Wintertime Secrets by Lee Tobin McClain

Welcome to Hawthorne, Texas, a place where many former citizens return, drawn to their hometown’s slower pace and family values, finding lasting love and happiness.
A man who’s gained fortune and fame. A woman who’s known heartbreak and despair. A second chance for a couple who went their separate ways years ago . . .
As a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, West Sutherland walks away at the peak of his career, ready to find a quieter life in his hometown of Hawthorne, Texas. He’s been hired by his former high school coach and mentor and will have a place on the Hawks’ coaching staff next year. He’s surprised to find Kelby Blackstone in town, the girl he’s never forgotten.
Kelby Blackstone married her college boyfriend, who was drafted into the NFL. Injury-prone, he turns to alcohol and drugs, and Kelby divorces him. She moves to Dallas and forges a new career path and life, until she receives devastating news that her father has suffered a stroke.
Although as teenagers, West and Kelby maturely agreed to go their separate ways after high school, running into one another in Hawthorne fourteen years later causes unresolved feelings to surface for them both. They decide to explore what they missed out on the first time, finding their shared past, and old friendship soon grows into deep feelings for one another.
The road to love is never easy, however, and they must deal with obstacles in their professional lives, even as they find strength in their shared passion for their hometown and each other.
Will a second chance at finding lasting happiness be in store for West and Kelby?
~Trigger Warning: off-page mention of marital abuse, drugs, alcohol, and parental death
Titles in the Hearts in Hawthorne series include: Heartstrings and Helmets ~ Heartbeat Harmony ~ Agent of the Heart ~ Hearts and Hooves ~ Hoops and Hearts ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
The night Influencer Rose Dalton gets dumped live on social media—when she and her millions of followers were expecting a marriage proposal—is the night Rose drives away from her life in Seattle. She’s hurt and angry, mostly at herself for becoming someone she hardly recognizes. She’s also at fault when she almost drives off the road near a town called Marietta, earning a scolding from a cowboy with the most amazing blue eyes she’s ever seen.
Cooper Weston is known as the horse whisperer. He prefers animals to people and loves working with skittish and abused horses on his family’s vast ranch. Women love him, and he enjoys them, but he’s yet to meet one who’s interested in anything besides fashion, social media, and taking pictures of everything.
Then he lays eyes on the wounded, secretive Rose, and he wonders if he can trust her with his past, and Rose isn’t sure she’s brave enough to hand over her bruised heart to the quiet, sexy cowboy.
Titles in The Westons of Montana series include: A Family with the Cowboy ~ Reckless with the Cowboy ~ What the Cowboy Wants ~ The Rancher’s Christmas Bride ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
One month. One fake boyfriend. One shot at forever.
I’ve got four weeks to cross one thing off my bucket list—and it isn’t exactly PG.
I’m not the type to take risks, but when a friend battling cancer dares you to go big, you don’t say no. My mission? Lose my V-card before my baby sister’s wedding.
Did I mention she’s marrying my high school crush? Yeah. There’s no way I’m walking into that ceremony as the awkward, untouched older sister.
Enter single dad Ian Barlowe—my sinfully hot, NFL legend neighbor, who owes me big time after his daughter breaks into my house. He offers to make amends by playing my fake boyfriend. How can I say no?
It should be easy enough—except nothing about Ian feels fake. The chemistry? Explosive. His unexpected sweetness? Heart-melting. And the way he seems to like me just as I am? Ruh, roh.
Here’s the thing—I don’t do vulnerability, and neither does he. But as the line between pretend and real starts to blur—especially in the bedroom—I wonder if happily-ever-after is a game we can win.
I set out to score one for the bucket list, but now I’m playing for keeps. And if we’re not careful, I might lose my heart in the final play.
Titles in the Skylar series include: Someone to Love ~ Someone to Tempt ~ Someone to Have ~ Someone to Hold ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
Sometimes, beauty’s not enough…
Carolina Jessamine Boone was created to be beautiful. At least that’s what she’s been told her whole life. So, why is she still alone?
Jessa has a good job at the island winery and is making an old Lowcountry bungalow into a home—she’s content, and certainly has no need for a man. But anonymous gifts left through an old milk door raise both questions and memories of the past. Were the gifts left by the suave outsider who has designs on not just her, but the winery itself? Could they be from the boy who broke her heart years ago? Or is she about to finally discover who her father is?
The more Jessa opens her heart, the more she puts herself at risk. But sometimes heartbreak is simply a nudge onto a new, better path.
Titles in The Southern Isles series include: A Saltwater Christmas ~ The Dogwood Days of Summer ~ Chasing Carolina Jessamine ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
Ten years ago, Erin had her heart broken by fellow vet student Oli. Now, she’s his landlord!
