Showing results by author "Vanessa Gray Bartal" in All Categories

Birdie Thompson has always been easily forgotten--background noise, a comma in a run-on sentence, especially when compared to her perfect big brother, Sterling. But that's all about to change when Sterling's lifelong nemesis makes a return to their small southern town. Birdie tries to keep her distance, for the sake of family loyalty, but life keeps throwing Hayden Paxton in her path, in the most unexpected ways. And then there's Duncan, her brother's best friend, who has suddenly started looking at Birdie like he's never seen her before, tossing her once-boring life into a mess of ...

Vaughn Drake hated high school, but not nearly as much as she hated Grant Honeywell. Not content to torment her in private, he made his ridicule public, humiliating Vaughn so deeply she never forgot--or forgave.Vaughn spent years tailoring her revenge, and now it's almost complete. But when she returns to Kentucky to deliver vengeance in person, she's unprepared for her attraction to Grant who hasn't changed a bit since they were seventeen. Too late, though, because the plan is quickly spiraling out of Vaughn's control. Now she and Grant are on a mad cross-country dash as Grant tries to ...

Maggie Eldridge’s life as a college reference librarian was simple, predictable, and boring. That was how she liked it, at least until a mysterious stranger showed up with an unbelievable offer. Soon Maggie found herself giving up everything familiar to move cross-country for the chance at an adventure she didn’t know she’d been missing. Cameron Ridge thrived on discipline. From his early days as a SEAL to his years working undercover, discipline made him an elite warrior. When he was given the task of heading a new team, he knew he needed someone with Maggie’s skill set. What he ...

After a disastrous few years trying to make it on her own, Lacy Steele returns to her tiny hometown. Feeling like a failure, she moves in with the one person guaranteed to make her fat, her beloved grandmother - a woman who uses food as love. As if to make her already depressing life more confusing, she reconnects with Jason, the former Adonis of their high school. Now a cop, Jason seemingly doesn't remember the frizzy-haired band geek Lacy was. Instead, he sees her as a potential problem, especially when someone she loves is arrested for murder.

Travis Vega has been a screw-up his whole life. Standing in the shadow of his perfect brother, he couldn't seem to please their father, a four-star admiral in the navy. Soon he stopped trying. Instead of becoming an officer in the navy like his father dreamed, Travis enlisted in the marines. But being the point man for a scout sniper team isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now he finds himself in a familiar place--standing in someone else's shadow. He'll never be like Lolly, the man he replaced, never fit in, never be good enough. When he thinks he can't mess up his life any more, he gets his...

The Porters are considered trash in their small town. Dirty, uneducated criminals, they're opposite from the Honeywells in every way but one--they both have a lot of children. The last thing anyone expects is for a Honeywell to fall for one of the lowly Porters, but Larissa Porter isn't like the others. Rescued by Everett Honeywell at a young age, she chooses to live her life apart from her family, enforcing the law while everyone else is intent on breaking it. The tallest in a family of tall brothers, the introvert in a family of extroverts, Everett Honeywell doesn't quite fit in. He and ...

Layla Smith has nothing. A former foster child with no job, no family, no home, and no prospects, her future couldn’t be bleaker. And then she witnesses a murder. Now hunted by an assassin, she must enter witness protection, leave Chicago, and head to a location so remote it's not even on the map.Cade King has everything. Living on his family’s Montana ranch with three brothers, life seems perfect until an accident shatters his spine. Now, trapped in anger and helplessness, he resents his new situation almost as much as he resents the newcomer who can't seem to let him wallow in his ...

Benedict Samperi is perfect. Everyone agrees, from his parents who call him "the good one," to his four siblings, who refer to him as "St. Benny." Only one person in the world doesn't believe Benny is as wonderful as he seems. For Hattie "Lou" Lawton, Benny's former best friend, he stands as a reminder of one of the most painful episodes of her life. Now, fifteen years after the event that broke her heart, she is determined everyone will finally see Benny for the rat he is. When a cataclysmic event forces them together and Benny uses it to blackmail Lou into helping him with a charity event...

Five siblings, one family business, endless possibilities. The Samperi family moved from Brooklyn to Kentucky with a hammer and a dream—to trade the city life for a quiet country upbringing for their five children. A few years later their family business grew into a renovation empire with the siblings working together, each one assuming a different role. Giovanni, the buttoned down electrician, would rather read than build. He likes his tidy life with no surprises. When a case of mistaken identity leads to a blind date that leads to a wild night with a stranger, he’s desperate to undo ...

Sterling Thompson is perfect, everyone agrees. The perfect son, brother, friend, and boyfriend, he tries hard to be there for all the people in his life, fully believing it's his job to save everybody. But no one realizes how hard he's struggling to keep it all together. Alby Mowry was easily forgotten by everyone. Small, mousy, and unassuming, she was always the tagalong in high school, included only because she had a party house. To her, Sterling Thompson was the epitome of everything she aspired to be. When Sterling needs a hand up, it's Alby to the rescue, entwining their lives in the ...

