Lou must leave her city life behind to help her grandfather and sister run their debt-ridden family horse ranch in the Rocky Mountains.

In a place where murder isn't supposed to happen-rural Missouri and Southern Illinois-deputy sheriff and investigator Harry Spiller learned the hard reality: murder is all around us. It doesn't matter whether you live in a big city or small county with farms and churches-murder is swift and can happen to anyone, anywhere, and anytime. All too often, victims fall prey in places we think are safe to raise our families, where we take walks on hot summer...

"Ellie McKenna's dream job becomes her worst nightmare when she discovers the man she'll be working for is her long-ago holiday fling. He gave her the hottest memories of her life - and a son he knows nothing about. How will Ellie carry out her Christmas holiday contract now? Grieving, guilt-stricken and gorgeous, Tony Robinson needs a summer tutor for twin daughters on his huge New Zealand farm. He doesn't expect the teacher to be the beautiful holiday...

Christmas Bells, Wedding BellsWhen Nick Gallagher returned to his hometown for his brother's Christmas wedding, the confirmed bachelor and military man had to exchange his usual army fatigues for something more suitablethe tux of a best man. Nick had never thought about settling down, but soon he found his attention strayingmostly to the very pretty neighbor next door. Allison Lee didn't trust menespecially ones as charmingand handsome as Nick. She...

Meet Rory and Alfie - the third of three hot couples from Kris Pearson's New Zealand Heartlands Series. Shy Kiwi heiress Alfrieda Hamlin is reduced to shocked silence when her hateful grandfather announces she's to marry within a month - to a man she's never met. Then she yells blue murder because there's no way she'll give her body to a stranger, or have her expected freedom and inheritance stolen away. Exiled from his family for half his life, hard-living...

Glenora Keeps Her Heart Under Lock and Key No one ever accused Glenora Carson of being a breathtaking beauty. Her talk, gangly figure and angular face are more solid midwestern stock than Hollywood glamour. But Joe liked her. He even told her, "You're the one for me." He gave her a locket with his picture inside, to remind her of him while he was away, serving his country on the U.S.S. Arizona. After December 7, 1941, Glenora shelves her dreams...

Jorna witnesses an act of gratuitous violence. The wanton evil in the act unlocks the Pandora's box full of undeniable, unforgivable experiences that have ravaged her own life. Will she survive the confrontation with her personal demons? Out running for reasons of her own Jorna narrowly misses being hit by a drunk driver. A blind boy is not so lucky. The driver deliberately swerves and knocks him flying into a canal. This unleashes a cold killing...

An incident in the supermarket triggers a memory so vivid Eleanor cannot do anything else but scream. It was that or die. Then there is the sound of dripping and the faces in the mirror that are hers and yet not. Something was happening to her but she did not have a clue why. Can she get to the reason behind it all? Eleanor has started on the arduous task of clearing the stuff that is bunging up her attic, her own and her recently deceased mother's....

The essays by journalist Frank Miele in this collection span from 2004 to 2018. "How We Got Here" is Volume 5 of the Heartland Diary USA series. Most of these essays originally appeared in the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, where Miele worked for 34 years, including 18 years as managing editor. Miele gained a wide following for his weekly conservative "Editor's 2 Cents" commentaries, which are now collected in the Heartland Diary series....