Autumn Hearts - a new box set of autumn romances.

 Releasing today -

Containing five seasonal love stories from five acclaimed authors.

Working as a cardiologist at a renowned hospital in New York City, Emma St. Germaine is in the business of saving lives. When her grandfather suffers a stroke, she heads back to her hometown of Juniper Junction to aide in his recovery. With the Annual Timberville Orchard Festival only weeks away, Emma is recruited by her Gampy to keep the family’s tradition alive. Emma is willing to help even if it means working with the only man she ever loved and one who’s determined to keep her from running back to the big city.

Jack Jalette’s dream to play pro football was sidelined when his parents were killed in a horrific car crash. He’s content with his life, running Jalette’s General Store in order to keep his parent’s dream alive, along with helping his elderly friend operate his orchard. Old sparks ignite when Emma returns to town. She’d run from him once, but will this second chance prove she’s ready to settle down?

Making the most of his eighteen day furlough, paramedic Ross Drummond heads north, as far away from work as he can get. Being best man at his brother’s wedding is just the thing he needs to take his mind off his troubles. 

Wedding planner Ursula Irwin has a mountain of work to do before her sister’s nuptials on Saturday. Already juggling her day job with being chief bridesmaid, she doesn’t have time for a car accident and her resulting injury. Never mind the handsome stranger who rescues her—even if he does turn out to be the best man.

As they are both staying at River Edge Lodges and with Ursula unable to drive or do anything else for several weeks, Ross suggests he helps with the preparations. As family begin to arrive for the wedding, and the bride demands last minute alterations, emotions ride high and everything begins to change.

extract:

Ross pulled carefully across the junction, parking behind the car, and flipping on his hazard lights. He grabbed his phone from the glove box and dialled 999, leaping from his own vehicle.

“Emergency,” replied the operator. “Which service do you require?”

“All of them,” he replied, running to the crashed car. “There’s a one vehicle accident at the junction of the M90 and A912 at Bridge of Earn. A car’s gone in tae the bridge. One person trapped. Off duty paramedic in attendance. Tell them tae hurry. I cannae stay on the line, I have tae go and help.”

He pocketed his phone and sprinted across to the car. Smoke rose slowly from the crumpled bonnet. He leaned through the open window. “Hey, can you hear me?”

Brown eyes flickered open. “What hap—” A gasp of pain distorted her bloodied features and broke off the English accent. “I can’t move.”

“The fire brigade are on the way. What’s yer name?” He reached inside the car.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m a paramedic. I need tae know where you’re trapped. Ma name’s Ross. What’s yours?”

“Ursula. I can’t move my legs.”

Ross slid his hand gently along her thigh until it collided with the dashboard. “They’ll need tae cut you out.” He glanced at his hand. Blood covered it. He wiped it on his jacket, before turning his attention to her arm.

“I can’t feel my arm,” she whispered. “Is it still there?”

Ross nodded. “It’s there.” Glancing down at the impossible angle her arm was resting through the broken window, he decided it was a good thing she couldn’t feel it. “It looks like you’ve dislocated your elbow.” He checked her pulse. There wasn’t one. “I need tae slide it back in place. It’s going tae hurt, but I can’t leave it as it’s cutting off the blood supply to your hand.”

“That’s not a good thing I assume.”

He smiled grimly. “No’ really. Ready?”

“Go for it.”

Ross took tight hold of her arm. He’d done this in class several times, but never on a real person. Knees and shoulders, yes. Elbows? One wrong move and she’d need surgery to fix it. “Okay, on three. One. Two.” He pulled hard, twisting at the same time.

Ursula screamed. “That wasn’t three.”

“Sorry. Counting never was my strong suit.” He checked her distal pulse again. Slow, but there. “Anyhoo, you’d have tensed when I got tae three and it’d have hurt way more.”

Sirens filled the air. “Here comes the cavalry.” He glanced up as the fire brigade, police and ambulance all arrived at the same time.

Police officers began to close the road as the paramedics and a firefighter in a white helmet came over to him.

“This is Ursula,” Ross began. “GCS is fifteen, she’s been conscious since I found her. She has a dislocated elbow, which I put back in place. The dashboard is wedged firmly against her legs, some bleeding there, but not sure where it’s coming from.”

The paramedic glanced from the car to him. “Are you a doctor?”

