Showing results by author "Jessie Gussman" in All Categories

At the annual Christmas barn dance, Eleanor and her best friend Sally devise a mischievous plan to steal Sally's longtime cowboy crush, Peter. They enlist the help of their cousin, who mistakenly kidnaps Peter's brother, Franklin, instead. Determined to keep her intentions secret, Norma Jean convinces Eleanor to embark on a rescue mission. Little does she know that a fierce snowstorm is on its way, trapping her with Peter, a quirky cat, and her adorable litter of four kittens.

Sunday Landry suffers the most painful loss possible - the loss of her son. She closes her candy shop and moves back in with her mother, barely able to get out of bed. What's the point in living? Noah Emery had a crush on Sunday in high school, but she didn't notice him, choosing someone else and eventually having his baby. Now that Noah is back in Strawberry Sands, Sunday again has too much on her mind to notice him, and he can't blame her. He can't imagine losing a child. He wants to help her overcome her grief, so he starts to write to her.

Chi came to Strawberry Sands to escape her past. There were a lot of things to be ashamed of there. Maybe that's why she's so eager to catch the eye of the big-name lawyer who hangs out at her diner. It will prove she's not as worthless as she feels. At a big gala she wasn't supposed to attend, she discovers the lawyer is not only cheating on her but married as well. She might have done more to embarrass herself, but Griff, her coworker, showed up on his bike and whisked her away. She is almost like a heroine in a fairy tale.

Luke Landry will avoid the matchmaking Miss Heather at all costs. Miss Heather will do anything to get her granddaughter hitched, and Luke seems to be her favorite target. If Kristen were such a catch, she wouldn't need her gram to find a husband for her. Every time Luke runs into her, sparks fly, and one or both of them leave angry. Why can't Miss Heather see Kristen and he would never be any good together?

When Matt Landry sees a woman with two little girls and a broken down car, of course he stops to help. When he finds out she needs a job and a place to stay, he hires her because he knows his mother will take her under her wing. What he doesn't expect is to start falling for her himself. Reeling from her divorce and the death of her mother, Jubilee Jones is trying to hold herself together and make a life for her girls. With no other options, she seeks refuge and a fresh start in the nostalgic embrace of Strawberry Sands.

What else is a man supposed to do when God clearly shows him his life's calling is no longer healing physical hearts, but spiritual? It would have been easy to tell God no, and to ignore the call back to a tiny town in the Ozarks to begin a ministry in a small church that was about to close its doors. But at 53, Race walked away from his prestigious and successful career and agreed to follow the Lord–under one condition. He told God he wanted a wife to labor alongside of him.

Since her husband's infidelity and their subsequent divorce, Kennedy just wants to be left alone to figure things out. North Dakota seems like the perfect place. Only, because of one little kidnapping and ransom incident, her older brother thinks she needs a bodyguard. She supposes he's probably right, but she'd really like it to be anyone other than Baker Lawrence. He's been her brother's best friend forever and her very first crush. There is no man more solid and dependable than Baker.

She led him on, lied about him, then dumped him for his cousin. She was his enemy. He walked. But he loved her still.

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.

Roxane Peterson is up for auction. Well, her and her ranch. She knew it would be too much to hope for that the man who bought her would be more interested in her than in the property and money that came with her. But she’s been down this road before–a marriage that isn’t perfect. Her only concern now is protecting her son and making sure she keeps her independence.

He’s the billionaire heir of Sweet Water Ranch. His family is throwing a ball, and he must choose a wife. She’s too poor to attend the ball as a guest. But she can go as the hired help. One magical dance and a case of mistaken identity later, and nothing is as it seems.

Called the Preacher, Clay Stryker has lived a life as straight as a North Dakota highway. Everyone thinks the pen and notebook he carries around is to jot down poetry or possibly notes on Scripture. They don't know he has a secret romance.

Two days before Christmas, single mom Blythe Mason is stunned when her car is not at the mechanic’s shop where she dropped it off. Her surprise soon gives way to panic when they figure out that an employee gave her car to the wrong person, and it is now 500 miles away. All the Christmas gifts that she’d carefully budgeted out for her children since July were in the trunk.

Merrit and Sorrel Hines have been trying to find a husband for their mom because they want a dad. Their mom says to be patient, but at the rate she's going–always more concerned with what is happening at her diner than in looking for a husband–they'll be grown and out of the house until she gets around to finding someone.

Jonah Mills is content keeping a low profile on the Sweet Briar Ranch, drumming up business for their crop-dusting service and learning how to be a rancher after years in the Air Force. His marriage was a mistake he doesn't intend to repeat.

Mav Stryker can't seem to convince the town of Sweet Water that he's not the kid he used to be. Of course, taking a gamble on high dollar cattle that didn't pay off isn't helping anything. Especially when it causes him to face foreclosure. Except, there is an inheritance, but he needs to act by midnight.

After her husband died, leaving her with six kids to raise on her own, Piper Hughes struggles to hold everything together on a hairdresser's small wage. She has no hope of expanding her two bedroom ranch house, and doesn't want to rely on the charity of the town either. She definitely doesn't want some strange man coming in, being too kind, stealing her kids' hearts, and turning her world upside down. He'll be leaving when he's done. After all, what man would want a woman with six kids?

Natalie Moody’s house has been condemned and she has two weeks left to move out. When a friend at church offers to let her stay at his brother’s farmhouse while he’s out on assignment for two months, she jumps at the chance. Denver Barclay bought a farm, but he can’t seem to get himself to want to settle down. Didn’t help that the girl he dreamed about kissing married his brother.

Blakley Barclay knows her parents are up to something. They’ve been matching all her siblings and even some other people in her hometown of Mistletoe. But the man they want to pair her up with? A huge pro ball player with more muscles than brains, and she is not interested. So she turns to her best friend for help.

Everyone thinks Poppy Kyle is naturally happy and positive. But it took a major tragedy in her life for her to overcome her natural negative tendencies and develop a brighter attitude. She will not allow the surly West Barclay to steal her joy.