Taylor Danae Colbert

From the time I can remember, it was always the three of us. Me, Tommy, and Shane.We were young, doing things we shouldn't have been doing.They say the water here in Meade Lake freezes four feet deep. But that winter had been unseasonably warm...After we lost Tommy, Shane packed up and moved on, leaving me to figure it all out by myself. To figure out who I was without my two best friends.But now, Shane is back in Meade Lake. He's changed, but under that cold, hardened exterior, I can still see a hint of my best friend. The boy I once loved.We're reliving our glory years, laughing at the memories, sorting through the pain. And each time, he stands a little bit closer, lingers a little bit longer.But with every touch, I feel that ice-cold barrier form around my heart.He showed me once that he could walk away and never look back. I can't give him that chance again.

When I was sixteen, I was madly in love with Ryder Casey.He was kind, he was loving, he was everything. Then he killed my twin brother, the night before our eighteenth birthday. Accident or not, he crushed me in more ways than one. So I turned him away and never looked back. I haven't forgotten. And I certainly haven't forgiven. Now, I'm sort of a hot mess. I'm in between jobs, essentially homeless, and newly divorced. But as I try to put the pieces of my life back together, I know that Ryder's the one that's missing. I have to find him, and I have to forgive him. And when I do, I learn that he's not exactly living the easiest life. He needs someone. He needs me. Despite everything, I know I should be there for him. But doing that means I'll have to put our past behind us. And I'll have to try my hardest not to fall back in love with the man who broke my heart beyond repair.

I was a firm believer that those "nights of passion" people talk about-like when they refer to one-night stands or extramarital affairs-don't really exist. Getting "caught up in the moment" doesn't really happen. It's just an excuse for a bad decision. And I don't have time to waste on decisions like that. Now, it's my time to shine in the real world. I'm moving on, never looking back on the painful past my family and I have been trying to rebuild from. That is, until I run-full-speed, I might add-into the man responsible for wrecking our lives all those years ago.And then it happens-that bad decision. And wouldn't you know it? I can't stop myself. Wyatt Mills is a deadly force that I'm not ready for. And to be honest, I don't think he was ready for me, either. That's what five years of pent-up hate energy will do to you, I guess.But Wyatt is the same guy who wrongfully accused my father of a crime he didn't commit. Making us lose everything. Putting our family through turmoil. I hate his living guts.But I got caught up in the moment.And I want to do it all over again.

Miss Fix-It-that's me. And when my sister and nephew are in danger, it's my natural instinct to step in and get them out of Boston. The girl with the plan, always.We land at the Rowan Inn-a charming bed-and-breakfast on the shores of the Chesapeake. A sweet little haven we're hoping will bring us the peace we so desperately need.Instead, it brings us Jesse Rowan, the gruff and grumpy son of the original owners. The same guy who is single-handedly sinking the Inn faster than an anchor in the bay. But we need a place to crash until I can figure out our next move, so I convince him to let us stay in exchange for help around the place.At first, he's rude, sarcastic, and standoffish. But after a few months of working around the Inn together, I realize he's not as callous as he'd like us to think. And I realize that maybe the Inn isn't the only project I want to take on. He needs some fixing, too.But the Inn has to be just a pitstop for us. And as long as we're on the run, Jesse Rowan can't be my final destination.

When Luci left Dalesville to pursue a career on the west coast, Della always secretly hoped that one day, her best friend would make her way back. Luci is back, alright. But it's because Della's husband is killed, just as she's starting her second trimester. Now, Luci finds herself sitting at prenatal appointments with Della, buying diapers, and trying to help Della put her life back together. And all the while, Luci is trying to avoid her own heartbreak in the form of Dayton Briggs, her high school-turned-college sweetheart who broke her heart all those years ago. As Della is navigating her new life and preparing for motherhood, Luci has to decide if she wants to escape back to the west coast, or stay in Dalesville and risk having her heart broken all over again.

Throughout Bria's teen years, Knox was her rock, her person, her constant-but never her boyfriend. And for all those years, she told herself that was exactly how she wanted it to be.Yeah, right.Knox wasn't the one that got away-he was the one that never was.Now, Bria's full-on adulting, and she's crushing it. She's got a grown-up job, a lush D.C. apartment, a dreamy med-student fianc . What more could a girl want?But when a family crisis lands her back in her hometown of Dalesville, she finds herself face-to-face with the one thing she always wanted and never had: Knox.But she's determined to keep her feelings for Knox in the past. It doesn't matter that he's as charming as ever, and looks even better with age. It doesn't matter that she discovers huge sacrifices he made for her, way back when. Nope, it doesn't matter.. . . Right?