The Women of Primrose Creek Series A Timeline Bridget (May 2000) Primrose Creek, Nevada - 1867 With her beloved husband, Mitch, killed in the Civil War, and the family farm lost to ruinous Reconstruction taxes, young widow Bridget McQuarry takes her three-year-old son, Noah, and younger sister, Skye, and journeys from Virginia to Primrose Creek to start life anew. Bridget and Skye have come to claim their share of the twenty-five hundred acres in Nevada's High Sierras that their Grandfather Gideon McQuarry left his four granddaughters. That's where Trace Qualtrough finds Bridget in his quest to honor his promise to his dying friend, Mitch -- a promise to look after Mitch's widow. But Bridget blames Trace for Mitch's death, for luring him into the glory of war. She wants nothing to do with him or his promise, or the old feelings he stirs in her. Christy (June 2000) Fort Grant and Primrose Creek, Nevada - 1868 After their mother's scandalous divorce, sisters Christy and Megan McQuarry, Gideon's other two granddaughters, were dragged off to England by their mother. Bridget and Skye think their cousins have been living a life of luxury abroad, safe from the ravages of war. In fact, their mother has died, their stepfather has shipped them back to Virginia, and they arrive to find their grandfather and father are also dead. Penniless, the sisters have no other option than to settle on their land in Nevada. On the way, Christy accepts the offer of U.S. Marshal Zachary Shaw to escort them on the perilous journey from Fort Grant to Primrose Creek. A wild attraction sparks between the good marshal and Christy, but she is determined that she and Megan will never go hungry again. She sets her sights on the town's lumber baron, Jake Vigil, but Zachary is determined to win her heart. Skye (July 2000) Primrose Creek, Nevada - 1868 Skye McQuarry's heart belongs to one man -- Jake Vigil -- and now that her cousin, Christy, has married Zachary, Jake is an available man. But more stands between Skye and Jake than his broken heart. Because fires have ravaged the growth on his land, Jake stands to lose his business if he can't buy the timber rights on Skye's property, but she loves every tree and won't sell. To fulfill her dream of building a horse ranch, Skye is determined to capture the wild bay stallion up in the hills, but Jake, too, has plans for the prime piece of horseflesh. The battle lines are drawn between two passionate hearts until a son Jake didn't know he had changes his priorities, and a raging fire threatens to destroy all of them. Megan (August 2000) Primrose Creek, Nevada - 1870 Two years ago Megan McQuarry left Primrose Creek to pursue a career as an actress in San Francisco. Not only did she not succeed, she foolishly lost her heart and her land in the Nevada wilderness. Returning to Primrose Creek, she seeks the solace of her family, but what awaits her is a shocking revelation that changes everything she believed about the McQuarrys. Feeling lost and betrayed, she signs on as housekeeper for Webb Stratton, the handsome new owner of her land. Soon Megan and Webb are deeply in love, but before Webb can build a life with this spirited McQuarry woman, he must confront his own family betrayals. His leaving brings back all the pain Megan suffered in San Francisco, and she faces heart's greatest challenge -- learning to trust that Webb's devotion is truly a promise for a lifetime. Last Chance Café (2002 hardcover; 2003 mass market paperack) Scottsdale, AZ and Primrose Creek, Nevada - Present Day On the day of her beloved stepfather's funeral in Scottsdale, AZ, Hallie Royer, a local restauranteur, meets a stranger at Lou Waitlin's wake. The stranger, who obviously knew the vice cop, gives Hallie a key that unlocks a box full of evidence. The documents prove that higher-ups in Phoenix law enforcement, including Hallie's assistant district attorney/ex-husband, Joel Royer, are involved in high-stakes drug trade. They also give support to her belief that Lou was the victim of a hit man. When Joel catches Hallie with the evidence in her hands, she grabs their seven-year-old twins, Kiera and Kiley, and flees the city in her stepfather's dilapidated truck. The truck breaks down outside Primrose Creek, Nevada, where local rancher, Chance Qualtrough, in the tradition of his forebears, can't resist helping a lady in distress. He drives her and her girls to The Last Chance Café. Penniless and desperate, she accepts a job as a waitress there but doesn't reveal her true identity.. Even though Chance knows she's on the run from something or someone, he puts Hallie and her twins up in the 19th century log house across the creek from his spread. The house is owned by his aunt, Jessie Shaw, an artist, who is currently on tour. While Hallie earns a meager living and warms to the close-knit community; Chance wins her heart. But Hallie knows she can't stay in Primrose Creek, no matter how much she loves Chance, not only for her sake and the twins' but for Chance's. Before she can flee, her ex-husband catches up with her. In the time-honored tradition of Primrose Creek, the descendants of the McQuarrys, the Qualtroughs, the Shaws, the Vigils and the Strattons close ranks around Chance, Hallie and the girls, but the forces threatening them are tough -- and dead serious. In order to add their names as one to the family Bible, Chance and Hallie must draw on deeper, inner strengths and a love that will stand the test of time. Readers will enjoy catching up with descendants of Primrose Creek's early settlers, including: Chance Qualtrough, whose ancestor, Trace Qualtrough, forged a life with Bridget McQuarry in the wilderness all those years ago. Jessie Shaw, descendant of U.S. Marshal Zachary Shaw, who married Christy McQuarry in 1868. Sheriff Jase Stratton, who traces his family's beginnings back to Web Stratton, who bought Megan's share of the original tract of land, then married her. Sara Vigil, descended from lumber baron Jake Vigil, and his wife, Skye. All the Primrose books were republished in an Omnibus called The Women of Primrose Creek, Pocket Books, 2002