“Off duty paramedic. I’m home for a wedding.” He stepped back to allow the others in to do their jobs.

A police officer strode over. “I need a statement, sir. Can we start with yer name?”

“Ross Drummond. I didn’t see the accident happen. I came off the motorway and there she was.” As he spoke with the officer, he could see the firefighters deftly remove the roof off the car and free Ursula. It wasn’t long before she was safely in the back of the ambulance. That vanished, sirens wailing, lights flashing.

A phone rang. Ross glanced around, but no one answered it. He frowned. It seemed to be coming from behind the crashed car. He rounded the vehicle and found a bag lying behind a bush. Tugging the phone free from inside it, he scowled as his brother’s name lit the screen.

Why on earth would Glenn be calling her?

“Sir, can I have that?” a police officer asked.

“One second. That’s my brother calling her.”

“Do you ken the lady, sir?”

“No, but…” Ross reluctantly handed over the phone as it stopped ringing. He’d call his brother back himself in a few.

“Then, thank you for yer help, but we’ll handle it from here.”

Ross took one more look at the smashed car and returned to his own vehicle. He pulled his phone from his pocket and rang Glenn. It was engaged. He sent a text instead. I need ye tae ring me urgently. 

ONE WELL-SEASONED LIE LEADS TO HEARTBREAK…

Ben Walker’s world is upended when his young niece stumbles across a necklace Ben stole more than a decade ago. Ben has conquered a past shadowed by rebellion, and he’s paid his dues. Caught and sentenced in juvenile court, he spent a full year making restitution to everyone involved—everyone except Molly Sims.

Molly’s beloved grandmother has just passed away. Orphaned as a child, Molly is left with no family to speak of and only a small box of heirlooms to connect her to her heritage. Molly cherishes the link to her family, but her inheritance is incomplete. A necklace that was passed down through generations was stolen years ago. The treasured piece is gone forever…until Ben Walker steps back into her life and offers her more than long-lost jewelry.

Can Molly let go of the bitterness she harbors while Ben strives to convince her that everyone deserves a second chance? When circumstances change, both learn the true meaning of greed and charity. Only through God’s healing grace can either find peace with their past as well as their future.

Extract:

“I’m sorry…” Ben Walker rushed through the doorway on Abree’s heels. His navy suit jacket was impeccably buttoned, his power-red tie a perfect complement to the crisp, white cotton shirt beneath. “Please forgive the intrusion. I told Abree not to interrupt your conversation, but she’s so excited about going to the zoo today…the elephants, tigers, and giraffes you know. She was afraid she’d miss out because Oscar made an afternoon snack out of the permission slip.”

Molly laughed. “No. It’s fine.” She found it suddenly difficult to speak while Ben’s commanding gaze linked with hers. He filled the doorway, so much taller than she remembered from their days together at Valley High School. Back then he’d been lanky and dark…almost brooding. They’d barely shared two words though they sat through many classes together. His family came from the proverbial right side of the tracks with their sprawling three-story brick house and polished BMW’s; her family, residing in a house wrapped in faded clapboard siding and cracked concrete stairs…not so much.

“Oscar has been punished, by the way.” Ben’s chocolate hair fell across his forehead, framing eyes that held no sign of the brooding angst Molly recalled from days gone by. He propped one hip against the corner of the wall that flanked a neat row of cubed student storage cubbies. “No bones for a week is the rendered sentence. He’s heartbroken, but I have to stand firm, nonetheless. He shouldn’t have used Abree’s permission slip as a chew toy. It was simply bad manners.”

“Oh, that’s…sad. I’m sure he meant no harm.”

“Well, I’m just here to make sure the slip gets into your hands this time, and now that I see it has, I’ll just—”

“Wait.” Molly held up one palm as she rounded the desk to face him. In another ten minutes or so the wooden cubbies would fill with lunchboxes and jackets that belonged to eager students. A short sunflower-yellow bus would pull up to the curb outside the classroom windows, ready to drive thirteen—well, now twelve since Kevin sat at the emergency room—eager and starry-eyed students to the Knoxville Zoo. If something didn’t happen here—and quick—it seemed as if Molly would have to shoo the driver and answer to a pack of disappointed children.

