Showing results by author "Jessie Gussman" in All Categories

Preston Harding witnessed his best friend’s death in the prime of his life. Alcohol has numbed the pain. Until his son’s mother drops the boy off on his doorstep and tells him she is dying. Suddenly he’s responsible for a young life and is facing another death. Thankfully, hospice is taking care of everything except the child.

With her family and life spiraling out of control, Pam Corrigan needs an escape from the stress of her day job and decides to purchase the old inn just south of Strawberry Sands. Her mother will give her half of her inheritance when she remarries, but Pam isn’t the slightest bit interested in another failed relationship. So, she asks her best friend and neighbor, Mark Shields, to fake a relationship with her in the hopes that she can convince her mother to help fund the repairs of the inn she just purchased.

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?

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.

Brawley Powers made a mistake he's regretted for almost 11 years. But he didn't realize he had a daughter from that night until a stranger comes to town and puts the pieces together. Brawley sees the truth, but he's not sure if the mother of his daughter even knows who the father is and, whether she does or not, if she'll let him be a part of her life.

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.

Waitress and single mother Louise Olson wouldn’t have missed church to stay home with her sick daughter if she knew the congregation was going to volunteer her to head up the town’s Harvest Festival. Truth be told, she didn’t mind, and would have enjoyed it.

He’d been deformed in a farming accident years ago. He’d managed to build a successful business on his North Dakota ranch, but clients didn’t need to see him. His sister handled the face of his company.

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

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.

She’s his best friend’s little sister. He’s never noticed her. Not like that. He needs to marry to inherit his money, so he’s hired a woman to be his fake bride. Only he’s too sick to get married.

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.