Showing results by author "Vivian Arend"

Caleb Stone is wearing too many hats, and it’s making him crankier than usual. He’s a cowboy, a father, and the head of his large family - and has been since tragedy claimed his parents over 10 years ago. The ranch is struggling, but it's the title of single dad that’s got him tangled up in knots. He needs a full-time live-in nanny at the Silver Stone homestead in Heart Falls, Alberta, to help with his two little girls, but the woman about to arrive on his doorstep? Tantalizing, tempting, and trouble with capital T’s.

Heart Falls. This tiny town is tucked into the rolling foothills of South Central Alberta, with the majestic Rockies to the west and miles and miles of ranchland extending to the Eastern horizon. Most people who call it home have lived here for generations or are looking for a new start and a break from old routines. Heart Falls is the perfect place for love to come calling and send everyone whirling in its wake.

Walker “Dynamite” Stone was still reeling from his parent’s unexpected death when Ivy left. He let her go, throwing himself into work on the Silver Stone ranch and dangerous living on the rodeo circuit. But lately, Walker’s adrenaline junkie ways have crashed - he’s having panic attacks. Potentially devastating to his budding music career, they’re a deadly handicap when shooting for eight seconds aboard an angry bull. He needs to learn to face his fears to save the family fortunes. If he succeeds, this time, Walker will be the one to leave Heart Falls, and Ivy, behind. 

All Bradley Ford wants this holiday season is a date or three with sweet Hanna Lane. He’s the new fire chief, recently returned to Heart Falls to help his father after an accident. And while he wasn’t expecting to find someone like Hanna so soon, Brad’s certain that Hanna and her adorable daughter, Crissy, are perfect for him and his plans to settle down. Hanna’s been taking care of herself since she became a single mom at 16. The only pure, honest love she trusts is her little girl’s, but for the first time in eight years, her libido flares to life.

Blake Coleman is old enough to know that acting on impulse causes nothing but a heap of trouble. But when trouble's a western-hat-wearing blonde with slim legs that go on forever, what's a man to do? Wanting the sweet girl next door is just wrong. The responsible thing to do is keep his hands off. Jaxi has other plans for Blake's hands - and his heart. She may have once considered him a big brother, but that was a long time ago.

Too stubborn to face his sins, Jesse Coleman bolted from the Six Pack Ranch only to fall straight into the arms of a beautiful stranger. Twelve hours later the seductive firebrand is nothing but a whiskey-laced memory - but one powerful enough to convince Jesse tracking down his elusive lover is worth the effort.

As the middle child in a big family, Len Thompson has found it easy to slip under the radar. His relationships outside the family-run garage tend to run a mile wide but only an inch deep as he keeps his heart, body, and soul protected. But when the one woman he's always wanted makes it known she'll soon be leaving town, he can't resist letting her into his carefully constructed fortress.

Lone wolf Shaun Stevens' automatic response to the words "happily ever after"? Kill me now. Yet with all his friends settling down he's begun to think there may actually be something to this love-and-roses crap. One thing's for sure: His dream mate will have to out-cuss, out-spit, and out-hike him. So he never expected the one to push his forever button would be a blue-blooded Southern debutante with a voice as dark and velvety as her skin.

Over the past year, Travis Coleman lost the two people he allowed closest to his heart. Both gave him ultimatums, then left. Hell if he needs that kind of pain again. It's time to move forward without the friends he thought might save him from his dangerous cravings. But when Ashley Sims returns to Rocky Mountain House, her rambling lifestyle isn't all she's hoping to change. She hasn't given up on Travis. When Travis shows up on Cassidy Jones' turf with sensually uninhibited Ashley, passions flare.

Allison Parker needs a convincing excuse to come home to Rocky Mountain House, a hopelessly romantic reason that won't let her mother suspect the truth - that Allison has discovered Mom is keeping a terrible secret from the family. Gabe Coleman is struggling with two of the roughest parts of ranching: dealing with his bull-headed mule of a father and making enough to pay the bills. When his old friend Allison offers to help him develop his ideas for organic ranching - in return for pretending to be her fiancé - it sounds like the perfect set-up.

