Rural Romance

Listeners flock to USA Today and New York Times best-selling author Jodi Thomas’ Texas romances. Here a rugged cowboy finds his hard heart softened by a desperate woman on the run. Happy to keep his head down and tend to his ranch, Teagen McMurray is certainly not looking for love. But then Jessie Barton—wife of Teagen’s bookseller friend Eli—and her three young daughters arrive on the scene seeking shelter.

I'm burnt out on love, but Grace Winters is the funniest—and most attractive—woman I've ever met. Too bad Creekville is just a detour for her. I get it. But when I recruit her to help me build a booth for the town's biggest event of the year, I learn just how irresistible she is. And if that's not bad enough, when I talk her into fake dating to convince my boss I'm ready for a promotion, we share an unplanned kiss that blurs every line we've drawn.

When Evie and Duke meet on set, it’s a frosty encounter. In fact, the only thing icier than their interactions is the snow that coats the Bavarian streets they are filming on. But after images of them arguing leak to the press and put the movie in jeopardy, they are left with no choice but to fake date until the cameras stop rolling. As the pair start to put their differences aside, gradually, somewhere along the Romantic Road, their feelings begin to thaw. But can sparks ever really fly in a snowstorm?

On the eve of a new year, Catherine Glick is expecting her bu of five years to propose. Instead, the unexpected arrival of an old boyfriend, Elijah, sends her life spiraling out of control. When a rash decision damages her current relationship, Catherine leaves for Florida to work in her cousin's bakery - anything to flee the source of her shame. Elijah Graber knows he hurt Catherine when he left their Amish district six years ago. He's determined to explain his actions, even if it means following her to Florida.

Amy Michaels loves her new life in Lucky Harbor. A waitress in the local diner, she's looking forward to her first weekend hike through the mountains. But when a wrong turn takes her off the trail, she finds herself up close and personal with forest ranger Matt Bowers. And even though she's tempted to kiss that sexy smile right off his face, she won't make the mistake of getting involved with the town heartthrob. A former cop whose life went south, Matt doesn't let anyone get too close. But something about the beauty caught his eye.

It's been two rough years since Andrea Montgomery lost her husband, and all she wants is for her children to enjoy their first Christmas in Haven Point. But then Andie's friend asks a favor - to keep an eye on her brother, Sheriff Marshall Bailey, who's recovering from a hit-and-run. Andie will do anything for Wyn, even park her own misgivings to check on her grouchy, wounded bear of a brother.

In the small town of Celeste, Texas, Mitzi Taylor has never quite fit inside the lines. Nearly six feet tall, flame-haired, and with a plus-size spirit to match every curve, she’s found her niche: a custom wedding-dress boutique catering to big brides-to-be with big dreams. Taking the plunge alongside her two best friends, she’s proud they’ve turned The Perfect Dress into a perfect success. Just when Mitzi has it all pulled together, Graham Harrison walks back into her life, looking for bridesmaid dresses for his twin daughters.

Substitute counselor for wayward teens isn’t how public-school teacher Jayden Bennett planned to spend her summer vacation. However reluctant, she’s hiking up her jeans and heading for remote Piney Wood Academy in north Texas. Two months. Seven days a week. Few amenities. And three troubled girls daring Jayden to make a difference. She understands what she’s up against. She has her own burdens to bear. Jayden’s not in it alone. The devoted elderly couple who run Piney Wood trusts in Jayden’s tough-love approach to get the job done. So does drill instructor Elijah Thomas.

Recently widowed Marin Henderson considers time with her two adult children a gift. And she’s intent on not prying into their lives while they’re all together, cleaning out her late parents’ Colorado home. But from the start, nothing goes as planned. Her free-spirited daughter, Slade, and her strait-laced son, Reed, both arrive ahead of schedule, and no one is explaining why. Marin knows they’re hiding issues in their personal lives. But she can only push so far because she, too, is keeping secrets.

