Rural Small Town Fiction

Christmas magic should come naturally in the snowy village of Wylde Valley. But for Frankie Rose, this holiday season is marked by panic attacks and an ever-present sense of dread. An encroaching wildfire has forced her and her husband Caleb to evacuate their home in L.A., landing them in the cabin Frankie inherited from her mother.

Sunny never expected to find herself owning a centuries old silk mill in the shadow of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains or becoming a half-sister to a 10-year-old named Bailey. Once the shock subsides, she plans to cash in and head back home. But the overgrown greenhouse she finds on the property calls out to the gardener in her, and she senses Bailey's need for nurturing too.

Running a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff - and even fuller-time coffee guzzler - Sunshine Vicram, didn't get that memo. All Sunshine really wants is one easygoing day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with takeout pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that’s about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)

In the 1930s, fresh from a stint in the Royal Navy Reserve, and against the wishes of his disapproving father, Fingal O'Reilly goes to Dublin to study medicine. Fingal and his fellow aspiring doctors face the arduous demands of Trinity College and Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. The hours are long and the cases challenging, but Fingal manages to find time to box and play rugby—and to romance a fetching, gray-eyed nurse named Kitty O'Hallorhan.

It's hard to forget a beautiful woman who picks your pocket the first time you meet. Darby Cahill recognizes Mariah Ayres the moment she walks into his bar looking for a job. He shouldn't hire her - or crave more after one impulsive kiss. But what starts as curiosity about her motives turns to concern when he senses how much danger she's in. Mariah has been running ever since she left her fiancé at the altar. Now she's playing the part of the perfect employee, terrified that her past will catch up with her.

In this heart-pounding New York Times best-seller by RITA Award finalist Romantic Times Career Achievement Award winner Catherine Anderson, a seasoned horseman and a tenderfoot guide face long odds to rescue an eight-year-old from the Oregon wilderness.

The young widower arrives ready to roll up his sleeves and build a place of worship and welcome, but he needs some help. And the Lord works in mysterious ways. With her tight shirts and short skirts, pastor's assistant is not a phrase that springs to mind when Noah meets brassy, beautiful Alicia Baldwin. The former exotic dancer needs a respectable job so she can regain custody of her children. And Noah can't help but admire her spunk and motherly determination.

High on the cliffs of the west coast of Ireland, overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean, is Stone House. Once falling into disrepair, it is now a beautiful hotel specialising in winter holidays. With a big, warm kitchen, log fires and understated, elegant bedrooms, it provides a welcome few can resist, whatever their reasons for coming...Henry and Nicola are burdened with a terrible secret, and are hoping the break at Stone House will help them find a way to face the future.

A year ago, ex-Delta Force operator Steven Roark left the rigors of combat behind to run fishing charters in Hope Harbor, decompress, and talk some sense into his kid brother. Business is good - but making peace with his past is more challenging than he expected. First-grade teacher Holly Miller leads a low-profile existence - until she’s recruited to advocate for a cause that’s dear to her heart. When she solicits Steven’s assistance, sparks fly - especially after they find themselves on opposite sides of an issue that disrupts their placid seaside community.

I know better than to let them get close. I’ve been betrayed too many times to put my trust in anyone. Too bad the air crackles every time he comes near, and I feel like I’m going to burn up every time I look at him. All it takes is one reckless night to completely spiral into the bliss of the man and his big, capable hands. One dinner with his little family to completely fall. Only I never told him why I really came to Time River. Now I have to choose to trust him with my secret before it’s too late for both of us.

This magisterial collection of short works by Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner reminds listeners of his ability to compress his epic vision into narratives as hard and wounding as bullets. Among the 42 selections in this audiobook are such classics as "A Bear Hunt", "A Rose for Emily", "Two Soldiers", and "The Brooch".

91 year-old Ira Levinson is kept concious after a car wreck by visions of his late wife, Ruth, who recounts stories of their lifetime together. A few miles away, at a local rodeo, Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forest, meets a young cowboy named Luke. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

Barry Laverty, M.B., can barely find the village of Ballybucklebo on a map when he first sets out to seek gainful employment there, but already he knows that there is nowhere he would rather live than in the emerald hills and dales of Northern Ireland. The proud owner of a spanking-new medical degree and little else in the way of worldly possessions, Barry jumps at the chance to secure a position as an assistant in a small rural practice. At least until he meets Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly.

Marine Corporal Rick Sudder is home early from Iraq - his tour ended abruptly on the battlefield. The carefree boy is gone, replaced by a man who believes his future is as bleak as his mirror image. But can the passion and commitment of a young woman who has never given up on him mend his broken body and shattered heart? As the people of Virgin River rally around Rick, another recent arrival tests the tightly knit mountain town’s famous welcoming spirit.

It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. But the little girl’s pretty yellow dress can’t quite hide the ugly scar on her chest. Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. The stranger understands more about the scar than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.

In one second, my life disappeared. My past. My memories. My future. The only certainty I have from the last three years is that my older brother is dead and that I am the only eyewitness. In order to protect the case, the lawyers demand no one give me any information about my life...I must remember on my own. My only help comes from my brother’s best friend and world-renowned investigative reporter Spencer Cross. He has no idea how many nights I’ve spent dreaming of his name—and his body—next to mine. Each day we spend together, I find it harder to want my old life back.

All good things, even laughter and orange marmalade cake, must come to an end. And in Light from Heaven, the long-anticipated final volume in the phenomenally successful Mitford Years series, Karon deftly ties up all the loose ends of Father Timothy Kavanagh's deeply affecting life.

The deal is simple: the grumpy guy will pay off my debt if I find him a wife. Holden Rhodes is grouchy, unfairly hot, and has hated me for years. He's the last person I'd choose to inherit an inn with. As we renovate the inn and practice his dating skills, I see a different side of him. Was I all wrong about Holden? When we add ‘friends with benefits’ to the deal, our chemistry is so hot the sparks could burn down the inn. Holden’s a secret romantic, and I’m secretly falling for him.

A sexy cinnamon-roll lumberjack offers me a ride into town, a stay at his cozy cabin, and eventually his bed. All things I can't refuse. After several flirty glances and heated mistletoe kisses, we create rules: no strings attached and no falling in love. Agreeing to the impossible might be my biggest mistake yet. I visited the small town for one reason only: to prove a point to my father. Now I've got a fake boyfriend.

Like many small towns, Buffalo Valley is dying. Stores are boarded up, sidewalks are cracked, houses are in need of coats of paint. But despite all that, there's a spirit of hope here, of defiance. The few people still left here are fighting for their town. Lindsay Snyder is a newcomer. She's an outsider even though she spent childhood vacations here. Now she returns to see the family house again, to explore family secrets, and to reevaluate her life. And soon after she arrives, she meets a local farmer named Gage Sinclair....