Sweetwater Valley Series

LARK

Moving to Sweetwater Valley, where my parents live, is a chance to start fresh and see what the next stage in my life is all about. I thought for sure after Christopher’s death that I would spend the rest of my life alone with my two kids as my focus. Watching someone you love waste away leaves you broken and exhausted. A fresh start and a chance to breathe is all I’m looking for, maybe a pet once we are settled. I figure no one will ever want to take on the baggage of a 39-year-old woman with two kids. I didn’t think that I’d be swept off my feet by the resident, self-declared, bachelor for life who is nine years younger than me.

I moved to be closer to family, to hunker down and ride out the storm the last year blew in. I wanted time to adjust to life as a single mom while focusing on my writing. I’m prepared to face the judgement and small minds of a small town, considering my parents already faced it. I’m prepared for my black skin to raise eyebrows along with my blue eyed, light skinned children. I’ve faced all of that before.

There was no way that I could have seen Maverick coming or that he would be my lighthouse bringing me in from the storm.

MAVERICK

I’m content in my life, content with my revolving bedroom door without real connection and only physical satisfaction. Well, I try to convince myself that I’m content. I knew before my last hook-up that I need a change or else I’m going to run out of women that I haven’t taken to bed. That thought is as sobering as the realization that random women don’t hold the same appeal that they used to.

I don’t see many options outside keeping up appearances and playing the role that everyone expects of me. Floating through life with my bar, The Goose, as my only priority seems like my only option. I don’t see how I can have the wife and the kids that some of my friends have, so instead I watch and live the life I tell myself that I want.

Then I find Lark, my beautiful little bird with broken wings but a soaring soul. 

Once I see Lark, everything changes. I know I have found my something more in her and her kids. I know that I can mend her broken parts. I know that I can be exactly what Lark and her kids need, if given the chance.

No matter who Sweetwater Valley thinks I am, I know I’m the man they need in their lives. I will prove it to the town, and I will prove it to them.

There was no way I could have seen Lark and her kids coming or that they would be the joy and the love that brings me light. 

LANA

Coming back to Sweetwater Valley wasn’t the plan when I went off to school. I needed to find myself and I thought my dreams were bigger than the small town I grew up in. There was also the little matter of getting over the crush I had on Clint which didn’t go away when he left me behind as kids.

The longer I spent away, the farther I felt from home. Coming back to open the Sit & Sip was like a dream come true, but seeing Clint again brought my crush back full force. The distance feels insurmountable between who we were growing up and the lives we live now. I came back to find a man, a stranger, in the place of the boy I once knew, but he can still make my knees weak with one look.

I have a plan to make my business a success, starting with a renovation. Maybe as I upgrade my shop, I can give myself a new life too, one which leaves old crushes behind. 

When Jake, the local handyman, is willing to pitch in, I think I might get everything I want. Why does Clint showing up to help send butterflies through me? What does it mean when Clint tells me he’ll be the only person to build my bookshelves? Who does he think he is?

I’ll accept Clint’s help because maybe it’ll help me get over my feelings for him and I can move on. Then why does the thought of Clint and I being strangers again once all the measuring and painting is done make me feel like I’ve lost something I never had to begin with?

CLINT

I didn’t know how much Lana meant to me and how much I missed her friendship until she wasn’t around anymore. I hated how I couldn’t make it right between us. I didn’t think I’d see her again. She was always meant for bigger and better things than Sweetwater Valley anyway. Lana was my only exception and my biggest regret.

When she showed back up, a dream in her heart and plan to make it happen, I didn’t know what to do. She seemed to avoid me and with every day that passed, it was harder to bridge the gap between us. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know if she wanted me to.

Maybe it was better to let it go and move on, even though I knew I never would. Seeing her again was different, she was different. She stole my heart when we were kids, when we were friends, and she stole my soul when she came back as the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’m so proud of the way she’s chasing her dreams and I want to be part of it.

