Hearts Bend

Stone Jacobson : Being foreman of my family's ranch is not necessarily a dream of mine but it is what I was born to do. It's lonely, hard work but I love helping my family. If only they'd stay the hell out of my personal business.
Ma doesn't care about my feelings though. She wants grandbabies. And she's decided that Posy Barker is perfect for me. I've got my own thoughts on that.
The woman is a disaster in a tight pair of jeans. She's got my head a mess and my heart telling my head to get the heck out of the way.
I'm not ready to settle down let alone with a mess like the gorgeous redhead from out of town. I know better than most men...out of towner's don't stay. So keep your heart locked down and your head in control or you're gonna be nursing a broken heart.
Posy Barker : I love Heart's Bend. The people here are so nice and welcoming. Unless you're the subject of gossip. Then all of the wagging tongues get pretty darn sharp.
When I get a job at Neon Saloon teaching line dancing, I know that I need to toe the line. But Stone Jacobson tears through the place and flattens a tourist who gets a little handsy and all of a sudden, we're engaged! We've barely talked and that was just an argument but the gossips have us walking down the aisle.
What am I supposed to do about that? Pretend to be engaged to save face? Sure. Why not. But all of a sudden, his emerald green eyes and smirking lips look a little too good and I want to see just how far this thing can go.
One kiss, one night and two little lines on a stick and a rumor that started out fake is looking all too true!

He’s younger, a cattle breeding specialist with calloused hands and intense eyes, and he’s been obsessed with me since the moment we met.

I came back to my small hometown to restart my life, not to fall for a broody cowboy who looks at me like he's starving and I'm his next meal. But Beau Redding doesn’t play by the rules. He shows up at my ranch, touches me like he owns me, and whispers promises about filling me up and making me his...

I should walk away from this man. I’m grown, divorced...

But Beau doesn’t care about logic. He cares about claiming what’s his. And according to him… That’s me.

All’s fair in love and…pecans?

CEO was never on my list of dreams, but when my father –and scheming brother– put me in charge of our family pecan business, I vowed to be the very best. I put aside my wants and desires, and poured it all into making the company the king of pecans.

But when one of my plans to secure a prosperous future appears to be infiltrated by the enemy, I’m determined to take him down.

Burke Steele is all cocky bravado and as stubborn as a bull. For years my dad has been trying to snatch up his little mom and pop business, and year after year he refuses. I always assumed my dad was trying to dominate the pecan business in San Saba, Texas, but I soon found out that it went much deeper than that.

In the blink of an eye, a simple helping hand leads to more than I bargained for. I think I’m going nuts, but some say it’s just my hard shelled heart starting to crack.

I don’t fall.
I ride bulls, run my family’s ranch, and live eight seconds at a time. I don’t need help, and I definitely don’t need some sunshiney consultant showing up to tell me how to run the place my family built.
But Lily Mercer is used to swooping in and saving the day.
She’s stubborn and way too comfortable challenging me at every turn. Every meeting becomes an argument. Every argument ratcheting up the tension between us.
And the biggest problem?
The closer we get, the harder it is to remember why I’m fighting her.
Because somewhere between her joy, my grumpiness and one reckless kiss in the rain, the woman I swore I didn’t want becomes the one thing I can’t stay away from.
And if I’m not careful, the most dangerous ride of my life won’t be in the arena.
It’ll be falling for her.

He’s her brother’s best friend. She’s the one thing he’s never allowed himself to want.
Ethan Cole :  has built his life around loyalty and restraint, especially when it comes to Callie Reyes. She’s off-limits, protected, and not his to touch. But when National Donut Day turns Morning Star Donuts into the center of Hearts Bend chaos, the careful distance between them starts to crack.
Callie : is done being handled and overlooked. Ethan is done pretending he doesn’t want her. With her brother always close and the whole town watching, every glance feels dangerous and every doubt pulls tighter.
Some lines aren’t meant to be crossed. Others were never meant to hold.

He came to town to control the narrative; he didn’t expect to lose himself instead.

Paloma Reyes doesn’t need saving; her ice cream shop is her legacy, her town is her home, and the last thing she wants is a billionaire walking in and turning her life into a headline.

Charles Whitaker has spent his entire life protecting a name that isn’t really his. When a PR disaster sends him to Hearts Bend, Texas, he plans to stay invisible, fix the optics, and leave.

Then he meets Paloma.

She challenges him. She infuriates him. She sees straight through the polish and power to the man underneath, and once she does, walking away becomes an impossible option.

As town gossip turns into public scrutiny and Charles’s family board issues an ultimatum, he’s forced to choose between the legacy he inherited and the life he wants.

But Hearts Bend doesn’t care about billionaires; it cares about who shows up.

And this time, love might be the most dangerous choice of all.

BLURB COMING THIS SPRING!
But, for now,
Stetson Hayes: Retired Professional Bull Rider who moves back to West Texas after an injury and returns to his family's cattle ranch. A life on the road and women at his disposal.

Layla Jackson : An Artist who paints animal portraits for people. Loves doing charity work for the animal shelter. Sweet, quite, small town good girl.
-Professional Bull Rider
-Cattle Ranch
-The good girl who paints
-His little sisters best friend
-Returning Home

Hikari : After yet another crushing loss on the race track, it’s time to reassess my life. So I’m headed to Hearts Bend, Texas to figure things out. What I don’t expect is to meet the tall, gorgeous, redheaded Canadian woman staying in my mother’s loft.

When she asks for my help with her book I can’t help but agree. One look into those doe eyes and I’d do pretty much anything for this woman. She’s everything I want. Smart, funny and sexy as hell.

As the words fly off the page the line between fiction and reality are starting to blur. Kisses start to mean more than just research. And as her time in my hometown comes to an end, I’m finding it more impossible to let her go.

Isla : My inspiration well has officially gone dry. Months of working on my cowboy romance and I’m nowhere close to finished. Then luck smiles down on me and I stumble across a listing for a rental in Hearts Bend, Texas. A small town full of hot cowboys might be the inspiration I need to get back on in the saddle – figuratively, of course.

Little did I know that I’d meet a sexy piece of pure lean muscle standing at 6’1 with a bona fide Southern drawl, my book hero come to life. I didn’t come here looking for a relationship but every day spent with Hikari makes it harder to stay unattached. His taste, his touch, his smile start to effect me in ways I didn’t think possible.

And I’m starting to think that he’s not just the cowboy from my book. He might be the hero in my life’s story.

Ethan Bellamy has one rule: don’t mess with Christmas—and definitely don’t mess with Bellamy House. As Hearts Bend’s longtime innkeeper, he likes his traditions intact, his guests happy, and his life predictable.

Then Clara Bloom shows up.

She buys his biggest competitor and reopens it as Bramble & Bloom—a bold, beautifully reimagined retreat for women travelers. She’s smart. Determined. Completely unimpressed by Ethan’s small-town golden-boy status. And from the moment they clash, the tension between them crackles hotter than a roaring fireplace.

Between holiday events, fully booked inns, and a little too much forced proximity, their rivalry turns flirty… then dangerously tempting. Late nights blur. Lines get crossed. And suddenly, snuggling feels a lot less innocent than either of them planned.

As Christmas closes in, Ethan and Clara must decide if this is just a seasonal distraction—or the kind of love worth risking their hearts, their businesses, and everything they thought they wanted.