Romance at Rinehart's Crossing

 

I've been working on a new book that takes place in a town that really was a stop on the Oregon Trail. 

Back then, the town had a variety of names, but was often known as Stone House, for the two-story sandstone house that rose out of the sagebrush not far from the banks of the Malheur River. 

Built in 1872 for Lewis and Amanda Rinehart, the house opened on New Year's Day in 1873 with a grand ball. Soon, the upstairs ballroom was sought after for various functions, while the rooms below were used as a stage stop, and even a refuge during the Bannock Paiute uprising in 1878. 

A few people even referred to the growing community as Rinehart's Crossing, since there was a ferry crossing there (as well as hot springs!). Eventually, the town was incorporated as Vale. 

Today, the Stone House still stands, and is open as a museum. 

You'll get to read about the Stone House and some of the residents in my soon-to-release sweet romance titled Romance at Rinehart's Crossing.

It's part of the Regional Romance series releasing September 17 with new books by Kari Trumbo, Kit Morgan, and Peggy L. Henderson. Each book features three complete stories. 

Life on the Oregon Trail will never be the same . . .

Tenner King is determined to make his own way in the world far from the overbearing presence of his father and the ranch where he was raised in Rinehart’s Crossing, Oregon. Reluctantly, he returns home after his father’s death to find the ranch on its way to ruin, and his siblings antsy to leave. Prepared to do whatever is necessary to save the ranch, Tenner isn’t about to let a little thing like love get in his way.

♥ Austen – After spending her entire life ruled by her father, Austen Rose King certainly isn’t going to allow her bossy older brother to take on the job. Desperate to leave the hard work and solitude of the Diamond K Ranch, she decides a husband would be the fastest means of escape. If only she could find a man she could tolerate for more than five minutes.

♥ Claire – Two thousand miles of travel. Two thousand miles of listening to her parents bicker about the best place in Oregon to settle. Two thousand miles of dusty trails, bumpy wagons, and things that slither and creep into her bedding at night. Claire Clemons would happily set down roots that very minute if someone would let her. What she needs is her own Prince Charming to give her a place to call home. When a broken wagon wheel strands her family miles from civilization, she wonders if handsome Worth King, the freighter who rescues them, might just be the answer to her prayers.

♥ Kendall – Anxious to escape her mother’s meddling interference, Kendall Arrington leaves her society life behind, intent on experiencing a Wild West adventure. Hired as the school teacher in a growing town on the Oregon Trail, Kendall hopes to bring a degree of civility and a joy of learning to the children of Rinehart’s Crossing. However, the last thing she expects to find is a cowboy with shaggy hair, dusty boots, and incredible blue eyes among her eager students.

Will love find the three King siblings in Romance at Rinehart's Crossing?

Read all the books in the Regional Romance Series featuring historic locations, exciting drama, and sweet (yet swoony) romance!

Tenner looked at Austen, then at Worth. “There’s going to be some changes around here. Starting tomorrow, you two are going to help get this place whipped back into shape. I don’t want to hear any whining or excuses. If we hope to make it through the winter, it will take all of us working together. Is that understood?”

Worth glowered at him, but finally nodded in agreement.

Absorbed in the newspaper, Austen acted as though she hadn’t heard a word he said.

“Austen Rose! Are you listening?” he asked, perplexed by his sister’s odd behavior.

“Yes, yes, whatever you say, Tenner.” She sighed dreamily. “I wish I could meet B.K. Kendrick. He writes the most wonderful poems.”

Worth snorted. “If you like drivel written by a sissified dandy with cotton for brains.” He snatched the paper from Austen and stood, acting as though he intended to stuff it into the stove.

Austen jumped up and grabbed it from Worth, then meticulously smoothed the creases from the paper. “It isn’t drivel. It’s moving. His poetry inspires romance and love and—”

“Stupid, silly girls to grow addlepated at his ridiculous rhymes about birds and breezes,” Worth taunted.

Austen looked like she might reach across the table and slap Worth, so intense was her fury. “He writes beautifully. Something about his style makes me think of Mama and the poems she used to read to us.”

Taken aback, Tenner stared at his sister. “You remember that?”

Austen nodded. “I loved to listen to her. We all did. We’d sit on a rug by the fireplace and eat popcorn and listen to her read on cold winter nights. In the summer, after the work was done, we’d gather on the porch where there was a breeze and sip lemonade while she read. I miss those times. I miss her.”

“I do, too, Austen.” Tenner reached out and placed a big hand over his sister’s small fingers. “Would you like to hear one of the poems you and Worth used to beg her to recite?”

At the excited nod from his sister, Tenner began:

       Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward …