Cottonwood Books in Order

The Cottonwood series is a set of Christian historical romances centered on a small Iowa town in 1875. Sophie Dawson uses Cottonwood as more than a backdrop. It is a place where news travels fast, neighbors notice everything, and a private mistake can become public before breakfast.

The first book, Healing Love, introduces Lydia Walcott, a young woman escaping an arranged marriage and an abusive home. After arriving in town injured and alone, she becomes caught in a compromising situation with Dr. Sterling Graham. Neither planned to marry, but gossip and concern for their reputations make that seem like the only answer. Their story sets the tone for the series: love is important, but safety, trust, and the daily work of building a home matter too.

Cottonwood has room for people trying to become somebody new.

In Lord's Love, Magdelina Taylor seeks independence from her controlling mother, while Sinjon Lytton arrives from England with his own problems and a great deal to learn. Redeeming Love, written with George H. McVey, brings danger to town when Deputy U.S. Marshal Timothy Dillion pursues an outlaw and must protect nurse Nell Shaw. The books share characters and community ties, but each romance gives a different couple the center of the story.

The setting keeps the stakes grounded. A doctor rides difficult roads in bad weather. A woman opening a business needs the town's support. A rumor can threaten a livelihood. Violence and illness sometimes intrude, yet the stories remain focused on the ordinary choices that shape a life: whether to forgive, when to ask for help, and how to make a marriage into a partnership.

Faith is woven into the characters' decisions rather than treated as an afterthought. The books take their characters' past wounds seriously, especially when trust has been broken, while keeping a hopeful and gentle tone.

Start with Healing Love for the strongest introduction to Cottonwood and the people who make it feel like home. Readers who enjoy clean historical romance, marriages of convenience, frontier-town life, and connected stories will find an easy entry point here.