Author Catherine Cowles brings you a FREE small\-town romance short story! A woman on the run, snowed in with her brother's best friend... What could go wrong? ​ Snowbound is a short story in the Tattered \& Torn Series. Download the eBook or the audio, narrated by Sebastian York \& Ava Erickson.

Be brave. Just for sixty seconds. Twenty breaths. It took every ounce of my courage to return to the small town I fled all those years ago. But I should’ve known he’d hate me. How could he not when my father’s blood still runs through my veins? Yet here I am, desperate for a chance to make things right. Even if it means facing the family my father almost destroyed and the boy with the dark eyes—now grown—who still haunts my dreams. I never expected just how explosive things would turn between us. He’s the last person I should want. Yet, somehow, I keep drawing closer—so close I know I’ll end up burned. But Hayes is a good man, a noble one. Someone who channeled his pain into a career spent protecting those around him. So, when the threats begin, he steps in to keep me safe. And we discover that maybe neither of us knew the other at all. As the sparks between us ignite into something deeper, someone watches. And they’ll do anything to tear it all apart…

I loved Calder Cruz from the moment he taught me to fly. He might’ve been my brother’s best friend but he was my everything. The only who understood me. My safest place. My person. Until one night changed it all and we became strangers in a single breath. Now, years later, I see him every day at the fire station. I watch him raise adorable twin girls as a single dad. But he has no idea how hard it was to see him move on without me. How much I still burn for him. A twist of fate changes everything. When my life is on the line, it’s Calder who saves me–who comes charging back into my heart with a vengeance. And makes it clear he’s determined to stay. But as long-buried embers light anew, there are those who lurk in the shadows. And they’ll do whatever it takes to extinguish that flame for good…

My family tried to break me. But, somehow, I made it out alive, even though the wounds from that survival are forever carved into my bones. Now, my only wish is for…normal. To know what it’s like to have friends, a job, a home. The last thing I want is for my new roommate to see the scars I’m so desperate to keep hidden, especially not the ruggedly handsome man who steals my breath and sends my heart into overdrive. But something tells me that Beckett has demons, too. I see it in the shadows haunting his gorgeous eyes and the way he looks at me with gentle understanding. As our unlikely friendship becomes so much more, forces from my life slink out of the shadows. And we could both lose everything we’ve fought so hard for—down to our very last breaths…

I’ve known every kind of pain. Of the heart. Of the body. Of the soul. All I want now is the freedom that comes from making my art. The last thing I expected was Hollywood royalty to waltz into my gallery in a small town in the middle of nowhere and see me. A man like Boden Cavanaugh shouldn’t understand me. Shouldn’t be able to soothe my most ragged edges. Even worse, he makes me want the one thing I can’t have. Him. All it takes is one spark, and friendship catches flame. But as our attraction burns bright, there are forces desperate to send us back into the darkness. And they’ve already killed before…

Shiloh Damaged. Broken. Destroyed. I’ve heard it all. A single moment of trusting the wrong person shattered my life into pieces, and my family has never looked at me the same. It’s impossible to convince them that I’m anything more than the broken girl they rescued all those years ago. Until I meet him. Ramsey’s surly demeanor and menacing scowl scare most of the world away. But not me. Not when I’ve seen his gentle hands soothe an abused colt or comfort a terrified mare. And when I finally get up the courage to strike out on my own, Ramsey’s there. Roommates felt like such a safe proposition until Ramsey’s lingering touches and wicked smile light a fire in me I don’t think will ever be extinguished. And he feels it, too… But just as my new life begins to take root, an evil from my past emerges from the shadows, casting a darkness on my newfound freedom. And this time, they won’t settle for pieces of me. They want everything…