One Last Chance by Diana Bold
Go West, young man! In a young country where men went West to seek their fortunes, there was something important that most of them forgot to bring: women!
Successful, respectable men seek twenty-two healthy, proper, unmarried young ladies to relocate to the booming town of Last Chance, in Washington Territory. Purpose: Matrimony. Safe passage and all expenses paid.
Four visionary men who long for land instead of gold go further north--into the Washington Territory--and found the boom town of Last Chance. The town needs the civilizing influence of proper women in order to grow and prosper.
Together, these friends decide to bring 22 brides-to-be to Last Chance, for a small fee to the prospective grooms. It's going to be a long process: the advertisement, choosing the women, and sailing around the Horn with them back to Last Chance.
- Logan owns the lumber mill. He's only interested in one woman, the one he foolishly left behind in New Orleans, a week before their wedding, some years ago.
- Cole, the ambitious second son of an earl, runs ships that carry the lumber and other goods. He's focused on his business and he's filthy rich.
- Joshua builds things and wants to build more. He's only interested in soiled doves, and no commitment.
- Garrett is the salt of the earth, the hardest-working foreman they have ever known. He wants a bride, but doesn't know how he can even afford one.
As One Last Chance (Last Chance Brides #1) opens, no one is more surprised than Logan when he comes face to face with Charlotte, the woman he jilted years before. He's shocked, shocked that she has answered the advertisement. And she's devastated to come face to face with the man who wrecked her life, and especially under these embarrassing circumstances.
Charlotte wants to escape the aftermath of the war-ravaged South and insists that she wants to find herself a husband in the Washington Territory. She's certain she doesn't want to marry Logan because, after all, he left her to survive the war on her own! Logan has a long voyage in which to try to convince Charlotte he's not the same guy who broke her heart. Of course, some of the other women are interested in Logan, too.