Heather Parker has stayed home in Moonbeam longer than she ever thought possible. Which makes it really hard to keep avoiding Jesse...

Eventually they come to a mutual truce.

... and then a bit more.

But a surprise from the past threatens everything. Secrets come tumbling out and everyone is shocked by what Heather has hidden from them. From Jesse. From her cousin. From her mother.

A secret that threatens to tear apart Heather's relationship with everyone she cares about.

Continue on in the Moonbeam Bay series and see what the Parker women are up to. And just how many more secrets does this family have?

MOONBEAM BAY - the series

The Parker Women - Book One

The Parker Cafe - Book Two

A Heather Parker Original - Book Three

The Parker Family Secret - Book Four

Grace Parker's Peach Pie - Book Five

The Perks of Being a Parker - Book Six

“A Horse Brought Us Here is a book in a class all its own. Readers who enjoy historical fiction or period piece fiction will enjoy this superb novel about a tragedy that shakes a small town and changes the lives of those in it forever.” —Seattle Book Review

“Author Dershie McDevitt beautifully captures the essence and spirit of small town America in the 1950s in this well-written novel that builds tension steadily.” —Readers’ Favorite

Excitement grows all day Friday in the quiet Wyoming cattle town of Juniper as cheerleaders and football players ready themselves for the biggest football game of the year. When the Homecoming Parade finally wends its way down Main Street, everyone strains to see who's been chosen Homecoming Queen. They clap delightedly when they spot BJ Bonniface in her pink strapless formal sitting high on the back of the big Buick convertible, though no one is surprised. She's the popular steady girlfriend of star quarterback, Rob Hitchcock. Life continues to unwind as life is expected to on such iconic weekends. The home team even wins the game. But on Monday morning, Juniper High is shaken to its foundations when the announcement is made that the Homecoming Queen is dead.

“Act as if nothing has changed,” advises the Dean of Women. “Carry on as normal for the good of the school.” But there are those in the student body who doubt that BJ died from a bee sting. How are they to carry on? Her best friend, Nella Fortune, and her boyfriend, Rob, have private and personal reasons to question the story, but there is no one to go to and nothing to be done. Both will sleepwalk through the rest of their senior years, consumed with what they know and what they cannot tell. But the clock is ticking. How long can such a secret be kept?

In A Horse Brought Us Here, Dershie masterfully weaves the tapestry of small-town fiction into a tense, disturbing story. She invites readers to travel back to a time when life looked simple but often was not. With every turn of the page, she evokes our nostalgia for a time in the West when some of life's mysteries may have been best kept buried.

Author Bio:

Dershie McDevitt, a lifelong writer, holds an MLA from UNC, Asheville where she won The Wilma Dykeman Award for excellence in nonfiction writing. Her popular Callahan Banks Mystery Series (including Just Holler Bloody Murder and Perils of a Pregnant Sleuth) follows nature lover, biology professor and crime solver Callahan Banks through suspenseful southern whodunits on a South Carolina barrier island. Dershie and her husband, Larry, live outside of Asheville, North Carolina. They have three adult children, four perfect grandchildren and share their mountain valley home with rescue pooch, Sassafras, and a particularly bossy cat named Orphan Annie.

Now a USA Today bestselling author, Elizabeth Bromke delivers another heartwarming story of family secrets, romance, and mystery.

A year ago, Nora Hannigan died. But she left behind a haunting legacy of untruths and mysteries. Now, her four adult daughters are ready to face the past and find happiness on their own terms.

Oldest Kate thought she'd put family drama behind her. But then a new commotion crashes onto the shoreline of her very own backyard, and she's once again thrust into a small-town scandal.

Amelia just received the role of a lifetime. But will it get in the way of her goal? Or is it the one part she was always meant to play?

Megan's life is finally perfect, and she's even moving into her new house in the fields of Birch Harbor. But then she gets a call about her daughter. There's a situation at the marina... again.

Clara is finding her way in her new job and with a budding romance, but then her beau makes a quiet discovery that might change everything...

Escape to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Summer Society. These books are best enjoyed in order.

Book One: House on the Harbor

Book Two: Lighthouse on the Lake

Book Three: Fireflies in the Field

Book Four: Cottage by the Creek

Book Five: Bells on the Bay

Sheriff Ray Crawford Osborne is in over his head when someone murders the First Lady of Lantz, Texas. Suspects include her persnickety husband who has financial problems; their daughter who bears a lifetime of psychological scars; a businesswoman with a reputation for revenge; a nasty local drunk; a combat veteran who came home from Afghanistan with the kind of battle scars you can't see; the richest man in town who is nursing an open wound; and a young man who had a peculiar relationship with the victim. Osborne may not know much about detective work but he knows the secrets and lies of everyone in town.

About the Author
Evatt, Dls: - Evatt is a retired Texas journalist living in Austin. She spent most of her career in public communication, including on the faculty at Syracuse University.

Intriguing mystery, romance, and a new small-town scandal: visit Birch Harbor, Michigan with USA Today bestelling author Elizabeth Bromke.

As she cleans up the cottage her mother left behind, Clara Hannigan discovers a locked hope chest. Inside is a book that might have the answers to her questions... if she can connect the dots between her mom and a prominent local. Complicating matters is one of Clara's students: a mean girl who has a bone to pick with the Hannigans.

Meanwhile, Clara's oldest sister, Kate, is ready to take her romance to the next level. She could have everything she wants by Thanksgiving, until her boyfriend's daughter is implicated in Birch Harbor High School drama... and it has nothing to do with theatre club.

Amelia is ready to open her new business to locals and tourists. But that means she must finally bury the search for her father. It would be easy, if one of her sisters didn't show up with an old yearbook and a new interest in the case.

Megan is in the throes of fixing her life. With a new career and a new home, all she needs now is to ensure her teenage daughter will fit in at the local high school. But when Megan expects special treatment from the familiar staff at B.H.H.S., her fresh start is compromised and rumors begin to spread.

Cottage by the Creek is the fourth installment in the Birch Harbor family saga. These romantic women's fiction titles are best enjoyed in sequential order.

Escape to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Farmhouse. These books are best enjoyed in order.

Book One: House on the Harbor

Book Two: Lighthouse on the Lake

Book Three: Fireflies in the Field

Book Four: Cottage by the Creek

Book Five: Bells on the Bay

A "heartwarming" novel by USA Today bestseller Elizabeth Bromke: Four sisters are ready to start fresh... as soon as they settle the secrets of their past (Goodreads).

On the verge of divorce, Megan Hannigan needs a distraction. So, she turns to the sunny tract of farmland left in her mother's will. It's the perfect locale for a budding business, but locals disagree. Only a third party can help navigate this pesky small-town grudge or else Megan's career plan is dead in the water.

Meanwhile, Megan's oldest sister, Kate, hosts a grand opening for her newly renovated Heirloom Inn. Everything is going smoothly until her high school sweetheart reveals a disastrous confession.

