He’s nervous and awkward around beautiful women. Haunted by a childhood trauma, she’s terrified of men. Can these social misfits find love with the help from their matchmaking friends?
Breck Stokes is back where he belongs. After years at university, he’s moved back to Emerson Pass and taken over his mother’s veterinarian practice. He loves small town life, spending time with his buddies and healing big and small animals. In his spare time, he runs a dog rescue, helping pets find their forever home. The moment he meets lovely but shy Tiffany Birt, he feels drawn to her in a way he can’t explain. If only he could get up the courage to ask her out.
Tiffany Birt is Emerson Pass’s favorite wedding planner. Debilitatingly shy and fearful of men, she’s accepted she’ll never be a bride herself, but loves helping couples plan their perfect mountain wedding. Although she misses her close-knit family back in Nebraska, she’s determined to move past the trauma of her childhood kidnapping and make a go of it in Emerson Pass. To fight her loneliness and anxiety, she focuses on her rescue dog as well her budding friendships with several other new residents of the small, quaint Colorado mountain town.
Can sweet Breck coax innocent Tiffany out of her carefully devised shell and win her heart? Will their matchmaking friends interfere in the name of love?
The third installment in the Emerson Pass Contemporaries will restore your faith in the healing power of love and friendship. Pre-order today!
Breck is just the sweetest!
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Dear Tiffany,
It may surprise you to know it took me over a year to find the courage to ask you out. I noticed you the first time just after I moved back to town. I was coming out of The Sugar Queen with a bag full of those morning glory muffins Brandi makes. I love them and have convinced myself that anything with carrots can’t be all bad for you. You were walking Muffy and had stopped at the market. It was warm that day and they had all the fruit out in front of the store in those cute bins. You were wearing jean overalls and a tank top that showed off your slender arms. You were leaning over a pile of lemons with your dark hair covering your face, so it wasn’t until you looked up that I saw all of you. Your lovely face stirred me, although from that distance, I couldn’t see the unusual color of your light blue eyes. II noticed that a few days later when I saw you at Pucks.)That first day, you picked up a lemon and held it in your hands, turning it over as if looking for flaws–as if it were of the utmost importance that you picked the right one. Then, in that graceful way of yours, you brought it close to your nose. I could see your chest rise and fall as you breathed in the scent. It struck me that you might be a thoughtful person, weighing all the information before making a decision. A quality I appreciated, given my own propensity for impulsive decisions. I know now, of course, that the ghosts of your past made you examine that lemon so closely. It was not with a critical eye. Instead, you were absorbing the delight of that lemon and its citrusy scent and perhaps imagining what you would make with it when you returned home. Since then, I’ve learned how you take pleasure in the tiniest displays of beauty. Moments that some of us might miss because we don’t know how precious the ordinary is. Nothing is wasted on you. Big or small, you see it. I adore that quality in you. One of many, of course!
You always find beauty in whatever or whomever you’re observing. Even me and my clumsy ways. For that, I’m grateful and humbled that you chose me.
Happy Valentine’s Day, my love. Although it’s trite and overdone, I’ve gotten you a box of candy, knowing you’ll savor each one, marvelling at the simple pleasure of chocolate as it melts on your tongue. With all my love, Breck.
Tess Thompson is a USA Today bestselling author of small-town romance and historical fiction, with nearly 20 titles across multiple series that focus on heartwarming journeys of triumph and humanity for colorful characters you’d love to be friends with in real life.
Tess holds a degree in theater from the University of Southern California (go Trojans!), and can be found most days at her desk in suburban Seattle, where she also makes her home with the hero of her own love story and their blended family of two sons, two daughters, and five cats.
Tess loves music, dancing, books, bubble baths, cooking, wine, movies, snuggling, Seahawks football, and hearing from her readers. Drop her a line at tess@tthompsonwrites.com.
