Books by Joan Johnston

Montana Bride (Bitter Creek)

by Joan Johnston

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A DESPERATE DECEPTION
THE PROMISE OF FOREVER

When Karl Norwood’s mail-order bride meets an untimely demise on the way to the Montana Territory, Hetty Wentworth steps in to take her place. Hetty has no idea how she’s going to pretend to be all the things she isn’t—including the mother of two kids. She only knows her deception is necessary if she’s going to save two orphans from the awful fate she suffered as a child.

Karl smells a rat when a much younger woman than he was expecting arrives with two children who look nothing like her. But his mail-order bride is so beautiful, he doesn’t object—until he realizes that his charming new wife has been lying . . . about everything. Can a woman forced to keep secrets and a man hindered by distrust ever hope to find happily ever after in each other’s arms?

Praise for Montana Bride

“[A] swiftly paced romance.”—Publishers Weekly

“Montana Bride is a compelling read and definitely a noteworthy addition to a great series.”—Fresh Fiction

“Joan Johnston knows how to spin a story that will get to the readers every time. [Montana Bride] is no different. . . . It was emotional, heartfelt and real. It was honest. . . . It was simply magic from a master storyteller.”—Night Owl Reviews

“If you are a fan of historicals, a fan of beautiful descriptive writing, and a fan of steamy romance, you won’t want to miss out on Montana Bride.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

“Johnston has a keen eye for quirky circumstances that put her characters, and the reader, through a wringer. Laughing one moment and crying the next, you’ll always have such a great time getting to the happy-ever-after.”—Romance Junkies Reviews

The passionate Westerns in Joan Johnston’s Bitter Creek series can be enjoyed together or separately, in any order:
TEXAS BRIDE • WYOMING BRIDE • MONTANA BRIDE • SINFUL • SHAMELESS • BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE • SULLIVAN’S PROMISE

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Heartbeat

by Sharon Creech, Joan Johnston

Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and Max, her best friend and running partner, becomes distant.

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Heartbeat

by Sharon Creech, Joan Johnston

New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston returns to Texas with a captivating story of justice, secrets, and a love that can heal all wounds
Dedicated Texas Ranger Jack Kittrick is hard on the trail of a killer who is preying on the helpless in a large San Antonio hospital . . . a hunt that leads him to Maggie Wainwright, the beautiful, enigmatic legal eagle who had access to the victims—and a motive for the crimes. The more Jack learns about Maggie, the more this secretive lady—who makes his spurs tangle and his heart run wild—enthralls and perplexes him.
When her own son becomes the killer's target, Maggie can no longer keep silent about her painful, shadowy past. With everything she truly cares about at stake, Maggie must cast her fate to the Texas winds . . . and trust her future, and her love, to the determined lawman who has more questions for her than she has answers.

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Heartbeat

by Sharon Creech, Joan Johnston

Run run run.
That's what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she's barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating...
Thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP.
It's a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything's shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything is changing, just like the apple Annie's been assigned to draw a hundred times.
Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this story about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life and how she fits within them.

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Heartbeat

by Sharon Creech, Joan Johnston

“A stunning accomplishment. This story pierces the heart.” —Chicago Sun-Times
RUN RUN RUN. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating…thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP.
It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’s shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything changes over time, just like the apple Annie’s been assigned to draw a hundred times.
Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this tender and intuitive story told in free verse about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life, and how she fits within them.
Named one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
“Tenderhearted. Vintage Creech. Its richness lies in its sheer simplicity.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“The story soars as Annie’s feet fly.” —Bookpage

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The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (Bitter Creek, No. 6)

by Joan Johnston

The New York Times bestselling author of The Cowboy and The Rival returns to the Bitter Creek series with this thrilling and passionate novel that reveals who will become Clay Blackthorne’s wife.

A lavish summer wedding is being planned at Bitter Creek ranch. In one month, Clay Blackthorne will wed socialite Jocelyn Montrose. But when she hears stirrings of a corporate takeover by the family’s arch rival, North Grayhawk, Jocelyn covertly heads to North’s ranch to offer a valuable commodity—herself—if North will call off his plans. Striking a deal to spend the summer with the steely, seductive North, Jocelyn fails to see that her sacrifice to protect the man she loves may have dire consequences.

Stunned by his fiancee’s rejection, Clay, a newly appointed federal judge, begins presiding over an incendiary terrorism trial, which brings him face to face with his first love, Libby Grayhawk. As tensions mount, forces beyond Clay’s control threaten the women most precious to him in the past and the present. And only in a daring act of sacrifice will he know which woman will become the next Mrs. Blackthorne.

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Surrender: A Bitter Creek Novel

by Joan Johnston

In New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston’s scorching contemporary romance, a second chance at love may be the last.

When a sudden tornado of flame from a raging forest fire snuffs out both engines of the Twin Otter being piloted by Taylor Grayhawk, she locks eyes with the last man on the plane: her longtime enemy and one-time lover, smoke jumper Brian Flynn. Grayhawk and Flynn can’t agree on anything—not even how to escape their desperate situation. Once they’re on the ground, the only shelter they can find leaves the adversaries trapped together—with no way out.

Injured and starving, Taylor and Brian struggle to survive, yet somehow the threat of imminent death reignites something deep and powerful between them. Feelings they thought long dead rise from the ashes, suddenly making them more than just allies in a life-or-death struggle against nature’s fury. A still greater challenge awaits when fate delivers them from harm and puts their rekindled love to its ultimate test: Surrender to each other, or part forever.

Praise for Surrender

“A dazzling story of passion and second chances at love . . . When the two star-crossed lovers meet again, tensions rise with heart-pounding desire that will burn up the sheets. . . . [Surrender] is explosively sexy and that makes Joan Johnston the leading lady in contemporary romances.”—RT Book Reviews

“The fast and furious pace is what makes this read thoroughly enjoyable. . . . Chock-full of excitement, intrigue and sensual romance . . . a wonderful story of survival and determination.”—bookworm2bookworm

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