Amelia and her new flame are working to bring a local monument back to life. They figured the mysteries of the past were dead and buried, until Amelia accidentally discovers more information.

Claire, a teacher, capitalizes on summer break by working on her new cottage and lounging near the water. But then her principal makes a midsummer request...and a new revelation shocks the shoreline and changes everything.

Fireflies in the Field is the third installment in the Birch Harbor family saga. These romantic women's fiction titles are best enjoyed in sequential order.

Escape to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Farmhouse.

Book One: House on the Harbor

Book Two: Lighthouse on the Lake

Book Three: Fireflies in the Field

Book Four: Cottage by the Creek

Book Five: Bells on the Bay

A heart-rending story of two mothers-one white, one black-struggling for truth and justice in the Civil Rights-era South

In 1958, when almost no women own and edit newspapers, Pearl Goodbar, a white mother of two teen-age girls, risks her family's financial future to buy a small, defunct Southern weekly. Before she can get the paper up and running, her husband loses his job, a smoldering desegregation crisis flames up in the state capital, and Elton Washington-a young black man whose mother, Sadie Rose, is also a businesswoman-disappears.

The mystery of Elton's whereabouts brings Pearl and Sadie Rose together in a gut-wrenching search for truth and justice and leaves Pearl facing editorial and business decisions that could lead to more money woes and even physical harm to herself and those around her. Which way will she turn when commitment to honesty, integrity, and equal rights runs headlong into responsibility and duty to family?

Both women's lives are complicated further when townspeople learn what happened with Elton. Meanwhile, the head of the local White Citizens' Council stirs racial hatred, and another prominent white man hides a dark secret that Sadie Rose knows but will not tell. The town's former marshal-a white septuagenarian everyone calls Mr. Claude-and a black businessman-Leon Jackson-play important roles in the shocking events, including murder, that follow. But Pearl is key to the answers they seek.

Find out why.

About the Author
Adams, George Rollie: - George Rollie Adams is a native of southern Arkansas and a former teacher with graduate degrees in history and education. He is the author of South of Little Rock, which received four independent publishers' awards for regional and social issues fiction; author of General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons, a finalist for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award; coauthor of Nashville: A Pictorial History; and coeditor of Ordinary People and Everyday Life, a book of essays on social history. Adams has served as a writer, editor, and program director for the American Association for State and Local History and as director of the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. He is president and CEO emeritus of the Strong National Museum of Play, where he founded the American Journal of Play and led the establishment of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.

Sometimes four weeks is enough... and sometimes it's not...

Lillian Charm is content running Charming Inn. She has everything she wants or needs. Well, she kind of regrets her purchase of the house next to the inn. She wants to turn it into a guest house. But It has been nothing but problem after problem.

Gary Jones comes to Belle Island for a brief vacation... oh, let's be honest... he's hiding out from his past. He knows it and anyone who knows who he really is knows it. One other reason to make sure no one finds out his true identity.

Gary takes over the job of rehabbing the guest house for Lillian. At the very least it will keep him busy, and maybe it will help him hide from his memories and the overwhelming guilt.

But when an accident at the guest house makes it seem like history is repeating itself, Gary knows it's no longer possible to hide from his past.

Lillian and Gary have only known each other for four short weeks... and that may be all they have.

This is the delightful continuation of the Charming Inn series. Sara and Noah are making wedding plans and then there's Charlotte. What's up with Ben and Charlotte? Of course, we're still waiting to see what happens between Robin and Jay. Visit all of them along with your favorite Lighthouse Point characters.

This is book four in the Charming Inn series:

One Simple Wish - Book One

Two of a Kind - Book Two

Three Simple Things - Book Three

Four Short Weeks - Book Four

Five Years or So - Book Five

Six Hours Away - Book Six

Or try the Lighthouse Point series. Either series can be read first, so jump right in.

The Lighthouse Point Series:

Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

Wedding on the Beach - Book Two

Love at the Lighthouse - Book Three

Cottage Near the Point - Book Four

Return to the Island - Book Five

Bungalow by the Bay - Book Six

For readers of Katherine Center and Kristan Higgins, an immersive, soul-nourishing novel that dares to hold onto hope when happily-ever-after seems lost. Full of character, wit, and wisdom, Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy explores second chances and the power of connection.

Lark's lost her husband, and the expiration date has come and gone on her fake-it-till-you-make-it "Happy Mommy Show." Healing her broken family requires drastic measures--like returning to her hometown in the Texas Hill Country. But she's going to need more than clean air and a pastoral landscape to rebuild a life for her and her young sons.

After years of putting off her dream of becoming a winemaker, Lark puts every cent into a failing vineyard, determined to work through her grief and make a brighter future for her children. The last thing she expects is to fall in love again. Especially not with Wyatt Gifford, an injured Army vet with a past of his own to conquer.

Coming home may not be the reset Lark imagined, but it does take her on a journey filled with humor and reconciliation--one that prepares her for a courageous comeback.

About the Author
Clink, Kris: - Kris Clink writes about relatable characters who rely on humor and tenderness to navigate their complicated relationships. Set in middle America, her novels are laced with love, heartbreak, and just enough snarky humor to rock the boat.

Calling Texas home for most of her life, Kris now lives in Kansas. She and her husband have filled their empty nest with two spoiled-rotten pups. When not writing, Kris is searching for an open karaoke mic and an understanding audience. She welcomes the opportunity to participate in book clubs.

She had everything figured out. But life had other plans.

Melinda Foster had it all - well, almost. A charming vintage apartment in Minneapolis, a rewarding career at one of the city's top marketing firms, supportive friends and a flush bank account. So what if she was nearly forty and single? Or if, when she slowed down long enough to reflect, something seemed to be missing?

One tough break, and one phone call, change everything.

Finding herself at a crossroads, Melinda packs her bags and heads home to rural Iowa. She lands behind the counter of her family's hardware store in the tiny community of Prosper, whose motto is "The Great Little Town That Didn't." When a "for rent" sign beckons her down a dusty gravel lane, she takes charge of a rundown farm and its stubborn animals. And learns that starting over, at any age, isn't for the faint of heart.

Like the sprawling garden she tends under the summer sun, Melinda begins to thrive ... and discovers it's the small blessings that matter the most. But when storm clouds arrive on her horizon, can she hold on to the new life she's worked so hard to create? First in a series.

Author Bio:
Melanie Lageschulte grew up on an acreage in northern Iowa. She's spent much of her professional life telling the stories of Iowa and its residents, including several years as a reporter and editor for the Des Moines Register. Melanie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in American history from the University of Iowa. Learn more at fremontcreekpress.com.

