Her Guarded Heart — Sharlene MacLaren

At age twenty-one, Anna Hansen has had more than her share of hardship. Her mother died when she was eleven and her father just passed away under mysterious circumstances, leaving her to care for her ten-year-old brother, Billy Ray. She struggles to hang onto the family farm but it’s facing foreclosure and things are looking grim. Next door, Jesse Fuller’s drive, work ethic, and skill ensure that his family’s farm is a growing success. His brothers think he should marry Anna to help out her and her kid brother…while also enabling the Fullers to expand their operation. But Jesse has never had romantic feelings for Anna and the idea doesn’t appeal to him. In the meantime, Horace Blackthorn is hell-bent on acquiring the Hansen farm for reasons of his own. And he’ll do whatever it takes to get it—lie, cheat, steal…even murder.