Roses of Ridgeway

In 1879, near the small northern California town of Ridgeway, Lilly Warren is a young woman who has recently lost her father. There is little time for mourning, though, as the responsibility of running the twenty-six-acre farm now belongs to her. To make matters even more complex, her father has deeded the house and the land to her in his will with an interesting condition: that she share the land with a person she's never met, or forfeit ownership.

Prudence Emerson doesn't have time for romantic entanglements. She's taken a job at the mercantile and is saving money to attend school at Oberlin. That is until the Reverend Derrick Chase rides into town to start a new church. Her good friend Lilly Warren invites her to a service at Enduring Faith Moravian church, and the die is cast. She can't deny her attraction to him, and the handsome mulatto preacher obviously returns the feelings. Should she change her plans to explore a relationship with him? Or will being the preacher's paramour lead to nothing but pain?

Valerie Ridgeway is the granddaughter of Ridgeway's founder, and the sole heir to the town's ownership. A tall, graceful beauty, she's had a slew of suitors—most every eligible man within fifty miles of town has come courting for her. Despite her loveliness, however, Valerie has developed a reputation for rejecting men with her icy demeanor. Only a select few of the townsfolk know the secret shame that fuels her bitterness. Approaching thirty, she's given up on the fairy tale of marriage, choosing instead to give her time and effort to the betterment of the race.

Saloon owner Angel May Lane is an unconventional woman in every sense of the word. When she's not tending the bar at the Crazy Eights Saloon, she's caring for her elderly aunt, or out with her friends agitating for women's suffrage. Her activities make her a thorn in the side of some folks, but she's determined to see the day when women and men have equal rights—even if it's only in her own small town. Arrested by the town's deputy sheriff, she finds herself both outraged and intrigued by the man who's taken her into custody.