Don't miss this heartwarming sequel to "Growing Season." The muggy days of August find Melinda Foster's garden bursting at its borders. And two months into an unexpected sabbatical from her bustling life in Minneapolis, Melinda's efforts at her rented farmhouse are starting to pay off: She's learned to preserve produce, outsmart a few headstrong chickens and wrangle a flock of spoiled sheep. But even in the little 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 now run in rural Iowa. As the months roll by and the seasons change, Melinda must choose between the security of her old life or taking a chance on an uncertain future.

About the Author
Lageschulte, Melanie: - Melanie Lageschulte is the author of Growing Season and Harvest Season (2017). A third book in the series, The Peaceful Season, is planned for fall 2018. Melanie grew up on an acreage in northern Iowa. She's spent much of her professional life telling the stories of Iowa and its residents, including several years as a reporter and editor for the Des Moines Register. Melanie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in American history from the University of Iowa. Learn more at fremontcreekpress.com.

Four sisters. One family secret. And a chance to fix the past...

Kate Hannigan is in charge of her late mother's estate, and she has a plan: divide everything evenly, including the old family house on the harbor. What she doesn't realize is that her mother changed the will. Now, a family secret hangs in the balance.

Meanwhile, her sister, Amelia, a struggling off-Broadway actress, enlists her hapless construction boyfriend to help with a local project, but he's more interested in summer tourists.

Second-youngest, Megan, is preoccupied with her divorce... but not too preoccupied to make a dating profile, much to her sisters' mortification.

Baby of the family, Clara, is single and refuses to date. She puts her teaching job above all else. Until a crushing revelation calls into question everything she knew to be true... including her own past.

Head to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Farmhouse.



Book One: House on the Harbor

Book Two: Lighthouse on the Lake

Book Three: Fireflies in the Field

Book Four: Cottage by the Creek

Book Five: Bells on the Bay

When the ambitions of two former friends clash, a much-loved, small-town community school could become the casualty.

Sprucedale Community School principal Joyce Stone has dedicated her career to revitalizing struggling, small-town schools, but now, her career bucket list is empty. Retirement is the next step, or so she thinks, until an unexpected opportunity at the esteemed Silver Heights Preparatory School changes her plans.

Former trust fund baby Vanessa Landry is desperately trying to climb her way back up the social ladder after shunning her family's fortune to become a schoolteacher's wife. Her next move? Getting her daughter out of Sprucedale and into Silver Heights. But every time she tries, Joyce is there, getting in her way.

Will Joyce be able to save her dream job and protect Sprucedale from her once close friend who will stop at nothing to get what she wants? And what will happen when Vanessa is forced to confront the true cost of her aspirations?

A hope-filled, page-turning first novel in the Sprucedale Teachers series about the personal lives of teachers and those they hold close. Dive into this unputdownable story of friendship, ambition, and the power of second chances.

"Best book I've read in over 50 years...since A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." —LibraMystic

A Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection 

How well do we really know each other?

Red Mountain in eastern Washington is home to a community of eccentrics.

Otis Till, the area's visionary winemaker, has been known to howl at the moon—fully nude.

Single mother Margot Pierce moved across the country to build an inn, but so far all she does is binge on gelato, the Hallmark Channel, and fantasies of murdering her ex.

High school senior Emilia Forester is the daughter of celebrity parents struggling to build her own life outside of their shadow.

And Brooks Baker is a man haunted by his past spent living on the streets as an orphan. Somehow, everyone lives together harmoniously, their lives intertwined like the vines in Red Mountain's beautiful and renowned vineyards.

But in a place where everyone knows each other, secrets are like poison...and right now Otis, Margot, Emilia, and Brooks all have something to hide. When their secrets come to light and dysfunction ignites, will their small mountain be stronger for it—or will lives be torn apart?

Heartfelt, briskly paced, and wonderfully descriptive, Red Mountain is the story of four complicated people living in a beautiful landscape unlike anywhere else. Told from multiple perspectives and rich with vivid descriptions of wine life, this novel will transport you from the first page to the last.

Author Bio:
After picking the five-string banjo in Charleston and Nashville and then a few years toying with Wall Street, Boo chased a wine dream across the country to Red Mountain in eastern Washington with his dog, Tully Mars. They landed in a double-wide trailer on five acres of vines, where Boo grew out a handlebar mustache, bought a horse, and took a job working for the Hedges family, who taught him the art of farming and the old world philosophies of wine. Recently leaving their farm on Red Mountain, Boo and his family are back on the east coast in St. Pete, Florida. As he wraps up the second book of the Red Mountain series, he's got his eyes and ears open, building his next cast of characters. No doubt the Sunshine City will be host to the next few novels. Boo's novels are instilled with the culture of the places he's lived, the characters he's encountered, and a passion for unexpected adventure.
 

What do you do when it all comes crashing down?

*A Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection

Boo Walker has returned to wine country for the sequel to his powerful, best-selling novel, Red Mountain. Join four wildly colorful characters as they search for life, love, and meaning in a tiny wine-growing region in the desert of eastern Washington State.

Otis Till, the grapefather of Red Mountain, has regained his senses of smell and sight, but his vision of what Red Mountain should be is now threatened by a greedy landowner.

Margot Pierce has finally opened her French inn, but as her son leaves for college and her boyfriend says goodbye, she realizes how lonely her world could possibly become. Can she stomach the trials of going back on the dating market, even if that means finding him online?

Brooks Baker's engagement has fallen apart, so he's alone again, despite having reconnected with his biological family. Will he ever find real love on the mountain? Will having his family nearby deliver the fairy tale he'd hoped for?

Adriana Hernandez has changed her name and escaped to Red Mountain with her young son to hide from their previous life in California. Can they find some sense of belonging here? Or will they have to run forever?

Red Mountain Rising will drop you into the often-dysfunctional, small-town lives of farmers, chefs, winemakers, artists, and runaways as they do their best to push aside their differences with one another for the collective good of Red Mountain. Will their dissimilarities be too great to survive what's coming?

Told from four different perspectives, the rich stories of Red Mountain will leave you scrambling for a plane ticket to visit this extraordinary piece of land and meet its inhabitants.

For a free copy of Red Mountain Recipes for the Body, Mind, and Spirit, sign up on Boo's website.

A season of joy. The spirit of family.

When sisters Ivy and Shelly Bay discover crates of vintage Christmas decorations at the Seabreeze Inn, they decide to open their historic beach house to the village of Summer Beach. From a Gingerbread Bake-off and a Santa Sprint on the beach to a mysterious guest who has an unusual effect on those around him, the Seabreeze Inn is the place to be this holiday season. Families and friends come together, and love is in the air-until a priceless discovery at the beachside inn complicates matters.

While Ivy creates a holiday special for single guests with nowhere else to go, Bennett Dylan, the mayor of Summer Beach, helps organize Christmas celebrations. However, the holidays will test Ivy and Bennett's relationship, especially when Ivy's grown children voice their opinions. As hidden secrets surface, Ivy faces a decision that could change her life.

