Freedom and adventure are the last thing on the mind of Tom Westerly, a young English gardener who has been taught to believe “Them as sticks their heads out gets ’em lopped off.” But when an impulsive act of bravery brings betrayal, Tom escapes the gallows by fleeing to America as an indentured servant. Cut off from his native land soon after America’s recently won War for Independence, Tom finds that he is no longer satisfied living under the thumb of so-called “superiors,” and sets his sights on the newly opened Ohio country, where a man can live life on his own terms. But Tom’s effort is complicated when a high-spirited American girl’s offer of love threatens to tie him down forever.

An opera singer without a voice … a lost set of priceless heirloom jewelry … and a small-town production of The Pirates of Penzance. All these come together when rising opera singer Paisley Perleman loses her voice in a deadly car crash and retreats to a small town in Northern Californa’s wine country to recover in a historic Queen Anne-style house she has recently inherited. There Paisley learns her inheritance includes a cache of valuable lost jewels—if she can find them. With the help of a charismatic architect, she’s hot on the trail—and learns someone else is seeking the jewels, who is willing to kill for them.

A mysterious childhood visit leaves wealthy factory heiress Letty Leighton wondering if she’s an interloper in her privileged life. Inspired by idealistic Victorian writers, she spends her fortune to create a “scientific community” like the United States’ Oneida Colony and Brook Farm. To do so, Letty must enter a marriage of convenience with Patrick Marlowe, an anti-imperialist maverick who she finds as hard to manage as New Hope’s residents. When outside rumors, violence, and an inflammatory accusation threaten to destroy the community, Letty and Patrick join forces to find their mutual enemy, who has targeted New Hope to end Patrick’s political career and will stop at nothing—even murder. Is it too late to save both New Hope and their fledgling love?

After witnessing their parents’ brutal murder, young pioneers Annabelle and her brother hide in a hidden valley in the Cascade Mountains until Ben Marlowe, a former Civil War captain, discovers them. When Ben tries to help the pair to rejoin the outside world, he finds himself not only falling in love with Annabelle, but threatened by the murderous bandit who orphaned her. When Ben’s best friend Chance McInnes, a bank robber with a conscience, joins them, the trio seek justice by tracking down the murderer. Can Annabelle and Ben secure their future together while helping Chance leave behind his life as a fugitive?

It’s Christmas in Ohio in 1816, and Mabel Rose meets a tall, penniless Scottish immigrant who proposes marriage only minutes after they meet. Mabel Rose figures she’ll easily rid herself of Preston McInnes by sending him on an impossible task, but the determined Scotsman doesn’t know the meaning of “impossible.” Has Mabel Rose finally met her match? This holiday novella, a dramatic sequel to The Gardener’s Tale and prequel to Chance’s Bluff, tells a love story that connects generations.