About the Book

Book: Wildflower Bride Author: Mary Connealy Genre: Christian Historical Romance Release Date: August 11, 2026

From bestselling author Mary Connealy comes a thrilling Western romance about finding belonging in unexpected places—a tale of a fierce woman warrior caught between two worlds, a gentle-hearted rancher, and the faith that brings them together. Perfect for fans of historical romance and unconventional heroines. Abby has lived with the Flathead tribe since they rescued her as a child, forgetting her white heritage. But when her village is massacred, and she’s saved by kind-hearted rancher Wade Sawyer, she’s forced to confront her past and future. Though drawn to Wade’s gentle strength, she refuses to be bound to the white world that once abandoned her. Wade Sawyer has spent his life trying to please his tyrannical father while battling his own demons. When he finds Abby—fierce, independent, and unlike any woman he’s known—he sees a chance at real love. But winning the heart of a woman who trusts no man and bridging the gap between two worlds seems impossible. As they face deadly rustlers, family conflicts, and their own fears, Wade and Abby must learn to trust in God’s plan for their lives. But can Abby let down her defenses and embrace a future with Wade? And can Wade prove that true strength lies in gentleness and faith? A moving story of finding home, healing from the past, and discovering that love knows no boundaries in the untamed Montana Territory.

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About the Author

Mary Connealy writes romantic comedies with cowboys and is celebrated for her fun, zany, action-packed style. She is a two time Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys always with a strong suspense thread. She is a two-time Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. She is the bestselling author of over 80 books and novellas. She has over a 1.8 million books in print. Mary lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her very own romantic cowboy hero. Visit her website or find her at Petticoats & Pistols!

More from Mary

I try to write books I love, and I re-read my own books. I’m a big re-reader and if I find myself uninterested in a book I wrote, I take that as a bad sign. I happen to LOVE Wildflower Bride as much as any book I’ve ever written. I wrote for ten years before I got my first book published. On that fateful day when I earned my first contract, I had twenty finished books on my computer. And I didn’t just write them and move on. I’d go back (re-reading even then) and polish them. I took stand alone books and shortened them, lengthened them. Turned them into series, saved all versions in case an editor wanted a series or did NOT want a series. Each book well, not ALL twenty of them, but a whole bunch, had about nine versions, all saved separately. Love Inspired length, trade fiction length, series, stand alone. I kept them all. But when I felt like I’d really improved one of them, I went back to the other versions and made those same improvements. I did a LOT of writing within those twenty books. Wildflower Bride was the first book I wrote from scratch after I signed a contract for it. Maybe for this reason, I especially love it. I took everything I knew, everything I learned and put it into this book. I remember staring at that blank page…I had about six books published by this time…and holding my hand flat on the computer screen and praying, God help me to remember everything I’ve learned. The hero is Wildflower Bride is the villain in Montana Rose. He is wretched. But to me, he was a broken man. My editor, when I told her Wade was the hero, said, “I can’t imagine it, but go for it.” He is saved at the end of Montana Rose. A young Christian trying to do right in the face of enormous pressure from his powerful, abusive father, in The Husband Tree, and a sad, lonely, but strong man, still growing in his faith at the same time he’s very solid in it, in Wildflower Bride. I just loved him. I love the wild beginning of Wildflower Bride, the heroine is an adult woman taken in by an Indian tribe at the age of ten when they find her, alone in a cabin, with her family all dead from a fever. She loves the people who saved her. Then people start trying to save her from the tribe and she is insulted and wants no part of this new world when her small band of native family is killed in a massacre. Again, she survives. Abby, she only vaguely remembers her birth name, fits nowhere. And she’s so at home in the wilderness she’s planning to live on her own, somewhere. Wade falls desperately in love with the strength he finds in her. These two need each other so badly, but Abby is a hard one to convince she should spend her life with Wade. Then Abby finds that one of her family, an older brother who didn’t come west with her family, is alive and living nearby. The way they discover each other, well, I just love it. Wade is starting to look pretty good compared to the grouchy, quick to swing a fist, brother. Still, she begins to remember her big brother, and she remembers loving him. Abby is a confused woman. Can Abby find her place anywhere in the world? Can Wade find enough backbone to stand up to his father…so far he’d just cut him out of his life. But Pa needs him even if he’s too awful to admit it. Wade’s pa needs God, too. And those evil men who destroyed her village, haven’t gone away and they want more from Wade and Abby than anyone can imagine. They have to be stopped and Abby and Wade have to find a way to work together to stop them.

Interview with the Author

Did you use a functional outline, or was it just chaos that somehow worked?

Chaos, most definitely. I pitch a one-page long synopsis of what I want to write to Bethany House Publishing and then a half-page each of books 2 & 3 in the series. Sometimes they ask questions but I don’t know why? Chances are the book I finally write will only vaguely resemble the book I said I was going to write. I am very much a seat-of-the-pants writer. I start out with a story idea and know the end goal is happily ever after with the bad guys all in prison or dead. The rest, I fill in as I go and if things every slow down, I shoot somebody.

How do you handle moments when inspiration seems hard to find?

I day dream. I like to lie in bed at night and day dream what I’ll write the next day. I imagine myself juggling ideas, throwing balls in the air, twisting this or that notion around until it creates something new.

Is there a particular scene or passage you’re incredibly proud of?

Tricky question. My favorite scene ever is in Doctor in Petticoats when Manny McClellen walks up to a campfire outside Helene, Montana, knowing she needs help and her new husband won’t admit it…that moment connects six books builds three more and hinges them all together.

The funniest scene I’ve every written is, I believe, the wedding in Calico Canyon. One of the coolest scenes, to me, is when Abby meets Tom Linscott in Wildflower Bride. Talk about seat-of-the-pants. I never saw that coming.

What surprising discoveries did you make during the writing process?

If I tell you it might ruin the surprise. Now would you want that, Sandra? HUH???

What’s one writing rule you believe in and one you think is made to be broken?

One I utterly believe in is 1000 words a day seven days a week. At the root of that is sitting down and writing, doing it consistently. No excuses.

How has writing this book changed you?

I really love Wildflower Bride. I felt like I began to grow as a writer in new ways with this. I’ve tackled a lot of difficult subjects in my books, all under the guise of romantic comedy with cowboys. None moreso that child abuse in Wildflower Bride.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I read. I listen to podcasts. I take the occasional walk but only because I know I should. I LOVE sitting on my front porch, drinking my morning coffee. It’s so pretty out there. Of course, I live in Nebraska so the days nice enough for that are limited, but that just makes it more precious.

What are you working on next?

Wildflower Bride is followed by Doctor in Petticoats for Wildheart Books. And I’ve got a book coming in October called The Hearts Most Wanted. It’s book 2 in my Rocky Mountain Marshals Series. And it’s got a HORSE on the cover. A handsome cowboy riding a horse. Could life be any sweeter?

Is there a genre or format you haven’t tried yet but would like to?

I love Regency Romance. I can’t imagine writing it but I’ve always loved the dialogue. Heroes TALK in Regency Romance. They do not talk in western romance. Not much anyway. I doubt I’ll ever do it. I’m keeping very busy and frankly, I just don’t even have any ideas for a plot. But I love it.

What is your favorite part of being a writer?

I love everything about being a writer. I love that blank screen before I begin. I love revisions. I love answering interview questions. I love research. Favorite? Seriously, I’ve been sitting here staring at my fingers on the keyboard for a long time. I think I’ll say ending one book and eagerly jumping into the next. That 1000 words a day thing does not mean long breaks from writing. I finish a book on Tuesday, I start the new one on Wednesday.