The Manhattan Stories Series by Donna Foley Mabry

Jessica McCarthy’s only Christmas wish is for a home of her own and children. All her friends are already married and have families. Believing that true love will never come her way, she settles for the man she sees as her last chance to realize her dream, handsome, charming, ne'er-do-well, Zachary Belk. Jessica’s father, one of the most successful businessmen in 1860’s Manhattan, warns her that he isn't a good prospect for a husband... moreJessica McCarthy’s only Christmas wish is for a home of her own and children. All her friends are already married and have families. Believing that true love will never come her way, she settles for the man she sees as her last chance to realize her dream, handsome, charming, ne'er-do-well, Zachary Belk. Jessica’s father, one of the most successful businessmen in 1860’s Manhattan, warns her that he isn't a good prospect for a husband. Jessica seldom goes against his advice, but Zachary is the only man in New York who has courted her. His own firm is on the edge of bankruptcy, and he desperately needs a financial lifeline. Jessica believes she is only being realistic when she agrees to be Zachary’s wife, but she soon finds out her carousing husband doesn’t share her hopes for domestic life. The stock market crash of 1869 changes all their lives. Born into wealth, Jessica never had to ask the price of anything. Now the cost of simply putting food on the table is the first thing on her mind when she awakes every morning. Jessica must adapt drastically to being penniless. She calls upon her faith in God, her friends, both old and new, and her own determination, not only to survive, but to find peace, happiness, security, and a real love. This is the first of three novels in the 'Manhattan Stories' saga. It takes the reader from the opulent drawing rooms of Manhattan, New York, where fortunes are made and financial empires can collapse without warning, to the frontier cabins of Manhattan, Kansas, where everything, including true love, is possible. The second in the series is Pillsbury Crossing. less

In the second of The Manhattan Stories, Emma is nine on the day they meet, hot-headed and wild-haired. Akecheta is twelve, already the man of his house. He saves her life and tells her she belongs to him. As they grow together up on the frontier surrounding Manhattan, Kansas, he teaches her how to fish at Pillsbury Crossing, how to hunt deer in the woods at Deep Creek, and how to survive in a land where bears, snakes, accidents, and even nature itself can steal away your life in an instant... moreIn the second of The Manhattan Stories, Emma is nine on the day they meet, hot-headed and wild-haired. Akecheta is twelve, already the man of his house. He saves her life and tells her she belongs to him. As they grow together up on the frontier surrounding Manhattan, Kansas, he teaches her how to fish at Pillsbury Crossing, how to hunt deer in the woods at Deep Creek, and how to survive in a land where bears, snakes, accidents, and even nature itself can steal away your life in an instant. She slowly teaches him how to trust and how to share the burdens of his shameful past. When he graduates from high school an aunt sends him to a university in the other Manhattan, in New York. Emma continues her education at home, graduating from high school and then becoming one of the first women to study animal husbandry at Kansas State University. While she waits for Akecheta in Kansas, he delights in Manhattan, New York. He is dazzled by the theatres, the museums, and the grand library. He explores low places like the Bowery, where a winning hand at poker can mean losing your life, and ventures into high society in the elegant drawing rooms of the powerful and wealthy, where he discovers that the most dangerous thing of all may be a beautiful, well-born blonde. less

In the third of The Manhattan Stories, it's 1930, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains are home to a town of renegade Mormons. On Nancy's 18th birthday, her father tells her she must marry her cousin Abner, the town's blacksmith. He's already married to three other women, one of them her younger sister.Terrified of what being married to Abner would mean, Nancy runs away and gets lost in the woods. Hungry and cold, she finds a seemingly deserted cabin and takes shelter... moreIn the third of The Manhattan Stories, it's 1930, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains are home to a town of renegade Mormons. On Nancy's 18th birthday, her father tells her she must marry her cousin Abner, the town's blacksmith. He's already married to three other women, one of them her younger sister.Terrified of what being married to Abner would mean, Nancy runs away and gets lost in the woods. Hungry and cold, she finds a seemingly deserted cabin and takes shelter. When she meets Jake, the man who owns it, she must decide if he is a man she can trust. She has nowhere else to go except home to marry Abner. At first reluctant to let her stay, Jake finally agrees.Tired of living alone in the wilderness, he is willing to wait for Nancy to learn to care for him. As they slowly get to know one another, she learns to love him. She expects to spend her life there, but Abner has other ideas. His rage drives him to murder, and he sets out to kill not only Nancy, but Jake as well, and almost succeeds. Thinking they will only be safe in one place, Jake takes Nancy to his childhood home, Manhattan, Kansas. They aren't there very long before Nancy discovers their stalker has followed them across the country. She knows that sooner or later, someone is going to die. The only question is, which one of them is it going to be? less