All Erin wants is independence and security. All Oli does is travel the world after locuming at practices for a few months. So when he comes back into Erin’s life, she knows it’s temporary, no matter the lingering looks he gives her.
With Christmas approaching, the vet practice is busier than ever, and Erin is surprised at how well she and Oli work together to help the animals of Hartfell. From sharing meals in her cramped cottage to meandering the village fayre, the wall Erin has built around her heart begins to crumble.
But Oli’s contract is coming to an end, and he’s shown no sign of wanting to stay. Has she set herself up for another heartbreak from the only man she’s ever loved? Or will she realise that being independent sometimes means relying on others, and security comes with taking risks?
Titles in the Hartfell Village series include: Finding Home in Hartwell ~ Christmas at the Home Farm Vets ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
When talented chef Molly’s best friend and business partner, Ava, passes away, she leaves Molly their beloved restaurant – and a wild, impossible bucket list to complete. But thanks to a legal mix-up, Molly’s inheritance is at risk unless she ticks off every outrageous item before the Christmas Eve deadline: just twelve days away.
Determined to honour Ava’s wishes and desperate to save her dream, Molly searches for a billionaire willing to share Champagne with her in a hot tub – one of the more extravagant challenges on the bucket list. She’s in a luxurious ski resort in the French Alps, so it might just be doable. But then she meets Levi. A devastatingly handsome billionaire, yes, but infuriatingly resistant to getting involved!
As the snow falls and sparks fly, Molly is entangled in a series of increasingly embarrassing escapades. With time running out, can she pull off the impossible – and maybe even find love along the way?
~Standalone~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
Well, folks (and fellow romance lovers), it’s that time of year again. The end of August, when the air conditioning in many parts of the world is running on high, thoughts of snow drifts are a future thing, and that Christmas gift-buying list is not quite on our radar.
And… It’s time for the Christmas season ARCs to begin to show up, while many Christmas Romances start hitting the shelves (or the one-click retail sites) right this moment. Now, for me, I can read a holiday romance at any point in the year. Between now and the end of the year, I’ll have read enough holiday romances to give the North Pole’s library some fierce competition!
You, too? Then get ready for the Christmas Romance reading to begin, and make your own list of the titles that you want to give as gifts… to yourself!
Alice McBain spent a lifetime putting others first—her family, her friends, and Marilyn Morgan, the woman she’s secretly loved for over a decade.
But Marilyn isn’t just the mayor of Tuckaway Bay and Alice’s superior—she’s running for a state Senate seat and insists on keeping their relationship under wraps until after the election. Her constituents, and her husband, must never know.
Even though Alice has come to an amicable arrangement with her own husband, she is tired of hiding. After years of whispers and waiting, she wants the life she and Marilyn have dreamed of for years—out loud and in the open.
But when she finally finds the courage to demand more than hidden moments, the carefully constructed façade of her life crumbles. The fallout touches everything. Her family is thrown into chaos, and Marilyn’s political ambitions hang in the balance.
And the woman who’s always put others first must decide what love truly means when you finally choose yourself.
Titles in the Tuckaway Bay series include: Beach Therapy ~ The Space Inbetween ~ The Christmas Storm ~ The Me I Left Behind ~ I Wish You Love ~ Anywhere But Here ~
This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
Last a lifetime?
Fanny Cunningham is only in small-town Crystal Hill to help her aging dance teacher. She has no time for local handyman Lawson Carl, who tried—and failed—to charm her ten years ago.
But when she needs a partner for an instructional dance video, he’s her only option. Teaching Law to dance is more fun than she imagined.
And she may end up with bruised toes, but she feels strangely safe in his burly arms. Could the man who stumbled into her studio be her perfect partner on and off the dance floor?
Titles in the Crystal Hill Romance series include: The Dairy Queen’s Second Chance ~ The Valentine Plan ~ The Teacher’s Forever Family ~ Their First Dance ~
This is an adult 18+ story that might contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.
A search for a kidnapped camper
could cost them their lives.
Park warden Dekker Hoyt’s father-son camping trip turns into a nightmare when a serial killer abducts his father.
With just seventy-two hours to find him, Dekker turns to criminal investigative analyst Blaire Tremblay to identify the Park Campfire Killer.
As they follow his taunting clues and face increasingly violent threats, Dekker and Blaire know that one wrong step could be fatal. With the ruthless criminal following their every move, can they stop a killer in hiding…waiting to complete his deadly plan?
Titles in the National Park Protectors series include: Danger in the Wilderness ~ Trail of Mountain Secrets ~
This is a romance with either only kissing or possible violence due to the nature of the romantic suspense story.