It took a spectacularly embarrassing break-up to knock Steve Moonshine Coleman off his lazy butt. In the 10 months since that night he's changed his ways. Now that Melody's back in town, it's time for this sweet-talking cowboy to convince her to get back in the saddle with him. Melody issues a challenge: Three months to prove he's reformed. three months of Steve orchestrating one sexual indulgence after another.

When Maggie Ward's world is torn apart by sudden tragedy, the only thing that makes her days bearable is Clay Thompson's unwavering presence. He's protective, caring, and everything she could ask for in a friend. But when she finds herself longing for more than friendship, it will take a little seduction to convince the stubborn mechanic she's ready to start living again.

Matt Coleman always figured that at this point in his life, he'd be settled down with a family. Since his ex split for the big city, though, no way will he give anyone else the chance to drop-kick his heart. Physical pleasure? Hell, yeah, he'll take - and give - with gusto, but nothing more. Hope Meridan is working long hours to hold on to her new quilt shop, going it alone since her sister/business partner ran off. Sex? Right, like she's got the time. Not that she doesn't have the occasional dirty fantasy about Matt.

Beth Danube's emotionally abusive husband is dead and buried. So is her heart. It's no big deal, she has all she wants: her three little boys and a fresh start in a small Alberta town. What she doesn't want is another man in her life-not now, maybe not ever. After ten years of unsatisfactory, missionary-position sex, she never expected her libido to reawaken. One look at sex-in-boots Daniel Coleman in a Calgary bar, though, blows the dust off her sexuality. Sensing an edge of desperation, even fear, beneath Beth's come-on, Daniel finds himself giving in to the powerful urge to let his normally subdued desires run wild.

Life in isolation is the safest place for Chase Johnson, a crossbreed who doesn't know which form he'll assume next - cougar or wolf. Once a year his unelected position as spokesman for the Yukon outcasts forces him to visit civilization. This time he runs across someone unexpected. She's not his mate, but she pushes all the right buttons.

Small town mechanic Gage Jenick has been waiting for this moment ever since his best friend's little sister transformed from annoying tagalong to desirable woman. When sweet Katy Thompson kicks her boyfriend to the curb, Gage makes his move. In spite of an assignment that will take him completely off the grid for five long months, he steals her away for one night of steamy passion with the promise of more in the future.

It took a hell of a lot of fast-talking and more than a few speeding tickets before Mitch Thompson convinced Constable Anna Coleman to take him for a ride. Only now that she's loosened off her stiff RCMP uniform, it's not nearly enough. Their secret sexual escapades are mind blowing, but Mitch wants more than her body, he wants her heart. It's a dangerous road to walk, and Anna doesn't know how far she can safely tread. Bad boy Mitch may have lured her wild side out to play, but giving in to their increasingly passionate desires could endanger her very civilized career.

When Nicole Adams abruptly cancels their secret fling, Troy Thompson is stunned. The sex between them is sizzling, but she's ready to move on - find a reliable guy, settle down, pop out a few babies. The thought of Nic in another man's arms is maddening. And while her agenda freaks him out, Troy knows there's no one in town nearly good enough for her. No one, that is, except him.

Vicki Hansol made different choices than her less-than-reputable mom and sister, yet her fiery temper has left her branded with the same town-bad-girl label. When she desperately needs a change of scenery, her get-out-of-town-free ticket arrives - and requires that she face down one of her deepest fears. Easygoing Joel Coleman has nothing to complain about, but he's never really done anything to brag about either.

Eight months ago, Lee Coleman met the woman of his dreams... then lost her to another man. He buried his disappointment by throwing himself into work on the family ranch, but when a winter storm leaves him stranded, Lee finds more than shelter in the rustic safety of a hunter's cabin - he finds a second shot at love.