Rural Fiction

Barnes, the supervisor of a Hot Shot wildfire suppression crew, is haunted by the season past, when many members of his dedicated, young team were killed in a Colorado forest fire that went all wrong, scorching the Hot Shots as they fled, some as they struggled into their fire shelters. He wakes each morning in the presence of their ghosts as they proceed across his bedroom or assemble at his kitchen table, their eyes asking questions that he cannot answer.

A collection of five addicting standalone small town romances by USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charity Ferrell.

When Connor Larkin boards a late-night bus in downtown LA, he's not sure where he's going or what he's looking for. Putting his acting career - and his fiancée - on hold, he's searching for something he can't define, a part of himself he lost on the road to success. Once he dreamed of being a singer in the classic style of Sinatra and Bennett. But his lean good looks soon landed him in movies as the sexy bad guy - and in the arms of a famous young heiress. Now, with his wedding day approaching, Connor finds himself stepping into the sleepy seaside town of Miramar Bay.

A historic western that opens in 1873, a time when recession is forcing thousands westwards to recoup their fortunes. The West is tough, brutal and the Indian is the enemy. But when a white woman is raped, it is a half-breed Cheyenne who comes to the rescue. From the author of Jake and Upland Passage.

One moment Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbor's barn raising. The next his foot slipped, and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children - the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbors help her to make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, all grieving their father's death, is overwhelming.

Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next. When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself.

All John Beauchamp wants is a simple life. He's a widower who is content running his Louisiana sugarcane farm. Then Shelby Mackey breezes in, announcing that she's pregnant with his baby. Their accidental night of passion has changed . . . everything. Shelby insists John doesn't have to be involved—she'll raise the baby on her own in Seattle. But John can't let her go that easily. Even without the baby, Shelby is a breath of fresh air. So when Shelby agrees to stay in Louisiana temporarily, John's determined to make that stay permanent—and as sweet as can be.

Wade Ashby doesn't let anyone in. With the death of his father and his failed marriage, plus the weight of the family business on his shoulders, Wade has plenty to deal with. He thrives on being the one constant and steady thing in his family's life and on their ranch, Silver Pines. Ivy Spencer knows two things for certain: Animals make better friends than people, and she can only count on herself. After a turbulent childhood and a string of bad luck since, Ivy is excited to start fresh at Silver Pines Ranch and live out her dream of training a racehorse en route to the Kentucky Derby.

Cecil Younger, local Alaskan investigator, is neither good at his job nor great at staying sober. When an old Tlingit woman, unimpressed by the police's investigation, hires him to discover why her son, a big-game guide, was murdered, he takes the case without much conviction that he'll discover anything new.

My name is Christine, and I'm on the run from a cult that wants me dead. Annabelle Lane is the cult's cunning and venomous leader, who forced me to commit crimes that are unforgivable. Annabelle's threats aren't to be taken lightly, and everybody knows that once you're in the cult, you're in it for life.

Want to know what happens to a man who barely claws his way out of a tragedy, only to fall right into the arms of the one girl in the world he can never have? Another tragedy, that's what. When I was six years old, my father made a choice that altered the course of my entire life. Because of what he did, the only girl I ever loved became the only girl I couldn’t have. In a lot of ways, I did have her; I had her first steps, her first words, her first smile. I had her milestones, her heartbreaks, her dreams.

Her heart is wild. Only he can capture it. When Cole Ashby is appointed Laurel Creek's interim sheriff, he is determined to prove himself as the best man for the job. A devoted single dad, his goal is to lay steady roots for his young daughter. As the daughter of a Kentucky congressman, Ginger Danforth's life has always been about neat appearances. But inside, she's dying to break free and embrace the sense of adventure that runs through her veins.

Harley Altmyer should be in college drinking Rolling Rock and chasing girls. He should be freed from his closed-minded, stricken coal town, with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead, he's constantly reminded of just how messed up his life is. With his mother in jail for killing his abusive father, Harley is an orphan with the responsibilities of an adult and the fiery, aggressive libido of a teenager.

Millie Leclair is a mess, complete with a dead-end career and a flatlining love life. So when she inherits her great aunt's oceanfront B&B in a resort town in South Carolina's Lowcountry, she doesn't hesitate to pack up her car and set off on a new adventure. It'll be fun. Of course, life seldom goes according to plan. The B&B is barely habitable for one person, let alone ready to open for business. With dwindling funds, Millie has no choice but to roll up her sleeves and tackle the repairs by herself. Yeah, so much fun.

Downsized from her stellar career at a big-city ad agency, Melinda is already at a crossroads when a phone call brings her back to her rural roots. It’s not long before she moves to the country, takes on a rundown farm and its headstrong animals, and lands behind the counter of her family’s hardware store in the community of Prosper, whose motto is "The Great Little Town That Didn’t."

Morgan Jo Coyle hasn’t been back to the small town of Brambleberry Creek or seen any of her family for years. But when she receives the heartbreaking news that her Memaw Essie is on her deathbed, Morgan knows she has to go home to face Essie—and her complicated past—before it’s too late. Stepping through the door of her family’s charming old farmhouse, Morgan is reminded of all the happy times she spent baking and talking with Essie. And it’s not long before her childhood sweetheart, Emmett Dawson, with his sparkling blue eyes and teasing smile, comes to find her.

With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again.

It's not like I planned to fall for my older brother's best friend. It just happened. With a perfect body covered in tattoos, and a dirty mouth, Roman is the kind of guy women notice—and believe me, I noticed. Even when I tried not to. When he finally gives in to temptation, there's no going back. At least for me. Too bad Roman doesn't see it that way. He thinks he needs to protect me and my relationship with my brother, but I don't need him to fight my battles. I just need him.

Stella Boor's biological father is a nameless, faceless sperm donor. At least, that's what her parents have led her to believe. Imagine her surprise when she learns he's none other than rock legend Billy Jameson and that Billy has died and left Stella a historic inn on a sprawling farm in the mountains of Virginia. A city girl at heart, Stella can't imagine living anywhere but New York. Her first inclination is to sell the property. But the terms of Billy's will stipulate she manages the inn for three years before putting it on the market.

Missing Links is the story of four middle-class buddies who live outside Boston and play golf together at Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Links and Deli, not so fondly known as Ponky. An 18-hole garbage dump with hazards that include a concrete river surrounded by a chain-link fence and the pillars of the elevated train that runs through the course, it is reputed to be the worst golf course in America.