Kathleen Ball has 22 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 16 narrators. The most-rated is Tara's Trials.
Shane's Bride
Summary
Rescued from Indians, Cecily McGuinness suffers from horrendous nightmare; ones that have her running from her lodging into the woods. She'll never be normal again and most of the townspeople look at her with disdain. All she ever wanted was a family and a place to call home. Sheriff Shane O'Connor is tired of tracking Cecily down each time she takes flight. Finally he makes her an offer to keep his house and help turn it into a farm. Her past doesn't taint her in his eyes. In fact he finds himself very attracted to her but keeps his distance. She'd suffered enough at the hands of Long Nose. Amid cheating gamblers, old friends who unexpectedly show up and a fire, a closeness develops between them. Cecily believes she isn't fit to be a wife anymore. Can Shane convince her heart and soul that she is indeed worthy of a great love?
©2016 Kathleen Ball (P)2016 Kathleen Ball
Poor Boy's Christmas
Summary
It's Christmas in Asherville, Texas, and Poor Boy finally comes home. He’s no longer the waif we grew to love; he is very much a man now. As the stage coach approaches his beloved town, he spots Sheriff Shane O’Conner riding off after a pair of bank robbers. Poor Boy, the new deputy, quickly finds a horse and races after them. One of the robbers is killed, and to his surprise, the other outlaw is a beautiful young woman. Molly McDonagh is heartbroken; the last of her family is dead. Now she’s in jail waiting to hang. Bounty hunters soon come to see if she is another wanted female outlaw, and Shane decides Poor Boy needs to take his prisoner to a ranch where they can hide out as brother and sister. How can something as sweet and wonderful as love be so very painful? Loving someone you know is going to swing from a rope is agony. Poor Boy knows Christmas is a time for miracles, but he’s never experienced one before. Can he truly give away his heart to someone who has no future? Can living for the moment be uplifting, or is it sheer heartbreak?
©2016 Kathleen Ball (P)2017 Kathleen Ball
Glory's Groom: Mail Order Brides of Sweet Water, Book 3
Summary
Glory’s life is being turned upside down. Her comfortable daily life as a teacher at The Wigg School and Foundling Home has ended. She'd lived there all her life. How will she survive without her friends? Her future now is to travel to Texas as a Mail Order Bride and be a teacher. Glory wonders if she is good enough for Kent Sandler. Glory has never spent time with a man before and as soon as she says “I do”, Kent’s mother-in-law shows up and hands him a two-year-old boy he had no knowledge of and rides off. Kent never wanted to get married again. Once was one time too many. But Parker Eastman offers a bet to his three best friends. Whoever gets married first will have a house built for them and Kent wins. Trouble comes to the town of Sweet Water in the guise of hooded men who terrorize the freed slaves. Parker Eastman decides to hire the freedmen and pay them the same wage as the other cowboys. It was a time of violence and suspicion in the South. Glory pushes on to teach and finds plenty of children on the ranch who did not have any education. Too many hopes and dreams are wrapped up in the school to allow it to fail. Through it all, both Kent and Glory admire each other’s courage and commitment but was that enough for a happy marriage?
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Shattered Trust
Summary
A Christian historical romance. Escaping her abuser, Veronica heads for Texas as a mail-order bride. She brings with her an unexpected baby and hopes and prays that Max will be accepting of her child. She also hopes she will be able to allow her husband to touch her. Max is stunned to see a secret baby, but he comes through as a cowboy hero and treats her as his own. He's not sure how to react to Veronica. She is jumpy and scared. He knows it'll be a long road to teach her that some men can be trusted. Then the dead father of her baby shows up. Can they both come to the realization that both love and trust are what makes a forever type of marriage? Or will past betrayals and new secrets ruin what could have been?
