Loree Lough

David Baden feels unworthy of love... For years, Anna Hertzler has dropped slips of paper into The Blessings Jar on her dresser... each one a prayer of someday becoming Mrs. David Baden. Unfortunately, David barely seems to notice her, unless she's serving him a meal at her parents' Let's All Eat diner. Not only has David noticed her, he admires the hard-working beauty who gave up teaching to care for her now-disabled parents and manage their struggling eatery. With a woman like that beside him, his life would be complete. She thinks their 8-year age difference explains why he keeps his distance. Better to let her think it, he tells himself, than see the warmth she shows him turn cold should she learn about the wicked secret he's hiding. Anna has a secret, too: Years earlier, she'd witnessed the event that explains why David sometimes stares into space, looking terrified... and ashamed. Horrified by what she'd seen, young Anna sought her mother's advice: "A truth like that," the woman said, "will cause big trouble, so you must never, ever repeat it " As Christmas approaches, the prayer slips in her blessings jar ask for courage. She loves David too much to watch him suffer any longer. Her confession could stir up trouble and make him resent her for not telling him sooner. Does she love him enough to risk losing him in order to free him from his dark secret?

Matt Maxwell wondered a lot about changing his first name to Former: Former Marine. Former minister. Former husband. One by one, he'd lost them all. After losing his wife to his church deacon, he'd packed his battered military duffel, gassed up his ancient motorcycle, and put Baltimore in the Harley's rearview mirrors. On an unusually cold and snowy Texas night, the Sportster breaks down along the Interstate. Out of luck and nearly broke, Matt's lured by a bright red sign that reads SUNDOWN DINER. Inside, he meets the owners, the town's three-man sheriff's department, and a mechanic who thinks he can fix the old bike. Icy weather and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday make that impossible, and Matt finds himself stranded in Reliable, where everyone seems determined to keep him from the road to anywhere that isn't Baltimore. Once the Harley is roadworthy, will he put Reliable behind him? Or does God have other plans for the down-on-his-luck pastor?

Life was good for Murphy O'Brien... until it wasn't... Murphy O'Brien, born without fingerprints, becomes a valuable asset to a crime boss who puts the lonely, orphaned boy to work, stealing from his wealthy clients... without leaving a shred of evidence behind. The profitable alliance ends on the night the pair are caught red-handed, robbing a prominent senator's home, and the boss decides the only one way to silence the only witness to his double murder is to commit a third: Murphy. One stormy night, Murphy is left, broken and near death alongside the highway. But the boss's evil plot goes sideways when a quiet Amishman finds Murphy and delivers him to the nearest ER. Once recovered, he takes Murphy home, to recover... and hide from the killer. Amish widow Rachel Graber, hired to care for "the amnesiac John Doe," is unlike any woman Murphy has ever known. Will his feelings for her inspire him to confess past crimes, serve his time, and earn her love... living Plain in her New Order Amish community? Or will the killer finally succeed in preventing Murphy from testifying against him?

Amid the New Order Amish community of Oakland, Maryland, an unexpected gift of comfort and tender caring can help spark a surprising dream of love . . . Between raising three grieving children and running a booming business, recent widower Aaron Bontrager desperately needs help--even if it means a marriage of convenience only. He couldn't be more surprised by his new wife, ebullient Bethel Mast. With an unconventional, joyful sense of purpose, she's starting to turn his house back into a home and bring stability and peace to his children's lives. And somehow, her gentle understanding is reigniting impossible hope in Aaron's guarded, lonely heart . . . Bethel never had a fair chance for a home and family of her own. She doesn't want to replace Aaron's first wife, but she'll face any challenge to aid him and his children. And she soon finds Aaron's formidable exterior hides a sensitivity and caring that she's quietly drawn to. Can Bethel show him that their practical arrangement is blossoming into so much more--and can be the start of a wonderful future together for all of them?

Authentic, heartwarming and written by a bestselling master of the genre, Home to Stay is the second in an inspirational series highlighting the deep commitment to family life that is a bedrock of Amish culture. Set in the unique and real-life community of the New-new Order Amish, Loree Lough's A Little Child Shall Lead Them series features all the uplifting faith and devotion to hearth and home that make Amish romances so popular. In the New Order Amish community of Pleasant Valley, a helping hand is never far away, and a baby's smile can be reason enough to start over--and risk love again... Since losing his family in a tragic accident, building contractor Max Lambright can't seem to find purpose in anything but hard work...until he meets feisty newcomer, Willa Richards. As she struggles to make a new life for herself and her baby girl, she challenges him in just about every possible way. Dare he hope that, alongside this spirited woman, he might rekindle his lost faith, and find the path to love and the family he craves? Poor choices and a difficult past have inspired Willa to make better decisions for her precious Frannie, even if it means leaving the familiar behind and starting over...among strangers. As she adapts to the Amish ways, she learns about Max's generous and steadfast nature. The loneliness he tries so hard to mask can't be hidden...not from a woman with something to prove. Together, they can build their friendship into something that will forever stand as the cornerstone of a happy family...

Among the New-new Order Amish of Oakland, Maryland, children bring precious hope, joy--and sometimes an unexpected second chance at love ... For Amish widower Philip Baker, providing for his family in the wake of his wife's death means back-breaking work and renewed dedication to his faith. Still, his strength can't help him relate to his little son's struggles. It seems a godsend when new doctor Emily White is able to treat Gabe's shyness and fear even as she helps heal him. But no matter how strongly Philip is drawn to the caring Englischer from the city, their differences may be too great to overcome ... Reeling from her own tragic loss, Emily keeps loneliness at bay through her clinic work. Somehow, though, Gabe and his gentle, sad-eyed father are making her want to risk opening her heart again. But can she find acceptance in their Plain world--and a way to turn their separate lives into a family forever? ...

Elice Glasser is a widow with three young children to raise. Cabot Murray is an ex-cop who returns home to Freeland, Maryland, to deal with the pain of his own tragic loss: the death of his wife and daughter in a fiery explosion intended for him. Grieving, their sorrow brings them together, and a friendship develops that leads then to explore the possibility of finding love again. But vengeful enemies and jealous rivals are determined to destroy the peace and happiness that Elice and Cabot have found in each other's arms. Why are their rivals so intent on keeping Elice and Cabot apart? Loree Lough's latest suspenseful romance is a page-turner

This Heartwarming Christmas Stories collection presents historical to contemporary stories filled with heart, passion, humanity, and conviction of what the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ means to each author. Relax in your favorite chair and enjoy a diversity of what Christmas could, and should mean to everyone. "And the angel said unto them, "... For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2: 9a-10)

When unspeakable tragedy leaves young Eli an orphan, two families are devastated. But Taylor, Eli's aunt and legal guardian, vows to help him remember his parents by creating a Memory Quilt. As she begins piecing together the moments of his parents' lives, the story of the young family emerges and Taylor and Eli begin to heal. But Eli's uncle Reece is slow to let go of the past and still blames Taylor's brother for his sister's death. So, although he has long been attracted to Taylor, Reece keeps a safe distance away. Can their shared love for Eli pave the way to forgiveness or will Taylor and Reece be separated by pain?

On a steamy spring morning, Dusty Parker--part-time pastor, part-time search-and-rescue team member, and full-time administrator of a school for troubled boys--joins the search for a missing teenage girl. He partners with volunteer and inner-city school teacher Grace Sinclair, and what they find bonds them in ways neither could have expected. As they begin to build their lives together, a visitor from the past causes Dusty and Grace to further open their hearts and home. But a threat is looming on their seemingly perfect lives and in one terrifying night, everything changes.