The Rival's Bride

Josephine Carter arrives in Bandera, Texas, expecting to marry a wealthy rancher and begin a secure new life. Instead, she steps down from the coach and learns that Matthew Cross is dead, his ranch is in ruins, and she has nowhere to go. Robert Harding never meant to marry his rival's bride. For fifteen years, Robert has fought to keep his family ranch from the Cross family's greed, bitterness, and stolen water. When he realizes that the refined young woman from Virginia is arriving alone and unaware that her intended husband is gone, his conscience will not let him turn away. He offers Josephine the only protection he can give: his name, his home, and a marriage made before God. Jo knows she has no reason to trust a stranger. Yet Robert Harding is nothing like the arrogant man who sent for her. He is quiet, honorable, wounded by grief, and determined to shelter her from a harsh frontier. As Jo learns the rhythms of ranch life, and Robert discovers that love can grow from duty into something far deeper, both must face the sorrows they believed God had left unanswered. But when an accident threatens the fragile happiness they have built, Jo and Robert must learn that the Lord's hand can be at work even through loss, fear, and broken roads. The Rival's Bride is perfect for readers who enjoy clean and wholesome Christian romance, mail order bride romance, frontier romance, western historical romance, Texas ranch romance, marriage of convenience, enemies-to-lovers tension, forced proximity, faith-filled love stories, Christian fiction, inspirational romance, protective heroes, resilient heroines, small-town frontier communities, and stories of providence, forgiveness, healing, and God's grace.