Townsend Harbor

Cadence "Cady" Bloomquist knows two things for sure: First, shelving books at her shop, Nevermore Bookstore, totally counts as cardio. Second, staying late every Thursday night to take a certain mysterious customer's order is not the same as waiting by the phone for some man. Until the calls with the man who identifies himself only as "Fox" last for hours, and become the highlight of her week. Which leaves her to wonder, if his velvet voice can kindle her fire over the phone, what sort of alchemy might it inspire if they met in person? There's nothing Roman Fawkes wants more than the brilliant, beautiful bookstore owner, but he knows it can never happen. Secreted in his mountain hideaway above sleepy Townsend Harbor, his hermit's existence shields him-and those around him-from the pain of his past. Until one of their weekly calls is interrupted by a break-in, and Fawkes is powerless to protect the woman who has become his one link to the world. Orchestrating a trap for the fool who dared harm her, Fawkes finds himself not just ensnared, but beguiled by her. Now so close to Cady, he discovers she's fallen for "Fox", and yet he's unable to reveal her heart's desire is closer than she thinks. Can Fawkes resist the temptation to get between Cady's covers, knowing they'll never have a happily ever after? Contains mature themes.

Darby Dunwell is not a Bond Girl, though she's been blessed with the body of one. An east coast, ivy-league, trust fund kid, she flees a life of expectation, elocution, and executive board rooms to follow her one true love: Coffee. The deeply eccentric seaside tourist hamlet of Townsend Harbor throws its doors wide open for her sex-positive, bikini-themed coffee shop named Brewbies. Compulsive rule-follower Sheriff Ethan Townsend is known for helping old ladies across the road, breaking up bar fights, and keeping the sleepy town safe from the flood of seasonal tourists. After having his heart publicly stomped on, he no longer bothers to ask the name of the woman he's going to forget in the morning. A policy he regrets when the woman who blew his mind turns out to be his nemesis. Not only is Darby's salacious coffee shop causing traffic incidents, its proprietress keeps making his life, among other things, as hard as possible. Darby finds herself embroiled in a feud she never wanted with the cop who is as tight assed as his trousers suggest. But even as their animosity sizzles and the town begins to take sides, Ethan can't seem to keep his eyes off Darby's double D's. Contains mature themes.

Gemini "Gemma" McKendrick knows just about everything about everybody in Townsend Harbor. With her quirky boutique in big financial trouble, she makes a snap decision to rent out the basement of her cozy craftsman to Townsend Harbor newcomer Gabe Kelly. A man with a past as colorful as his tattoo sleeves, who has become an urban legend since he blew into town. And who better than Gemma, Townsend Harbor's own gossip guru, to answer the rumor mill's most pressing questions? Gabriel "Gabe" Kelly wasn't born into a family so much as a criminal enterprise. Moonlighting as the only tow truck in a thirty-mile radius, he rescues the absent-minded hottie who runs the local yarn shop. But he quickly discovers that a toy-sized car with a dashboard lit up by Christmas isn't the only thing in Gemma McKendrick's life desperately in need of maintenance. Gabe finds his sexy landlord is impossible to figure out. Looks like he'll have to take a peek at her undercarriage to find out what makes her purr before he hits the road again. Because women of her caliber don't take home guys with his make and model . . . But he knows she wants a test drive. Contains mature themes.

She's trying to escape her past . . . Hitting the reset button with the help of a friend, all Margaret Michaels is hoping for is a fresh start. Handed a place to live and a job as a bartender in the town's most popular nautical-themed pub, she's been given a hell of a head start-for once in her life. There's only one problem. She's never tended bar a day in her life. A fact that a certain studly regular seems all too eager to point out. He's trying to build a future . . . Deputy Trent McGarvey loves two things: leggy redheads and a good craft cocktail at the end of a long shift. He knows just where to find both. Or did, until the smart-mouthed sprite who doesn't know a Manhattan from a Mojito took over. And yet, the more McGarvey learns about fiery Maggie Michaels, the more he can't help but notice that the evidence isn't quite lining up with the story the messy mixologist provides him. But if there's anything McGarvey loves-okay, three things-it's a mystery. When an after-hours crash course in cocktails leaves their thinking as muddled as the mint, the passionate fling that ensues could leave both their long-term prospects within Townsend Harbor on the rocks. Contains mature themes.

Everyone thinks LYRA MCKENDRICK is magic. She's not, for the record, just a lawyer who predicted a few outcomes that were blown out of proportion in the robust Townsend Harbor rumor mill. After a messy breakup in which she lost her thriving practice, she's returned to her hometown to lick her wounds and is persuaded by a local town cook to capitalize on her cringe-worthy reputation by running the local new-age shop. When one of Townsend Harbor's many ancient trees threatens her plumbing, she engages Cypress Forrester, aka "Cy the Tree Guy," to rid her of the problem. Instead, he seems intent on becoming one. Cy's family have been arborists and healers for generations, and they're firm believers in the mysticism of trees, among other things. When she hires him to chop down an endangered tree to save her business, they find themselves on opposite ends of a battle neither of them is willing to lose. As a man tethered by indigenous roots to the earth, Cy immediately realizes Lyra is a woman who lives in her head. It's how she always finds "practical" explanations for the series of unexplained, serendipitous coincidences that keep thrusting them together. Alone. But he realizes that he must tempt her out of her thoughts and back into her body, and what better way to do that than by a thorough seduction? Contains mature themes.