Rural Short Stories

A collection of stories capturing what it means to be a cowboy.

There will never be another Western writer like Louis L’Amour. A legendary author and indisputably the greatest storyteller in his genre of all time, L’Amour captivated millions of readers and has sold well over three hundred million copies of his works, which includes nearly ninety novels and countless short stories. Mistakes Can Kill You highlights an essential selection featuring nine of L’Amour’s earlier short stories, sometimes written under the pen name Jim Mayo, that exemplify the rugged morality of the best Western writing.

Featuring many of the beloved characters from Sylvia Price’s bestseller, The Christmas Arrival, as well as a new cast of characters, Amish Love Through the Seasons centers around a group of teenagers as they find friendship, love, and hope in the midst of trials. ***This special boxed set includes the entire series, plus a bonus companion story, “Hope for Hannah’s Love.”*** Tragedy strikes a small Amish community outside of Erie, Pennsylvania when Isaiah Fisher, a widower and father of three, is involved in a serious accident. When his family is left scrambling to pick up the pieces...

Bestselling and award-winning author Beth Wiseman has sold over two million books. An Amish Adoption is a heartwarming short story of love, loss, and the way God turns tragedy into triumph. A perfect afternoon read that might leave you with a tear in your eye.“Adoption holds a special place in my heart since I was adopted and blessed with amazing parents.” ~ Beth Wiseman Emily and Dylan have always wanted a child of their own, and they’ve fostered children for years. Each time a child leaves their care, the void returns and takes a piece of their hearts. When Emily’s estranged ...

A collection of stories from the most famous Western author of all time! Desert Death-Song is a compilation of some of Louis L’Amour’s greatest stories, many of which might otherwise be difficult to find. Whether he was writing under his early pen name, Jim Mayo, or his own, L’Amour’s stories are unforgettable, touching on rough and rugged American ideals, and set in the untamable frontier of the Western United States.

The coffee shop on the corner of First and Main in Oak Grove, Kansas, seems to attract a series of mysterious events. Morgan Butler, new owner of the Coffee Perk, hosts a weekly book club to attract new customers to her shop. One thing after another seems to want to drown her dreams. Dean Matthews, true-crime best-selling author, starts coming everyday to use Morgan’s free Wi-fi when his goes down. What Morgan didn’t expect was for crime to arrive on her doorstep shortly after the author. Needing a bulb replaced in her shop sign, she hires a local man to fix it only to find the man dead...

This complete collection includes all of the published stories of Eudora Welty. There are 41 stories in all, including those in the earlier collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of the Innisfallen, as well as previously uncollected stories.

Return to Virgin River for the holidays in this uplifting tale from the beloved series by New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr. Now a Netflix series! Last Christmas Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband, Bobby. This Christmas she’s come to Virgin River to find the man who...

Welcome back to Beechwood Harbor, the small town where witches, vampires, shifters, and werewolves all work, play—and mostly—get along! This boxed set includes Books 10–12 in the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries by Danielle Garrett.

Some debts the land never forgets. In this valley, the soil has a long memory. The scarecrow watches from the wrong direction. The crow speaks in the dark of harvest failure. The well calls you by name. The hay bales arrange themselves in the night into patterns that have no business existing – and when you try to break them, they return larger, more refined, more certain of what they are inviting. Harvest of Shadows is a collection of twenty standalone horror stories set in the farmyards, fields, and remote holdings of a valley that operates on its own ancient calendar. Each story ...

Welcome to Travers Corners, a dusty Montana town, where nothing much has happened since Herbert Hoover stopped for gas. Travers Corners, like most small towns, has no newspaper, no radio station; but here, large trout - no better than large trout, fictitious trout - await the angler. And apart from spreading gossip outside the McCraken’s General Store, the residents of Travers Corners love nothing more than fly fishing. Scott Waldie’s delightful cast of characters breathes life into this tiny, out-of-the-way town.

Every small town has secrets. Behind the white picket fences, beneath the cornfields, under the church floors and cracked Main Streets — something is waiting. In this chilling collection of twenty horror short stories, Adrian Cave takes you into the quiet heart of rural life… and then drags you beneath it. A phantom train that never stops. A harvest queen who never comes home. A grain silo filled with voices that shouldn’t exist. A road that appears on no map — yet always finds you. These are not haunted castles or distant cities. These nightmares grow in familiar soil. Each story ...

“Breathless pacing, dark humor, wildlife, and vivid characters.” —Boston Globe In this original short story in the Mike Bowditch mystery series, legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens tries to convince young Mike Bowditch of the dangers awaiting rookie game wardens...

This omnibus brings together seven of H.E. Bulstrode’s ghost stories originally published between 2016 and 2018. These are: The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, ...

A celebration of beloved American author Wendell Berry, the five stories in Fidelity return listeners to Berry's fictional town of Port William, Kentucky, and the familiar characters who form a tight-knit community within.

A small town second chance romance. Zoey When I surprise my sister by arriving a week early, I don’t expect to find my ex painting the house. He broke my heart four years ago, and I’ve spent all of my college years trying to forget him. Now he’s here with his lopsided grin, muscular arms, and workman’s hands that look like they know what to do with a woman. I tell myself that I’m over Nick, but every time I see him my body goes all squirmy. The sooner I can find a job and get out of this town and away from him the better. Nick When I let Zoey go four years ago, I thought I was ...

When a church lady falls in love, she falls hard. Sometimes she lands on her knees. Miss Budge does as she moves quietly and powerfully through her daily life in Old Cloverdale, where F. Scott Fitzgerald once courted Zelda, and two miles away Nat King Cole was born. Fitzgerald wrote about love. Nat Cole sang about love, and Mildred Budge knows those words. She can sing along with Nat and has. But Miss Budge lives love too—is always in love. The world wants a certain kind of love. Miss Budge offers a different kind—one that is so rare, so foreign as to be misunderstood…. But make no ...

"You don't know me yet, but in a few hours that's going to change. You see, I'm inviting you to my home and my town of Cedar Cove, because I want you to meet my family, friends, and neighbors. Come and hear their stories - maybe even their secrets!"

"This is small town romance at its best!” Brook I meet the hottest man I’ve ever seen, and I ugly cry on him. And when I say ugly cry, I mean the whole deal: streaky mascara, puffy eyes, and snot everywhere. Totally embarrassing. And confirmation that my life is officially a hot mess. I’ve inherited my mother’s dog hotel. The building needs repairs, we’re in debt, and my sisters have descended on the house, leaving it a noisy, chaotic mess. Then along comes Owen, making me laugh and cry and tingle all over. But when I find out his secret, I’m devastated. I want nothing more to ...

Set in the biggest small town in the country, Susan and Mike travel to St. Louis for their son’s Match Day ceremony. At the reception, the dean of the medical school drops dead under mysterious circumstances. Susan smells foul play. Teaming up with the detective’s mother, it's double trouble as she and her new bestie uncover secrets worthy of murder in Murder is Medical. In Murder is Universal, Susan and Valerie are on a flight when they discover the passenger in the middle seat dead on arrival. The dynamic duo is convinced it was murder. The dead passenger, owner of a successful ...