Showing results by author "Elana Johnson" in All Categories

Shannon Bell has been the owner's assistant at Your Tidal Forever, a wedding planning service, for five years. She's content in her single life and fearful of ever having an intimate relationship with a man due to previous abuse. She sees Jeremiah Yeates in line to get coffee every morning, and sure, he's the drop-dead gorgeous doctor who works next door to her office. But actually starting a relationship with him? For a year now, Jeremiah has timed his coffee runs so he can see Shannon. They've been friendly, but he doesn't know how to take his flirty to the next level.

Cherry Cooper isn't thrilled to be back in Sweet Water Falls, though she knows it's the right place for her right now. Her parents are aging and unwell, and she's been gone long enough. She wants to help Mama and rekindle her relationships with her siblings, which would be easier if they weren't all so blissfully happy. She's not unhappy, and a certain cowboy at the farm next door definitely makes a smile brighten her face faster than anything or anyone else has in a long time. But Jed's already broken up with her once because of his short temper and quick tongue.

William Cooper doesn't mean to see red the moment things start to go bad. It's the red hair, he swears. And the fact that his attention is pulled in a dozen directions, every day, all day. He just needs a break - and when he finally gets one, he almost sits in melted caramel and chocolate. Anyone would be upset by that, right? Maybe not everyone would then gripe about it right in front of the woman passing out the free apples. When he goes to apologize to Gretchen Bellows, a premier chocolatier in Sweet Water Falls, he's struck by her beauty and kindness.

Jason Finch has had no shortage of girlfriends—if you can even call the women he sees that. He's tall, good-looking, incredibly intelligent, and always has the perfect comeback. He's as polished as he is irritating, especially with the way he struts around the law firm where we work together, as if he owns the place. He doesn't, thank you very much.

He needs a reason not to go out with a journalist. She'd like a guaranteed date for the summer. They don't get along, so keeping Brad in the not-her-real-fiancé category should be easy for Celeste. Totally easy.

Nathaniel Mulbury is released early from his six-year term in prison to care for his brother's four-year-old son. Dealing with grief over his brother's death and continued guilt for his role in the embezzlement scheme that landed him in jail, Nate has one more problem. He's never been a father and has no idea how to take care of Connor.

She's just his barista...until she buys into Legacy Brew as a co-owner. Then she's Coy's business partner and the source of his five-year-long crush. But after they share a kiss one night, Macie's seriously considering mixing business and pleasure.

Cowboys looking for a second chance at life, love, and happiness. Ted Burrows is ready to start his life over again, even if he has to go to a work-parole ranch to get out from behind the walls that have caged him for the past 30 months. He's got a contact at Hope Eternal Ranch, and the day he gets word that he'll be released into the Residential Reentry Program and serve out the rest of his sentence under the open sky of the ranch is the best day of his life so far. But when he meets Emma Clemson, he's completely thrown off his game.

Gwen Heartwood has a love-hate relationship with nearly everything in her life. She likes managing the dining services at the family owned and operated Heartwood Inn...unless she's dealing with angry customers, crushing deadlines, and not enough kitchen staff.

Lauren Keller understands strategies. She adores them and never enters a marketing meeting without Strategy A, B, and C tucked away in the back of her mind. She's one of the top executives at her firm...until it all comes crashing down with the news that her boss has been stealing money from their clients for almost a decade.

Bennett Patterson is content with his boring firefighting job, puttering around in his wood shop, and spending evenings with his big Great Dane. At least he thinks so. He's been divorced for seven years, and at least he knows what each day is going to bring—and it's not heartache. When he gets called out to a fire, he comes face-to-face with his high school girlfriend, Jennie Zimmerman, who swore she'd never return to Hawthorne Harbor.

Bradley Keith is a Carter's Cove native, despite his professional football career. He's not interested in dating a journalist on his hometown island, and to get her to back off, he tells her he's engaged. The only problem? He's not. Doesn't even have a girlfriend. When the journalist shows up at The Heartwood Inn, where Brad is installing a new VIP swimming pool, demanding to know who his fiancée is, he names the first woman he literally sees walk by—Celeste Heartwood. Will Celeste put her reputation—and her heart—on the line for the football star?

Cassandra Haslam loves plans. Lunch plans, wedding plans, and floor plans—they all bring her joy. In fact, she's had her entire life planned out—career, marriage, and family—since age 10. She's smart, hardworking, and a go-getter, and everything has fallen into place so far. Until her husband dies suddenly, right when she's about to enjoy the fruits of all of her hard work and planning, leaving Cass reeling and...well, without a plan. When her youngest graduates three months later, making her an empty-nester, Cass decides it's time to make a new plan for herself. A paradise plan.

Deirdre Bernard has a restraining order against her, because her daughter lied about everything. She's moved across the island to Getaway Bay, where she's trying to rebuild her life one day at a time. Wyatt Gardner has been a widower for years now. He's tired of the political games and constant pressure of his job as police chief, and with his daughter happily married, he thinks it's time to start dating again. When he runs into Deirdre leaving the Sandy Singles event, he decides to be brave and ask her out. And...she says no.

Janey Germaine is tired of entertaining tourists in Olympic National Park all day and trying to keep her 12-year-old son occupied at night. When longtime friend and chief of police Adam Herrin offers to take the boy on a ride-along one fall evening, Janey starts to see him in a different light. Adam has had a crush on Janey since college. But she married his best friend and started a family before her husband died in a tragic accident.

Sheryl Heartwood loves everything to do with plants, flowers, and trees. She tends to the grounds around The Heartwood Inn, and she's content with the beach-side life she's always known. But she's not very happy about the ex-boyfriend who keeps showing up on her front step, following her around the expansive grounds at the inn, and scaring her. So she hires Gage Sanders to be her "boyfriend" to keep the other man away. The lines become blurred on the very first day, when she kisses him, which is so unlike Sheryl.

Lisa is 36, tired of the dating scene in Getaway Bay, and practically the only wedding planner at her company that hasn't found her own happy-ever-after. She's tried dating apps and blind dates...but could the company party put a man she's known for years into the spotlight? Lisa Ashford can't skip the party; she's in charge of the whole thing. So she goes to the top of the fancy resort, determined to step out of her comfort zone and ask someone to dance.

Riley Randall has spent eight years smiling at new brides, being excited for her friends as they find Mr. Right, and dating by a strict set of rules that she never breaks. But she might have to consider bending those rules ever so slightly if she wants an escape from the island...When 35-year-old Riley finds a watch on an airplane, she manages to track down the owner — an Evan Garfield, lead singer for Georgia Panic, the number one rock band in the country. Maybe even the world.

Olympia Heartwood is running the family empire, and she works long days and lives at The Heartwood Inn, making her entire life about her job. Which is just fine with her, because the last man she was involved with was married. When the truth came out, her heart shattered, and she's never been the same. And men? She can't trust them. Doesn't need them. Chet Christopher took the heat for something that wasn't his fault, lost his prestigious job at the country's largest luxury hotel chain, and has been living in his car for a few weeks.

Lee Cooper hasn't been interested in getting his heart stomped on again, thank you very much. He's the oldest brother, and the entire future of Sweet Water Falls Farm rests on his shoulders. Oh, and he's got his eight-year-old son to consider. So he doesn't laugh or even smile that often. Big deal. Lots of people barely smile, don't they? Maybe not Rosalie Reynolds, who is seriously the brightest ray of sunshine in Texas. At least in Lee's opinion. She develops educational video and board games, and she's the one who had him star-struck and silent after the demo.