Stephanie McClure

If you told me I'd be on a reality dating show with a man I can't stand while the guy I haven't been able to forget films it all, I'd tell you to kick rocks. Alas, here I am, pretending to fall in love with a man who'd marry himself if he could all while my TV producer best friend has front seats to it all. It'd be a lot easier if the self-centered bachelor wasn't hot as hell and charming beyond reason when the cameras are rolling. Or if I didn't get heart palpitations every time my best friend looked at me.

There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediate yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong . . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice.

Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

Working cowgirl, Payton Hollis, has no time for hairdryers, heels and helplessness. She must save her home, Beargrass Hills Ranch. She also has no time for men. She already is boot-deep in blue-eyed cowboy trouble. City-boy, Cordell Morgan, isn’t who he seems. His fancy suit and slow smile hide dark secrets. Secrets as to why his hands are callused, why he never stays around and why he has really come to Marietta, Montana.

Nora Stephens' life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

The world loves Maverick Houston. Me? I’ve hated him since we were ten. It’s not exactly easy to escape your childhood nemesis when your parents are best friends who live on the same block. Through countless vacations, parties and holidays, Maverick and I have spent the past decade trading insults. Until that family dinner when his mother tells us she’s dying. When she asks us to forget the past and start fresh. That’s how I found myself on a date with the Treasure State Wildcats football star. The campus playboy.

My brother’s best friend is such a jerk. An imposing, handsome jerk who doesn’t trust me. And now we’re roommates. He wanders around the apartment in nothing but gray sweatpants, looking like a broody, tattooed muscle god, and playing music that shakes the walls. I want to hate him for treating me like an intruder, but there’s something about the way he looks at me—like he’s trying to figure me out—that keeps pulling me in.

I’d always dreamed of my wedding day. But not like this. Not looking into the eyes of the man who betrayed me. But when my nephew’s guardianship is contested, I decide I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him in Rose Hill. Even if it means marrying the enemy. Rhys Dupris. A man who is secretive, broody, and completely infuriating. A man whose work takes him away for weeks on end and brings him back covered in mysterious bruises—ones he won’t talk about. In fact, we barely talk at all.

Nathan Clark didn’t plan on crashing his car and winding up at Fox and Morgan Malone’s cabin, but here he is—stranded with a married couple just days before Christmas. And they’re eyeing him like he’s the perfect tree to climb. Fox, with his tattooed, rugged allure, and Morgan, with her sweet and sultry charm, are making Nathan question everything he thought he knew about himself. It might’ve started with a simple offer to stay warm, but now Nathan’s facing a proposition that could change his life forever.