Rural Small Town Fiction

When Zoe's best friend shows her the box of dreams they put together as kids, she would never have foreseen herself dumping Mr. Perfectly Fine and quitting her draining job. But when she looks in that box and realizes her life isn't even close to where she envisioned she'd be when she was ten, she panics and implodes everything she knows.

A remarkable collection of stories, Bad Dirt is filled with the vivid characters for which Annie Proulx has become known. In every story in this book, Proulx displays her wit and her knowledge of the West, of history, and, most of all, of characters who must use sheer will and courage to make it in tough territory.

Als ich noch der Waldbauernbub war: Kindheits- und Jugenderinnerungen Peter Roseggers. Ein Alternativtitel ist Waldheimat. Erzählungen aus der Jugendzeit. Peter Rosegger wurde am Kluppeneggerhof in Alpl als das Älteste von sieben Kindern des Waldbauern Lorenz Rosegger und dessen Ehefrau Maria geboren. Da in Alpl kein Schulzwang bestand, gab es viele Analphabeten. Auch sein Vater war Analphabet, so lernte der Bub viel von der Mutter. Er erfuhr nur einen beschränkten Schulunterricht.

Holly McLean, a passionate geologist and reluctant heiress to a Texas oil empire, isn't looking for love—especially not while she's on vacation. But after a little pressure from her best friend, she dons the alias "Lula Ann Smith" and finds herself at a small-town speed dating event she wants nothing to do with. That is, until she meets Bubba Jones, a rugged cowboy with an easy smile who likes burgers, sunsets . . . and her. What starts as a game of pretend quickly turns into something achingly real. For the first time, Holly imagines a life lived on her own terms, with a love that feels true.

26 ans de Marine nationale, 91 ans de mauvaise foi... Quand Zoé, 17 ans, emménage dans le Finistère chez un oncle qu’elle connait à peine, elle ne décolère pas. Pour la lycéenne solitaire qui ne rêve que d’Amérique et de voyages, la petite ville de Saint-Renan ressemble à son pire cauchemar. Déterminée à en partir dès que possible, elle compte les jours qui la séparent de sa liberté. Mais toutes ses certitudes sont mises à rude épreuve par Pierre, son voisin nonagénaire au caractère bien trempé.

Samantha has a secret. Returning home from her dream honeymoon to the normality of running her beloved Hedgehog Hollow rescue centre, she's ready for the next chapter of her life with Josh. Or is she? Lauren has given up on love. Twenty-six years ago the love of her life, Shaun, left her a note and was never seen again. Samantha and Lauren will need the love and support from the Hedgehog Hollow family more than ever. After all, some dreams are worth chasing.

When Christopher Hostettler comes from Ohio to work at his uncle's shop in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, he gets off on the wrong foot with Emily Fisher. But when he finally opens up to her about his tragic reasons for leaving home, her heart begins to change. When Christopher compliments an old quilt, Emily decides to make a similar quilt for Christopher as a gesture of friendship. Emily knows she must guard her heart, as Christopher is not a baptized member of the church, but she's suddenly found someone with whom she can imagine sharing a future.

I is Another follows the lives of two men living close to each other on the west coast of Norway. The year is coming to a close and Asle, an aging painter and widower, is reminiscing about his life. He lives alone, his only friends being his neighbor, Åsleik, a bachelor and traditional Norwegian fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in Bjørgvin, a couple hours' drive south of Dylgja, where he lives.

Eve has just graduated from high school, but she doesn't know what's next aside from working at the local motel, spying on Kyle, her neighbor, and stealing apples from his orchard. If she doesn't figure things out soon, she'll be stuck at home and treated like a child forever.

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."

My trip to Nashville for my sister's bachelorette trip was going to be my weekend to let go. I was starting my last year of college and I finally felt like I had a plan for my life. I wanted one weekend of freedom. My plan was to drink some whiskey, sing karaoke, and ride that mechanical bull. But after meeting a sexy stranger, the bull took the backseat, and I went on a different kind of ride.

It's been fifteen years since the tragedy that took not only the life of Ellison Wilson's father but her entire world. Since then, she's done everything she can to separate herself from the thing they both loved: rodeo. But each year, on the anniversary of his death, she makes an exception for her mother and goes back to the place her heart once belonged.

Jacqueline thought she already had her happy-ever-after—until her husband left her for a woman who could give him a child (and already had). Now she's divorced and working herself to the bone to pay off the mortgage on a house that will never be full of the children she dreamed of. Jacqueline doesn't know what to expect when she responds to an emergency call-out during a storm, but it's nothing like this: three lost children who can turn into seals, and a ruggedly handsome man who makes her blood run hotter than it ever has before.

In this heart-pounding New York Times best-seller by RITA Award finalist Romantic Times Career Achievement Award winner Catherine Anderson, a seasoned horseman and a tenderfoot guide face long odds to rescue an eight-year-old from the Oregon wilderness.

In "No Place Like Home", widow Eva Dienner returns home to meet the man her parents always intended for her. After Hurricane Harvey, Sarah Hook returns to the home she fled and back into the arms of Abram King in "When Love Returns". In "The Courage to Stay", Irene Keim seeks a fresh start in the home of her new friends, but when their son comes around, he's determined to push her out. Atlee Shetler is visiting Birch Breek to escape the memories of his late wife and finds the project of renovating a bakery and its owner much more than he's bargained for in "What Love Built".

As late summer fades into fall, Melinda's efforts at her rented farmhouse are starting to bear fruit. She's learned to preserve produce, outsmart some stubborn chickens, and wrangle a flock of spoiled sheep. She revels in the peace she's found in the country, where time is marked by morning-fresh eggs and stunning sunsets. But even in the small town of Prosper, nothing stays the same. One member of the hardware store's coffee group shares a startling announcement, and a trip back to the city makes Melinda realize how deep her roots run in rural Iowa.

Mara Davies learned early to keep her heart on ice. Abandoned by her mother, she raised herself while her father drowned his grief in alcohol. Everything changed when she met Fayth Havens, the one person who truly sees her and accepts everything that makes Mara different: her overstimulated mind, wandering thoughts, even her comfort in a pair of worn-out Family Guy pajamas, holes in the ass and all.

Welcome to Too Much - where the women are strong-willed and the men are handsome yet shiftless. Ever since Mary Dell Templeton and her twin sister, Lydia Dale, were children, their Aunt Velvet has warned them away from local boys. But it’s well known that the females in Mary Dell’s family have two traits in common - superior sewing skills and a fatal weakness for men. While Lydia Dale grows up petite and pretty, Mary Dell just keeps growing. Tall, smart, and sassy, she is determined to one day turn her love of sewing into a business.

Valentine French may be the sassiest dating columnist in New York City, but the abundance of metrosexuals in her adopted metropolis is seriously cramping her style. Where are the beefy all-American boys? Hoping to find some inspiration, Val heads to Alaska, where the men outnumber the women 15 to one and wrestle grizzly bears for sport. Or so she can only imagine.

An inheritance has reunited three estranged cousins. Their grandmother Lucy left Nessa, Flynn, and April her cabin nestled in the woods near Blossom, Texas, as well as a hope chest to be unlocked after they complete a special task. Together, they must hand stitch a cherished quilt Lucy left unfinished. It meant everything to her. And now, to three people struggling with their own patchwork pasts.