Jacqui Nelson
Fall in love with a new Old West...
where the men are steadfast & the women are adventurous.
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| Jacqui Nelson |
You'll find Wild West scouts, spies, cardsharps, wilderness guides, and trick-riding superstars in my stories. Those are my heroines. Wait till you meet my heroes! My love for historical romance adventures with grit and passion came from watching Western movies while growing up on a cattle farm in northern Canada. I've been nominated for over 20 awards and won the RWA® Golden Heart® & the Laramie® — but my best reward is hearing from readers who have enjoyed my stories.
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THE CALLING BIRDS: THE FOURTH DAY
Noelle, Colorado - 1876
A wanted woman's flight, a man in pursuit of honesty, not stolen gold...and only 9 days left to save the town.
Many years have passed since Bernadette Bellamy fled the Cariboo Gold Rush and her reputation as the sister of a French-Canadian gang of thieves. Armed with only an honest talent for sewing and a willingness to lead a solitary life on the run, she stays one step ahead of everyone seeking her brothers’ last—and now lost—heist. Until a craving to settle down makes her reinvent herself as Birdie Bell, a dress shop owner. The arrival of an old foe combined with her desire to hold onto her treasure trove of fabrics has Birdie joining a wagonload of brides bound for a remote town.
After losing his leg and his wife, Jack Peregrine buries his pain under a mountain-high pile of work. He only agrees to sign up for a mail-order bride to save the town of Noelle, keep his freighting business, and care for his absentminded grandfather. But Jack’s request for a sturdy bride who won’t crumble under his burdens brings him a woman as tiny as she is troubled. Can two mismatched people band together to become the perfect match?
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Noelle, Colorado - 1877 (the sequel to The Calling Birds)
Who’s the perfect match for a flame-haired Welsh tomboy who loves driving wagons?
Raised by three free-spirited older brothers, Robyn Llewellyn has learned to fight for what she wants—and now she wants to transform her boss and best friend, Max Peregrine, into a lifelong partner. Determined to become the image of what a marriage-minded man wants, Robyn trades her trousers for a dress and heads to Max’s hometown of Noelle, Colorado. But changing who she is with the help of the now happily married Brides of Noelle puts her friendship with Max at risk.
Who’s the perfect match for a work-addicted Denver business owner who loves his independence?
Defying his brother and grandpa’s wishes for him to stay with them in Noelle, Max Peregrine has created his dream job—leading a highly successful branch of Peregrines’ Post and Freight while working beside Robyn, the only person who makes him smile every day. But when she leaves without a word, Max follows her to Noelle where the choices they both must face could make it impossible for them to stay together beyond Christmas day.
Inspired by My Fair Lady, The Gift of the Magi, and the spirit of gift-giving, Robyn: A Christmas Bride is a classic Western historical love story set in a small town high in the mountains during Christmas 1877.
SONGBIRD JUNCTION SERIES
What happens after Robyn: A Christmas Bride? Robyn's brothers' stories!
Brynmor, Heddwyn, and Griffin Llewellyn are three Welsh brothers bound by blood and a passion for hauling freight—in Denver where hard work pays. Lark, Oriole, and Wren are three Irish-Cree Métis sisters-of-the-heart bound by choice and a talent for singing—in any place that pays.
BRIDE FOR BRYNMOR (Book 1)
Songbird Junction & Denver, Colorado - January 1878
Songbird Junction & Denver, Colorado - January 1878
Can a sister who’s lived only for others find freedom with one man?
Family has always come first—for both of them. He’s never forgiven himself for letting her go. She’s never forgiven herself for almost getting him killed.
When Lark and her songbird sisters are separated fleeing their cruel and controlling troupe manager, only Brynmor Llewellyn can help Lark save her sisters and escape to the far west. But Lark wants more. And so does Brynmor.
When they’re stranded in a spot as difficult to guard as it is to leave—a rustic cabin at a train junction between Denver and the mountain town of Noelle, Colorado—they find themselves fighting not only for survival but for redemption, forgiveness, and a second chance for their love.
Will the frontier train stop of Songbird Junction be Lark and Brynmor’s salvation? Or their downfall when her manager—a con artist who calls himself her uncle but cherishes only his own fame and fortune—demands a debt no one can pay?
Can a sister who’s lied to everyone find truth with the wrong man?
Secrets are everywhere…
From the moment she met her sisters in a Qu’Appelle Valley orphanage, Oriole has rewritten her past to protect her present. Now Lark is married, Wren is lost, and Oriole is on a mission to find Wren before their cruel and controlling troupe manager does. In order to succeed, she must cling to her lies and evade the only man she ever let come close, the beguilingly talkative Llewellyn brother who deserted her without a word.
