Showing results by author "L.B. Dunbar" in All Categories

Doc Hollywood meets It’s a Wonderful Life with a hint of The Santa Clause when a globetrotting toy industry mogul is stranded in this small harbor town days before Christmas. Despite dreams to explore the world, I’ve never been anywhere other than this small harbor town. Single mom, local postmistress, and one-fourth owner of a failing auto repair shop are all the reasons I’ve remained planted where my roots began.

Autumn Kulis wants a baby. It’s that simple and that complicated because one thing stands in her way: She doesn’t have a man in her life. And at almost 40, she isn’t getting any younger. On a two-week trip to her brother’s lakeside cottage, a plan forms. Make a list of three men. Sleep with each of them. Allow nature to take its course. Only, a certain someone gets in her way.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to force us to see who we are. The real struggle is accepting what we learn. For Beverly Townsen, nothing could be closer to the truth. Virtually a shut-in, Beverly has pulled back from Green Valley’s community, preferring the isolation of her farmhouse and her daily routine of viewing home improvement television shows. When the opportunity arises for her own home improvement and a personal re-assessment, she’s not so excited about the reality of real life versus DIY programs.

Quiet. Serious. Protective. Words Stone Sylver would use to describe himself. And yet, something in his classic blue eyes said he was so much more. Buried beneath the years of raising his younger siblings and working as a small-town sheriff was a man looking for love.

Harland Bull Eaton has lost many things - his first wife, his beloved mother, those three women he proposed to.... Oh, and there was that time he almost lost the family dairy farm due to a scandal. He's losing faith in just about everything, especially love. But one night, his friends give him a dare. Just buy that gorgeous redhead a drink. The big-city bombshell he's set his eyes on swirls him into a tailspin that lands them in bed for a one night stand he's pretty sure he'll never forget. But this time he won't let his heart ride herd on his common sense.

As the CEO of a major department store, I know firsthand that Christmas joy can be bought and sold just like anything else. That's right. When it comes to the most wonderful time of the year, I’m a grinch in a penthouse. But when a gorgeous, red-headed firefighter saves me from a heart attack with a kiss and a whispered plea, even I can’t begrudge her a simple favor — be her date at her younger brother’s holiday wedding. Turns out, there’s nothing simple about it.

Meeting Bolan Adler, professional baseball catcher and single dad, is a complicated story. One involving a one-time kiss when I was young and silly. And a two-time tryst as some kind of midlife breakdown moment. Anyway, in the game of baseball, three strikes mean: you're out. I thought my third one might happen when Bolan Adler is the newest client of the sports management agency I work for. The same business that just promoted me to agent status when I hadn't asked for the position.

Join Lindee and Thad when one night leads to a second chance adventure that neither predicted would take their desires down unfamiliar paths, where one person is a wandering soul and the other wants to stay put...together.

Anna Kulis has lost her husband. Their love was a perfect kind of love; a once in a lifetime experience. She never intended to fall for anyone again. Never expected to have this attraction stirring inside her. And she never thought her emotions would run wild for the one man she shouldn’t be attracted to—her late husband’s best friend.

When a mysterious silver fox becomes intrigued with this small town’s most disliked society woman, he finds she’s more than a little trouble and possibly a whole lot of heart.

Midge Everette: I'm 41 today. It's my birthday, and I'm crying over burnt toast. That's not some euphemism. Literally, I'm sobbing over crusty bread, so I call a crisis center. I just need someone to talk to about life. Only I recognize the smoky voice of the man on the line. Sweet cheese, don't let it be... Hank Paige: As a former rock star, I once had it all. Fame. Fortune. Females. Except for the one thing I wanted most. Then I lost everything. I fix cars now and restore other people's dreams. I just want to be somebody's someone.

Olivet Pierson needs his land. Name your price, Mr. Harrington. She has her reasons, and this muscular mountain of masculinity isn’t going to get in her way. However, her heart has a different plan after she accepts his crazy conditions: three nights up on the ridge. George Harrington is a quiet giant of a man. No sale, Cricket. He’s a war hero, a widower, and COO for the family brewing company, but his life lacks spontaneity. Then, she arrives, chirping away at him, roaming his body with those sky blue eyes and negotiating for something on which he won’t put a price.

Love wasn’t part of the blueprint when high school sweethearts reunite in their small town. But this former military man never forgot the girl he left behind and he’s more determined than ever for a second chance to rebuild their relationship brick by brick and heart by heart. Getting locked in the men’s restroom during my mother’s funeral wasn’t exactly how I expected to run into my high school sweetheart. The one who got away. The one who broke my heart.

Love was a losing battle for this country music darling and a single dad, baseball star until one night brings them together and one small town sets the playing field for a possible winning streak. They call me Lady Boss. Maneater. Queen. But beneath the makeup, blond wig, and glitzy costumes, I’m just a country girl who likes to sing. I don’t hate men, I’m just struggling to find a good one. I’ve learned my lesson. Fool me once, and it will never, ever happen again. So I’m baffled when I meet Ford Sylver.

Breast cancer survivor Edie Williams is ready to live. Divorced. Mother of two. She's planned the vacation of a lifetime for a reboot, only to encounter an awakening adventure - Tommy Carrigan.

Love doesn’t break us; it makes us whole, my nana used to say. However, one minute, my world is set on fire, literally. The next, I am raising a six-year-old as a single mom without a clear path ahead of us. No place to live. No job. No money. I’m returning to Sterling Falls to claim what’s mine, then there will be no looking back on this beloved small town, a place I consider a handful of sand in the hourglass of my life. Then again, Clay Sylver has shaken up that ancient time clock. The silver fox in his forties is a bit cocky, but solid in every way that matters.

Naomi Winters will be 40 soonish, and she’s only been with one man. One night. One time. Long ago. She believes everything happens for a reason, and the universe spoke about Nathan Ryder. Nathan Ryder isn’t the same man who hightailed his bike out of Green Valley, 18 years ago. As a rule breaker, women are one area he acts a fool. Case in point, the local librarian. He can’t get a read on her, but she’s one risk he’s willing to take. Again.

I’d been in Curmudgeon Bakery for one of those lemon baby-Bundt cakes I’d been craving since I found out I was pregnant. The draw had nothing to do with the baker himself. Tall, tatted, and edgy, he looked more like a biker than a man who makes baked goods. I hardly knew him other than taking a tumble in a rainstorm in front of his shop... and then tossing myself at him after he rescued me. We shared a moment, but it’s not what you’d think. Months later, he delivered my baby among his cookies and cakes. Talk about a second chance encounter.

These former friends might be faking their engagement, but revealed crushes prove there might not be anything fictional about their arrangement.

Meeting Ross Davis, professional baseball coach and my sports crush, is a funny story involving a stalled elevator, the potty dance, and an attempt to get into his hotel suite. In my defense, that last one was an accident. He came to my room instead with a bottle of scotch and a sad soul. My one night was not a stand, but more like a lie-in. As in, we snuggled and talked and not another thing happened. So, nothing surprises me more than seeing him again when he becomes the manager of the Chicago Anchors, my hometown pro-team, and our paths intersect once more.