Twenty years ago, Claire Maloney was the willful, pampered, tomboyish daughter of the town's most respected family, but that didn't stop her from befriending Roan Sullivan, a fierce, motherless boy who lived in a rusted-out trailer amid junked cars. No one in Dunderry, Georgia--least of all Claire's family--could understand the bond between these two mavericks. But Roan and Claire belonged together...until the dark afternoon when violence and terror overtook them, and Roan disappeared from Claire's life. Now, two decades later, Claire is adrift, and the Maloneys are still hoping the past can be buried under the rich Southern soil. But Roan Sullivan is about to walk back into their lives....By turns tender and sexy and heartbreaking and exuberant, A Place to Call Home is an enthralling journey between two hearts--and a deliciously original novel from one of the most imaginative and appealing new voices in Southern fiction. Views: 115
Tackling an intruder in the old moonshiner's cave, ex-Marine Max Templeton is astonished to find the beautiful and wiry Betty Quint, and he vows to win her over, even as she swears she will wait for a more marriage- and family-minded man Views: 111
When Wyoming cowboy Jed Powers came to claim Sancia Island, he was prepared to evict a squatter -- but instead found himself bewitched by a woman. Views: 111
Classic romance from New York Times bestselling author Deborah SmithA pretty but tough Atlanta judge. A handsome good ol' boy farmer. When Jake Coltrane rescues Vivian Costas from muggers on a dark city street, he falls in love at first punch. She's tracking bad guys while disguised as a bag lady, and she whacks Jake with her purse. Vivian instantly adores the sexy but gentlemanly farmer, who's restoring a run-down city apartment building he inherited. But he's moving back to his farm soon, and she doesn't see how their very different lives can merge. She's been hurt before and tries to keep her distance. But Jake is irresistible. Can she follow her heart, take a risk, and not feel just a little bit guilty?Originally published as Cupid's Verdict, by Deborah Smith writing as Jackie Leigh. This new edition has been revised and updated. Look for more classic reprints from Deborah Smith, coming soon. Views: 98
While searching all over Bangkok for her half-sister, Rebecca Brown captures the attention of Kash Santelli, a man who suspects her of being a spy. Views: 97
This time, the MacBrides are home to stay.The Biscuit WitchA Crossroads Café NovellaBook One of The MacBridesDear Dr. Firth:I know you are in your cups at this time, drinking, taking pills, and sleeping under trees, but I have some experience rehabilitating lost souls in that regard, and so I am enclosing a box of my biscuits and a cold-wrapped container of cream gravy for dessert. Please eat and write back.We need a veterinarian of your gumption here in the Crossroads Cove of Jefferson County.—Delta Whittlespoon, proprietress of The Crossroads CaféBiscuit witches, Mama called them. She'd heard the term as a girl. She'd inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them. —Tal MacBrideWelcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to... Views: 82
Military men have a special place in Lucy Parmenter's tortured heart. For the past few months, Army Captain Gus MacBride, stationed in Afghanistan, has transformed her lonely life at a North Carolina refuge for abused women and their children. The texts, emails, and phone calls between him and Lucy bubble with restrained heat; his sisters (Pickle Queen Gabby and Biscuit Witch Tal) have let on that Lucy has a painful history, and he romances her gently.When several of her sheep show up on a freezing January morning with full-body mohawks, Lucy's psychic "wooly clairvoyance" says the wool thieves are hiding in nearby woods owned by the MacBrides, and that Tal knows all about them. She confesses: they're veterans—men, women, and one service dog—suffering from PTSD, suspicious and jumpy. She's taken them to heart and won their trust with apple pies.Lucy struggles with her fear of strangers while her heart is drawn to people so much like herself. When word of other... Views: 80
For Darl Union, life in Burnt Stand, North Carolina, has always been a mixture of wealth, privilege, loneliness and sinister family secrets. Even her childhood love for Eli Wade, the son of a stone cutter, was tangled in a web of deceit and murder. His father, an innocent man, died for killing her great aunt. Now Darl and Eli must come to grips with the past and all its mysteries. Views: 73
In Deborah Smith's "Nola's Ashes," the narrator faces the unusual
dilemma of what to do with the ashes of a deceased great-aunt who had
spent her life making everyone else miserable. At the same time, she
realizes the stress that her mother has faced coping with the
"Daddyside" relatives for many years. - a short story in "Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes" Views: 72
Book 7 in the beloved Mossy Creek Hometown Series about life in a tiny Georgia mountain village. This time, tales of local pets weave among the usual intrigues, feuds and romances. Ida and Amos are closer than ever to becoming a full-fledged couple; the new Mossy Creek High School is prepping for its first football season, Deputy Sandy is about to give birth, and Ed's story, with his faithful hound dog beside him, comes to a poignant conclusion. Views: 71