Second chances are few…
From the moment he first heard Oriole sing with her sisters in a Cheyenne saloon, notoriously scatterbrained Heddwyn Llewellyn’s desire to change gained focus. Until tragedy struck. To protect his brothers and sister, Heddwyn turned his back on love and the only woman who’d ever riveted his attention—all while refusing to talk to him. Now, after two years apart, Oriole’s finally back in his life and so is a shot at redemption.
The Songbird Sisters’ quest for freedom may have reunited Oriole and Heddwyn, but it’s also tearing them apart. Her sadistic troupe manager is more than happy to maim and murder to get his money-making musicians back. Can two hearts always on the run finally stand still long enough to save each other and their love too?
BRIDE FOR GRIFFIN (Book 3) - coming soon
GAMBLING HEARTS SERIES
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Dodge City, Kansas - 1877
In a town ruled by sin, will he earn her love or her lies?
Sadie Sullivan lost everything when a herd of longhorn cattle bound for Dodge City trampled and destroyed her farm. Now she works in Dodge—one of the most wicked and lawless towns in the West—at the Northern Star saloon. But her survival in this new world of sin and violence depends on maintaining a lie so deadly it could end her life before the town of Dodge can.
The one man capable of unraveling all of Sadie's secrets is Noah Ballantyne, the Texan cowboy whose herd destroyed her home. Back in town and taking up the role of deputy alongside legendary lawman Bat Masterson, Noah vows he won't leave until he's made things right. But with the saloon’s madam unwilling to release Sadie and a rich cattle baron wanting her as well, the odds aren’t in favor of finding love…or leaving town alive.
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BETWEEN HOME & HEARTBREAK
Texas Hill Country - 1879
Who is Eldorado Jane? Long-lost friend or scheming Wild West superstar?
Plain Jane Dority vanished while riding in a storm beside her childhood best friend. Eighteen years later, Wild West trick-riding superstar Eldorado Jane returns to claim her birthright: the Dority homestead now owned by the steadfast Texan cowboy who never forgot Jane or forgave himself for her disappearance.
Texas Hill Country - 1879
Who is Eldorado Jane? Long-lost friend or scheming Wild West superstar?
Plain Jane Dority vanished while riding in a storm beside her childhood best friend. Eighteen years later, Wild West trick-riding superstar Eldorado Jane returns to claim her birthright: the Dority homestead now owned by the steadfast Texan cowboy who never forgot Jane or forgave himself for her disappearance.
Lewis Adams would give anything to see his friend come home, but he's certain Eldorado Jane isn't his Jane. So why does this mesmerizing woman—with the talent and fame to have anything she desires—want the remote patch of land that he loves? There's only one way to find out: accept a wager with a deceiver who holds the power to bring back his friend or break his heart. The outcome rests in her hands. Or does it?
Friendship. Betrayal. Blackmail. Eldorado Jane holds every card... except the one that matters most.
LONESOME HEARTS SERIES
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - 1850
On a trail full of danger, will he guide her to heaven or hell?
Hannah knows one thing the moment she enters Fort Leavenworth—she's arrived in Hell. But inside is the means to a new life, a position as a scout on a wagon train bound for the Western Territories. All she has to do is convince the wagon master, Paden Callahan, she's the right person for the job.
On a trail full of danger, will he guide her to heaven or hell?
Hannah knows one thing the moment she enters Fort Leavenworth—she's arrived in Hell. But inside is the means to a new life, a position as a scout on a wagon train bound for the Western Territories. All she has to do is convince the wagon master, Paden Callahan, she's the right person for the job.
After his wife was murdered by the Comanche, Paden let his work as a Texas Ranger consume him. Now he wants nothing more than to disappear into the West. Unfortunately, the one man he can't refuse has asked him to guide a wagon train full of tenderfoots across thousands of miles of Indian land. But Paden's greatest challenge turns out to be Hannah, a woman his heart won't allow him to ignore even though she was raised by an enemy he hates.
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Oregon Territory - 1852
Can a single day together on horseback change your life forever?
Labeled a harlot and expelled from a remote logging camp and her work teaching children, Faith Featherby embarks on a journey to return a stolen spirit horse to the little girl whose photograph was hidden in the horse’s riding blanket.
Orphaned young and stifled by a lifelong shyness, Faith has only her education as a schoolmistress and her memories of her mother’s stories. She’s not an experienced rider, but a Medicine Hat horse—alleged to have the sacred power to protect its rider—might be her best hope for surviving the wilderness... until an Osage warrior rides out of the mist.
Scarred by a brutal past, the warrior challenges Faith to follow a new path where belief in yourself and your partner, be they horse or man, can lead to a triumph of the heart.
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CHOOSING BRAVERY
The Cascade Mountains, Oregon Territory - 1868
When legends collide, will the sparks ignite their love or drive them apart?
