A Rancher's Christmas Kiss

It’s getting close enough we need to make this official.

The final HOLIDAYS ON HEART FALLS story is coming your way.

And while this is Sonora and Ashton’s story, it’s turned out to be much more. It’s now… (counts on fingers and toes) …14 books ago that I began the over-arching Heart Falls series. Of course, that wasn’t the first time we’d met the Stone family, or visited the town of Heart Falls, but it was when we formally started this new part of the saga.

Book 15 wraps up parts of the past, from the first days of the Fields family moving to town, then slides in to answer the questions of what exactly was going on with Ashton and Sonora over the past 4 holiday books.

I’m so pleased to announce that at one point my editor left a note with !!!! and OMG!!! regarding one of those easter eggs tidbits. (Can’t wait for you to find it out!)

I’ve had a wonderful time discovering the roots of the families even better than before. I hope you’ll really finish with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

And…after, we’ll talk about what comes next! 😉

Pre-order is up now at all vendors, and there will be print and audio on release day as well. 

The final stand-alone story in the HOLIDAYS IN HEART FALLS series by New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend. While this book can be enjoyed on its own, series readers will delight to discover all sorts of Heart Falls easter eggs, past and present!

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This rancher wasn’t looking for love—but she’s been right there the entire time. 

In their mid-forties when they first met, widow Sonora Fallen and vows-to-stay-single rancher Ashton Stewart both felt a spark but agreed being friends was more important than becoming lovers. For many years that decision held firm, and other than one time, their grumbly-in-public, friends-in-private arrangement has stuck.

Now sixteen years later, the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future seem determined to change these friends to lovers to…something else? All of Heart Falls is watching, suspicions on the rise as Sonora and Ashton’s secret slips into view.

Can two people used to standing on their own find a way to admit they want more? Or will stubbornness and fear keep them from forever?

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Want a little taste? Let’s join in the very moment Ashton first sees Sonora. At a tobogganing and barbecue party at the Stones, of course…

Excerpt:

A loud shriek sounded from the tobogganing slope. They turned in time to see the second oldest of Walter’s boys bounce to his feet and wave in their direction. “It’s okay. Everybody’s okay,” Luke shouted, pulling a laughing pile of girls apart from where two sleds had collided at the base of the hill.

“The little ones weren’t in that crash, I take it?” Sophie asked.

“Caleb has them,” Ashton assured her, pointing to the side of the hill. “He’s a solid young man. He’ll take good care of them. Is your youngest with him?”

“Fern. She’s three,” Malachi shared. He glanced around then pointed at the two girls scrambling up the hill with Luke and his sister. “Tansy and Rose, both twelve.”

“And Ivy is our oldest at fourteen,” Sophie said. “Walker took her to see the horses.”

Ashton nodded then turned his attention on the final person he needed to greet.

Sophie continued. “And this is my mother, Sonora Fallen.”

Mother.

The hell?

Ashton glanced between the two women. How was that possible? Sophie looked maybe in her early- to mid-thirties. No way was Sonora older than Ashton, let alone in her fifties. Her blue eyes were bright with a silvery sheen that danced with mischief. Laugh lines creased the corners, but nothing like she should have to be the grandmother to a fourteen-year-old.

Sonora raised a brow. “There a problem?”

Jeez. Ashton had been staring. What’s worse, the woman had put her hand out, and he’d already taken it and yet was standing there motionless, her fingers trapped in his.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, shaking her hand. “Welcome to Heart Falls.”