Category: Small Town Romance

Stranded with the Local by Judith Harrison

Posted October 15, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

She planned to leave before anyone could ask her to stay. Then the storm hit.

Mireya Thorne returned to Brinewick for one reason: to settle a family property issue, avoid old gossip, and leave before the town started remembering things out loud. As a crisis communications consultant, she is excellent at managing other people’s disasters. Her own history with Brinewick is a problem she prefers not to brief.

Then a coastal storm slams into town, damages the station, floods the platform, and strands her exactly where she swore she would not linger.

Penn Saco is Brinewick’s emergency management anchor — calm, capable, and far too good at making people feel safe. He remembers Mireya as the girl who ran from town the first chance she got. Now he needs her to help control rumors, organize updates, and keep panic from spreading through Latchkey Lunch & News, which has become an emergency shelter with fries.

Mireya tells herself she is only staying because the town needs her. Penn tells himself he is only looking after her because that is what he does. But one storm, one borrowed cottage, and one bed that squeaks at every breath make denial difficult.

Penn knows how to offer care. Mireya knows how to survive without it. Loving each other means learning the difference between being needed, being wanted, and being brave enough to stay.

Titles in the Brinewick Station After Dark series include: Last Train to You ~ Delayed by Desire ~ Platform Rules ~ Hot Under the Station Lights ~ Stranded with the Local ~ Home on the 5:42 ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Hot Under the Station Lights by Judith Harrison

Posted October 15, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

Their relationship is supposed to be for the cameras. Too bad the private kisses are the dangerous ones.

Junie Vale knows how to sell a story. As Brinewick’s summer events consultant, she has one shot to prove the station is more than an old building with a leaking roof and a town full of opinions. The state wants public use. The tourists want charm. The locals want to avoid becoming a brochure. Junie needs a face for the campaign.

She gets Oz Pike.

Oz is a marine mechanic, part-time charter captain, and the last man in Brinewick who wants attention. Unfortunately, one candid photo of him helping at the station turns him into the town’s reluctant summer hero. Junie offers a solution: a few public appearances, some harmless fake dating, and enough community buzz to help the Station Renewal.

Oz agrees for the town. Not for the cameras. Definitely not for Junie’s smile.

But fake dating in Brinewick is impossible when the diner regulars can spot real longing from three booths away. Public kisses turn private. Staged chemistry turns inconveniently honest. And the more Junie tries to manage the story, the more Oz makes her want something no spotlight can prove.

She needs visibility. He needs privacy. Falling in love could save the campaign — or cost them both the one thing they never meant to risk.

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Delayed by Desire by Judith Harrison

Posted October 14, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

She wants the truth on record. He wants to save the town’s best story. Neither expected their arguments to get this personal.

Nola Charette returned to Brinewick to record the town’s history before the state decides the old station isn’t worth saving. As a podcast producer with a sharp eye for buried truths, she knows the official version of Brinewick’s past leaves out the people who actually kept the trains running—including her own grandfather.

Silas Rook has one job: build a clean, convincing heritage case that will help protect the station. As a preservation attorney from one of Brinewick’s most respectable families, he knows exactly how fragile public funding can be. He doesn’t need Nola digging through ledgers, challenging old plaques, and turning the town’s favorite legend into a full-scale emotional excavation.

Unfortunately, Nola is brilliant, relentless, and impossible to ignore. Silas is controlled, infuriating, and far more decent than she wants him to be.

Trapped together in dusty records rooms, diner interviews, and public listening sessions, Nola and Silas discover that history is not the only thing getting harder to contain. But when the truth threatens his family’s reputation and her family’s erasure, desire is not enough. One of them has to risk the story they have been protecting.

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Platform Rules by Judith Harrison

Posted October 14, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

The town needs a fundraiser. She needs one perfect event. He needs everyone to stop ignoring basic structural safety.

Tessa Rill can make chaos look charming. After her event business imploded in Providence, she is back in Brinewick with a headset, a clipboard, and a desperate need to prove she is still the woman who can pull off the impossible. Her new mission: produce the first major fundraiser for the Brinewick Station Renewal and make the half-restored Trackside Works look magical.

