Gabriel's Bride : A Clover Ridge Novel

Gabriel Fisher knows that as the oldest of the Fisher clan he has to set the best example for the family. As the widowed father of six he knows it's time to remarry. He needs a wife to help him care for the farm and the children. What he doesn't plan on is marrying a slip of a girl nearly half his age.

Rachel Yoder has two choices, marry Gabriel or move to Ohio. Both prospects are equally frightening to her. As an orphan, Rachel doesn't have much to offer the man she marries and knows that any match she can make will be a good one. She just didn't plan on that match being to Gabriel Fisher with his big hands and stern face and permanent frown.

Rachel has always considered herself to be plain and those around her consider her to be accommodating and malleable. But as Gabriel's wife, she finds confidence in herself and her abilities as a mother to his brood. As she makes a new life with Gabriel, she starts to understand the feelings he held for his wife and the adoration he still holds for his children. Rachel wants a little part of that for herself-though love was never a part of their agreement. Still at times, she imagines what it would be like to have a real marriage instead of the arrangement that she has with her husband.

Gabriel understands all too well that the things you love the most are the things most likely to be lost. That's why he doesn't plan on falling in love with anyone-especially his new wife. But as time passes, Rachel blossoms and grows, and Gabriel finds himself thinking about a real marriage with his young wife. Yet despite the vows they have spoken to God and each other, can he risk his heart again with Rachel