Rural Small Town Fiction

Conner Gilroy was my brother’s best friend. Popular. Smart. Gorgeous. With his cocky grin and perfect family, he was the fantasy of almost every girl I knew, including mine. And for some reason, he wanted me. Me, Henley O’Connell; the ugly bookworm with bright orange hair. Poor white trash with a quick temper and a chip on her shoulder. He confused me and made me angry. He treated me like I was something more than what I was. Like maybe what I wanted wasn’t just a silly fantasy.

With Holding Lies, John Larison takes us deep into a thriving subculture of the Northwest, one born of the ferns and firs, rain and hot-springs, firebombs and whitewater. He takes us even deeper into the troubles of Hank Hazelton, a 59-year-old river guide, as he struggles to reconnect with his only daughter after a 14-year estrangement. His failure as a father haunts him, along with other deep regrets, tragedies, and longings. In the days before his daughter's arrival, Hank discovers a drift boat stranded below a rapid, empty except for a long smear of blood on its seat.

As the new co-owner of Tundish Montana's stationery shop, Delta Douglas knows how to organize a killer crafting event. Creativity and cardstock are all she needs to move one step closer to her ultimate dream: developing her own line of crafting products. But on the night of the workshop, at the swanky hotel venue, glitter isn't the only thing found sprawled on the floor. A hotel guest is discovered dead in the bar, and amid the confusion, Delta's best friend is suspected of the crime.

Detective Abish Taylor left Utah for a reason. But with her husband’s passing, it’s time to come home. Reconnecting with her family means dealing with her past: the father she abandoned and the community she left behind. Her one escape is serving as the sole police detective in the small town of Pleasant View. But when the quiet Mormon suburb in the Wasatch Mountains is shaken by a macabre death - with the hallmarks of a sacred ritual dating back to the days of Brigham Young - Abbie is called into action.

Ending up in the same bed with my brother's best friend on a spontaneous road trip to his own wedding? Definitely not part of the plan. But when Oliver and I got stuck overnight at a hotel—with only one bed—temptation won. What was supposed to be a one-time thing… was just the beginning. Because now, he's secretly my husband. For convenience, of course. I think.

Eliza Carter has a secret. And it's not the recipe for her world-famous tiramisu. With her bakery undergoing a remodel, her son struggling in school, and planning her best friend's wedding, Eliza's secret is the last thing on her mind. Until her high school sweetheart reappears, stirring up old feelings faster than her electric mixer.

Twice in her life, college counselor Gayla Oliver fell in love at first sight. The first time was with Brian - a lean, longhaired, British bass player. Marriage followed quickly, then twins, and gradually their bohemian lifestyle gave way to busy careers in New York. Gayla's second love affair is with New Bern, Connecticut. Like Brian, the laid-back town is charming without trying too hard. It's the ideal place to buy a second home and reignite the spark in their 26-year marriage. Not that Gayla is worried. At least, not until she finds a discarded memo in which Brian admits to a past affair....

When Jamie Paddock learns of his father's suicide, memories of his childhood in West Virginia come roaring back. One of the few people in his town to ever make it out, Jamie is living in New York City now, developing marketing videos for YouTube, struggling to write and partying a lot, all while suppressing the accent that gives him away. Spurred by an artistic curiosity surrounding his silent and private father, Jamie goes home, staying with his disabled mother and sister in their trailer.

Gracie sees a chance of fitting in at her South Carolina private school, until a "white trash"-themed Halloween party has her steering clear of the rich kids. Samuel's Tejano family has both stood up to oppression and been a source of it, but now he's ready to own his true sexual identity. A Puerto Rican teen in Utah discovers that being a rodeo queen means embracing her heritage, not shedding it...

In her compelling, beautifully crafted novel, New York Times best-selling author Marie Bostwick celebrates friendships old and new - and the unlikely threads that sometimes lead us exactly where we need to go. Christmas is fast approaching, and New Bern, Connecticut, is about to receive the gift of a new pastor, hired sight unseen to fill in while Reverend Tucker is on sabbatical. Meanwhile, Margot Matthews’ friend, Abigail, is trying to matchmake, even though Margot has all but given up on romance.

