Maya Alyssum has a rebel's dream: to open a school where kids can find unconditional acceptance—an acceptance she and her sister had never experienced while growing up in foster homes. But Axell Holm, the town council's representative, holds Maya's unconventional dream in his hands. Axell is the kind of uptight authority figure Maya loves to hate. So how is it that he's ringing all her chimes, even as her rebellious plans turn his ordered life upside down? Previously titled: Impossible Dreams

“...both a love story and a story of personal growth.” —Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times, 41/2, TOP PICK Cleo Alyssum's plan is stay sober, stay out of trouble, and bite her tongue until Social Services sees she’s pretty close to perfect and returns her little boy. But when an accident on her isolated property forces her to rent a cottage to celebrated cartoonist Jared McCloud, her carefully constructed comfort zone develops cracks. Jared has a deadline to meet or he’ll forfeit still another lucrative career and be branded for life as the loser in the family. Only, he wasn’t meant to be a hermit, and his cartoon characters aren’t nearly as fascinating as his quirky, enigmatic landlady. When Jared discovers his island hideaway contains a drug-dealing neighbor’s two neglected, abused teens, he shoves Cleo into the real world that she fears in his effort to save the children. Risking everything, the pair join forces to find a home for the kids and have their mother’s dangerous boyfriend locked up. In the process, they face a new realization that there’s more to life and love than either of them ever planned or dreamed. Previously titled Almost Perfect, Ballantine 2001 CAROLINA MAGNOLIA series in Dixie Rebel Imperfect Rebel Rebel Charm Carolina Rebel Rebel Girl Home Town Rebel “Superb, superb, superb!...You must read this excellent, excellent book.” —Heather Heath, The Old Book Barn Gazette “...This book is not ALMOST PERFECT, it is perfect.” —Jaclyn Reding, Rendezvous

From the remarkably talented Patricia Rice comes a new novel about passion and dreams, old insecurities and new outlooks, and finally finding the truth of one’s heart... A lot has happened to Mara Simon since she was a teenager. And although on the inside she’s still the sweet, sensitive girl she was back then, the face she shows the world is that of a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood producer with a movie to make and a schedule to keep. She can’t let the fact that Tim McCloud, her first and only love, has turned up on her set rattle her. With so much riding on the success of this film, all she can do is ignore the way his presence makes her rethink everything she thought she wanted out of life and turns her steely façade to jelly. Tim McCloud didn’t even recognize her when she walked into his office. The girl he knew had been replaced with a sizzling bombshell. Underneath the paint and glitter Tim sees that the girl he used to love has become a woman with an incredible mind and a loving heart. Their goals are wildly different but he can’t ignore the fact that her presence makes him rethink everything he thought he wanted out of life. Now, to win her back, he must show her the difference between Hollywood artifice and real happiness...

In Carolina Girl, gifted writer Patricia Rice gives readers a marvelous novel about two very different people who, against all odds, end up with a common goal: to spend their lives together... Born and raised on an island off the shores of South Carolina, Aurora Jenkins isn’t about to let her home’s rural beauty and delicate ecology fall victim to over-development. Her life takes an unexpected turn, though, when she meets Clay McCloud. No one has ever affected her so deeply. But their views on the island’s future don’t mesh, and Aurora will have to win him to her side if she is to have any chance of protecting her home . . . because she knows it’s already too late to protect her heart. Clay McCloud was hiding out on the serene little island, enjoying some richly deserved down time. He wasn’t looking for a fight or trouble or even a knockout redhead—but that is exactly what he got with Aurora, a woman who is all contradiction: part business mogul and part goddess. Her beauty and the attraction he feels for her are undeniable. And though he has certain rules about women like Aurora, leave it to a bad boy like Clay to decide that rules are meant to be broken...

A SMALL TOWN WITH A BIG HEART Hard-living musician Flynn “Flint” Clinton has left heartache and his wild ways behind in Nashville, returning to his sleepy hometown of Northfork, North Carolina. There he hopes to start a new life as owner of the Stardust Café, relaxing and raising his two preteen sons in peace and quiet. Then Flint meets the colorful, indomitable Joella Sanderson, a blond bombshell who serves a mean cup of caffeine at the Stardust–and whose amazing voice belongs at the top of the charts. Jo’s catchy comedic ditties and radiant energy captivate the coffee shop regulars and even threaten to transform the cynical Flint, who finds himself reluctantly rediscovering the joy of music. With Jo by his side, Flint can once again appreciate a beautiful melody and strum his guitar with the same passion and pleasure that once filled his life. But in Flint’s world, trouble is never far away. This time it arrives just as he dares to open his heart to the possibility of true love.

She dreams of creating a home sweet home–until a dashing stranger turns her life upside down. Struggling to get back on her feet after a messy divorce, dark-haired beauty Amy Warren would love to purchase and fix up the historic cottage that has been her dream. But she needs something more than the meager income she earns running the kitchen at the Stardust Café, her sister’s country diner, to seal the deal. Perhaps Amy can help both herself and her beloved North Folk by somehow bringing the old textile mill back to life. Her ingenious plan, however, soon encounters a major obstacle. That obstacle is Zack St. Etienne, an outrageously handsome European businessman, with loads of charisma and cash, who arrives in the North Carolina town with his own plans for the mill. Though Amy fumes at this unexpected intrusion, she cannot deny her intense attraction to Zack. He’s charming and smart, and even shows a fondness for her two young children. As this playful game of hard-to-get becomes a passionate love affair, Amy and Zack must clean out the cobwebs of their imperfect pasts so they can open their hearts to what just might be the perfect romance.