Come home to Winder Ranch in these two beloved stories, where broken hearts can find exactly what they need to heal–and love againA COLD CREEK HOMECOMINGWhen Quinn Southerland returns home to Winder Ranch, Idaho, to find former high school queen bee Tess Claybourn serving as his dying mother’s hospice nurse, he’s far from pleased. But recently widowed Tess has done a lot of growing up since … growing up since then. And as the two reconnect, she can’t help but wonder if there’s room in Quinn’s tortured heart for forgiveness–and maybe even love…A COLD CREEK REUNIONAfter Taft Bowman lost his parents ten years ago, he buried himself in a grief that shut fiancee Laura Pendleton out completely. But now she’s back, recently widowed with two kids in tow, and Taft refuses to let her slip away again. Laura just wants a fresh start, but that’s easier said than done when seeing Taft stirs up feelings she thought she’d left in the past…
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A sweet yet passion filled heart-wrenching story of an emotional homecoming and a reunion of young loves.
Ms. Thayne never disappoints. If you love sweet, clean, yet ardent romance stories with deep emotions and life like we know it in the small-town USA, you are going to love her books.
Taft Bowman and Laura Pendleton have so much history between them as best friends and first loves, but also there is a decade of pain, living, disappointments and hurt that is now firmly holding them apart.
Taft is a man of many talents, he is the fire chief, handyman carpenter, cowboy with talent and patience to teach the young. He is kind, sweet, and a good man with a reputation of a charmer who can win anyone on his side with just a smile. Ten years ago he made some young and foolish mistakes while trying to deal with the brutal murder of his parents. He lost the love of his life as a consequence, and the apparent second chance to win her over seems to go in vain no matter how much he tries.
Laura has felt an abundance of hurt in her heart over the years. Her difficult marriage was a burden she is not ready to open up about, losing her husband was a tragedy yet the way he went was an insult to his family. But it was nothing compares to the pain of losing Taft ten years ago and to even think about visiting that path again is completely out of question no matter how charming Taft is or how much her children cares about him.
And the relationship that Taft has with the adorable kiddos just melted my heart. This story is sorter in length (with the purchase of the book you actually get two shorter stories by the same author) yet there are deep feelings, there are emotions that went directly to the heart, and I am not ashamed to admit, this story had me in tears, a slobbering mess for the last quarter of the tale because of the beauty of the tale, the aching feels, the fear of losing everything, and the agony of falling in love.
Both Taft and Laura have gone through so much. They both have had a chance to grow and find themselves. Now back together in the same town, the old feelings are getting a new foundation, a new kind of flame that is mixed with the trust that you have for your best friend, the one you used to trust more than anything. But do you dare – after everything you have gone through – to take that step, to dare to be brave, to trust yourself and the other to make it this time around, and what does it take to not only make you realize your feelings and to accept them but act upon them?!
This is an amazingly beautiful story about love, life, and family, Ms. Thayne has left me in awe with this absolutely brilliantly poignant tale.
~ Five Spoons