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 boarding house in order to support herself. Despite her desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local sheriff with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: Patience needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse, and Jedediah needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But Patience gets more than she bargained for as she explores the depths of the "hanging lawman"—and finds both betrayal and love.With a keen eye to historical detail and a deft hand at romantic tension, Maggie Brendan invites readers to a Montana gold rush boomtown, where vices and virtues are on full display and love is lying in wait.

Set in 1890s Montana, Brendan's second book perfectly captures life on the American frontier, populated by rugged, independent souls on the quest for love.

A mail-order bride comes to the American West with hopes of a good life and a fresh start in this gentle prairie romance. The Blue Willow Brides book 1.

With a ranch to run Grace Bidwell has little time to think about love. When a handsome ranch hand comes looking for work, will she allow herself to hope for a new future?

April McBride has suffered a broken engagement once before and 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 this won’t be difficult—just a bunch of dusty shops, bad service, and ill-bred cowboys. But a run-in with a horse trainer named Wes Owen opens up vast possibilities for frustration, embarrassment, friendship, and . . . love? Can April and Wes see past their differences in order to envision a future together? Readers will love going on this adventurous, spark-filled ride through turn-of-the-century Montana. Praise for Maggie Brendan: “Brendan’s gentle style of prairie romance is reminiscent of Janette Oke . . . capturing the heart of the old West 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

Rachel Matthews isn't one to rely on others to take care of her. Destitute and alone, she still wants to make her own way and her own money—even if she's forced into the life of a dance hall girl. Horrified by her circumstances, Rachel's brother sends a friend—the widely admired cattle baron John McIntyre—to rescue her, then sets off to earn enough money to buy back the family ranch. But when months pass without her brother's return, Rachel isn't sure she can take one more day in John McIntyre's home—especially once she discovers that he's the one who holds the deed to her family's ranch.Sparks fly between this spunky, independent heroine and the ruggedly handsome hero as they navigate the snarled terrain of pride, greed, faith, and love in Maggie Brendan's delightful series set in the Old West.