John Elliott is a busy man. He runs his farm and his business, keeping to himself, with no time for anything else in his life. Quinn Harper is a single mother, looking for a fresh start. The small town she picked seemed perfect—until her first run-in with John. They strike sparks of the wrong kind and insist that keeping their distance is for the best. Yet, despite his growly nature and curt tone, he is sweet to her daughter. And he finds himself looking for reasons to be in Quinn's company, to do things that make them both smile, make him feel happy.

Though they come from the same small Irish village, lonely widow Ruby and struggling single mother Frankie couldn’t be more different. Then they discover the Moonlight Gardening Club, founded to remind its members that even on the darkest of nights, beauty and light can still be found. As they plant flowers chosen specially to be enjoyed under a carpet of stars in the gentle glow of moonlight, an unexpected friendship starts to bloom – and it might be just what each of them needs. But when shocking secrets from the past are revealed, both their worlds are turned upside down.

I'm the Gilroy your mother warned you about. I'm a simple creature. I drink. I f*ck. I fight. If you're looking to do any of those things, I'm down, but I never do the same woman twice. So if you're looking for something that'll last longer than the time it takes us both to get off, don't blame me when you get hurt—because you've been warned. I'm not a return to the scene of the crime kind of guy. I like my life. I like my freedom. At least I did. But that was before she came back into my life and ruined it all. Ruined me.

As if the jolt of becoming a single mom to her two sons wasn’t enough, Natalie Coombs is facing new stresses as the director of the crisis pregnancy center. A teenager who comes in for testing brings back memories of a client who still haunts Natalie - another pregnant girl whose life tragically ended in suicide. Desperate to reach this new client before it’s too late, Natalie finds herself crossing professional boundaries and doing things she would have never considered before.

In midwinter in an English village, a teenage girl has gone missing and everyone is called upon to join the search. The villagers fan out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks, and a crowd of news reporters descends on what is usually a place of peace. As the seasons unfold and the search for the missing girl goes on, there are births and deaths, secrets kept and exposed, livelihoods made and lost, small kindnesses, and unanticipated betrayals. Reservoir 13 explores the rhythms of the natural world and the repeated human gift for violence.

A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider is buying up farmland for a Keep America Truckin' motorway and amusement park.

It was always Samantha's dream to run her beautiful rescue centre, Hedgehog Hollow, full-time. But just as her wish comes true, she becomes a victim of her own kindness when she finds herself with a house full of guests - all with their own problems and secrets - looking to her for support. When her self-absorbed cousin, Chloe, unexpectedly turns up at the farm - swiftly handing over her baby to Samantha to care for - trouble is definitely brewing. Especially as Chloe won’t tell anyone why she’s left her husband, James.

April Raines is facing the end of her long-term marriage after her husband begins another family. Eager for a fresh start, she returns home with her grown daughters to Crown Island, just off the coast of Southern California. When Ryan Kingston acquires the historical Majestic Hotel, he is determined to bring the vintage Victorian beach resort back to life. But it could come at a steep cost to him and his carefully guarded privacy. Especially when April Raines, head of the new Crown Island Historical Society, captures his attention. Will they both get a second chance at life?

Eight years ago, Declan Gilroy pushed his way into my life and made himself at home. Made me believe he was different. Made me love him. Then he destroyed me. Left me. Broke my heart. I'll never forgive him for it. Never. I've spent the last eight years watching him move on. Living his life like what he did to me meant nothing. Like I meant nothing. He might not love me anymore, but he still wants me. That much I'm sure of. I can see it in the way he looks at me. Feel it in the way he kisses me. I've waited eight long years to get even, and it's finally here. The chance to make him hurt.

For decades, a dark force has terrorized the Languille Lake reservation. Only spoken of in whispers as "the sandman," he lurks in the Hidden Atlantis Lake Resort and Casino, the reservation's main attraction and source of revenue, leeching its patrons' dreams and ambitions and also preventing the ghosts that linger there from moving on. Fleeing a breakup, Marion Lafournier, a mid-twenties Ojibwe, seeks solace in the slot machine's siren song.