Unfortunately, Bram Lozada is in charge of making Trackside Works safe.

Bram is a historic restoration contractor with strong hands, stricter rules, and no patience for bunting, optimism, or volunteers who think “probably fine” is a safety plan. Tessa thinks he is impossible. Bram thinks she is exhausting. The town thinks they should be left alone together as often as possible, strictly for project efficiency.

But beneath Tessa’s sparkle is panic she refuses to show, and beneath Bram’s gruff competence is a man tired of being valued only when something is broken. As late nights, power outages, and one extremely inconvenient no-dating rule push them closer, their arguments start sounding a lot like foreplay.

Tessa can charm a whole town. Bram can fix almost anything. Falling for each other may be the one thing neither of them can manage under the platform’s rules.

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Last Train to You by Judith Harrison

Posted October 13, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, Series, Sexual Content, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

She stayed. He left. Now the town they both love needs them to save the place where goodbye ruined everything.

Mara Dacey knows every inch of Brinewick Station: the fogged windows, the unreliable announcement board, the commuter coffee, and the diner booth where she learned Cal Vardis was leaving town without her. Thirteen years later, she is the woman everyone counts on to keep the station running—which means she has no time for old heartbreak, especially when the state threatens to cut service and put Brinewick’s future at risk.

Then Cal steps off the train.

Now a coastal structural engineer, Cal has been hired to assess whether the station and its old freight shed can be saved. He came back to do a job, tell the truth, and leave before the town remembers too much. But Brinewick remembers everything. So does Mara.

Forced into late-night inspections, tense committee meetings, and too many emotionally dangerous breakfasts at Latchkey Lunch & News, Mara and Cal discover the years apart didn’t kill the spark between them. It only taught them how much damage silence can do.

To save the station, Cal has to stop hiding behind professional distance. To trust him again, Mara has to believe that needing someone does not mean being left behind.

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

A Cowboy to Remember by Melinda Curtis

Posted October 13, 2026 by Marsha in Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Heartwarming, Modern Western Romance, Multi-Author Series, NetGalley, No Spice Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

His family’s legacy… Is their chance at love

Desperate for work, jockey Tamara Vaughn reluctantly agrees to train horses at the revered Blackwell Stables. She can’t escape its connection to a smaller outfit in Texas, where her career veered off course, and her romantic feelings went unnoticed.

Widowed horse breeder Nathan Blackwell never expected to work with Tamara again after the tragedy with his prized horse—but a doping scandal back home in Gold Finch, Kentucky, has left the ranch with few options.

As they’re forced to team up, an undeniable chemistry builds, especially as Tamara helps his twin boys find their stride in bluegrass country. With her reputation and the ranch’s future riding on an emotionally charged, high-stakes race, can she and Nathan also dare to become something more?

Titles in the multi-author The Bluegrass Blackwells series include: A Cowboy to Call Her Own by Cari Lynn Webb ~ A Cowboy to Remember by Melinda Curtis ~ A Cowboy To Come Home To by Carol Ross ~ A Cowboy in Uniform by Amy Vastine ~ A Cowboy by Christmas by Anna J. Stewart ~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

The Tomorrow Tree by Carolyn Brown

Posted October 12, 2026 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, NetGalley, No Spice Romance, Small Town Romance, Standalone, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments

After thirteen years away, Tina O’Grady returns to her hometown of Benson, Texas, drawn to the old oak tree in the park. She and her childhood friends, Walker and Gracie, called it the Tomorrow Tree and shared their dreams beneath its branches. But Tina, still reeling from past betrayals, has no plans to stay.

Mae and Cleo aren’t about to let her leave. The elderly ladies who practically raised Tina offer her a room in their boardinghouse—where she discovers Walker and Gracie are also staying. Suddenly, this small town feels more like home than ever. Especially when Tina takes a job at Walker’s feed store, and their friendship rekindles into something deeper than either dared to hope.

Through Mae and Cleo’s fierce maternal love and a second chance with Walker, Tina must confront the wounds that drove her away. Can she finally trust in the family she’s always had—and the love that’s been waiting beneath the Tomorrow Tree?