This season, everyone is family at the Seabreeze Inn. Join residents and guests in this small beach village for the warmest of holiday gatherings. Seabreeze Christmas may be read as a standalone, or start with the USA Today bestseller, Seabreeze Inn, to get to know all the Summer Beach characters. This year, let the sleigh bells ring across the beach in a delightful holiday novel.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives.

Shop the Summer Beach series

“Seabreeze Inn is truly an enjoyable, lovely read that will lift your spirits.” —Silver’s Reviews

A widowed artist. An old crush. One summer to get her life back.

Ivy Marin's life implodes after discovering that her late husband had spent their life savings on a beach house. Strapped for cash as an art teacher and with nowhere to go, Ivy and her recently jilted sister head to Summer Beach to recreate their lives. If only renovating a historical home didn't unveil a host of hidden secrets in the beachside community—and the mayor wasn't her former high school crush.

Bennett Dylan led a campaign against Ivy's late husband to block the rezoning of the beach house land for a high-rise resort. Although it's been ten years since his wife's death, Bennett is avoiding the pain of loving—and possibly losing—another woman. And then the FBI shows up... Ivy's demands for a zoning variance for a bed-and-breakfast couldn't come at a worse time for him.

Despite distractions, Ivy has one summer to sway the town to salvage her livelihood and the new life in Summer Beach she's come to love.

With intrigue and poignant self-discovery, the Seabreeze Inn is a sweet summer beach read. If you like sun-soaked beach sagas you can lose yourself in, the Seabreeze Inn and Summer Beach's fascinating characters are for you. Start your vacation in Summer Beach now.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives.

Shop the Summer Beach series

Two sisters. One unforgettable summer.

While renovating an old beach house, Ivy and her sister, Shelly, suddenly have full occupancy after fire forces Summer Beach residents from their homes. Even the mayor, Bennett Dylan, who was Ivy's high school crush, moves in. As the summer heats up, attractions simmer and feuds erupt.

Living in the house Bennett had hoped could be a community center, he finds himself at odds with Ivy's campaign for a bed-and-breakfast zoning change. And when valuable items disappear from the inn, Bennett's friend Mitch, who owns the popular Java Beach coffee shop, is the prime suspect.

Shelly's romance with Mitch cools when his old criminal record emerges, which leads her to question if Summer Beach is the right place for her.

Despite the chaos, Ivy has just one summer to save the house from an impending tax sale. And when a documentary filmmaker arrives to reconstruct the history of the old house and its secretive former owner, yet another secret emerges from an unlikely place.

Seabreeze Summer is a sweet summer beach read and the second novel in the Summer Beach series after the Seabreeze Inn. Book your reservation in this small beachside town of intriguing characters now.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives.

Shop the Summer Beach series

Untangling secrets at a historic beach inn has unimagined surprises.

With the high summer season underway at the Seabreeze Inn, Ivy Bay faces new challenges. She has just one season to make the inn a success to pay the tax bill her late husband left behind. And her neighbor's lawsuit could mean an end to the Seabreeze Inn. Yet her daughter Sunny's arrival in Summer Beach is also a chance to renew their strained relationship.

While the mayor, Bennett Dylan, develops deeper feelings for Ivy, new trials weigh on their romantic relationship. Sensing Ivy's sadness over her sister Shelly's departure, Bennett encourages Mitch, the Java Beach owner, to contact Shelly. And Sunny fears Bennett might be a replacement for her father.

Amid the turmoil, Ivy discovers another clue from the old house's original owner. The woman's story makes Ivy reflect on what the house means to her and all of Summer Beach.

Seabreeze Sunset is a sweet summer beach read. Book your reservation in this small beachside town of intriguing characters now.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives.

Shop the Summer Beach series

The high summer season. A long-awaited wedding. Surprises at a historic beach inn.

At the historic Seabreeze Inn, sisters Ivy and Shelly Bay are busier than ever with wedding plans of their own, although challenges threaten to derail the special events. New guests are also throwing a wedding at the inn, bringing a host of trials and chaos. As Ivy prepares the old beach house for a season of weddings, surprising discoveries from decades past arise that could change even the best of plans. RSVP now and join the party on the beach.

Seabreeze Wedding is a favorite in the beloved Summer Beach series that may also be read as a stand-alone novel. The heartwarming story is set on the sunny Southern California coastline. Visit the small town of Summer Beach now, where the bonds of friendship and love prove unbreakable. Available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, large print, and audiobook.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives.

Shop the Summer Beach series

Anything worth having is worth fighting for, especially second chances.

Teacher Ben Stewart is enjoying his second chance at a happy life. His ex-wife, Vanessa Landry, is thriving in rehab, his relationship with his former father-in-law is strong, and his daughter is flourishing. Plus, he's head over heels in love. The cherry on top? An invitation to return to Sprucedale Community School. All he needs is Vanessa's signature. But just as his plan is taking shape, tragedy strikes, pulling Ben and Vanessa into a temporary partnership.

With Sprucedale's new campus location at stake, Vanessa faces a tough decision: make amends for her past by supporting the school, or keep her father's company safe in Landry hands. She needs Ben's support, even if it comes at Sprucedale's expense.

Meanwhile, Ben's girlfriend is tired of living in the shadows. She demands Ben come clean to Vanessa about their relationship, or risk losing her for good.

Can Ben be everything to everyone without sacrificing his second chance at happiness?

Perfect for fans of Robyn Carr's Virgin River Series, the author of Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy returns with a stirring story of a mother's enduring love, a family's betrayal, and the ultimate act of forgiveness.

One mistake can steal your innocence. One promise can plague a friendship. One secret can tear apart a family.

Sissie Klein barely remembers the night that tore her from the carefree life she knew. Not long after the shocked teen is pushed into marriage, she's rushed to the hospital where a catastrophic delivery seals her destiny.

Sissie is determined to give her daughter the opportunities she forfeited, but some fates can't be avoided. Tragedy strikes, leaving behind a legacy of deceit--and an orphaned toddler.

Told with heartbreaking honesty and shrewd humor, Sissie Klein Is Completely Normal examines the ties that bind us--some inherited, others chosen--none without their share of agonizing tangles.

About the Author
Clink, Kris: - Kris Clink's relatable characters rely on humor and tenderness to navigate complicated relationships. Set in middle America, her novels are laced with romance, heartbreak, and just enough snarky humor to rock the boat. When not writing, Kris spends her time searching for an open karaoke mic and an understanding audience. Her pups run the house Kris shares with her doctor husband, who's stretching his skills as an editor-in-training. Kris is a mom, an empty nester, and a huge fan of Willie Nelson. She loves talking about writing and books, and looks forward to attending your book club by Zoom until she can meet you in person. Kris lives in Wichita, Kansas.

