Hearts of Broken Wheel Series by MJ Fredrick

Twelve years ago, a terrible school bus accident divided a town, but bonded the survivors. Some of them fled the small West Texas town, some remained, and some felt drawn back to the place where they lost their innocence. Beck Conover didn't intend to do more than check in on his mom in Broken Wheel when he was driving through Texas on his way to his job in Las Vegas. He hadn’t been home in, well, longer than he’d care to admit. But when he gets there, the house is in terrible shape... moreTwelve years ago, a terrible school bus accident divided a town, but bonded the survivors. Some of them fled the small West Texas town, some remained, and some felt drawn back to the place where they lost their innocence. Beck Conover didn't intend to do more than check in on his mom in Broken Wheel when he was driving through Texas on his way to his job in Las Vegas. He hadn’t been home in, well, longer than he’d care to admit. But when he gets there, the house is in terrible shape. Despite his contentious relationship with his mom, he decides to stay in town and fix up the house so he doesn’t have to feel guilty about leaving her alone. He’s already hired a home health nurse to check on her, but he doesn’t think she’s getting enough help. When he comes face to face with her nurse, he’s startled to see it’s Lacey Davila, the girl he pulled from the flood waters the day the bus was swept off the road. Lacey Davila stayed in Broken Wheel because she didn't want her father to be alone after her mother left him, bored by life in this town. Her job as a home health nurse was a natural extension of her need to care for others. Even though she chose to stay, she understands why Beck left, why her mother left. When she discovers she’s pregnant, the child’s father turns his back on her, but Beck is there, stepping in to help as he had the day the bus washed into the creek bed. But like her mother, he will leave when the town gets too small for him. And she’ll be alone. She won’t risk that for herself, or for her unborn child. less

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The first two chapters are very sad. I promise it lightens up, but the first two chapters made ME cry, and I wrote them!Thirteen years ago, Britt Fraser left Con McKay at the lowest point in his life. She’s been back to Broken Wheel a couple of times since, but kept her distance.This time she’s back for a month, and once again at a low point in his life. He doesn’t want to hear her apologies, or her excuses... moreAUTHOR'S NOTE: The first two chapters are very sad. I promise it lightens up, but the first two chapters made ME cry, and I wrote them!Thirteen years ago, Britt Fraser left Con McKay at the lowest point in his life. She’s been back to Broken Wheel a couple of times since, but kept her distance.This time she’s back for a month, and once again at a low point in his life. He doesn’t want to hear her apologies, or her excuses.Britt loves her life in Houston as an event planner, and she hadn’t been excited to come back to the town where she grew up, the town she left after a tragedy broke her. Hadn’t been excited to see the friends she’d left behind.The boy she’d left behind.A man now.When she is asked to help plan the town’s Fourth of July celebration, Britt solicits the help of Con’s mom Alexis, who has been a virtual hermit since the loss of her daughter. Because Alexis is reluctant to leave the ranch, Britt spends a lot of time at the McKay home.All this time together pushes him to remember everything they’d once dreamed for themselves, and makes him remember the girl he’d loved—and get to know the woman she’s become.As the time comes for her to go back to Houston, to her life, she has to decide—does she have a future in her past? less

Wes Downey has always been on his own, with no family to turn to and nowhere to call home—except for his best friend's place in Broken Wheel, Texas. After a serious injury on the job leaves him wounded and alone, Wes has no choice but to let his best friend, Patrick, take him back to the only place he’s ever felt the Woodward family home... moreWes Downey has always been on his own, with no family to turn to and nowhere to call home—except for his best friend's place in Broken Wheel, Texas. After a serious injury on the job leaves him wounded and alone, Wes has no choice but to let his best friend, Patrick, take him back to the only place he’s ever felt the Woodward family home.Poppy Woodward has harbored a secret crush on Wes for as long as she can remember, but the man who arrives at her doorstep is just a shadow of the confident Wes she once knew. His injuries run deeper than the scars on his body, and the accident has left him lost and broken.Determined to help him heal, Poppy makes it her mission to bring Wes back to life. As she spends more time with him, soon she’s falling for him all over again. But in a small town like Broken Wheel, everyone has an opinion, and gossip spreads faster than wildfire.As whispers and rumors swirl around them, Wes and Poppy must decide if their growing love is worth facing the judgment of others—or if the risks are too great to take. less