Bøger af Kate Vale

Veterinarian Joel Taylor has been in love with his wife, Angela Wright, a family physician, since they met in college. At a conference, he has a drunken one-night fling with an old girlfriend-the biggest mistake of his life. Ridden with guilt, he is desperate to preserve their marriage, begs forgiveness and insists Angela can trust him to remain faithful. But months later, she continues to wrestle with her doubts. To make matters worse, she's pregnant again-at age 45! Will Joel be tempted again, perhaps with one of the customers at his vet clinic? Is Roxy really out of the picture, now that her brother owns a llama farm on Cedar Island and enlists Joel to care for his animals? And does Joel really love Angela, or does he simply want to stay married for the sake of their children, whom he adores?

Gretchen Martindale, a former foster child herself, steps up when Laine, 12, and Nettie, 5, need a home after they run away from their foster home to stop the foster dad from molesting Nettie. Gretchen's heart becomes entwined with the girls and she decides to adopt them, creating the family she thought she'd never have. But Laine aches to find her birth mother. When school counselor, Craig, offers to pay for a DNA search, no one is more surprised than he with the results. Laine is Craig's daughter, the result of a long-ago hook-up. Since Gretchen is already falling for the handsome counselor, and he for her, things might work out well. Or maybe not ... Laine says she doesn't want a dad, just a mom. And Craig? He's a dedicated commitment-phobe. Does this family stand a chance of getting together?

Dannilynn Kelly may have been date-raped, but she sets aside how badly her first year at college ended, eager to work at Joel Taylor's veterinary clinic on Cedar Island. There she meets Ben Edwards, a veterinary extern. His friendship becomes her key support when she discovers she's pregnant. Determined to keep her pregnancy a secret, she returns to college, but her worst fears are realized when her father pays her a surprise visit at private Buckley College. He demands that Danni give up the baby. Unwilling to do so, she moves back to New Harbor. Ben is present when she gives birth and the two of them revel in parenting Danni's baby. Then the unthinkable happens. Although each is in love with the other, neither Ben nor Dannilynn acknowledge their feelings for each other until a final crisis, precipitated by Danni's former boyfriend, that threatens Ben's externship and his future career as a veterinarian.

Life experiences mark a person. The death of Sally Hughes' mother from breast cancer leaves Sally with a painful emotional scar and the discovery of a lump in her own breast frightens her to her core. A former Marine, Paul James is recovering from injuries sustained during his last combat tour in Afghanistan. Reacting to the demons that continue to assault him in the night, he insists he doesn't need medical intervention, even as his leg wound refuses to heal. Sally and Paul begin a slow dance of attraction that blossoms into love after he convinces her that the scars each of them carry no longer define who they are. But complications arise with the return of Paul's previous lover and discovery that Sally is pregnant with Paul's baby. Can they resolve their fears, set aside the past, and reach beyond being just friends to make a life together?

Talented real estate broker Olivia Brown has a simple goal: find a family to buy her grandfather's spacious old home and move him into a more manageable place, even though her late father warned her never to represent a relative. Southern charmer Beau James, a local architect, is the last buyer Olivia wants for Granddad's house, especially after he declares his plan to turn it into a B&B! And, in spite of their mutual attraction to each other, a romantic relationship with a client would violate Olivia's strictest business rule, a rule she never intended to violate. Additionally worrying is a seller who continues to threaten another realtor in her office and then Olivia. Will she have to hit the panic button her father installed in the office, but never used? Life challenges Olivia in ways she never imagined when her beloved grandfather's health begins to fail and Beau tempts her to include him in her future.

Melanie Holmes has her hands full when 15-year-old Ken and 13-year-old Anne, react badly to Melanie's impending divorce from their father. Only four-year-old Jeffrey is his usual sunny self. Further complicating her life is her attraction to Sam Hudson, the detective called to her home when Ken runs off, and who later rescues Anne after she is abducted from a strip club. Sam is forced to confront his own demons as he contemplates becoming deeply involved with Melanie's family after she is seriously injured in the same car accident that kills her ex-husband. After she returns home, Melanie's kids tell her they want to marry Sam, even though he hasn't uttered the "M" word. How will Sam react when her kids do the proposing for him? Can the long-time bachelor commit himself to her and her children?

When Alexis McCord's abusive boyfriend is arrested, she seizes the opportunity to escape with her young son. Now she and 5-year-old Chance are building a life in the tiny, remote beach town of Sandy Reach, Washington. Lexi is even acting on her dream of becoming a baker with her own shop-if only Hugh never finds her. For Fletcher Lambert, distraught after the death of his wife and baby daughter, Sandy Reach is a handy place to escape his memories, away from his law office and his large, well-intentioned but intrusive family, who are watching and waiting for him to move on. He's not sure that will ever happen. Then Fletcher meets Chance. When he learned that the waitress serving him at Omar's pub is the boy's mother, sparks fly in spite of his intentions never to get close to a woman again. Lexi feels them, too, but her mistrust of men forces her to ignore Chance when he declares that Fletcher would make the perfect dad. After all, who listens to a five-year-old in the midst of all this grown-up angst?

A plane crash and dangerous hike out of the Idaho mountains cements a friendship between Carrie and Brian that neither can deny. He wants that friendship to blossom with the attraction he feels for her, but she is engaged and feels guilty that she's attracted to Brian. Her fiancé, Quentin, becomes enraged when he suspects Carrie is cheating on him. He hires a private investigator. Damning pictures that Quentin misinterprets convince him that Carrie needs to be punished and taught a lesson. When Carrie is found badly beaten and left unconscious, her neighbor is certain Quentin is the culprit. As Carrie slowly heals from her injuries, her feelings for Brian escalate. But when he is offered a job out of state and asks her to come with him, she refuses, though it breaks her heart. Leaving town would mean her cherished dream -to own the upscale dress shop in which she's worked for years-must be set aside. How can Brian pursue his professional advancement while denying Carrie's? Will she stand strong, even if it means losing her chance at love?

High school counselor and middle daughter, Debra Lambert discovers a student bleeding from an attempted suicide. She doesn't know what to think, when her boyfriend and college professor, Sawyer Quinlan, is suspected of having been involved. Lawyer Todd Prescott is determined to get to know Debra; unfortunately, she's already spoken for. But when she breaks up with Sawyer, Todd's hopes soar. As much as she's attracted to him, Debra's hesitant to trust Todd to guard her heart any better than other men who have let her down. Moreover, she's determined to prove she's a strong woman, capable to taking care of herself. But Todd becomes as frustratingly protective as Debra's brothers. Does he risk driving Debra away by trying to protect her from a stalker? And how can Debra find a way to stand on her own two feet, without losing her chance at real love?