The first blush of spring finds Melinda filled with great expectations and high-flying goals. The charming farm and its critters are finally hers forever, and new life is popping up in unexpected places. But as the songbirds return and the garden's soil is turned, not everything's coming up roses: A no-nonsense housing inspector claims her sweet deal with Horace could come at a high cost, and her latest idea to improve life in her rural community meets with skepticism from some of the locals. When Uncle Frank makes a shocking discovery in the town's archives, the fallout threatens to dim Prosper Hardware's bright future. As friendships are tested and family ties begin to fray, can Melinda restore the harmony in her life? Fifth in a series

"Vita brevis, ars longa-Life is short, art is long." These are the haunting last words Sarah Cunningham remembers her sister Ada saying. Now, Ada's mysterious death sends a grieving Sarah on a death-defying journey to discover the truth, redeem Ada's reputation, and preserve her art legacy.

About the Author
Fitzpatrick, Joanna: - JOANNA FITZPATRICK was raised in Hollywood. She started her writing habit by applying her orange fountain pen and a wild imagination to screenplays, which led her early on to produce the film White Lilacs and Pink Champagne. Accepted at Sarah Lawrence College, she wrote her MFA thesis Sha La La: Live for Today about her life as a rock 'n' roll star's wife. Her more recent work includes two novels, Katherine Mansfield, Bronze Winner of the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) in Historical Fiction, and The Drummer's Widow. The Artist Colony is her third book. Presently, FitzPatrick divides her time between a mountaintop cottage in Northern California and a small hameau in Southern France where she begins all her book projects.

Moving to the country has given Melinda a new set of skills, but does she have what it takes to fix matters of the heart? It's hard enough to let the past go, and let a new love in. But when a mysterious box is pulled from her farmhouse's crawlspace, she's torn between protecting the former owner's privacy and tracking down the woman he once loved. Prosper's Main Street may appear deserted on these sleepy summer afternoons, but there's plenty happening behind the scenes. One Prosper resident is ruffling feathers with her grand plans for the tiny town, and a new Fourth of July contest sparks a competitive spirit that's as American as apple pie. But as the temperature climbs, the shadow of hard times falls over the rural community. Can Melinda make the tough choices that will keep her dreams from turning to dust? Sixth in a series

A desperate hairdresser. Her handsome friend. And a farmhouse full of secrets.

When Maggie Devereux is served an unexpected eviction notice, everything falls apart. Out of options, the nearly divorced forty-something stumbles across an unopened letter regarding her late aunt's estate: a ramshackle farmhouse on the outskirts of town. It could be the perfect solution, if it weren't on the verge of collapse and teeming with complicated family secrets.

Property investor Rhett Houston needs a fresh start. So when he bumps into his old friend, Maggie, who's looking for help with a project, he jumps right in. Soon, Rhett finds himself growing close to the hardworking family, and he realizes he's at a crossroads: stay in the city where he's made a life, or move home to Hickory Grove to help Maggie for good. His choice would be easy, if she weren't still married.

Can friends become more under the right circumstances? The Farmhouse is a romantic, small-town women's fiction set in charming Hickory Grove.

From a USA Today bestselling author, comes a story about three women, one small-town rumor, and a gardening project that's not for the faint of heart.

Lillian Gulch's husband died, and she's ready to be something more than a small-town widow. So, she turns to the only friends she knows: a gardening club she joined years before. The only problem? They think she had something to do with her husband's death.

Betsy Borden is a forty-something who happens to be Gull's Landing's most prolific, single socialite. But if she can't find a way to make friendships (much less relationships) that last, then she's destined to be nothing more than a gossipy spinster forever.

Emily Addams is twenty years old and twice divorced. Now, she is truly ready to start fresh, and the idyllic boardwalk town of Gull's Landing seems perfect. Until she learns that the grass is never greener. Even if the only job available is secretary at Second Street Mortuary.

Female friendships, romance, and mystery-The Garden Guild is a standalone women's fiction that has it all. This heartwarming, quirky story follows three very different women with one common goal: to survive the rumor mill. The only way they can do it? If they stick together.

Each book in Gull's Landing is a standalone women's fiction. These novels are not written sequentially and can be read and enjoyed in any order.

The Summer Society

The Garden Guild

The Country Club

Four small-town neighbors, one fixer-upper, and a decades-old secret that could change everything...

Quinn Whittle made a big mistake.

She bought an old house in a new town... sight unseen. But it's not only the house that has a history. So does Quinn, and her new neighbors are starting to clue in...

Annette Best's realty business is struggling. Then a new face comes to town, and she sees an opportunity to save her company (and along with it, her marriage)... as long as the homebuyer doesn't poke around under the floorboards.

Judith Banks is freshly single but too fed up to date. Or so she thinks. Then her new neighbor hires a local handyman, and she's taken... but only if he doesn't ask about Judith's past.

Beverly Castle had it all. Now she's lost everything, and all that's keeping her going is her job with the Harbor Herald... until an unlikely friendship hatches on her very own street.

If you enjoy women's fiction with a touch of romance and an undercurrent of mystery, you will fall in love with Harbor Hills, the newest saga by USA TODAY bestselling author Elizabeth Bromke. Romance, secrets and mystery, family ties and female friendships abound in this heartwarming saga about four women who find friendship right next door.

Welcome to Harbor Hills, Michigan, where four neighbors find they have more in common than a small-town street and more secrets than they know what to do with...

When a new neighbor moves onto the block, Beverly Castle is curious. The woman, Quinn, has a daughter, like Beverly. And like Beverly's, the neighbors' mother-daughter relationship appears... fragile. Hoping to preserve the peace on Apple Hill Lane, Beverly decides to keep her questions to herself. Until a secret from the past comes rearing its head. The thing is, the secret has less to do with Quinn and more to do with every other woman who lives on Apple Hill Lane.

Can Beverly, Quinn, Annette, and Judith coexist on the same cul du sac? Or will the women behind white picket fences keep their welcome baskets to themselves?

- - -

Romance, secrets and mystery, family ties and female friendships abound in this heartwarming saga about four women who find friendship right next door.



These stories are best enjoyed in chronological order as follows:

The House on Apple Hill Lane

The House with the Blue Front Door

The House Around the Corner

The House on Crab Tree Court

The House that Christmas Built

“Braun uses the mountainous area and cabins to her advantage in telling the stories of her characters. An exceptional plot. Her character development is outstanding.” —Readers’ Favorite

After her father's death in 1923, when Ruth Ann Landry is just ten, she joins her mother as a maidservant for a wealthy Seattle family. The hours are long, the rules are strict, but she and her mother desperately need her wages to survive.

By the time she's seventeen, they've moved into the house, and she's become a mistress to her employer. While accompanying the family on vacation, she sees an opportunity to start a new life, and leaves. Ruth eventually finds solace in the mountain town of Lake Arrowhead, California, where she stays in one of the cabins owned by a man who becomes part of her future.

