Lonestar Books In Order

Publication Order of Lonestar Books

Lonestar is a series of romantic suspense novels written by Colleen Coble. The books follow the exploits of women who are forced to enter into relationships with men they have only recently met for the sake of their children.

+The Story
The Lonestar series is categorized as romantic suspense. A case could be made that these are actually Christian novels. Colleen Coble primarily writes Christian-themed books and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that her Lonestar novels also fall under the same category.

The Lonestar series started publication in 2008 with ‘Lonestar Sanctuary’. That first book introduced readers to Allie Siders. Allie’s life has been a train wreck of tragedies. By the time readers meet her, she has lost so many people that she should be on the verge of breaking down.

However, Allie has succeeded in keeping herself together primarily for the sake of her daughter. When Betsy stops speaking, possibly because of all the mental and emotional trauma she has suffered, Allie decides that it is time to finally get help.

She packs up and moves them both to the small Texas town of Bluebird Crossing. There she finally finds a sanctuary in the form of the Bluebird Ranch, a place that helps abused horses as well as troubled individuals.

Allie wants to feel safe at the ranch. But a sense of animosity is brewing up between her and Rick Bailey, the ranch foreman. What initially threatens to become a contentious relationship eventually blossoms into something far more beautiful.

Lonestar sanctuary sets Allie Siders up as a damsel in distress that discovers her strength when she unintentionally stumbles across her soul mate, eventually receiving spiritual mental and emotional healing.

Allie acts as the template upon which all the heroines in the rest of the Lonestar series are based. While Colleen Coble definitely endeavors to shake things up a bit, experimenting with different personalities and adding a few new twists to the stories, there is a central theme that persists throughout the novels.

For one thing, the heroine is always a troubled woman. She is either running away from something or she already ran away, and all these years later, she is finally coming back to face the consequences of her actions.

There are children in the equation as well. Some of the heroines are single mothers by choice. Others lost their spouses and have been forced to survive on their own. Either way, every action the heroine takes is designed to keep her children safe.

The town of Bluebird Crossing tends to act as the setting for all the drama that ensues. The heroine is either already living in the town or she is coming back to it after some years spent away. There are a few female protagonists who have never been to the town and are coming to Bluebird crossing for the first time.

Regardless of their situation, it is in the Texas town that they meet the man of their dreams. Interestingly enough, even though the Lonestar series is a collection of romance novels, instant attractions are a rarity.

If anything, the hero and the heroine have plenty of reasons to be wary of one another. The heroine has been hurt and she doesn’t know if she can trust the hero. The hero has fared no better in the arena of personal relationships and he cannot help but approach the heroine with caution.

As the story progresses, the hero and heroine enter into some sort of relationship of convenience. The heroine needs the safety and protection the hero has to offer. And it just so happens that the heroine has something to offer that the hero desperately needs.

And because they are forced to entertain one another’s company for long periods of time, their walls begin to break down and, eventually they fall in love, paving the way for a mutually beneficial relationship.

However, this revelation that the hero and heroine love one another rarely leads to the immediate happily ever after they both desire. This is because Colleen Coble normally has an additional plot running in the background, one that has little to do with the romantic relationship between her protagonists.

That additional plot is the reason the Lonestar series is categorized as romantic suspense. The author begins each novel by teasing some sort of mystery. Sometimes that mystery is a source of danger to the protagonists, and they must solve it and stop some nefarious villain if they want to keep breathing.

Other times, the mystery in question merely pertains to a personal aspect of the hero or the heroine’s past.

As the hero and the heroine face off against danger and as they learn to depend on one another, feelings develop and their relationship is further cemented.

These books typically have a strong dose of Christianity sprinkled throughout. This is on top of the animal aspect.

+The Author
Colleen Coble is an Award-winning bestselling author that writes romantic suspense novels with Christian messages. Over the course of her career, the author has sold millions of copies of her books.

The CEO of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Colleen endeavors to write stories that will leave her readers feeling uplifted and spiritually strengthened.

+Lonestar Sanctuary
Allie Siders has seen the people closest to her die one after another. She thought she could keep it together on her own. But then she drew the attention of a stalker with revenge on his mind.

With her daughter Betsy suddenly unable to speak, Allie runs off to the Bluebird Ranch in Texas. The people there help abused animals and troubled youths. Allie wants to believe that the Ranch will keep her safe and help her daughter.

But Ranch Foreman Rick Bailey seems uneasy around Allie. For reasons Allie is yet to understand, he refuses to let his guard down around her.

+Lonestar Secrets
Shannon Astor was a single mother when she left her home in Texas. Shannon had secrets that needed to stay buried. So she went looking for a fresh start elsewhere.

Shannon is forced to come back home for the sake of her daughter. Shannon wants to put her past traumas behind her. But Jack MacGowan is making that difficult. Her former high school nemesis, Shannon is shocked to find that Jack’s daughter looks exactly like her own.

Shannon and Jack do not trust one another. But they must learn to do just that if they want to settle the mystery of their daughters’ births.