Briar Creek
5 total works
It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas...or so Kara Hastings hopes. Her new cookie business is off to a promising start, until a pesky stranger makes her doubt her success beyond the holiday season. Determined not to let him get her down, Kara takes him up on a slightly unrealistic challenge - to win this year's Holiday House contest...with gingerbread!
Tripp Peterson is happy to take a break from his private equity firm for a few weeks and kick back in the sleepy town of Briar Creek, but his aunt, the town's innkeeper, has other plans for his stay. Hoping to drive a little more traffic to the inn, she's decided to enter the annual holiday decorating contest, and she thinks her business-minded nephew is just the man who can help. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind for Christmas, but then either was falling in love...with the competition.
Sometimes love is where you least expect it . . .
What do you do when your cheating husband proposes to the "other woman"? For Jane Madison, it means you keep calm, carry on, and sneak candy bars and wine for dinner. Jane's grateful for her adorable little girl, yet she yearns for the love that was missing from her marriage. Only one man ever really "got" Jane-and she's stunned when he returns to Briar Creek. But a single mom can't date her ex's best friend . . . can she?
Jane's still kind, beautiful-and far too good for the buddy Henry Birch tried to stop her from marrying years ago. Laying eyes on her now is like a much-needed ray of sunshine. Back in town to sell his family's old house, Henry wants to close a bad chapter in his life and move on. But time with Jane and her sweet daughter has him flirting with the idea of happily ever after-if he can convince her to take a second chance on love . . .
Florist Ivy Birch has always enjoyed life's simple pleasures. But small town living has some drawbacks, especially when it seems that everyone is getting married...except her. Determined to throw herself into her business and put that random, fleeting, wonderful kiss with her lifelong crush out of her mind for good, her comfortable routine is shaken up when he unexpectedly returns to town.
Still recovering from the events that cost him his position at a world-renowned hospital, Brett Hastings knows better than to let anything--or anyone--jeopardize his medical career again. But when he's asked to partner with Ivy to oversee the hospital's annual fundraiser, the memory of one blissful night starts to feel like anything but a mistake. Soon, he's beginning to question all his reasons for ever leaving Briar Creek. Staying will cost him the dream job he's worked years for, but leaving could cost him his heart.
Anna Madison has faithfully avoided her old flame for six years, even though their Main Street restaurants are only a few blocks apart. The sting of his rejection was enough to make her swear off dating for good, but when her successful restaurant is damaged in a fire, she's left to the mercy of the one man she's spent years proving she doesn't need...and convincing herself she doesn't want.
Mark Hastings can't say he's happy being alone, but at least his heart is safe. Burnt out from running the Briar Creek diner, he's ready for a change. He tells himself he's just being neighborly by letting Anna use his kitchen, but being by her side again stirs up temptations he might not be able to resist a second time around.