The Maidservant in Cabin Number One is the beginning of the story of The Guest Book Trilogy, and of Annie Parker who eventually comes to own the cabins where Ruth Landry stayed.

 

Author Bio:

As a reflective hush falls over the harvested fields surrounding her farm, Melinda Foster packs away her memories of city life and turns her thoughts toward the coming holidays. She has a list of ideas that will make the season perfect, and she's checked it more than twice: Prepare her acreage and its animals for the coming winter, host her first family Christmas dinner, and use her marketing smarts to upgrade Prosper's charming holiday festival. But when a mysterious visitor arrives, Melinda is reminded there is more to the Christmas season than elaborate celebrations and expensive decorations. With the help of both old friends and new, Melinda discovers she is not only home for the holidays, but home to stay. The sequel to "Harvest Season." Third in a series

“Tess Thompson writes interesting, full-bodied romances, and Traded is no exception. In this book, she introduces you to the charming seaside town of Cliffside, the world of football, and a cast of interesting characters you're sure to love...” —Judith Keim, bestselling author of the Salty Key Inn series.

She’s in hiding. He’s focused on football. When giving in to desire is risky, will they choose to play for love?

Nurse Kara Boggs lost everything because she stood up for what’s right. After turning state’s evidence against her mobster father, she’s forced to go underground with an assumed name. But taking a job for a handsome celebrity quarterback could shine a very dangerous public spotlight. 

After leading his team to a Super Bowl win, Brody Mullen should be on top of the world. But he’s shocked when his quiet seaside homecoming reveals his mother in a cast, and her housekeeper dying from a brain tumor. Frantic to get the best care for the women he adores, he hires a gorgeous nurse… despite her strange request to stay publicly invisible.

As Kara’s attraction to the charming jock grows, she becomes trapped by her own high-stakes secrets and the constant threat of exposure. And Brody’s famously strict “no women” rule means falling hard for the beautiful woman could ruin his career. 

Will they be sidelined by their own rules, or will they complete a pass to passion?

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More Reviews:
“This story has so much going on, but it intertwines within itself. You get second chance, lost loves, and new love. I could not put this book down! I am excited to start this series and have love for this little Bayside town that I am now fond of!” —Crystal's Book World

“A fabulous start to this new series, with characters and a storyline that sunk their claws in and quite simply refused to let go.” —Books Laid Bare

“This was a sweet love story that was filled with a bit of suspense and the sexual tension between Brody and Kara was off the charts…This book was way more than a sports romance. It was a book about family and belonging despite having to trade your life… You felt what the characters were going through. It's one of those ‘I got to know what happens next’ books. So intriguing you won't want to put it down.” —Lena Loves Books

 

Author Bio:
Tess Thompson is the USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary and historical Romantic Women’s Fiction with nearly 40 published titles. When asked to describe her books, she could never figure out what to say that would perfectly sum them up until she landed on, Hometowns and Heartstrings.

