Mariah's Hope Mariah's future is hopeless. Or so it seems, until she receives an offer to teach school in Cedar Bend, Kansas. Thirty-six-year-old spinster Mariah Casey accepts the new position and prays the Lord will bring her someone to love. The Lord answers with an orphaned four-year-old named Hope, a family, and friends. Surely, romance is too much to ask for... Widower and rancher Sherman Butler has committed his life to Christ and his daughter Carrie. When Miss Casey arrives and clashes with Carrie, Sherm is torn between his heart and his family. He longs to love her, yet she avoids him. Could Carrie's harshness be the reason? Will wounded hearts refuse the Lord's way of peace? Or could Mariah's hope lie in a future with Sherm?

Circle of Vengeance When a handsome drifter rescues Carrie Butler from her runaway buggy, she things he may be the fulfillment of all her dreams. But is John Thornton really the chivalrous "mysterious stranger" of Carrie's thoughts? Or does his sudden appearance have a darker purpose? The foreman of the Circle C Ranch thinks the young ranch hand is hiding something--and wonders about his interest in the old Nolan place. When Carrie begins to ask questions about the burned-out Nolan homestead, people want to change the subject. What secrets lie buried there? Without doubt, Carrie's life as about to change, but will it be for good or evil? Will her love for John Thornton bring salvation to her heart or the destruction of her family?

Joanna's Adventure Life in Cedar Bend, Kansas, has become one predictable day after another. Joanne Brady helps her father with his patients, smiles sweetly at her beau, and secretly chafes over the boredom of it all. She wonders, is this really all life is meant to be? Where is the romance? The adventures? And then one day she asks God to send her someone exciting and unpredictable...and dangerous. Clay Shepherd has been on the road all his life, moving from one wrangler job to the next, never staying long enough to put down roots. Unexpected events draw him back to the one place - and one girl - he remembers fondly. When Clay arrives in Cedar Bend, Joanna finds herself drawn to the charisma and excitment that surround him. But she knowns he isn't a Christian and she shouldn't be unequally yoked. So why does she feel Clay might be the answer to her prayers?