Coming Home To Starr’s Fall By Kate Hewitt
The leaves are falling, with a crispness to the air, along with the scents of coffee and pumpkin spice, past a half-empty street of shuttered storefronts and a bandstand that has seen better days…
Just like the whole town of Starr’s Fall, thinks Laurie Ellis – as she and her beloved dog Max head to collect the store keys. Maybe she has seen better days, too, but she’s certainly ready for a new start—and to leave her past behind. Still Laurie wonders whether she made a terrible mistake in coming to lovable but shabby Starr’s Fall. Will she even find customers for her pet store and bakery, never mind a community to welcome and accept her?
Not according to Joshua Reilly, the handsome but grumpy manager of the bookstore across the road, who claims he’s never heard of anything so ridiculous as a bakery for dogs.
But Laurie remains stubbornly undeterred. She’s starting over, right here. Not least because she has another secret reason for being here… one she isn’t telling anybody, at least not yet, as it involves her own tragic past.
What she doesn’t yet know is that a clue to the mystery is hidden deep in Joshua’s bookstore. And he doesn’t yet realize that Laurie herself might be the key to mending his own battered heart… for Laurie and Joshua and the whole town, it’s going to be a fall to remember.
Winter Wishes In The Scottish Highlands By Donna Ashcroft
Singleton and city-girl Ivy Heart has just turned thirty. She’s a chronic list-maker, married to her five-year-plan, and can’t remember when she last had a Christmas off. This year is no different; PA to Lady Miriam Ballentine, Ivy has been tasked with bringing her estranged grandson home before Christmas Eve in return for a reference. With her dream job on the line, Ivy packs her bags for the snowy Scottish Highlands to track down the heir to the Ballentine estate.
But when Ivy arrives at Christmas Resort, she discovers Ross Ballentine is far from a polished Laird-to-be. Rough around the edges, free-spirited and jaw-droppingly gorgeous, Ivy is shocked when he drives off on his snowmobile at the first mention of his grandmother. Not taking his frosty tracks as an answer, Ivy books herself onto his reindeer spotting tour, determined to convince this recluse to return to his responsibilities at the crumbling family castle.
But events don’t follow Ivy’s meticulous schedule as she spends time with Ross in his rustic cabin, switching her phone and mind off to the demands of city life. Soon it’s not just the log fire heating up between them. Does Ivy have more in common with this grumpy woodsman than she thought?
As sparks of romance roar under snowy skies, can Ivy get Ross home in time to secure the job she’s worked so hard for? Will Ivy’s ambition and Ross’s stubbornness drive them apart, or give them a Christmas they will never forget?
My Sanctuary 