The Porters and the Baxters have been feuding for decades. Political rivals and next door neighbors, the matriarchs of each family have fought over the same revolving Congressional seat for as long as either family can remember. They are enemies, indisputably, but two of them hold a secret no one else knows. Eleven years ago, when Julian Baxter was nineteen and Bronwyn Porter was sixteen, they shared a kiss. Now Bronwyn's life is falling apart, and Julian seems to be the only one who can save it. As their unlikely friendship hovers on the edge of romance, they must find a way to navigate ...

3 uplifting books with heroines who are as offbeat as they are lovable. In With a Friend Like You, Bronwyn's life is a study in failure until she befriends her next door neighbor, the son of her mother's political rival. From enemies to best friends, will they ever be something more? For The Girls is an ensemble cast of four best friends trying to navigate life and love with only each other to lean on. In A Christian Cougar, Mare is a young widow dating an even younger man, a secret she tries and fails to keep from everyone, especially her imaginary husband. From laughter to tears to ...

Isabelle Landry left her small Montana town at the age of seventeen and never looked back. Bookish, awkward, and ambitious, she had never fit in. Determined to make something of herself, she fled to New York and succeeded beyond her wildest dreams, hoping never to see Montana again. But when a work assignment takes her back for a two week visit, she must confront the ghosts of her past, including her onetime rival, Cameron King.Cam King is responsible. At nineteen, he became the head of his family's massive Montana ranch, but the price of so much responsibility is high. Now, jaded and alone...

On the same day Mare Welsh receives the happiest news of her life, she also receives the worst. Her husband, Jack, was killed on his way home from work, leaving Mare alone to raise their one year old daughter. Now, a year later and deep in the throes of depression, Mare sees Jack everywhere. He even shows up to talk to her in the shower. Her well-meaning friends stage an intervention to bring her back to the real world, and it works a little too well. A day later she meets Tate, the new youth pastor at her church. At 25, Tate is seven years her junior, but Mare can't stop her wild ...

In a world of conflicting voices, sometimes the hardest one to hear is your own... For Piper, AJ, Daphne, and Brooke, nothing could be worse than the suicide of their idol. If she couldn't make it, who could? But when Piper's boss points out that the woman's life was meaningless, the four friends are thrown into a tailspin of self-doubt. What does it mean to be a woman? Who are they supposed to be? What are they supposed to want? And, once they figure it out, how are they supposed to get it? With no role models to lead the way, the four must navigate the tricky road to womanhood with only ...

Dexter Nieman was not the type of person to marry a stranger on a whim. Steady, predictable, and maybe even boring, he liked his settled life, loved being in his rut. And he certainly didn't intend to marry his neighbor, an eccentric recluse who worked odd hours and inexplicably owned a cauldron. But his job involved putting out fires for four insane brothers. And when one of those fires spiraled out of control, involving Dexter and his quirky neighbor, a pretend marriage seemed the only solution. Lainey Andrews quit her job to follow her dream of making candy, straight into total ruin. She...

Josh King is perfect, or at least he tries to be. Loyal, hardworking, and honest, he can't stand to be lied to or laughed at. Nicknamed "Saint Josh" by his three older brothers, his hidden soft side is reserved for his beloved cattle dogs and his best friend, a wiry little cowboy named Sam. But when Sam betrays him, Josh decides never to trust again. He wears his anger like a shield, keeping the world at bay until his meddling sisters-in-law decide to intervene. They're convinced Josh needs to change, and they think they have the perfect plan. Josh is predictably angry about the girl they ...

The shooter. The spotter. The gunner. The point man. A four-man Marine scout sniper unit, living and working together like brothers. They know how to get the job done, but when it comes to their personal lives, it all falls to pieces.Kelsey Adams never thought he would lose his mind. Funny and laid back, he took life casually, at least until one of his best friends died in his arms. Now struggling with the aftermath of tragedy, he can't come to terms with the fact that he's not doing okay, and he's cut himself off from the person he needs the most.Melly Garcia is dealing with her own grief....

The shooter. The spotter. The gunner. The point man. A four-man Marine scout sniper unit, living and working together like brothers. They know how to get the job done, but when it comes to their personal lives it all falls to pieces. Corporal Nick Lassiter has been in the corps for almost a decade. A scout sniper, he heads his team. But with his shady past, he's nobody's idea of a true leader. Enter Ashleigh Desmond. A take-no-prisoners carpenter who couldn't be more opposite of Nick if she tried, they meet when she accidentally shoots him in the behind. They shouldn't be attracted to each ...

Coy King's life used to be simple before everyone started falling in love. Now his younger brother is happily settled, and his twin brother, Cam, has decided to bring his girlfriend to their ranch--a stranger he met on the internet, no less. For the first time in his life, easygoing Coy is not happy. To make matters worse, Cam gives Coy the task of retrieving the dreaded woman from the airport. From the moment Ivy lays eyes on Coy, she doesn't like him, and the feeling is mutual. But a chance encounter with a moose leaves the duo stranded in a freak Montana snowstorm. Coy believes their ...