Enjoy four sweet and heartwarming stories about home, heart, and reuniting with the ones you love: Their True Home by Amy Clipston, A Reunion of Hearts by Beth Wiseman, A Chance to Remember by Kathleen Fuller, and Mended Hearts by Kelly Irvin.

With trust issues a mile long, Ryanne Wade has sworn off men. Then Jude Laurent walks into her bar, and all bets are off. The former army ranger has suffered unimaginably, first being maimed in battle, then losing his wife and daughters to a drunk driver. Making the brooding widower smile is priority one. Resisting him? Impossible. As their already scorching attraction continues to heat, the damaged soldier knows he must let go of his past to hold on to his future...or risk losing the second chance he desperately needs.

As a toddler, Elodie Jacques was abandoned by her mother and left in the care of her French grandmother, Gabriella in Dartmouth, Devon. Now 24 years old, Elodie struggles to reconcile the deep anger for the mother she has never since seen. When Gabriella unexpectedly announces she wants the two of them to spend Christmas and her 70th birthday in her home town of Juan-les-Pins in the South of France, Elodie is thrilled. Gabriella meanwhile has her own ulterior motives for wanting to return after 40 years, a homecoming potentially filled with memories, secrets and recriminations.

In the tradition of his beloved first novel, The Notebook, number-one New York Times best-selling author Nicholas Sparks brings listeners the remarkable story of two couples whose lives intersect in profound and surprising ways.

Desperate to escape his overbearing father, Patrick McAllen disappears with his bride, heading north to build a new town - discovering strength, honor, and true love along the way. After drinking away the grief from his family's death, Clint Truman avoids jail by taking a job in North Texas and settling down with a woman he vows to protect but never love - until her quiet compassion slowly breaks his hardened heart wide open.

I've spent my entire life running. No more. The past is finally catching up to me, and my secrets won't stay buried as trouble looms on the horizon. I must face the monster who spent a decade torturing me. For myself. My daughter. The countless other victims that he silenced with his brutality. This town gave me everything. I have to protect it, or I'll lose the ones I love forever.

At the end of her rope, single mom Lily Anderson is determined to move her rebellious children in the right direction. That means taking away their cell phones, tablets, and computers—at least temporarily—and moving to the house where Lily grew up in the rural town of Comfort, Texas. But Lily has a bigger challenge than two sulking teens. The house comes with Mack Cooper, high school teacher and handsome longtime renter. The arrangement: just housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids starts to warm Lily’s resistant heart.

At an early age Eliza Anderson learned a very hard lesson. Sometimes the people who are supposed to love you the most are the ones that cause you the most pain. She learned to guard herself, hesitating to let anyone close for fear of feeling that rejection all over again. Then Ethan came into her life, and what had started as a simple childhood crush morphed into a friendship she eventually came to cherish above all else. He was her safe place. Her rock. A shoulder she could lean on. Until he ripped it all away.

Conner Gilroy was my brother’s best friend. Popular. Smart. Gorgeous. With his cocky grin and perfect family, he was the fantasy of almost every girl I knew, including mine. And for some reason, he wanted me. Me, Henley O’Connell; the ugly bookworm with bright orange hair. Poor white trash with a quick temper and a chip on her shoulder. He confused me and made me angry. He treated me like I was something more than what I was. Like maybe what I wanted wasn’t just a silly fantasy.

Hot-blooded Georgiana Stockwell will break a man's heart while he's eating out of her hand. Moving from the East to join her schoolteacher sister in the rugged wilds of Tonto Basin, Arizona, Georgiana makes quite an impression. Despite her sister's best efforts, Georgiana creates a culture clash as her modern, free-spirited personality comes up against the code of the West, the unwritten law of the range that everyone is expected to follow.

Some couples have chemistry, others have a connection. We have both. We took turns walking away. Somehow, we’ve still ended up here. On stage, together, in front of tens of thousands of people. Him holding a guitar, me a microphone. Singing the song I wrote that launched my career and dubbed me the princess of pop music. The song about him. Maybe we were inevitable from the start. To love. To dream. To end. Our song had one ending. Our story might have another.