~Standalone~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

Her Rodeo Rival’s Return by Rebecca Crowley

Posted October 12, 2026 by Marsha in Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Special Edition, NetGalley, No Spice Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

Can they set aside their differences to save their livelihood?

Kenzie Wallace can’t believe Jesse Singer’s gall. He blames her for nearly bankrupting his family’s rodeo stock company!

So Kenzie takes a job with his biggest rival, determined to put Jesse out of business.

They work hard at their rivalry until an outlaw rodeo circuit threatens the sport—and the livelihood—they both love.

To save the rodeo, they have to join forces, even though Kenzie would rather ride her rankest bull than work with Jesse.

But as resentment gives way to respect, the real challenge is resisting the heat between them.

The arena’s not the only place hearts are pumping. If they want a shot at love, they better get their lassos ready. It’ll be a wild ride.

Titles in the Singer Pro Rodeo Romance series include: Her Rodeo Rival’s Return ~ Their Rodeo Redemption ~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay by Roxy Winterfield

Posted October 12, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Christmas Romance, Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, Kindle Unlimited, No Spice Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

She’s the marine safety coordinator with strict protocols and stricter walls around her heart. He’s the reformed rebel seeking redemption and a second chance at the only place that ever felt like home.

Six years ago, Reef Navarro’s carelessness caused a marina fire that nearly destroyed Felicity Kelsey’s career. Now the committee has assigned them as co-judges for the Sand Sculpture Nativity Competition—ten weeks of forced proximity through Christmas Eve.

Coordination meetings twice a week. Joint inspections of elaborate sand sculptures. Christmas Light Boat Parade preparations. Working together while the entire town watches with opinions they don’t bother hiding. Three months of professional antagonism transforms into witty banter, honest conversations, and the terrifying realization that opposites don’t just attract—they balance.

But when his dream career opportunity requires him to leave, miscommunication leads to a devastating breakup. Only by facing their deepest fears—his need to prove he deserves happiness, her terror of being abandoned—can they find their way back to each other.

Titles in the Sandy Claus Bay series include: Christmas at Sandy Claus Bay ~ Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay ~ Moonlight at Sandy Claus Bay

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

The Grumpy Lawyer’s Christmas Romance by Davina Harrison

Posted October 12, 2026 by Marsha in Booksprout ARC, Christmas Romance, Closed Doors/ Fade to Black, Contemporary Romance, Kindle Unlimited, No Spice Romance, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

He hates Christmas. She lives for it. Falling in love was never part of the plan…

Ben Carter has no time for holiday cheer. As a big-city lawyer with a demanding career—and painful memories tied to Christmas—he’s only in Haden Creek for one reason: work. Then his rental car breaks down during the town’s Christmas parade. And suddenly… he’s stuck.

Holly Winters loves everything about the season. As Haden Creek’s event planner, she’s determined to make this year’s festival unforgettable—and she refuses to let one grumpy outsider ruin it. Especially not Ben Carter. But when he ends up staying in the room above her office, avoiding him becomes impossible.

So Holly makes it her mission: Show him that Christmas magic is real. Between late-night planning, festive traditions, and moments neither of them expected, Ben begins to see Haden Creek—and Holly—differently.

Because behind her bright smile is a woman carrying her own loneliness. And for the first time in years… Christmas doesn’t feel so empty. But when Holly discovers the real reason Ben came to town—and what his work could cost the community she loves—everything between them shatters.

Now Ben must choose: The life he built… Or the one he never knew he needed.

Titles in the Haden Creek Hearts series include: The Rancher’s Second Chance ~ The Doctor’s Second Chance ~ The Firefighter’s Unexpected Love ~ The Sheriff’s Snowed-In Temptation ~ The Bartender’s Fake Girlfriend ~ The Chef’s Unexpected Love ~ The Cowboy’s Second Chance ~ The Lodge Boss’s Secret Heart ~ The Rescuer’s Unexpected Love ~ The Rancher’s Secret Child ~ The Bookseller’s Convenient Marriage ~ The Grumpy Lawyer’s Christmas Romance ~ The Sheriff’s Forever Love ~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.