Gunnar Knox is on his second tour in Iraq when he gets an unexpected lifeline in the form of letters from a stranger, Pastor Trace Atwell. After six months of correspondence, the letters from the pastor stop coming. The last letter contains a family picture of the pastor, his wife and their son and an invitation to come and visit them at their farm when Gunnar’s tour is up. Eighteen months later, he’s back in the States, with a wish to meet the happy family in the picture. However, things aren’t as he had anticipated when he arrives at the Atwell farm. Pastor Trace has passed away… Grace Atwell is a widow raising her son alone, starting a new business, and things are falling down around her ears. When the aloof U.S. Marine shows up on her doorstep, she assumes he is there for the advertised handyman position and hires him on the spot. Once he starts helping around the house, going above and beyond, she realizes how much she has missed having a man around the farm—and the feeling of being wanted. No man has ever made her feel this special, this desirable. Caught off guard by the unexpected emotion he feels for Grace and her son, Gunnar keeps the letters and picture a secret. He believes an unseen force had brought him to Buttermilk Valley, Georgia to help Grace and Daxton, and to protect them. He owed the pastor. After all, his encouraging words had been Gunnar’s support when he thought he’d never make it out of the Middle East alive. As Grace and Gunnar grow closer, the secret becomes heavier and a dangerous presence awaits an opportunity to tear their passionate love affair apart. Will love be enough? Will Grace accept Gunnar’s baggage? Did fate bring them together?

Buttermilk Valley has a new sheriff...but the woman he loves is renegade. Duff Tyler left Buttermilk Valley to follow his heart and fight for his country. Now he's back in a uniform, fighting small town crime and corruption, and something far more dangerous—the love he thought he'd buried for his childhood sweetheart. At the age of ten, Blake McKenzie married Duff behind the barn when he slipped a candy-machine-ring on her finger and made a promise he’d be her best friend forever. He lied and her dedication to him ended the day he left town, even if he was a hero. All Blake has left is the land that has been in her family for generations. Mystery surrounds the McKenzie Farm and danger waits in the shadows, but she has a shotgun and aims to use it if needed. The one person Blake never wants to see again is the only one she can trust. She’ll never forgive Duff, but her heart betrays her mind and soon she’s hot for the sheriff. Known for being rough-and-ready, Duff finds that his skills are lacking when it comes to the petite red-head who'd stolen his heart once upon a time and he never got it back. He has a strong desire to love her and a need to protect her, but he'll do both even if it kills him. He’ll cross mountains just to kiss her every day for the rest of his life. But first he must find out who wants to see her gone.