Showing results by author "Lauraine Snelling" in All Categories

Anji Baard Moen, a recent widow, returns from Norway with her children. She quickly settles back into life in Blessing, teaching Norwegian history in the high school and writing articles for the Blessing Gazette. When tragedy strikes, Anji steps in to run the newspaper and soon finds a kindred spirit in the widower who owns the printing press. As they spend time together, Anji wonders if there's something more than friendship growing between them.

On the ship to America, Norwegian immigrant Amalia Gunderson makes a solemn promise to a dying mother, vowing to watch over her five-year-old daughter, Ruth. Together, Amalia and Ruth trek to Iowa to claim the farm and former boardinghouse that Ruth has inherited, despite opposition from a difficult cousin. Struggling with an empty house and scarce resources, Amalia resolves to return the boardinghouse to its former purpose, aided by the kindness of strangers and the resilient spirit of her young charge.

Award-winning historical novelist Lauraine Snelling delivers a compelling sequel to A Promise for Ellie. When 17-year-old Sophie abandons her North Dakota family in 1901, she never dreams tragedy will turn her again toward home. But she fears the loved ones she hurt will reject her - and that she'll never love again.

Ever so slowly, Dakota Territory is being transformed from a vast prairie into rich farmland. With the coming of the railroad, the small town of Blessing begins to prosper, and the Bjorklund family is reaping the promised harvest that had lured them from their beloved home in Norway. But for Ingeborg and Haakan, realizing their dreams will not come without a struggle.

In Minnesota in 1911, Nilda Carlson is torn between society life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Still new to America herself, Nilda focuses on the area's immigrant community, but she'll have to fight to get her ideas accepted by the locals and donors alike. In the meantime, one of her greatest joys is her weekly piano lesson with the handsome schoolteacher, Fritz. But just as Nilda is beginning to realize she has feelings for him, a stylish, affluent young woman moves to Blackduck and monopolizes Fritz's attention.

The Bjorklund family has received word that Augusta Bjorklund is on her way from Norway to join them in North Dakota. When the train arrives in the town of Blessing with no Augusta aboard, the worried family hopes that she will be on the train in the morning. However, only her trunk arrives, so Bridget Bjorklund insists that Hjelmer, Augusta's brother, go find her.

Deborah MacCallister, head nurse at the Blessing hospital, has loved Toby Valders since her school days, but she's had enough of their on-again, off-again relationship. Toby truly cares for Deborah, but he's never felt like he could commit to marriage or a family. When Anton Genddarm, the new schoolteacher, comes to town, the young women of Blessing see a chance to force Toby's hand with a little strategic matchmaking.

In 1910 Minnesota, Nilda Carlson's dreams are coming true. Though her first few months in America were difficult, her life now resembles the images that filled her daydreams in Norway. She and her younger brother Ivar live in their own house, just a short distance from her older brother and his family. Together they work the farm and fell trees for lumber. They plan to grow a dairy herd, weave rugs out of their own wool, and make skis to sell. Everything is going right. The only thing missing from Nilda's life is love. 

When her carefully ordered life is shaken, the path forward requires finding the courage to trust again. Helen Stenerson has planted her roots in the community of Green Creek, Iowa, and poured her heart into teaching. She's determined to avoid romantic entanglement--her teaching contract forbids...

In this series finale by Lauraine Snelling, Astrid Bjorklund is trying to stop the epidemic ravaging South Dakota’s Red Bud Indian Reservation. Tribal elders remain suspicious of her until some begin to recover. Although Joshua Landsverk longs to fix his broken relationship with Astrid, he opposes her present work but won’t tell her why. Yet when a surprising act of kindness brings healing to the painful wrong inflicted years ago, will it be enough to rekindle their love?

Astrid Bjorklund wants to use her medical training to serve God and feels that He might be leading her in the direction of missionary work. Smarting from a misunderstanding with Joshua Landsverk, the young man she thought she loved, she heads east to a missionary training school, hoping to eventually use her skills in some remote outpost in Africa. When she is called home unexpectedly to help in a family medical emergency, Astrid learns of a deadly measles outbreak on the nearby Indian reservation.

A weak voice moaned from the horse’s back. Sheriff Caleb Stenesrude climbed over the gate in a blizzard and reached up in time to catch the woman as she fell. To his astonishment, a small child, hanging on for dear life, fell with her. Under his breath, he thanked the good Lord for bringing them this far and for a dog with a nose and ears to beat all. As the North Dakota storm continued to scream outside the house on the edge of town, Caleb tried to tend to the near-frozen mother and boy.

While her sister fights to hold on to the family legacy, Louisa Highwood works tirelessly to save the lives of wounded soldiers. Putting her own safety on the line, she covertly ventures behind enemy lines to procure desperately needed supplies for the army hospital in Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, Jesselynn Highwood and her ragtag band of freed slaves and thoroughbred horses seek refuge along the Oregon Trail, unable to imagine what awaits them.

Having experienced her share of sorrow, Rebecca has grown afraid of opening her heart to love. Can she overcome her fears or will she settle for something less than love?

"But Mother is always dying" is Gillian Ormsby's sarcastic response when her younger, favored sister tells her that she has to go take care of their hypochondriac mother. Much against her will, since she and her mother never have gotten along, Gillian arrives in California to find the garden and yard dead, the blinds all drawn, and her mother indeed in bed - waiting to die. But when Gillian talks with the doctor, he assures her there's no medical reason behind her mother's state.

Maya Bredesen and her husband plan to journey from Norway to a new life at her cousin's boardinghouse in America, but on one last fateful fishing trip, a fierce winter storm steals away her husband. With her dreams for the future crushed, Maya is left grieving on the voyage to Iowa, accompanied instead by her brother, who plans to finish his seminary degree. Arriving at a boardinghouse spilling over with orphans and a newly married couple, Maya struggles to find her place amid the chaos. 

Larkspur Nielsen is determined to keep her family homestead running and to fulfill their dream of starting a seed catalog, with or without her siblings’ help. With Isaac McTavish back in town, Lark finds herself at odds with her own heart and her determination to shoulder the burden of carrying her responsibilities alone. But Isaac is set on convincing her that he’s here to stay and she doesn’t have to carry everything by herself.

Eighteen-year-old Grace Knutson loves Blessing, North Dakota, and sees no reason to leave. She's more serious-minded than her twin sister, Sophie, and very sensitive to the feelings of others. In spite of her family's disapproval, Grace has always had a soft spot in her heart for Toby Valders, for she's seen the vulnerable side he keeps well hidden. Jonathan Gould, the handsome scion of a wealthy New York family, creates a flurry of anticipation and speculation when he arrives in Blessing.

Joshua Landsverk left Blessing two years ago, but he's never forgotten Astrid. Returning to town, he seeks to court her, and love begins to bloom. When the opportunity opens for Astrid to go to Chicago for further training, she finds it difficult to leave home and Joshua. They agree to correspond, but after receiving only one letter from him, she learns he's left town again. Believing Joshua no longer loves her, Astrid makes an impetuous, heart-wrenching decision.

Defiant Sophie leaves home with her beau, but when tragedy strikes and a heartbroken Sophie wishes to return, she may not be welcome.