Book Excerpt:
Chapter 1: Kara
They came for her on a Sunday. It was third quarter with two minutes left on the clock in a savage battle between football rivals San Francisco Sharks and Kansas City Rockets when the sounds that would change her life forever broke through the ordinary chirps of the television announcers. The three hard knocks followed by two taps on the front door yanked her attention away from quarterback Brody Mullen’s Houdini-like antics on the field. This was the code. Her scalp tingled. Heat surged through her body and out to her numb limbs. The pulse at her neck hammered. Her clock had run out of time.
Kara Boggs jerked to her feet. The popcorn bowl flew from her lap and rained the white, buttery clouds onto her rug. Minnie mewed and sprang from her position in the crack between the couch cushions to the coffee table and watched the door with wide, frightened eyes.
Sweat dampened the back of her neck. Black dots danced before her eyes, blinding her. She spoke silent instructions to herself, like she had when she’d first started her nursing career in the trauma unit. Think. Be calm. Breathe.
Kara flipped on an extra lamp. Shadows of the oak tree outside her front window moved in ghostlike shudders. She was ready. Like expectant travelers, her suitcases and Minnie’s carrier waited in the entryway. She stumbled to the front door and opened it a crack. Two United States Marshals, dressed in khakis and shiny black jackets, stood at attention. Shotguns strapped to their massive chests gleamed under the hallway light. She opened the door. Without a sound, she stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. They filed in, making no eye contact until she had shut the door behind them. The taller of the two marshals spoke first, his voice deep and without emotion. They showed badges as they introduced themselves. Inspector Green. U.S. Marshal Hill.
Perspiration dampened her back as she envisioned her home from their perspective. Located in a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, it was furnished like the display window of the finest department store in shades of cream with splashes of red and blue accents. Every detail had been planned with care, including the arrangements of vases and bowls, books and magazines. Walnut tables and chests gleamed under the soft lighting. Prints of landscapes framed in black hung in attractive clusters on the eggshell walls. She wondered if the deputies assumed her beautiful home had been financed by her father. Silly as it was, she fought the urge to tell them how hard she’d worked to become a nurse practitioner. Yes, it was true that her father had helped with the down payment for the condo and her college tuition, but the rest she’d earned.
Yet, it all came back to one thing. She could not have gone to school without her father’s help, and she would never have been able to go to graduate school without accruing massive amounts of debt. Her father had financed her expensive education at Penn State. After graduation, he had not pleaded with her to come home to Upstate New York but had happily written her a check for a down payment on her condo. None of that had surprised her. The moment her mother had died when she was ten, he’d sent her away to boarding school. He didn’t want her.
She’d always assumed his generosity was rooted in guilt. Now, she knew the truth. It was not guilt that fueled him, but self-protection. He was a criminal. Her life had been financed with blood money.
None of it mattered now. These were the last minutes of what would be a former life. The next life, whatever it was, would be her penance. Her retribution for living with contented blinders to the truth.
“Nice to meet you.” Her voice cracked. Be brave. She tried to conjure her mother’s face, but no image came tonight.
“It’s time. The car’s waiting.” Cold blue eyes bored through her, carving out what was left of her heart. He’s on my side. Don’t be afraid. “Are these your bags?”
“Yes. Yes.” She looked down at her loose jeans and sweatshirt, suddenly humiliated. These were her “stay at home and watch football” clothes. With her long brown hair in a ponytail and her face scrubbed of makeup, she probably looked younger than her twenty-nine years.
The game. Playoff season. San Francisco versus Kansas City. She’d forgotten football was playing on the television. The soothing sound of the announcers’ voices drifted into her consciousness. “Brody Mullen, inarguably, is the best quarterback in the league.”
“That’s right,” said the other announcer. “Looking at statistics alone—without even bringing up his stellar character and leadership of his San Francisco Sharks, this young man is the AFL’s greatest quarterback. And, regardless of how you dissect it, he’s had the best season of his career.”
Football would remain, regardless of where they sent her. She could watch her Philadelphia Raptors from wherever she lived. She could still mock handsome, arrogant Brody Mullen—one of her favorite past times. He was the best quarterback in the league. The bastard. She disliked him immensely. More accurately, she hated him. It wasn’t because her Raptor’s quarterback was not the best in the league or because they hadn’t made the playoffs since the eighties. No, it was just him. Him and his stupid dimple in the middle of his stupid chin. Brody Mullen and his insufferable San Francisco Sharks were most likely headed to the Super Bowl this year, and it made her mad.
Why did good things always happen to the wrong people? Sure, Mullen made a good show of being the quintessential all-American boy next door with his weekly visits to the children’s hospital and all that money he donated to underprivileged communities. But that’s all he was—a show. His appearance and supposed good deeds deceived and distracted from his true character. That chiseled jaw, high cheekbones, and honey-blond hair kissed by the California sun gave the impression of a wholesome boy you would want to bring home to your mother. However, Kara could see beyond his beauty, unlike the rest of the women of America. The guy was obviously full of himself, born into football royalty with every privilege, and advised by a team of public relations phonies into appearing otherwise.
What was she doing? Concentrate on the task at hand. Football could distract her when she was all alone in a hotel room, not now when she needed to pull every ounce of her honed focusing ability to the surface. Get through one task at a time, like she’d done for months now. Collapse when it’s all over.
She scurried to the coffee table and found the remote. Her hands shook so violently, she mistakenly turned up the volume.
The smaller of the two deputies took the controller from her. “We understand you have a cat. Go get her. The faster we get you out of here, the better.”
The cat. Her sweet Minnie. Where was she? The hammering at the door must have scared her. She would be under the bed, with green eyes wide and frightened. Kara sprinted to the bedroom. Minnie was on the bed, staring at her. Instead of frightened, she looked angry. Kara scooped her up and held her close. “It’s all right now, baby. We’re just going for a little ride.” A sob escaped. She buried her face into the tuxedo cat’s fur. Minnie purred.
She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Was this really her with the frightened brown eyes and blotched skin? The months of strain had damaged her appearance. Dark smudges under her eyes paired with hollow cheekbones hinted at countless sleepless nights and a lack of appetite. She was tall and muscular from years of dance and cheerleading when she was younger, but her shoulders curled forward like a person embarrassed by her mere existence. This was new. She’d always been so proud, so sure of herself.
Was this the right choice? To leave everyone and everything she loved? To give up her position at the hospital? To abandon her beautiful home and all the possessions? The answer was the same as it had been for months. She must. Justice was more important than her own comfort. When she chose to testify against her father, the Witness Protection Program became her only option—her only chance to live. Despite the shock of the truth about her father, she wanted to live. She would begin again.
Kara squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath. Her mother had not taught her to cower or hide.
Yes, she must go. They offered her a new life. She would take it.
Behind her, she sensed one of the marshals in the doorway of the bedroom. With Minnie still in her arms, she turned. He had the carrier in his hand. “Don’t lose courage now, Miss Boggs. You’ve come this far.” He set the carrier on the bed where she would no longer sleep under a downy comforter and memory foam pillows. Would her pillow still remember her when she was no longer Kara Boggs?
“This is Minnie.” The tears almost escaped. She swallowed and gave herself a direct order. Do not break down until you’re alone. “I can still bring her, right?”
“Yes, of course. Do you need help getting her in the carrier?” Sympathy flickered in the marshal’s eyes.
“No, I’ll do it.” She coaxed Minnie into the carrier with treats she’d kept in a bag on the bureau for just this purpose.
She took one more look at her bedroom. How naïve she’d been two years ago when she’d chosen fabrics and paint colors. My starter home, she’d smugly called it. My bachelorette pad.
It was time.
She followed the marshal to the front door. “Where to now?”
“We have you booked in a hotel near the courthouse. You’ll have twenty-four-hour protection during the trial. We’ll escort you to and from the courtroom.”
“And then?”
“We’ll send you to your new location.”
“Where is it?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” Green said. “But, it’ll be somewhere nice. The boss has a soft spot for you. It’s not every day we get someone willing to give up their life to do the right thing.”
“Someone innocent,” Hill added.
Most in the Witness Protection Program were criminals. They’d told her this during the first interviews when they’d still suspected she might be privy to the dirty underworld of her father’s life. After a time, however, they’d come to understand she knew nothing. She was not a criminal, merely a participant in a plush life. A princess, protected from the dangerous life of a money launderer.
“Please try and remember during your adjustment period that you’re bringing down an entire branch of the Colombian drug cartel. Most people never have the chance to do something this important. If they do, they shy away.”
“Like cowards. You didn’t,” Green said, his voice gruff. “Our boss thinks you’re the bravest person he’s ever met.”
