Susan Farr loses her parents and her home in one swoop. She takes her horse and rides to Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train and start a new life. Mike Todd, the wagon master, doesn’t allow single women to have their own wagons. It causes fights and distractions. Susan solves her problem by marrying Clancy Willis in name only. Unfortunately, Clancy’s true nature doesn’t take long to show, and Susan finds herself married to a drunkard.

The day Teagan Kavanagh proposed he was told to leave and never come back. That was before the Civil War. Now Teagan is puzzled as to why the Maguire cattle are on his ranch. He rides to their ranch and finds Gemma alone, living in a falling down house. He is further confused when she accuses him of buying her ranch and having her evicted. Gemma Maguire held on during the war, doing without, she paid off the mortgage on the ranch.

Eli Todd is a tall, handsome captain of a wagon train bound for Oregon. Life has taught him if he allows people into his heart, he ends up losing them. Amelia Cruthers is a pretty, young woman with a limp. She’s a hard worker who starts out the trip to Oregon with her parents, until they try to leave her behind. In shock, she watches them cross a river by ferry without her. Thankfully, the kind, strong Eli Todd takes her with him.

Jed Todd has been looking for Lily since the day she was abducted along the Oregon Trail. This time he is the wagon master. Word comes that his trapper friends have found and bought Lily for him. He rides fast and fierce to get to her and is relieved to find her in one piece. The way he felt about her before she'd been stolen wasn't a figment of his imagination. From the moment he saw her again, he knew his love was real.

Meg O'Brien hoped never to lay eyes on the one man who broke her heart. To her dismay, Luke Kelly arrives at her ranch a much different and broken man. Can Meg ever forgive his callous treatment of her and help Luke become the man he used to be?

Amid the aftermath of the Civil War, Georgie O'Rourke, the last surviving member of her family, decides her only choice is to leave her beloved state of Tennessee by answering a mail-order bride advertisement. With only a few items of rag, like clothing, she travels the Southwest Trail by covered wagon to meet up with her groom in Texas. Captain Parker Eastman, formally of the Confederate Army, travels from his cattle ranch to the Southwest Trail to intercept a woman his mother hired as a companion. He soon finds out that Georgie traveled to Texas to become his wife.

Cora feels indebted to the man, Eddie, who saved her and her baby Esther. She travels on the Oregon Trail with him. He intimidates her and has her doing most of the work. He’s jealous, and she knows not to look in another man’s direction. An early snowstorm leaves her in danger of frostbite, and when Harrison Walsh carries her off to his wagon to be treated, Eddie becomes enraged and drops Cora’s trunk off at Harrison’s wagon. Harrison Walsh was happily married until three months ago, when his wife died.

It’s finally time for Smitty to settle down after all of his trips on the Oregon Trail. He has Lynn and a houseful of orphans, but he also had a wife who he’s always been faithful to. Brenda lied and said she was with child, Smitty’s child, over ten years ago. It’s time to dissolve their marriage. Upon arriving at Brenda’s house, he finds Brenda and her mother May dying of tuberculosis and just as ornery as ever. Lynn knows Smitty is married and respects the vows he took. 

A handsome man, Greg Settler, decides to go and make his own mark on the world. He travels to California to try his luck at gold mining. From the first day he realizes he knows nothing about gold mining. Luckily for Greg, his claim is next to Hugo Watkins and his daughter Mercy’s mine. Mercy Watkins has grown up traveling from mine to mine. Her father, a dreamer, always believed they’d make it big at the next mine. Unfortunately, her father dies, but not before he asks Greg to take care of his daughter. In order to save Greg from hanging, Mercy marries him.  

Everything in Annie Douglas' life has taught her that men can't be trusted. Although Burke is big, strong, and not seemingly gentle, Annie feels drawn to the handsome Texas cowboy. Upon discovering Burke's advertisement for a wife, Annie shyly asks if he might consider her. Burke Dawson wants children; unfortunately, that also includes a wife. His first wife was a citified hellcat who stole half of his ranch. Now Burke's determined to find an honest country girl with no expectations of love.