Hope Valley Romance Series by Tess Brennan

Tess Brennan has rebuilt her life in Hope Valley, and is happy with her lot — until her daughters come to visit and tell her that her husband did not, as he told Tess, lose all his money when his business collapsed. Tess doesn’t care. She has rebuilt her life and the last thing she wants is to invite stress by opening old wounds... moreTess Brennan has rebuilt her life in Hope Valley, and is happy with her lot — until her daughters come to visit and tell her that her husband did not, as he told Tess, lose all his money when his business collapsed. Tess doesn’t care. She has rebuilt her life and the last thing she wants is to invite stress by opening old wounds. Her daughters, however, have other ideas — especially her difficult eldest daughter Amy, who is determined to fight her father and get the money that she sees as rightfully hers. Just when Tess thinks that things can’t get any worse, she meets and is instantly attracted to Tolly Nelson, the son of her elderly neighbor Grace. He’s the first man she’s met for a long time who sets her pulse racing…but when her problems with her ex-husband escalate, her relationship with Tolly seems doomed. Christmas is coming, and all Kate wants is a quiet life — but it seems that this is a gift that will cost her dearly! less

Jo Bailey has had enough. Pushed too far, she resigns from her high-profile job and goes back to sleepy Hope Valley to manage her newly-married mother's 'little hobby' -- a quirky bookstore that seems to be more of a community center than a real business... moreJo Bailey has had enough. Pushed too far, she resigns from her high-profile job and goes back to sleepy Hope Valley to manage her newly-married mother's 'little hobby' -- a quirky bookstore that seems to be more of a community center than a real business. How can Jo (Harvard-educated and the daughter of a prominent business tycoon) possibly fit in with the demands of a community that clearly has no clue about how a business should operate? For heaven's sake, what kind of bookstore has a craft group taking over on Fridays and ladies playing canasta on Thursday mornings? Not only that, she learns that her mother has saddled her with some old geezer who sets up camp daily in a corner of the bookstore to write his memoirs. His memoirs. Isn't a bookstore about buying books, not writing them? Jo, expecting her days to be quiet and ordered, is in a state of shock. Determined to make the bookstore pay, she starts planning changes -- but meets with gentle resistance from all the locals, including Mr. Smith, the writer of memoirs. She is shocked to discover that Ashton Smith is not the doddery old octogenarian that she expected, but a handsome mystery man who is bound and determined to keep his real agenda a secret. Jo is equally determined to find out what he's really up to, sitting there tapping away at his laptop every morning for three and a half hours! He appears to be taking far too much interest in the townspeople and Jo's own affairs for someone who is merely writing his life history. So... what's going on? By the time Jo manages to winkle out The Mysterious Mr. Smith's secrets, it's all too late. She has already lost her heart to him. And she would never have guessed his guilty secret... less

A dog named Villain who is doing his best to live up to his name.An ultimatum from her landlord.A business that's struggling to survive. Could things get any worse? Edie Calhoun has always been a disappointment to her parents. She's not fashionable enough, not talented enough, and in the forthright opinion of her successful father, is wasting her talents on her fledgling graphic design business... moreA dog named Villain who is doing his best to live up to his name.An ultimatum from her landlord.A business that's struggling to survive. Could things get any worse? Edie Calhoun has always been a disappointment to her parents. She's not fashionable enough, not talented enough, and in the forthright opinion of her successful father, is wasting her talents on her fledgling graphic design business. It all becomes too much when her charming but feckless brother Alex begs her to look after his dog Villain while he takes his latest girlfriend to Hawaii for Valentine's Day. Edie, always a pushover, finds herself trying to meet deadlines while coping with a pooch that seems determined to wreck her life as well as the house. Then Jake Miller turns up at the door: a dog obedience trainer that her brother found for her just before he left town. Edie is suspicious of Jake immediately: handsome like her brother, he is just as charming -- and there's no way, she tells herself, that she's falling for that! She's watched her brother leaving a trail of broken hearts, and she knows the type. But Edie can't help thawing as Jake works his magic with Villain. Before long, she's just as enraptured with the dog trainer as her pooch -- but then her world starts to disintegrate. Edie has no savings, an eviction looming, and now Jake seems to have fallen under the spell of a curvaceous blonde called Sherri... less