That was kind. But she knew the truth. Her complacency made her guilty. How many clues were there over the years that she’d dismissed, made excuses for, refused to see? At night when she could not sleep she remembered, and remembered, and remembered until the pieces of the puzzle collided with the force of magnets. The completed puzzle broke her heart. Daddy, say it isn’t so.
But it was.
Despite her naïve complicity in a life of privilege, she had stepped forward to do the just thing. Perhaps too late? How many lives had been ruined? She was a nurse! A nurse who witnessed the ravages of drugs every single day in the emergency room where she worked. Drugs were cunning. They ruined families and damaged babies and snuffed out lives.
Too late or not, she had done it. She had colluded with her father’s enemy. As if she’d channeled the finest actress on Broadway, she’d slipped into her role of whistleblower. She’d planted wiretaps and bugs in his office. She’d played to his ego, his desire for her to know how powerful he was, how influential—the trust these dangerous men had in him.
“I came from nothing, Kara, and look at the life I’ve made for us.”
“Have another drink, Dad. Tell me more. Who are these people you work for? How did you become involved?”
Her alliance with the FBI had brought their family crashing to the ground like a house made of the finest sand. With the tapes and her testimony, her father would be sentenced to prison for the rest his life, as would several of the most dangerous Colombian drug lords in organized crime. From prison, they would order her death. Unless she disappeared.
She grabbed the photograph of her mother from the bedside table and stuffed it into her purse.
“I’m ready.”
Chapter 2: Brody
With three seconds left on the clock, the American Football League’s San Francisco quarterback, Brody Mullen, huddled with his offense for the last play of the Super Bowl. His San Francisco Sharks were down by five. One touchdown against the New England Rebels could make them Super Bowl champions. But they were sixty yards from the end zone. It was a long, high pass or nothing. They had to go for broke. Brody locked eyes with his wide receiver, Trevor Beeson, and called the play. Beeson’s long arms were their only chance. If Brody could throw the pass just right, and Beeson caught it, they would go home winners.
Please God, don’t let me blow this.
The center snapped the football. Brody caught it and scanned downfield for Beeson. Around him, his offensive line secured him with the force of their bodies. Brody hurled the football toward the end zone. Beeson, anticipating the location of the ball, sprinted into the far-left corner.
Beeson had one of New England’s defense in front of him and another behind him. Three sets of arms reached for the ball, but Beeson’s were the longest. He plucked the football from the air like a frog’s tongue snatched a fly.
Touchdown!
Brody fell to his knees. I did it. Finally. This is for you, Dad. Memories flooded his consciousness: hours in the backyard throwing the football with his dad; the day his high school team won the state championship; the news that he’d been awarded the Heisman Trophy when he was at USC; the day of the AFL draft. Every moment, he’d shared with his dad. If only he could see this moment.
When he stood, blinded by tears, his teammates pounced on him. Beeson almost knocked him over with the force of his hug. “Enough sacks for today, Frog,” he said.
“You’re the boss, man,” Beeson said.
“No, Frog. You’re the boss.”
Brody searched the crowd for his family and friends. They’d watched from a box above. He knew they’d waste no time getting down here.
Moments later, he saw his mother plowing through the crowds to get to him. Following her were his brother and their three best friends. His assistant, Honor, trailed behind the pack. Where was Flora?
Brody didn’t have time to ask because everyone hugged him at once. His friends pounded his back. Lance lingered just beyond the fringe of their group. They locked eyes. His baby brother had tears in his eyes. He knew his thoughts as well as his own—if only Dad were here for this.
Along with his brother, Zane, Jackson, and Kyle were his pack. His tribe. They’d all been friends since their days at USC. Lance had nicknamed them the Dogs after the famous painting of dogs playing poker.
“Brody.” A high-pitched shout rose above the chaos. Honor had been lost amid the crowd, her petite stature enveloped in the throngs of people. He knelt to hug her, but she pushed him away with her hands. “I don’t want your stinky sweat all over my clothes.” She shouted this but followed with a softer proclamation in his ear. “You did good.”
“Don’t start mentioning anything about endorsements until tomorrow,” he said. “I want to enjoy myself for the rest of the night.”
Honor tossed her long blond hair behind her shoulders. “Lance already made me promise.” Her heart-shaped face and big brown eyes belied her sharp intelligence. She ran his business affairs with precision and merciless attention to details. He loved and trusted her, like the sister he never had. Which, in his opinion, was a blessing. To fall for Honor Sullivan was the first step to a broken heart. “No time for whiny or needy men,” she always said—right before she kicked another one to the proverbial curb.
“Where’s Flora?” Brody asked. Flora, his family’s longtime housekeeper, was a second mother to him and his brother.
“She had to stay home. She’s a little under the weather,” Lance said.
“We didn’t want to tell you before the game.” His mother, Janet Mullen, brushed blond hair from her cheeks and looked up at him with her penetrating eyes.
Brody’s stomach dropped. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing to worry about,” his mother said. “Just enjoy your moment.”
He wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but for now, he chose to take her advice. He’d been waiting for this his entire life.
Chapter 3: Kara
Kara watched the Super Bowl alone in her room at the hotel. She’d given the last of her testimony Friday afternoon. Tomorrow they would tell her where she was to start her new life. For now, there was football, at least, to keep her from careening into the madness of uncertainty.
On fourth down, with seconds left on the clock, Brody Mullen threw a perfect fifty-eight-yard pass to his wide receiver, Beeson, in the end zone. The ball might have been a few inches too high for almost any other player, but the tall and lanky Beeson caught it in his giant hands with seemingly little effort. The referee called it a touchdown. Mullen fell to his knees.
Minnie jumped onto the bed and curled up beside her. As much as Kara loved the feline beauty, Minnie was a poor substitute for the Super Bowl party she’d thrown last year. Twenty people had crammed into the living room of her two-thousand-square-foot condo. They’d spilled chips and screamed at the television and laughed at commercials. Her best friend, Jessica, had collected bets on the winner and the scores. Kara won.
Now, the sound of the game and the announcers, Roger King and Tom Coleman, softened the sharp edges of her sorrow. Wherever she went, she’d still have football to watch.
“Brody Mullen turned thirty last month. There’s continued speculation that he will retire after this season, but in an interview last week he assured fans that he had no plans to give up any time soon.”
“Given the way he played tonight, Tom, he’s nowhere near done with what has been a spectacular career.”
Brody Mullen. Her football nemesis. She was sick to death of hearing about him the past few weeks. All the sports channels could talk about was his wonderful character and leadership and his football royalty family. If she saw one more advertisement with him hawking that new luxury car, she might vomit. What a jerk, on and off the field. Obviously, women found him attractive, but he reminded her of a hawk with intense, angry green eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a hard mouth. He had this way of running his hands through his cropped hair during interviews that was so obviously meant to make him look vulnerable and approachable, nervous even. So ridiculous. Men like Brody Mullen were never nervous.
Seriously, off the field, he was everywhere: print ads, television spots, charity functions. He had recently pledged a million dollars to build a center for underprivileged youth in one of the Bay Area’s poorest communities. She had to give him some points for that, although she was disgusted by how often he posted his picture on Instagram with a sick child. Her mother had told her that good deeds only counted if no one knew about them. Brody Mullen made sure the world knew about everything he did. She focused her attention back on the television.
The camera stayed on Mullen as the field flooded with people. He stood and tore his helmet off. His teammates mobbed him. Seconds later, he held out his arms and an older woman embraced him.
Roger King and Tom Coleman continued to commentate.
“Brody Mullen hugging his mother there. What an emotional night it must be for them. His father, our colleague here at NCS Sports, was his biggest supporter.”
“That’s right, Tom. Just last week he broke down when he spoke about his father and how much he wanted this win for him. It’s a shame Simon isn’t here to share this great night with him.”
“Hard to believe it’s been two years since we lost him,” Roger said.
“One of football’s greats, no doubt about it.”
Kara shut off the television. She didn’t want to hear anyone else’s sad story tonight.
Kara’s love of football came from her mother. Before she died when Kara was ten, they’d watched every Philadelphia game together. If they’d won or lost, her mother had reveled in the pure joy of the sport. Over the years, Kara had calmly defended her love of football to friends who thought the game was either boring or a waste of time—and quite possibly misogynistic and dangerous. No, she argued, look beneath the surface. Football was the human story. Football, with all the twists and turns, was like life. One never knew what would happen next. Sometimes the clock brought unexpected triumphs. Other times, it brought disaster. Often, and this was the best part, the clock brought an upset, a last minute play so surprising and heroic that no one in their wildest imagination would have thought it possible. That was the magic of the game and the human experience. Just when one thought all was lost—redemption.
God knew, Kara had not seen this twist in her life coming. At last year’s Super Bowl party, she was still naïve, never questioning the surface story of her family. But now, she knew the truth, and there was no looking back. She would pay for her father’s sins for the rest of her life.
Today, she could not imagine redemption. Today, she was a reluctant hero.

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