©2018 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Cinders' Bride
Summary
Shannon McMurphy travels to Asherville, Texas as a mail order bride expecting to marry a rancher. Instead, her intended is a saloonkeeper. Her refusal to marry enrages John Hardy and he slices her cheek with a knife so no other man would want her. She runs into the street and no one helps her until blond, blue-eyed Cinders rescues her. Sexy rancher Cinders saves Shannon and offers her a job. To protect her reputation he must marry her. They both agree it's a marriage of convenience. He admires her spunk and willingness to learn everything about surviving the Texas frontier. He waits for her to ask to go home but she never does. They learn a lot about each other through, stolen horses, Indian troubles, a cattle drive and the busybodies of the town. Their attraction for each other grows, but can they learn to trust enough to love? Join me in Asherville, Texas and see how this love story unfolds.
©2015 Kathleen Ball (P)2016 Kathleen Ball
Faltered Beginnings
Summary
A Christian historical western romance Mary Beth arrives at the Eastman ranch planning to marry Lex Willis. To her dismay Lex is already married to Iris, the love of his life. Mary Beth then confesses she’d been attacked by the same man who tried to attack Iris in Button Hills, Texas. Mary Beth also struggles with forgiveness and searches for the answer. Marry Beth grew up wealthy and cared for in every way until her father throws her out. With nowhere to go and in need of a father for her expected child she accepts the first proposal that comes her way. Ross Carter only has one true desire in life: to own a house. If he marries, Parker Eastman will build one for him. His own father had ingrained in Ross that love is for losers. He decides to marry Mary Beth, not for love but for a house. Married life is very awkward and to make things worse the man who attacked both Mary Beth and Iris is set on harming them. Can Ross and Marry Beth find common ground for the sake of the baby? Will they learn to trust each other enough to keep each other safe from the man determined to take both Mary Beth, her child, and Iris?
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Keegan's Bride
Summary
Keegan Quinn watches the passengers disembark wondering where his mail order bride is. All he sees is a woman with a husband and child. Upon approaching the young woman, he discovers she is his bride, and she has a daughter she never mentioned. As they cross the street, the little girl screams for her daddy and points to the man who accompanied them on the stage. Rancher Keegan Quinn is furious. The married woman swindled him into paying passage for her and her child. It was foolhardy to think a mail order bride would want him. He rides out of town as fast as he can, vowing never to look back. It's a loco dream to think he can have a family while constantly looking over his shoulder. Addy has no idea why Peg calls the new sheriff daddy. It cost her Keegan, the man she hoped to make a life with. She has many secrets, but the sheriff is not one of them. She needs Keegan to keep her safe from her past in Boston. Once he learns the truth, he'll send her back, but it's a chance she's willing to take. Can two people who have so much love to give, realize they actually love each other?
©2016 Kathleen Ball (P)2016 Kathleen Ball
Tramp's Bride
Summary
Handsome cowboy Tramp Hart left his home and friends over a year ago. He's finally back to make amends and take his place on the ranch. That is until he walks into the house he designed and finds a woman living there. He needs a plan to get her out so he can move in. Mail order bride Ilene Duffy traveled from New York City to Asherville, Texas only to find out her marriage contract was no longer valid. Rancher Cinders and his wife Shannon offer her an empty house on their land. Ilene has no intentions of getting married. Join me in Asherville, Texas and watch Tramp's antics as he tries one thing after another to get Ilene out of his house. Tramp had finally met his match.
©2016 Kathleen Ball (P)2016 kathleen Ball
Battered Soul
Summary
In the aftermath of the Civil War so many people struggled to put their lives back together.
Iris Sands travels from Virginia to Texas as a mail-order bride. When she arrives in Sweet Water she finds that the man who sent for her died. The Union Soldiers thought her to be a new saloon girl and thought to get to her first before she started working.
Lex Willis and ex-Confederate Soldier was about to leave town when he saw Iris being tossed back and forth by the soldiers. He puts a stop to it and takes her to the Eastman Ranch. He swore never to marry but Iris makes him rethink his vow.
Lex soon finds out that Iris’ family were killed for being spies during the war. The worst part is her family spied for the Union. Had she given information to the enemy that led to the massive losses suffered by the Confederate Army?
