An unexpected partnership. A shocking secret. Can the truth heal old wounds?

After months away, architect Wyatt Teague returns home only to find himself named a guardian to his late friends’ orphaned twins…alongside his ex-fiancée, Natalie Dalton.

But caring for them together proves to be a challenge: Wyatt’s job is in the city, and Natalie can’t leave her family’s apple orchard.

As they vow to make this new partnership work, old feelings between them quickly resurface.

But when Natalie finds out the true reason behind Wyatt’s abandonment, can she trust him with the babies…and her heart?

Titles in the Home to Foxtail series include:  Mountain Homecoming ~ Her Pretend Holiday Beau ~

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

Title:  Mountain Homecoming
Series:  Home to Foxtail #1
Author:  Susanne Dietze
Published:  May 27, 2025
Publisher:  Harlequin Love Inspired
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Mountain Homecoming begins the Home to Foxtail series with a thoughtful, often painfully realistic romance of a couple who once pledged themselves to each other, only to have an event in one person’s life rip them apart… without a timely explanation.  Pain, anger, and betrayal play a large part in Natalie’s reaction to Wyatt returning to their hometown to be co-guardian with her for their friends’ twin daughters after a tragic accident.  Add to that sense of betrayal the fact that as part of their father’s will, Natalie and her siblings must maintain the family U-pick orchard exactly as it is right now, without any improvements for five years… or they lose the property.  Natalie’s plate is full to overflowing right now, and facing the man who broke her heart is not sitting well with her at all.

It’s often so easy, as readers, to judge a character’s actions because we know more than they do about events, so yeah, sometimes it is difficult to see them hurting themselves and others with their (to us) sometimes unreasonable reactions.  Wyatt has kept information from Natalie for far too long, information that, while I can understand his hesitation to divulge it, I can also see how letting Natalie know the real reasons for his decisions would have lessened the fallout from his actions… and have helped him deal with what fate dropped into his life more easily.  But then we wouldn’t have such a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching reaction to this couple who once planned a future together, only to see it all fall apart.

I understood both of their points of view.  Frankly, they both were right, and both so very wrong.  Watching them work through the sense of betrayal as they dealt with the changes the twins, Rose and Luna, brought to their lives was emotional and powerful.  I found Natalie to be controlling, making far too many assumptions, and very slow to acknowledge it.  Wyatt’s steady reliance on God, his determination to do better, find solutions, even restructure his life for the twins’ sake and for Natalie, often made him my favorite of the main characters.  I liked them both, but perhaps my emotions were a bit more engaged with Wyatt.  And do not get me started on his parents!  (You’ll see when you read the book.)

In all, I enjoyed Mountain Homecoming by Susanne Dietze very much.  It’s well-written, emotional, faith-based, and kept me engaged throughout.  I’m looking forward to reading the other siblings’ stories as the series continues.

I own a Kindle Edition of this title.

** Read as part of the TBR 26 in ’26 & Finish the Series Reading Challenges for 2026 (see the Challenges tab at the top of the page).**

This title is available at Amazon