Showing results by author "Jessie Gussman" in All Categories

After working beside her sisters for years on their Iowa farm, Meg McCartney finds herself alone, trying to do the work of three people. She’s never been one to mope around, but she’s lonely and tired and at the end of her rope—desperate enough to give serious thought to an offer that has come in for the farm…and for her.

Candace McClosky thought the billionaire tycoon actually loved her and would help her save her family’s ranch. She fancied herself in love for the first time in her life. She was a fool. Now, she’s stuck with even more problems and, as the oldest, she feels responsible for helping her sisters and saving their ranch. So, she comes up with a desperate plan and pitches it to an even more desperate cowboy.

Two enemies who always wanted to be friends. A load of piglets. One crowded church service. Could Claudia Clyborne and Beau Hanson use the things life throws at them to look past their differences and forge a strong, forever relationship? And if they do, will one of them have to give up their lifetime dream?

Asher Clyborne's unspoken love for Sondra has lingered in the shadows, veiled by loyalty to his brother. But when Asher takes her to his mountain cabin after her fiance breaks up with her, a freak accident leaves Sondra as the only person who can save his life. Sondra, a city girl at heart, struggles to adjust to the harsh, technology-free environment. Yet, when Asher is injured, she must turn to God to conquer her fears and save the man who's always been her silent guardian. Slowly, Sondra learns to rely on God to calm her anxieties and Asher gets a little stronger each day.

Phoebe Clyborne has always been the perfect child, and she'd certainly never been in jail. So, after being released from her first night in the lock up, the new cowboy in town is bound to get the wrong impression about the girl who has been content on her family's ranch, assuming the Lord just wants her to take care of her family and never have one of her own when she runs smack into him, knocking them both down. It wouldn't have been so bad, but later that day, Phoebe realizes he's the new foreman at their ranch.

Serious and quiet, Silas hardly seems like the kind of man who would be out drag racing in the wee hours of the night. Unwilling heir of her family’s multimillion-dollar ranching operation, Gladys Lefrak is a daredevil who vows to never settle down. And she loves drag racing–with Silas beside her. But her 25th birthday is fast approaching, and the conditions of her inheritance state that she must be married by that date.

Late one night Lincoln was delivering a yard decoration when he came upon a wild, unruly teenager throwing stones at the window of his neighbor’s house. He tackled the belligerent child and was about to call the cops when she informed him she was his neighbor’s sister who had been locked out of the house. Oops. Not the best beginning, but it gets worse when he accidentally walks into her house and accuses her of squatting in it.

Once the vows were said, she had to keep them. After all, they were said to God just as much as to her loser, neglectful husband. And so for 15 years and four children, Carmen Davis stayed true, kept her word, and did her level best to love the man she married. But she never forgot the man who could make her heart race and whose life was as straight and true as it had promised to be in high school.

Waverley Madris is two months behind on her rent and about to lose her house and her children. Getting stuck with handsome Zane Hudson and his four kids in the Diner bathroom seems like just the type of thing that was just her luck. Except she emerges from that bathroom an engaged woman.

Madeline Reese has a successful cooking show, a best-selling line of cookbooks and is considered one of the top celebrity chefs in Hollywood. One small problem – she can’t cook. Loyal Hudson doesn’t want to open his world-class kitchen to the cameras Madeline will bring with her, but the celebrity chef could be the bridge between him and a future with his little girl.

On the day Deacon Hudson was set to be ordained, a bundle shows up at the church with a simple note on it. Deacon Hudson is the father. Take care of her. Deacon knows he’s not the father. The Immaculate Conception was a one time thing. But the baby needs a parent, and he has to decide if he will give up his life dream of being a pastor to take the child, despite the fact that the note is a lie. Can he do it without resenting the child?

Ivory Haines is the daughter of the town’s resident retired prostitute and possibly the town drunk, although her mother wasn’t entirely certain. She resents her position in the town – and especially resents the teasing she’d been subjected to – and has vowed to show everyone that she is just as good as they are. She can hardly believe her luck when Chandler Hudson donates a month of his time to the highest bidder at the charity auction to benefit local victims of the recent tornado damage.

Elias Emerson has worked hard and become a successful businessman. Fellow businesswoman Catherine Hutchison has been with him, helping him, all his adult life, but he’s never really paid attention to her. She's just there. Never noticed how much she did for him behind the scenes. How much she lifted him up and made him better. How much she sacrificed to give him the support and encouragement he needed.

Braxton Emmerson was born and bred in the heartland. He loves his farm and his family, but he was willing to give it all up for the woman who stole his heart. But she didn’t want to give up her career and insisted on keeping their romance a secret. But then her business partner doubled crossed her, and she ended up with a prison sentence for tax evasion. Now she’s out and she’s much wiser.

Originally diagnosed with Lyme disease, Esther MacCartney is frustrated because she’s been bedridden for months and doctors can’t tell her if she’ll ever be well again. The only person who’s visited her regularly is her sister’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Monroe. He makes her laugh and treats her like he enjoys her company. But her sister has a job offer off the farm, and Esther is afraid Monroe will propose to get her to stay.

After her husband walks out, leaving her with three small children, Shelby isn't interested in romance. She just wants her roof to not leak and the furnace to work. Keene Emmerson is ready to settle down, but he's not expecting to find love in a single wide trailer amidst the chaos of kids and construction and a pair of September sky blue eyes.

I thought it would be a good idea to buy a dog…. I ended up with an ATV I have no idea how to drive. I’m not sure how this happened, especially since the man I purchased it from, Justin Gabriel, introduced himself by running his remote-controlled monster pickup into my high heeled shoe. I’m serious, studious, and a high school English teacher at Good Grief High. Needless to say, Justin Gabriel is not my type.

I’m a city girl and proud of it. Chicago is my hometown and I’m in my element surrounded by people and buildings and busyness. Actually, my business—my vlog—depends on my interactions with people. You can’t go viral talking about your pet turtle. Well, maybe some people can, but that’s not how I became a highly paid influencer. I was happy to use my influence to help my grandmother, Agnes, save her assisted care facility. I thought I was going to hate being out in the wilderness for days on end…bugs and bears and no internet or sushi bars.

People are so serious about life. I feel it was made to be enjoyed. I’m not interested in having a great career or climbing a corporate ladder or being inside much at all, actually. I don’t like to stay with things too long, either. I’ve worked as a short line cook, a firefighter, and a dolphin trainer among other things. So, when the ladies at the Good Grief senior living center offer me a short term job as the photographer for the risqué nature calendar they want to pose for—to cross it off of Miss Agnes’s bucket list—I am all in.

It took me a while—most of my life, in fact—to decide that my hometown of Good Grief, Idaho, is the best place in the world to live. But I have and I love it...except for one thing. My boss. Okay, so the man is good at his job. We just have a tendency to disagree on how much activity the seniors at our assisted-living center want to have.