Cathy Marie Hake has written some of my most favorite stories! These are the kind of books you want to read again and again.
California Historical SERIES
Letter Perfect
Ruth Caldwell has always tried to live up to her mother's expectations of what a lady should be...often with less-than-impressive results. But when she's forced to journey west to meet the father she's never seen, Ruth hopes that this might be the place she'll finally fit in. But her arrival brings about more mayhem than even Ruth is used to. She soon meets Josh McCain, the son of her father's business partner, but discovers some startling news: Her father passed away years ago. And though Josh urges Ruth to claim her inheritance, he grows suspicious of something more sinister at hand when her "accidents" seem to go beyond Ruth's normal bumbling ways and leave her very life in danger.
Only in Gooding SERIES
Letter Perfect
"Forevermore" is one of my top 10 favorite books. Like a dandelion in the wind, Hope Ladley blows from one farm to the next, helping cook for the field hands during the harvest. Illiterate and often twisting cliches and Bible verses into mind-boggling observations, Hope leaves widower Jakob Stauffer baffled by her unconventional ways. But her sunny disposition and unstinting love make changes of a different kind around the homestead. His little daughter and the pregnant sister he's shielding from an abusive husband adore Hope, and things are getting accomplished even if Hope's methods are unique.
Ramshackle Rose
Neighbors call her "Ramshackle Rose." But they've grown to accept her and learned to love her for the kindness of her generous heart. Rose, in turn, loves the folks of Buttonhole, Virginia. If her friends don't know much about her past, Rose doesn't mind. She prefers to keep some things to herself. Everything changes, though, with the arrival of Garret Diamond, debonair new owner of the mercantile and immediately the town's most eligible bachelor. When Garret discovers one of Rose's most tightly held secrets, she is terrified. Will he spoil Rose's pleasant life in Buttonhole and force her to move where no one knows her past? Or will the business partnership they've formed lead to a lifetime union?
Spoke Of Love
This is a very sweet story that is hard to describe in only a few words, because there's more more going on than a brief synopsis can explain. Garnet Wheelock was sold to pay her deceased husband's gambling debts. But once she arrives in the New World of Virginia (after an horrendous voyage with other bride slaves), she is bought by an abusive man. Samuel Walsh can't stand to see the small woman treated in such a heartless way, so he confronts the bully and talks him into selling Garnet to him.
Samuel Walsh is a widower who needs a woman to care for his young children and keep the home. The Widow Wheelock seems perfect for the task - she's industrious and loving, and the children adore her. But then Sam is forced to wed Garnet to preserve his honor and prevent her from being forced into yet another abusive marriage.
After all that has happened to Samuel and Garnet: could their feelings run deeper than mere obligation? Can the Lord weave two broken lives together and create a future stronger than the past that haunts them? Samuel's faith and example are part of what makes this an exceptional story in Christian fiction. This book is a favorite that I have read again and again.