The Cascade Mountains, Oregon Territory - 1868
When legends collide, will the sparks ignite their love or drive them apart?
After her parents vanished in the wilderness, Élodie Rousseau found a home with an Osage warrior and a logging camp schoolmistress who joined forces to return Élodie's beloved spirit horse. With them as her teachers, she became the legendary Cascade Mountain guide, Yellow Feather. She knows everything about surviving and thriving in the wild, but something is missing.
Legendary Far North fugitive tracker, Lachlan Bravery, is tortured by his failure to find the one person who mattered most—the mentor who taught him everything he once held sacred. Driven to repay a dead man, his hunt for a notorious band of outlaws brings him to Élodie’s mountain where they must join forces on a final quest deep inside a cave with the power to destroy not only their unexpected love but their lives.
Brave the wild. Bury the past. Choose your destiny.
RESCUING RAVEN
Deadwood, Dakota Territory - 1876
In a gold rush storm, can an unlikely pair rescue each other?
Raven wants to save one person. Charlie wants to save the world. Their warring nations thrust them together but duty pulled them apart—until their paths crossed again in Deadwood for a fight for love.
This story features a grown-up Charlie Jennings who was a young boy in my Oregon Trail story, Between Heaven & Hell (set in 1850).
Previously part of the 2018 Wild Deadwood Tales charity anthology.
Buy Rescuing Raven on Amazon for $0.99 or visit www.JacquiNelson.com and download for FREE when you subscribe to my newsletter.
Legendary Far North fugitive tracker, Lachlan Bravery, is tortured by his failure to find the one person who mattered most—the mentor who taught him everything he once held sacred. Driven to repay a dead man, his hunt for a notorious band of outlaws brings him to Élodie’s mountain where they must join forces on a final quest deep inside a cave with the power to destroy not only their unexpected love but their lives.
Brave the wild. Bury the past. Choose your destiny.
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Deadwood, Dakota Territory - 1876
Raven wants to save one person. Charlie wants to save the world. Their warring nations thrust them together but duty pulled them apart—until their paths crossed again in Deadwood for a fight for love.
This story features a grown-up Charlie Jennings who was a young boy in my Oregon Trail story, Between Heaven & Hell (set in 1850).
Previously part of the 2018 Wild Deadwood Tales charity anthology.
Buy Rescuing Raven on Amazon for $0.99 or visit www.JacquiNelson.com and download for FREE when you subscribe to my newsletter.
STEAM! ROMANCE & RAILS
ADELLA'S ENEMY
The Katy Railroad, Kansas - 1870
The War Between the States ended five years ago, but she still pursues her enemy…
spy turned government rabble-rouser Adella Willows receives her mission straight from a Washington senator—play havoc with the Katy Railroad and derail its bid to win the race. The senator craves wealth. Adella craves revenge against the man responsible for her brother’s death. But her plans crumble into chaos when she enters a battle of wits with the railroad's foreman.
An ocean separates him from his failures in Ireland, but he’s still haunted by those who died…
Seasoned railroad foreman Cormac McGrady’s sole desire is keeping his workmen safe and employed, which means keeping the Katy ahead of its rivals. But the beautiful spy bedeviling his railroad needs protecting as well. Cormac must choose between winning the race and winning Adella's heart, while Adella must choose whether she lives for revenge or dies for love.
Can the pursuit of an old enemy lead to a new love?
The Katy Railroad, Kansas - 1870
The War Between the States ended five years ago, but she still pursues her enemy…
spy turned government rabble-rouser Adella Willows receives her mission straight from a Washington senator—play havoc with the Katy Railroad and derail its bid to win the race. The senator craves wealth. Adella craves revenge against the man responsible for her brother’s death. But her plans crumble into chaos when she enters a battle of wits with the railroad's foreman.
An ocean separates him from his failures in Ireland, but he’s still haunted by those who died…
Seasoned railroad foreman Cormac McGrady’s sole desire is keeping his workmen safe and employed, which means keeping the Katy ahead of its rivals. But the beautiful spy bedeviling his railroad needs protecting as well. Cormac must choose between winning the race and winning Adella's heart, while Adella must choose whether she lives for revenge or dies for love.
Can the pursuit of an old enemy lead to a new love?
DO YOU LOVE HISTORICAL WESTERN ROMANCES?
Then why not join historical western romance authors and readers on the Pioneer Hearts Facebook group and share your favorite stories, photos, and all things Old West?
Then why not join historical western romance authors and readers on the Pioneer Hearts Facebook group and share your favorite stories, photos, and all things Old West?
Read more about Jacqui's writing (including excerpts from all of her books) at
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Hi Jacqui, what a lovely blog. SO happy for the opportunity to post in May.
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted that we connected via the "Get Lost in a Story" blog, Nancy! I loved reading more about your books and your writing inspiration ❤️
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