When the friend you have a crush on gets dumped, you step up to help. Even if that means pretending to date her to make her ex jealous enough to come back. Bo Turner’s best friend is suddenly single. He’s happy about that – her ex-boyfriend was a jerk. But now that she’s gotten rid of that dead weight, maybe he’d have a chance. He’s had feelings for her too long to say. Gabrielle Hopson is broken hearted. She thought the guy who just walked away from their three-year relationship was the one she’d marry. As embarrassing as it was, she’d take him back right this minute if he walked in the door and wanted to try again. When Bo sees how down Gabby is, he suggests that they become a fake couple. Maybe her ex will realize what he’s lost and come back? But Bo secretly hopes Gabby will realize that they’re better together than she was with her ex. As their fake relationship unfolds, Bo falls harder. And just when it looks like Gabby may be falling for him, too, their plan works and her ex reaches out. He wants her back. Bo never expected his plan to work so well or that success would break his heart.

Widower single dad Jack isn’t interested in dating. His life is his daughter and the ranch. There’s no room for anything—or anyone—else. When he’s unwittingly caught in the middle of a set up, he can’t be rude, but he doesn’t have to give in.Emily eagerly agrees when her friend offers to set her up with her boyfriend’s brother. Tired of being single, it seems like matchmaking by a friend is the only way she’s going to meet a good man in this small town.Their first date doesn’t go well at all, but Emily isn’t ready to give up. She's intrigued by the hunky, grumpy cowboy and she wants to know more about his daughter who is deaf. She knows sign language and is certain she’ll bond with the sweet little girl. But Jack isn’t so sure.When Emily seems like the perfect choice to help Jack’s daughter learn sign language, Jack gives in. He’s all in to make sure his daughter gets everything she needs. As his daughter falls in love with Emily, Jack’s heart begins to soften. But he can’t let her in. He refuses to lose anyone he loves again. Emily might challenge his fear of loss, though.

As Andrew is finding his place at the ranch after his time in the military, he’s frustrated that his progress isn’t faster. He thought he’d retire from the military after a long career, but that wasn’t meant to be. Julia values her relationships with the Reese family. During their difficult childhood, she and her brother spent many hours at Sagebrush Ranch. Now that her career is successful and stable, she’d like to have a love life but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Andrew’s long time crush on his best friend’s sister, Julia, always leads him to bickering with her so she won’t see his true feelings. His confidence is lacking due to the scars he bears—yet another reason to stay just friends. When they’re forced together on a road trip, it feels like there might be an opening for Andrew to share how he feels. But when bickering is their ritual, he may not get the chance to tell Julia he fell for her years ago.

Entrepreneur Daniel is enjoying the success he worked hard to gain. His family runs a big ranch and he’d have a place there if he wanted, but his true calling is his coffee shop in town. He knows how to give patrons the best cup of coffee they’ve ever had and building the local coffee scene speaks to his creative side.Megan made a bold decision to open her coffee shop across the street from the most successful one in town. Truthfully, the shop across the street is the only real coffee shop in town besides hers. She’s normally confident but this potential mistake is shaking her up a bit.When these two meet, there’s immediate attraction. But that attraction fades immediately when they find out they’re competitors. Up close and personal competitors. As they each work on being the best, they succumb to stunts that don’t do either one of them good.Local gossip is an enemy they can’t seem to overcome and it’s impossible to not become bitter enemies. But somewhere deep inside, the attraction remains and respect begins to grow. When tragedy strikes, they could pull together. One of them will amaze the other with generosity, but it may be too late to save their budding new love.

As Katrina comes back to Rocky Ridge, she feels like a failure. Small town life isn’t for her. She’s a city girl, but the city had spit her out. Now all she can do is regroup in her stifling home town and plan her next move. Simon is the eternal optimist in spite of his difficult childhood. It’s one of the top three things Katrina loves about her best friend. And in her time of need, Simon is all in to help her get ready for the next phase of her life and career. And just as Katrina is floundering in her career, Simon gets news that changes his life forever. An unexpected inheritance throws him into a new career path and he feels like he’s found his true calling. While Katrina searches for her identity and her own life passion, she steps in to help Simon get his footing on the ranch he inherited. The work is oddly rewarding, but the new direction her relationship with Simon takes might be what she’s needed all along.

Romance author Becca Mason is spending the summer at Sagebrush Ranch, looking forward to her friend’s wedding, parties and fun. She also hopes to kick the writer’s block plaguing her. Hoping a change of scenery will reignite her creativity, she jumped right in when her friend offered the invitation. Nobody knows what he writes, though, because what credible romance author would have such rotten luck with her own happily ever after? Ethan Boone is a horse trainer at the ranch who’s considered a bit of a player. The truth about that is a little more complicated. He’s carried a secret for what seems like forever and that secret keeps him from letting anyone get close enough to figure it out. Worries that his secret could take the job he loves away are always in the back of his mind. When an awkward situation puts Ethan in an embarrassing position, on a whim Becca steps up to help him out. And just like that, she becomes his fake girlfriend. Thinking the short-term arrangement will blow over, they can’t seem to find a believable way out. As their make-believe love story continues, real feelings start to develop. But the secrets they’ve kept hidden might make it impossible for true love to take hold.

Rose feels like an outsider. Even though her family is in Rocky Ridge, she doesn’t belong here. She’d been living her dream running her own art gallery, but that was gone now. She should be thankful she’d been able to find a job, but working as a waitress would never take the place of being immersed in art every day. Mike has been quietly obsessed with the Reese family for as long as he can remember. They keep their distance from him, even though they’d given him a job. He had a bad reputation that he’d earned. The guilt and shame were what had made him leave Rocky Ridge. But now he was back in town hoping he could catch a break and maybe earn redemption. When these two cross paths again, they have nothing nice to say to each other. She doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t really trust anyone, except Rose’s brother. And Rose’s brother has made it clear his sister is off limits. That makes him laugh. They can’t stand each other, anyway. Rose’s feelings begin to change as she sees how hard Mike is working to repair his reputation and his life. She realizes she likes him. A lot. But falling for a guy who will only disappoint her makes her wish they’d stayed enemies.

Bella’s kind of stuck in Rocky Ridge as a police officer when all she wants to do is go back to Billings and make detective. The slow pace of a small town isn’t her cup of tea. Grant unexpectedly found out he has a son and his whole world changed overnight. Now he’s the dad of a motherless six-year-old with no clue how to raise a child. But he’s doing the best he can and he’s loving the challenge. His son is his reason for everything he does. So to get to know his kid, he puts his very lucrative business on hold, buys an RV, and travels to Rocky Ridge, Montana so they can be with his dead ex-wife’s mother. The boy is close to her so it makes sense to transition as easily as possible into their new life. But things get dicey in town when Bella observes parenting behavior that triggers her into taking action. A young boy is basically allowed to run wild in town. Who knows what kind of trouble he could be getting into and it looks like his father is unconcerned with what was going on. Bella grew up a bit untethered and it’s a poke at her heart when she sees a young soul being neglected. As she gets involved in an official manner, she makes an enemy. Truthfully neither of them like each other very much and it might take them just about forever to get along. But in spite of the tension between them, there’s definite attraction. And when sabotage seems to be a problem at Sagebrush, Bella and Grant seem to be more like enemies than anything else because everything is a big mess. And the fire between them ignites at the oddest moments. But as they work together, Grant doesn’t seem to be the jerk he originally presented as and he’s actually a good father. Bella can relax about that concern. As they work on the mystery of unexplained break-ins and sabotage, they may be able to understand each other more. And find the time to fall in love.