©2019 kathleen ball (P)2019 kathleen ball
A Lifetime to Share
Summary
When life has shown you death, can you bring yourself to love again? Eli Todd is a tall, handsome captain of a wagon train bound for Oregon. Life has taught him if he allows people into his heart, he ends up losing them. Amelia Cruthers is a pretty, young woman with a limp. She’s a hard worker who starts out the trip to Oregon with her parents, until they try to leave her behind. In shock, she watches them cross a river by ferry without her. Thankfully, the kind, strong Eli Todd takes her with him. Admiring her spunk and work ethic, he gives her a job cooking for the crew. After a fall from his horse, Amelia tends him and he realizes she is sweetness on earth. Her parents demand he marry Amelia, since she spent time alone with him, nursing him. Eli figures why not? He won’t be home most of the year anyway, and Amelia could have a safe place to live on his ranch. What could possibly go wrong? Amelia never thought to be married. She’d been told her hip was too hideous for a man to look upon and that she couldn’t have children. Knowing that she could never be a real wife, the love she begins to feel for Eli frightens her. The distance they try to place between them doesn’t work, leaving them both hurt with longings that could never be fulfilled. But there are secrets, and when they realize they’d been lied to, do they take the leap at a lifetime to share?
©2017 Kathleen Ball (P)2018 Kathleen Ball
Dawn's Destiny
Summary
Dawn’s life shatters as she watches her family die and then is kidnapped by Indians. Dawn is badly treated and finally thrown off a cliff. Swift Eagle brings her to his friend on the wagon train, Luella. Dawn has much healing to do. She can heal her body, and she spends much time reading her Bible, but she can’t bear to tell anyone what happened to her, and she doesn’t like to be touched. Heath Leary is looking forward to a future with no ties. He plans to build his ranch and then, maybe, settle down someday. He carries Dawn to the wagon to heal, and she becomes his responsibility. He resents her, and the shame she carries for living with Indians. Dawn can’t bear to have anyone touch her, but she trusts Heath. Constantly worried about her future, Heath offers her a job in Oregon. Sadly, she finds out he really wants nothing to do with her and her heart, which finally allows Heath in, breaks.She’s already been hurt beyond measure, and too late, he realizes he loves her. Can Heath convince Dawn he’s made an awful mistake?
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Tattered Hearts
Summary
Amid the aftermath of the Civil War, Georgie O'Rourke, the last surviving member of her family, decides her only choice is to leave her beloved state of Tennessee by answering a mail-order bride advertisement. With only a few items of rag, like clothing, she travels the Southwest Trail by covered wagon to meet up with her groom in Texas. Captain Parker Eastman, formally of the Confederate Army, travels from his cattle ranch to the Southwest Trail to intercept a woman his mother hired as a companion. He soon finds out that Georgie traveled to Texas to become his wife. Duty-bound to make right on his mother's promise of marriage, he marries the Southern belle. But she is unlike any pampered woman he'd ever known. She was a survivor and did what needed to be done to make a future for herself. Reconstruction in the South is anything but peaceful. Anger and hatred are harbored on both sides. Fear and violence become the norm. People are no longer the same as they were before the war. Upon arriving at the ranch, Parker leaves Georgia in the hands of his mentally unstable mother in order to address land grabbers. Mother Eastman thinks that Georgie is to blame for everything that was lost in the war, leaving Georgie beaten and broken. Can Parker find the wife he'd come to love and admire beneath the terrified and untrusting woman she'd become? This historical western romance is full of twists, suspense, and amazing romance.
