The King James and The Living Bible Paraphrased).
One of the most compelling things about love is the individuality that it allows us to feel as human beings. A Love of Her Own explores the heart of the individual when his or her life is graced by love.
In book one, No Place for a Lady, April McBride emerges as needing her own story because she is spoiled and self-centered. But love based on grace plays no favorites. In other words, the more flawed one is, the greater that person’s need and potential for love. April has a beautiful exterior but a deeply flawed inner character. Similarly, Wes Owen has his own flaws. The combination of these two individuals produces a revelatory explanation of the nuances of love that redeems. Although, April has relied on her father’s money, her beauty and intelligence, she has never tapped into the true source of a higher power.
April is like an ornament at the beginning of the story, an all too disposable quality. She doesn’t know herself and is caught up in the desires of the world. Too often in today’s society, women are still seen as ornamental, and consequently have self-esteem issues that run very, very deep. You only have to see the ads on TV or in women’s magazines to see how youth, beauty, money or the power of all of these translate into success.
April learns how to drive a stagecoach and knowing this saves her life and others' lives when they are under attack. She also meets some lovely Christian women who exhibit a Christ like hospitality and love that in turn, teaches her how to love others unselfishly and give of herself unconditionally. Subsequently, her inner beauty matches her outward beauty along with the discovery of her own self-worth.
Don’t read this book looking for picture perfect romance or people. Read this book if you have ever felt abandoned, lost, alone or not worthy of true love.