I won’t let any other man help my woman make her dreams come true. It’s time for me to step in and step up. I’ll show her I can be the man for her. I’m not the same guy I was back then. I’ve worked hard alongside Maverick to make The Goose an important part of our community. I can do the same for her.

I’ll build anything she needs and be the one she can rely on. I won’t mess it up again because a future with Lana in it is the only one for me. 

NASH
I  came home different and not only because I lost half of my leg.  Part  of me never came back to Sweetwater Valley.  I’ve accepted it and I  think the town finally has as well.  They no longer look at me with  pity.

I’ve proven myself on the football field with a whistle around  my neck and respect from the kids I coach.  I don’t need or want a woman  in my life.  They only want to fix me, mother me, but I can stand on my  own two feet.  Well, one foot and one prosthetic.

Then Poppy breezes  into town full of sass and fire and curves looking like she needs a new  beginning.  I want to be her new beginning, but it’s not going to be  easy.  I can see it in her eyes.  She doesn’t want to take care of  another person.  I’ll prove to her I can take care of myself…and her.   I’ll show her there’s only one place she should be—here with me. 

POPPY
I’m  tired and fed up.  I leave the life I’ve been living behind along with  the man who needed a caretaker more than a partner.  The only place to  go is to where family is which means Sweetwater Valley.

My plan is to  take some time, find who I am again, and then set out to find where I  belong.  Just me and my dogs.  I won’t be tied down to another man who  needs someone to take care of them.  Never again.

Living next to Nash  is only a temporary problem.  He’s younger, he’s gruff and he has  demons I don’t want to even begin to understand.  I don’t want anything  to do with him.  I don’t have anything else to give anyone.  Still, I  can’t ignore how much I want him to ask me to stay.

**18+.   If you like alpha heroes and an insta-love story that is sweet and  spicy but isn’t necessarily simple, then this is for you.  No cheating  with a guaranteed HEA.  It is a standalone and exists in my small town  Sweetwater Valley world.  Meet Poppy's sister, Lark, in Unexpected Love  (Sweetwater Valley Book 1) and meet Nash in Measured Love (Sweetwater  Valley Book 2).**

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BIRCH

I shouldn’t have left my Clem behind. I knew it was the wrong choice the moment I made it and let her push me away and into the life she thought I wanted. I should have fought for her. I should have grabbed her and taken her with me.

I can’t live with the regret anymore. It’s made my life a living hell with no end in sight. I could ignore it at first, when I was working to achieve my dreams. Then the roar of success drowned out my misery for a while. When it was time to head back into the studio after my first album hit it big, I had nothing to give, nothing to say.

If WPF Records hadn’t signed me, who knows what would have happened to my career. Still, I need to produce an album. Soon. The only thing I know to do is to go back home to Sweetwater Valley and get my girl back. Maybe I’ll get my rhythm back, maybe not, but I’d rather have her than the fame or even the music. Clementine has been mine for as long as I can remember, and I can’t go another day without her.

CLEMENTINE

Sometimes letting go is the hardest part. I had to let him go, knowing he would take my heart with him. I know I made the right decision when Birch, finally, got his big break. I found other ways to pass the time and other passions to help me ignore the hole in my soul.

I’ve found my footing while still living in the small town which was never going to be big enough for Birch’s dreams or talent. I’m content and I’m thriving as best I can considering my soul belongs to a man who lives in the limelight far away. Still, my heart hasn’t healed and I’m not whole.

When he comes back with all the right words and sorrow in his eyes, my heart wants to believe him, and my soul yearns for him. I can’t help but wonder what will happen if he gets back the inspiration he’s lost. Will he leave me all over again? I won’t be strong enough to pick up the pieces and let him go a second time.

**18+ If you like alpha heroes and an insta-love story that is sweet and spicy but isn’t necessarily simple, then this is for you. No cheating with a guaranteed HEA. It is a standalone but is related to my Denver Family series (Banks Ink., Suburban Outcasts and Higgins Security) and my Sweetwater Valley Series. Birch Byrne first appears in Revealing His Family (Higgins Security Book 5).** 

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