Unless…

“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Ben’s gaze slipped over her, causing Molly to shiver slightly despite the cozy warmth of the room. His crisp navy suit and crimson tie stood as a sharp contrast to the faded jeans and black—always black—T-shirts emblazoned with skulls and crossbones that Molly remembered from high school. She wondered what had elicited the change in him over the years, but she was certainly glad for it. Perhaps his responsibilities with Abree…? Molly cupped a hand to her mouth and cleared her throat.

“Perhaps I have.” She lowered her gaze and noted that Ben’s dress shoes were polished to a spit-shine and most likely hot off the store shelf. The fact caused a slight prickle of guilt, though not strong enough to keep her from asking, “Do you still like the thrill of an unexpected adventure?”

“A…what kind of thrill?” Ben’s eyes widened as he pushed away from the wall, clasping his hands together. He took a few steps toward her, his gaze questioning. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand your meaning.”

“It’s simple. I need—”

“Give me a minute, here.” Angie stepped in between them, startling Molly. She’d forgotten all about the younger assistant standing there. Angie reached for Abree’s hand. She flashed a warm smile at the child. “Honey, I brought biscuits and gravy from the drive-thru down the street this morning. There’s enough for two. Would you like to come with me to the office, and we’ll share breakfast before the others arrive?”

“Oh, I love biscuits and gravy. Yes.” Abree circled a palm over her belly before she shrugged from her backpack and sidestepped Ben to hang it on the hook beneath her cubby. She paused and turned back to glance up at him with the innocence of an angel. “Is that OK, Uncle Ben?”

“Sure, princess.” He tapped her nose, drawing his gaze from Molly long enough to flash the cherub a mega-watt smile. “You go on while Miss Sims and I talk. I’ll see you when you’re done with your biscuits.”

“Soon?”

“Yes. Soon.”

When they’d gone, Molly turned her attention fully to Ben. “I need you.”

“That’s…flattering.” He chuckled softly. “How badly?”

Molly’s pulse skittered as his gaze skimmed over her. His eyes had always enthralled her with their flash of blue, clear as a summer sky. “Please, Ben…won’t you help me out here…help the kids?”

“I suppose I might be persuaded.” His grin spoke volumes, and the low murmur of his voice set Molly’s universe slightly off-kilter. “Give me the rundown on what you need. Don’t leave out any details.”

“I need a chaperone for the zoo—now—today.”

“I can manage that. Count me in.”

“So, you’ll do it? You’ll go with us?”

“I suppose the office can survive a few hours without me today.”

“Oh, Ben…” Molly stepped forward to place a hand on his. The warmth of his skin calmed the thrum of her heart. “You’ll never know how much this means to me…to the kids.”

“I think I already do. It’s evident in your eyes…and that sweet voice of yours.” He nodded and flashed her a playful smile. “Just give me a minute to make a call and I’m all yours.”

 Can a cowboy without a ranch come to terms with his amnesiac, homeless old flame?

Fawn loses her father, her home, and her memory during a Niobrara River flood. It galls her to accept help but she needs it. Friends invite her to recover at Ivy’s Inn. She has no choice but believe what others tell her about who she is.

Jarett yearns for a link to his Native American heritage. He finds it by owning cattle, but not ranch land. As a young man, Jarett loved Fawn. He fights his attraction to the new and improved version of her, though she doesn’t remember him.

Her betrayal is always on his mind, but she’s needy. They’re brought together at the inn due to an emergency in the proprietors’ family. In close proximity, Jarett falls for the new Fawn. Can she learn to trust him while he fears the return of her memory will destroy them?

Barrett “Bear” Stanford doesn't do relationships anymore. Not since losing his high school sweetheart to leukemia and another girlfriend to a car accident. A former SEAL, these days he's satisfied driving a fire engine and volunteering at the children's hospital with his therapy dog, Jammer. His fellow firefighters are his family now, and he won't let them down.

Pediatrician Brinkley Collins is totally smitten with the handsome firefighter. It's not just the kids who adore him and Jammer. For two years, she's pushed the boundaries of their friendship, almost kissed him once, but Bear refuses to take the hint.

Binkie can convince him to do just about anything, but he draws the line at modeling for a firefighter calendar. But he thinks he played into her plan when she ropes him into publishing a cookbook, prompting him to reevaluate his career. Then an accident—and a mysterious new friend—make him question his resolve to keep her tucked in the "friends" category. Makes him wonder how amazing life would be if she were by his side…forever.

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