It's Valentine's Day weekend in Mossy Creek, and Creekites don't need any new romantic dilemmas. The town's still buzzing over Ida and Amos's kiss. Hannah's heart flutters every time a certain handsome Scottish photographer walks into her library. Peggy's debating her first real date since her husband died. Harry's keeping a romantic secret from Josie. Sandy's got a romantic surprise for Jess. Sagan has to decide whether he and Emily really are a couple, and Win Allen's preparing his restaurant for the biggest night of the year. So what could make the weekend more Chaotic? The Circus! Cirque d'Europa is stranded in Mossy Creek, and Creekites find themselves hosting some very strange characters with romantic problems of their own. Views: 68
"Deborah Smith's novels are filled to the brim with wonderful characters, complex and rich emotions, tragedy and hope." -- Romantic Times Her Harvard-student son just eloped with the First Daughter. CNN is parked on the road to her apple orchards. Secret Service agents have commandeered her country kitchen. The irate First Parents are threatening to have her taxes audited. The President's handsome, tough, ex-military nephew is setting up camp in her guest room. Hush McGillan's quiet Appalachian world of heirloom apples, country festivals, and carefully guarded family secrets has just been flipped like one of her famous Sweet Hush Apple Turnovers. What do you do when your brand-new in-laws are the First Family, and they don't like you any more than you like them? And what happens next when you find yourself falling in love with the man they sent to unearth all your secrets? From the White House to the apple house, from humor to tears and sorrow to laughter, get ready to fall in love with Sweet Hush. Optioned for Disney Films by the producer of The Princess Diaries. Deborah Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of A Place To Call Home, The Crossroads Cafe, A Gentle Rain and many others. Visit her at www.bellebooks.com and www.deborah-smith.com
### From Publishers Weekly
Smith's beguiling brand of Southern contemporary romance (Sweet Hush, etc.) takes a satirical turn in her ninth novel. When Schwarzeneggeresque action star Stone Senterra arrives in Dahlonega, Ga., the only thing standing in the way of his making a film about real-life local hero Harper Vance is Vance's exâ€"beauty queen widow armed with a truckload of gravel, a potted orchid named "Dancer" and a will of steel. Charming Grace stops at nothing to ensure that her husband's memory does not become fodder for yet another bad movie. Having defied her wealthy father to befriend and then marry the backwoods bad boy turned GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) agent, she is more than ready to face down Hollywood. What she isn't prepared for are the feelings aroused by Senterra's troubleshooting bodyguard, Cajun-born ex-con Boone Noleene, like Vance a gallant-hearted tough guy and like Senterra abandoned by his father at an early age. The novel alternates points of view: first we hear from the rebel belle, then from the brash bodyguard. The battling duo are backed up by a larger-than-life cast of secondary characters, including Senterra's baby sister co-star, Diamond, voted sexiest movie babe by Gun and Knife magazine, and Senterra's son the computer geek, who falls for Grace's black niece from Detroit. Smith blends Southern charm and Hollywood brass, kicking up the satire with Stone's script notes, full of cliches, paranoia and celluloid-deep emotion. Her unflagging energy, forgiving spirit and mischievous imagination compel the reader to delight with her in the frailty of heroes on-screen and off, proving that Smith is one romance novelist who just keeps getting better.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
### From Booklist
*Starred Review* Grace Bagshaw Vance will do whatever it takes to stop Stone Senterra. One of Hollywood's most popular action/adventure stars, Senterra wants to direct a film based on the life of Grace's late husband, Harp, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who was killed stopping the Turn-Key Bomber. Grace, however, is certain Senterra's brand of mindless, testosterone-drenched movies will disgrace Harp's memory. Armed with a shotgun and a load of gravel, Grace concocts a plan to put a halt to the production only to find herself up against Boone Noleene, Senterra's intensely loyal bodyguard. While they first seem to be on opposite sides, both Grace and Boone soon find they have quite a bit in common, something that worries Grace since the more she finds herself getting to know Boone, the more it seems she is letting go of her beloved Harp. Writing with an easy charm and sassy wit, Smith deftly fashions a splendid story of love and honor. Blessed with an abundance of delightfully eccentric characters and a plot that gracefully moves between past and present, this is a romance to treasure. *John Charles*
*Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved* Views: 68
Back in the small town of her childhood, Lily MacKenzie rekindles old flames with Artemas Colebrook, a boyhood friend and a family enemy. Views: 66
Pickles are mentioned in the Bible. Cleopatra ate them as a beauty regimen. Shakespeare put them in his plays. Mason designed jars for bottling them. So did Ball. Did Mason and Ball fight over the King of the Pickle Jars title? I don't know. I did know this much: I used pickles to keep fear, pride, and my love of Jay Wakefield behind a door I would not risk opening again. Even now. Wakefields take what they want. MacBrides never surrender. For nearly a hundred years, a battle of wills between these two deeply-rooted Appalachian families has ended in defeat and heartache—most often, for MacBrides. Now the MacBride name is barely more than a legend, and it's up to Gabby MacBride to deal with the pain of her childhood memories and also the challenge of a MacBride legacy she's only beginning to understand. That will mean coming to terms with her bittersweet love for Jay Wakefield, the lonely rich boy who became her soul mate when they were kids, before the dark demands of his... Views: 66
