Publisher's Synopsis
Collection of three books: Abby: Mail Order Bride; Broken Angel; and Ryder's Salvation Abby: Mail Order Bride Brant Samson has fallen on hard times. His beloved wife died a year earlier of lung fever and now he's desperate to find a mother for his three children. Ten year old Jenny does her best to care for two year old Ty, and fourteen year old Luke works the ranch with his father, losing himself in dime novels to ease the pain of his mother's death. Brant's options are limited since eligible women seldom pass through Two Rivers, much less settle in the small Texas town. In desperation, he places a classified advertisement for a mail order bride. Abigail Mary Vaughn always dreamed of having her own family, but caring for her elderly parents ended that dream. Her parents are now dead and she's faced with the reality of her lonely existence. After reading Mr. Samson's advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer, she garners enough courage to respond. Since she is considered an old maid at the age of thirty-eight, she'll more than likely spend the rest of her life in gut-wrenching loneliness unless she does something unconventional. Broken Angel Luke Samson is a successful writer at the youthful age of twenty-five. His life is going along as planned and he has no desire to marry for at least a few years. While dining in a Dallas restaurant, he overhears an intriguing conversation and receives his first look at Angel St. Clair, the woman who will forever change his carefully laid plans. Although she has been blessed with angelic beauty, her heart is shattered. Can Luke restore this broken woman? Angel St. Clair's sole desire is to hire a suitable husband to escort her safely to the bakery she has purchased in San Francisco. To that end, she ran a classified advertisement for a mail order husband. Her life savings has gone into acquiring her business and she hopes to find, if not happiness, at least contentment after suffering a life of tragedy and heartache. Ryder's Salvation Jenny Samson, sister of Luke (book two) and daughter of Brant (book one), is a gifted artist. She has moved from her country home in Texas to attend Jake Ryder's Academy of Art in New York. She has long dreamed of meeting Mr. Ryder, the great artist known as the Painter of Emotions, but when she does, his criticism of her paintings devastates her. Jake Ryder lost his right arm in a carriage accident. It was the final sorrow in a life of sorrow. Now he lives a lonely existence, rarely leaving his estate outside of New York city. The sweet paintings of Jenny Samson incense the artist in him because life is not sweet, nor kind, nor lovely, and he lashes out at the plain country girl during a gallery exhibition of her works. Soon, however, he will discover there is more to Jenny that he anticipated.