©2018 Kathleen Ball (P)2018 Kathleen Ball
Fairer Than Any: Christian Mail-Order Bride Series
Summary
A sweet historical western romance: Daisy Weathers travels to Texas as a mail order bride. The would-be groom takes one look at her scarred face and walks away without her knowing. Finding out she’d been jilted, Daisy is humiliated and despondent. There would be no second chance wedding for her. Sterling, a handsome cowboy is rolled out of the back of a wagon and left. He’s been injured and now it’s life or death. Since the end of the Civil war he’s been busy trying to keep his outlaw brother from hanging. Now when it’s almost too late he wishes he had found a wife, settled down and had children. In this historical christian mail-order bride novel, Daisy is penniless and works to help Sterling heal. Trouble finds her which sends them both on a journey of the heart, doubts, mishaps, and realization. This is the sixth book of the Mail Order Brides of Sweet Water Series by award winning, best-selling, Amazon all-star author, Kathleen Ball. Don’t miss the other american historical western romance books in this series: Tattered Heart Shattered Trust Glory’s Groom Battered Souls Faltered Beginings Fairer Than Any
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Luella's Longing
Summary
Luella Barnes jumps off the wagon so she can walk along the Oregon Trail. Unfortunately, her dress gets caught, and her leg is run over by one of the wagon wheels. When her father sees that she is unable to do the chores, he tells her she is on her own. No one offers to take the injured woman into their covered wagon. She is given a place in the extra wagon used by three handsome drovers who work for Harrison Walsh. They know to show her the proper respect a young, unmarried woman deserves. Handsome Irishman Declan Leary is finally a free man in a free country. He is haunted by the people who died during the Irish Famine and those he left behind. Luella’s big heart draws him, but he will never love again. When it’s learned that Luella’s father has tried to sell her to a man, gossip starts, and Declan finds himself in the middle of the whole mess. In order to preserve her reputation, he is forced to marry her. Can they find common ground amid the growing gossip of a secret baby? Throughout the action, adventure and mishaps Luella longs for one thing. She prays that God shows her the path she is to take. Don’t miss this emotionally powerful historical western romance. Luella’s Longing is book two in the Romance on the Oregon Trail series. Don’t miss the first book, Cora’s Courage.
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
A Love Worth Searching For
Summary
Jed Todd has been looking for Lily since the day she was abducted along the Oregon Trail. This time he is the wagon master. Word comes that his trapper friends have found and bought Lily for him. He rides fast and fierce to get to her and is relieved to find her in one piece. The way he felt about her before she'd been stolen wasn't a figment of his imagination. From the moment he saw her again, he knew his love was real. Lily isn't well received by the others on the wagon train and realizes that having a relationship with Jed would only hinder him in life. He'd never be accepted in polite society. Once in Oregon, she plans to leave for Washington territory to live alone. Attempts on her life and the life of a young girl make Lily realize that she and Jed share a love worth searching for.
©2017 Kathleen Ball (P)2018 Kathleen Ball
We've Only Just Begun
Summary
When vows are said out of necessity, can love really grow? Susan Farr loses her parents and her home in one swoop. She takes her horse and rides to Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train and start a new life. Mike Todd, the wagon master, doesn’t allow single women to have their own wagons. It causes fights and distractions. Susan solves her problem by marrying Clancy Willis in name only. Unfortunately, Clancy’s true nature doesn’t take long to show, and Susan finds herself married to a drunkard. Along the trail, once again, Susan is forced to marry another man in name only, and this time it is Mike Todd. As soon as they make it to Oregon, they plan to have the marriage annulled, but their hearts become hopelessly entangled. Mike Todd has two brothers to raise. They are guides on the wagon train, and he decided long ago he’d raise them and forget about having a wife and child of his own. Little does he know that he’d find a forever type of love. Both vow to sacrifice their hearts’ desire to give the other happiness. Will they come to realize their lives and love have only just begun?
