From Calamity Jane’s relentless pursuit of Wild Bill Hickok to Emma Walters, who gave it all up for the dashing Bat Masterson—and learned to regret it, these romantic stories from the Old West are still familiar and entertaining to readers today. Meet Agnes Lake Hickok, the intrepid wife of Wild Bill Hickok and learn about the last love letter he sent before being dealt the dead man’s hand. Learn the story behind the charming performer Lotta Crabtree’s heartaches. And discover the tale of the dashing Kit Carson and his beautiful bride. This collection features the lessons learned by and from the antics of the women who shaped the West.

In Westerns, women transmit complicated cultural coding about the nature of westward expansionism, heroism, family life, manliness and American femininity. As the genre changes and matures, depictions of women have transitioned from traditional to more modern roles. Frontier Feminine charts these significant shifts in the Western's transmission of gender values and expectations and aims to expand the critical arena in which Western film is situated by acknowledging the importance of women in this genre.

**2022 Will Rogers Medallion Award Gold Winner for Western Biographies and Memoirs** The love they shared for an untamed land brought them together. Isabella Bird was a proper Victorian lady, a minster’s daughter, a writer who traveled the globe. She was expected to marry a man of means and position instead she was drawn to a gruff mountain man, a desperado named Jim Nugent. The unlikely pair met in Estes Park, Colorado in 1873. Jim was enchanted by Isabella and she was infatuated with him. In a published version of Isabella’s letter to her sister, she said of Jim that “he was a man any woman might love but no sane woman would marry.” On a climb to the top of Longs Peak their friendship blossomed into more than expected. This book reveals the true story of Bird’s relationship with Nugent as they traveled through the dramatic wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

In Standoff at High Noon, the sequel to Old West Showdown, coauthors Kellen Cutsforth and Bill Markley again investigate ten well-known, controversial stories from the Old West. Through their opposing viewpoints, learn more about notorious figures and infamous events, including the controversial death of Davy Crockett at the Alamo; the life and death of Sacagawea who assisted Lewis and Clark on their Corps of Discovery Expedition; the tragic fate of the Donner Party snowbound in the Sierra Nevada; the assassination of Wild Bill Hickok; Arizona’s Lost Dutchman Mine; and the controversy over Butch Cassidy’s death in South America. No matter whose side you are on, there’s always something new to discover about the mythic Old West.

On my way to the studio there was an air-raid. I ran into the brick shelter in the middle of the road. There were poor little Leonard and Agnes sitting on their suitcases, having lost their all. Luckily Leonard had been wearing his best trousers at the time. Madame Arcana was there too wearing a gold brocade toque and a blanket. It was bloody cold and I wanted to pee badly, but couldn't. Leonard wouldn't give me his seat as he believes in the equality of the sexes, so I sat on the floor.

Fourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. Forced to wear Mum's odd hand-made garments and forbidden from reading teenage magazines, they know they're very different to 'normal' girls - but when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it's like to have a little freedom. Sent to a real school for the first time, Prue struggles to fit in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly, young - and handsome - art teacher, Rax. They quickly bond, and Prue feels more and more drawn to him. As her feelings grow stronger, she begins to realise that he might feel the same way about her. But nothing could ever happen between them - could it?

When faced with a dangerous new rival, Regency London’s hottest lead singer is forced to place his singing career in the hands of a sexy widow. Lord Reid Follett enjoys all the lustful benefits that come from being a war hero on the battlefield at Waterloo. Every woman in London wants to bed him. And Reid is never a man to disappoint a lady. But the gloss of winning the war is starting to fade. Reid and his friends find themselves being challenged by a new group of talented Italian musicians who are taking their place in the hearts and bedrooms of the wicked women of the ton. England’s bad boys must rise to the occasion and take on these interlopers at their own game. With Reid as their conductor and baritone, the Noble Lords Quartet is born. But Reid’s singing abilities do not match his ego, and he soon discovers that in order to win he is going to have to put aside his pride and take singing lessons. Widowed mother of one Lavinia Jones is the perfect teacher for him. Discrete, and ready to do his bidding. The fact that she is a dark-haired temptress is simply a bonus. Reid intends to use her to get what he wants, then he will toss her aside. Lavinia however, is no push over and Reid soon discovers that she is the one holding all the power in their relationship. Without her guidance he will never be able to master the right note and go back to his seductive ways. The closer they work together, the less they can resist one another. A fiery sexual encounter leaves them both wondering just where the music stops and where the heart takes over. But Lavinia has a secret past of her own, and Reid finds himself suddenly facing his own jealous nature when it comes to the woman who has stolen his heart. Can he set aside his rock and roll lifestyle to secure the heart of the one woman who sets his blood on fire? The Noble Lords. Stories of war-scarred English lords who are bad boy musicians and the women who dare to love them.

A broken-hearted divorcee. A pregnant survivor. Can they turn an unwanted marriage… into love? Wyoming, 1866. Brandon Herman wants to drink away his heartache. Divorced, disgraced, and out of work, the last thing he wants to do is marry again. When he’s strong-armed into marrying a Crow Indian woman, he only thinks of running away… until he learns his bride-to-be is nine months pregnant… Lokni doesn’t trust her pale-skinned husband. After all, his kind raided her tribe, killed her loved ones, and stole her freedom. If it weren’t for the contractions, she would've already left her intoxicated groom. But until the baby is born, Lokni must bide her time and plan her escape… As the unlikely couple embarks across the untamed West, Brandon’s support helps their friendship to blossom. They start to realize that it’s more than the baby that draws them together. But on the trail to a brighter future, not everybody they meet is interested in their happily ever after… Forced into Marriage is a historical western romance set in a more realistic Wild West. If you like spirited characters, journeys of exploration, and the healing power of family, then you’ll love Ruth Ann Nordin’s stirring tale.

He needs a do-over, but she wants to give him a makeover. Can these two opposites resist their attraction? A new hockey romance from Wall Street Journal bestseller Sarina Bowen! After I’m arrested for throwing a raucous party, my hockey team says I have an image problem. And I need to fix it, stat. Charity work? Check. Haircut? Sure. But I draw the line at hiring my neighbor to style me. In the first place “style” shouldn’t be a verb. And I’m tired of people who’d judge me on appearances. Vera and I don’t see eye to eye on anything. She wants me to try on clothes, while I just want to remove hers. She's distractingly pretty, with soulful eyes and a sinful mouth that likes to argue with me. But when management threatens my summer vacation, I grudgingly agree to Vera’s unusual proposal: she’ll give me an image makeover. But in return, she wants lessons in the art of seduction. It sounds a little nutty, but I know a good opening when I hear it. Besides, it’s not like I’ll ever fall for her…

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.