Showing results by author "Jessie Gussman" in All Categories

I live in Idaho. (Yes, potatoes. *eye roll* Can we talk about something else?) And I love it here. Small town values galore and it’s right where I want to raise my girls after my jerk ex traded me in for a “younger, newer model” (his words, not mine).

Ezra Clyborne, a man of principles and routine, never expected Alaska, a woman embroiled in a world of trouble, and her children to turn his world upside down. His offer of marriage was meant to be a safe haven, a simple solution to her troubles, but it becomes the foundation of a bond that deepens with each challenge they face. Yet, as they confront the threats lurking around them, Ezra and Alaska discover that love often thrives in the most unexpected places.

It was supposed to be simple. Marry the tall Texan. Her children get a father. They save the ranch. A business transaction, nothing more. She definitely wasn’t going to fall in love. After her husband ran off with her little sister, she was no longer susceptible to cowboy charm. But the North Dakota girl had never met a Texas cowboy.

After losing his country music superstar sister in a plane crash, Jones Dunn brings his niece to Sweet Water so they could stay where no one will recognize or bother them. He doesn't intend to stay in town long, but a marriage proposal from an unlikely source makes him think that maybe his plans should change.

Hines Cannon, a recluse haunted by the scars of his heroic sacrifice, never expected to find love in the rural North Dakota town of Sweet Water. But when a freak accident leaves him helpless, Eliza Walton, the woman he once saved, becomes his lifeline. As they spend time together, secrets unravel and barriers crumble.

Birdie Pollock just rented a beach house for the summer. She needed to get away from the noise and the lights and the pressure…okay, she’s burnt out and can’t let anyone know. She has to be back to full speed by fall when her big American tour kicks off. Wesley Moffett is burnt out. He’s lying low after the last game of the hockey season, and trying to write the book his agent is demanding from him. He used to love hockey, but that love turned to hate and he never did like writing. It’s going to be the worst summer ever. Unless he can con his next-door neighbor into writing his book for him.

Olive Jardine almost died living her adventure, backpacking around the world and going wherever the wind blew. Coming back to Raspberry Ridge feels safe and she has no interest in leaving ever again. But her sisters want to sell the family home. They need the money and she can’t afford to buy it outright. Her best friend from childhood just might have a plan that could get her the home she wants, but can he get past the pain she caused him before she left and the way she betrayed him? Doyle Lowry is not the boy she remembers. He's better.

They were high school sweethearts, but money and pride came between them. Can their twin sons trick them into falling in love again? Reid Hudson would be happy on his Missouri farm except he’d always thought he’d be sharing it with his soul mate, Emerson. Instead, he gets six months with each of his boys and splits the holidays. Not the life he’d planned.

Famous pro baseball player Dwight Eckenrode never thought he’d need the services of a group of small-town matchmakers. But nothing he does seems to catch the eye of Orchid Baldwin, and he’s just desperate enough to go along with his best friend’s suggestion–hire the Piece Makers. Except the Piece Makers don’t want him. So now what?

Serious and quiet, Silas hardly seems like the kind of man who would be out drag racing in the wee hours of the night. Unwilling heir of her family’s multimillion-dollar ranching operation, Gladys Lefrak is a daredevil who vows to never settle down. And she loves drag racing–with Silas beside her. But her 25th birthday is fast approaching, and the conditions of her inheritance state that she must be married by that date.

Bellamy Levine is the highest paid actress in Hollywood, but she just inked her name on her fifth divorce settlement and her personal life is in shambles. Again. She vows it’s for the last time. That’s why she’s rented the entire vacation spot in rural North Dakota and intends to spend the holidays alone, figuring out what she’s going to do with her life.

Sadie Powers has crushed on her brother’s best friend for years, but when the Piece Makers, Sweet Water’s own quilting and matchmaking group, ask her to help them match him up with the new single mom in town, she just wants the man she’s loved for years to be happy, even if that’s with someone else. When rancher and livestock auction owner Colman Baldwin is asked to give riding lessons to the son of the new single mom in town, he doesn’t hesitate to make time in his schedule to help out. That’s what small towns are for. He doesn’t realize he’s being set up.

Single mom Peyton Sinclair came to the town of Sweet Water to raise her son away from the influence of her ex-husband’s mother. She’s happy with her bookstore and bake shop and is not interested in doing anything but making a living and raising her son. Bryce Shaker had been baseball’s highest paid athlete at one point in his career.

When she develops pneumonia, Shasta Bingley can’t believe how the town of Sweet Water comes together to take care of her. Especially Nolt Powers, who not only pays her rent, but sits up with her through the worst of her sickness so she’s not alone. Although she loves the town of Sweet Water, Shasta has to leave, since her job as a painter can’t support her in such a small town. Then an unthinkable accident happens, and Nolt needs help.

Madeline Reese has a successful cooking show, a best-selling line of cookbooks and is considered one of the top celebrity chefs in Hollywood. One small problem – she can’t cook. Loyal Hudson doesn’t want to open his world-class kitchen to the cameras Madeline will bring with her, but the celebrity chef could be the bridge between him and a future with his little girl.

Waverley Madris is two months behind on her rent and about to lose her house and her children. Getting stuck with handsome Zane Hudson and his four kids in the Diner bathroom seems like just the type of thing that was just her luck. Except she emerges from that bathroom an engaged woman.

On the day Deacon Hudson was set to be ordained, a bundle shows up at the church with a simple note on it. Deacon Hudson is the father. Take care of her. Deacon knows he’s not the father. The Immaculate Conception was a one time thing. But the baby needs a parent, and he has to decide if he will give up his life dream of being a pastor to take the child, despite the fact that the note is a lie. Can he do it without resenting the child?

Ivory Haines is the daughter of the town’s resident retired prostitute and possibly the town drunk, although her mother wasn’t entirely certain. She resents her position in the town – and especially resents the teasing she’d been subjected to – and has vowed to show everyone that she is just as good as they are. She can hardly believe her luck when Chandler Hudson donates a month of his time to the highest bidder at the charity auction to benefit local victims of the recent tornado damage.

After her husband walks out, leaving her with three small children, Shelby isn't interested in romance. She just wants her roof to not leak and the furnace to work. Keene Emmerson is ready to settle down, but he's not expecting to find love in a single wide trailer amidst the chaos of kids and construction and a pair of September sky blue eyes.

Originally diagnosed with Lyme disease, Esther MacCartney is frustrated because she’s been bedridden for months and doctors can’t tell her if she’ll ever be well again. The only person who’s visited her regularly is her sister’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Monroe. He makes her laugh and treats her like he enjoys her company. But her sister has a job offer off the farm, and Esther is afraid Monroe will propose to get her to stay.