©2017 Kathleen Ball (P)2018 Kathleen Ball
Candle Glow and Mistletoe Christmas (A Christian Romance)
Summary
Christmas in Oregon is like no other. It’s full of love and danger, heart-wrenching twists and turns, and pause-resisting excitement. The tender romance is inspiring and heartfelt. The characters of love on the romance trail are nine years older. Great strides are been made, families grow and the romance continues. Swift Eagle struggles through extreme snow to make it to the ranch. He needs to see his dear friend, Luella before he moves on. He has decided that marriage is not for him and he’s going to Canada where he can still hunt and live a peaceful life. Rhetta is 19 and has been told she wasn’t a decent, acceptable person because she was captured by Indians when she was 10-years-old and lived with them for less than a year. She is somehow considered tainted. She makes a life for herself on the ranch, hunting, fishing, camping, and she is most comfortable in her buckskins. But something strange happens; she can feel Swift Eagle even when he’s not with her. It warms her and frightens her at the same time. She knows he’s leaving but she can’t stop her attraction to him. This Christian historical western is chocked full of action and anticipation. There’s a kidnapping, a shooting, major snow storms, and of course both Swift Eagle and Rhetta ignore the attraction between them. Swift Eagle plans to move on and Rhetta sadly knows she’ll never be a bride. Everything looks better in candle glow and feels better standing under the mistletoe.
©2019 kathleen ball (P)2019 kathleen ball
Cora's Courage
Summary
Cora feels indebted to the man, Eddie, who saved her and her baby Esther. She travels on the Oregon Trail with him. He intimidates her and has her doing most of the work. He’s jealous, and she knows not to look in another man’s direction. An early snowstorm leaves her in danger of frostbite, and when Harrison Walsh carries her off to his wagon to be treated, Eddie becomes enraged and drops Cora’s trunk off at Harrison’s wagon. Harrison Walsh was happily married until three months ago, when his wife died. Their dream was to have their own ranch and start a family. Now, he’s alone and brokenhearted. When the rest of the wagon train party learns Cora is not married to Eddie, rumors fly, and to save her reputation, Harrison is made to marry Cora. To his surprise, Cora is not the meek women she was when riding with Eddie. He finds himself drawn to this woman of strength and falls for the baby. Cora and Harrison both agreed to a marriage of convenience. But when Esther’s father shows up alive, Cora has a big decision to make....
©2019 Kathleen Ball (P)2019 Kathleen Ball
Love So Deep
Summary
Banned from the wagon train, Samantha Foley wanders through the Colorado Mountains. An early winter storms arrives leaving her at its frozen mercy. Ruggedly handsome mountain man Patrick McCrery comes to her rescue. Patrick, half white and half Indian, he fits in neither world. He lives a solitary life as a trapper. He certainly does not want to get involved with the beautiful Samantha Foley. Knowing she is leaving at the first spring thaw, Samantha tries to guard her heart but sometimes her guard slips leaving her totally and utterly in love with her handsome hero. When she is finally left in town at the bottom of the mountain, she can't help but gaze at the mountain trail wishing with all her heart that Patrick would appear. Can love shine through distrust, discrimination, and accusations? Only if it's deep enough.
©2015 Kathleen Ball (P)2017 kathleen ball
So Many Roads to Choose
Summary
From best-selling, award-winning author Kathleen Ball comes audiobook four of the #1 best-selling series Oregon Dreamin'. It’s finally time for Smitty to settle down after all of his trips on the Oregon Trail. He has Lynn and a houseful of orphans, but he also had a wife who he’s always been faithful to. Brenda lied and said she was with child, Smitty’s child, over ten years ago. It’s time to dissolve their marriage. Upon arriving at Brenda’s house, he finds Brenda and her mother May dying of tuberculosis and just as ornery as ever. Lynn knows Smitty is married and respects the vows he took. He finally comes home, but in his grief he decides to leave Lynn and the kids. Lynn can’t stay in a house that doesn’t belong to her, so she answers an ad and leaves to become a farmer’s wife, taking her children with her. It was the biggest mistake of her life as the farmer is abusive. Smitty rescues them. Both Lynn and Smitty have doubts about their special love for each other. Can Smitty sway Lynn to be his forever or will she choose to travel a different road?
©2018 Kathleen Ball (P)2018 Kathleen Ball