Kansas, 1852 Half-breed Everett Snipes discovers a newborn baby crying by the body of her mother. He recognizes the mother as the second wife of his cousin Wakiza, chief of the village of scouts located a few miles from the Army base. Everett rescues the infant and takes her to her family. The child’s people are being pushed out of their ancestral lands... moreKansas, 1852 Half-breed Everett Snipes discovers a newborn baby crying by the body of her mother. He recognizes the mother as the second wife of his cousin Wakiza, chief of the village of scouts located a few miles from the Army base. Everett rescues the infant and takes her to her family. The child’s people are being pushed out of their ancestral lands. In the east, rumblings of the coming war over slavery are already spreading across the nation, and Kansas, Bloody Kansas, will not escape the carnage. The Kansa Indians once controlled the entire territory. Now, white settlers are flooding in and, in spite of treaties, stealing reservation lands while the white government takes no action against the invasion. As she grows, Kimimela and her family fight marauding Pawnees, the white man’s diseases, and changing times. Under the protection of her cousin Everett, a man who belongs nowhere, yet manages to fit in everywhere, she survives. Kimimela must adapt and make her way in life by learning to blend in with the very people who have stolen everything rightfully hers. Throughout her struggle, Kimimela, the daughter and granddaughter of chiefs, clings to the traditions of her people. She is Kansa… and will never forget it. less

The Civil War ended, but the turmoil of D’Arcy Curran’s life did not. Rather than give up the child she raised from birth, sixteen-year-old D’Arcy kidnaps her sister Suzanne’s son. The only safe place for her and little Danny is home…Manhattan, Kansas. Once there, D’Arcy learns that danger comes in many forms, and some of them are too close for comfort. Her father is murdered by marauding Jayhawkers. Her mother is lost in grief... moreThe Civil War ended, but the turmoil of D’Arcy Curran’s life did not. Rather than give up the child she raised from birth, sixteen-year-old D’Arcy kidnaps her sister Suzanne’s son. The only safe place for her and little Danny is home…Manhattan, Kansas. Once there, D’Arcy learns that danger comes in many forms, and some of them are too close for comfort. Her father is murdered by marauding Jayhawkers. Her mother is lost in grief. D’Arcy faces the disapproval of many when she wears trousers, carries a gun, and takes over the responsibility for the farm. She’s drawn to Royce Quinn, her foreman, who years earlier swore his love to Suzanne. When her sister comes home, D’Arcy fears Suzanne is there to take Danny away from her…and maybe Royce as well. less

Seventh in 'The Manhattan Stories' by Wall Street Journal Top 10 Best Selling author, Donna Foley Mabry, "The Currans and The Quinns | The Manhattan Stories: The Currans, Book Three" continues the saga of the Curran Family. On the Manhattan, Kansas frontier of the 1870s, D’Arcy Curran, her adopted son, Dan, and her new husband, Royce Quinn, want nothing more than to raise a family and live in peace... moreSeventh in 'The Manhattan Stories' by Wall Street Journal Top 10 Best Selling author, Donna Foley Mabry, "The Currans and The Quinns | The Manhattan Stories: The Currans, Book Three" continues the saga of the Curran Family. On the Manhattan, Kansas frontier of the 1870s, D’Arcy Curran, her adopted son, Dan, and her new husband, Royce Quinn, want nothing more than to raise a family and live in peace. Their plans are waylaid when the renegade Jayhawker who killed D’Arcy’s father returns from prison looking for revenge. Human treachery isn’t the only thing D’Arcy and Royce battle on their prairie home. As Dan grows from a boy to a man and more children arrive, they struggle against the forces of nature, animals that are not as tame as expected, and disease. When Dan meets Kathleen O’Malley, he’s only sixteen but is convinced she’s the girl for him. He sets out to win her heart, but he wonders, can the pampered daughter of a New York millionaire learn to love a rough-hewn cowboy? less