For elementary school teacher Sara Winston, being a camp counselor is the ideal summer job, if only she can pass the canoe test. As a former all-star athlete Sara knows she needs to practice, so she heads out on a solo excursion to hone her paddling skills. A sudden lightning storm drives her to shore, and while waiting out the deluge, she encounters a bedraggled man who is definitely not rainwater fresh. Zack Flanagan looks like a soggy, sweaty pirate, so when he reveals stories of hidden treasure, Sara is convinced he's a harmless nut case. But when someone steals Sara's canoe leaving them stranded in a remote uninhabited area miles from anywhere, she considers the possibility that Zack might not be so crazy after all. Someone else might be after the treasure--and them.
Tess Mitchell would love to give her regards to Broadway, but so far that plan isn't working out. After bungling countless auditions, Tess returns to her home town of Alpine Grove where her only fans are her cats: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Although selling advertising may not satisfy her thespian aspirations, it pays the rent--if only she could find a place willing to accept the Fab Four. While careening down a dirt road, Tess almost slams into a massive road grader. The driver is none other than Luke Bennett with his dog Barney riding shotgun. Tess hasn't spoken to Luke since he broke her best friend's heart, but in a small town, you always seem to run into the last person you want to see. Luke has a solution to her housing problem if Tess is willing to put up with a few inconveniences like squirrel-obsessed squatters who have cut holes in the walls. When Tess learns that the beloved Grove Theater is destined for the wrecking ball, she joins the crusade to preserve the historic icon. While working to save the theater, Tess learns more about Luke and the talents he's forsaken. Could saving the theater salvage both of their dreams for the future?
Tori Merrill detests Halloween. All the fake blood, creepy crawlies, and ghastly ghoulies make her squeamish. But as a partner in a new candy business, Halloween is a holiday she can't ignore. When her partners encourage her to attend the local Haunted Barn event and hand out candy samples to trick-or-treaters, against her better judgment, she agrees. But first, she has to convince someone to care for her spoiled, cranky dog, Ginny--preferably someone who has never heard Ginny bark. Scarred by long-ago events, Dale Holbrook has made a point of avoiding anything to do with his family's toy business with two exceptions: he voices the company mascot, Harvey the Penguin, and he helps with the Haunted Barn because it benefits his family's charitable foundation. Decked out in a grotesquely pink Little Bo Peep outfit at the Haunted Barn, Tori crashes headlong into Robin Hood, Zorro, and Holbrook family dramas. Amid grisly gnomes, creepy clowns, chainsaw-wielding zombies, and barfing dragons, Tori confronts her long-held beliefs about Halloween, hoop skirts, truth, and love.
Carly Buchanan's "happily ever after" takes a nosedive when, after fifteen years of un-wedded devotion to the man now nicknamed "Captain Prickard," he boots her from their home so his new girlfriend can move in. At least Carly still has her sweet dog, Trixie. In need of moral support, Carly invites her sister and two college friends to join her at a lake house near the small town of Alpine Grove. The tranquil escape turns complex when Carly and her friends discover a stray dog that's just had puppies. After enlisting the help of reluctant next-door neighbor, Brent Michaelson, the women set out to rescue the pups. Brent has retreated to his family's lake cabin to overcome a creative block that threatens to derail his art career. The last thing he needs is his refuge to be overrun by a rambunctious litter of noisy, spotted puppies. But who can resist puppies in need? As secrets are revealed, Carly's summer vacation might not be the self-reflective interlude she expected, but maybe a little furry chaos, intrigue, and romance is exactly what she needs.
Librarian Jan Carpenter likes things just so. Nestled in her tidy little cottage on the outskirts of the small hamlet of Alpine Grove, she enjoys her quiet life with her friendly, rotund black lab, Rosa. Jan's orderly life is turned upside down when she attends her mother's latest wedding in San Diego. (Number six...or maybe seven, but who's counting?) There, Jan encounters Michael Lawson, the obnoxious neighbor kid from twenty years ago. He's still irritating, but not as annoying as his dog who has a habit of eating...everything. The last thing Jan wants to do is risk heartache on a vacation fling with a smooth-talking serial dater, even if he is sinfully gorgeous and finds her unusual ability to remember obscure facts fascinating. Amidst wardrobe destruction, canine digestive indiscretions, and episodes of extreme mortification, Jan's desire to avoid drama may put the brakes on her fiery attraction to Michael. But maybe being cautious and responsible isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Get the first four Alpine Grove romantic comedies in one collection at a discount! Four full-length feel-good novels that include a little bit of humor and a whole lot of fur. Each novel stands alone, but Alpine Grove is a small town, so many characters do tend to reappear. After a while, you'll start to feel like you're a member of the community. The Love, Laughter, and Fur collection from Susan C. Daffron is 1200 pages of romantic comedy fun that readers say literally has them laughing out loud. If you like a little light romance, quirky animal stories, and tales of small town life, or you're just someone who is looking for a light read to help escape the daily grind, you won't be disappointed. Books in this collection: CHEZ STINKY Kat Stevens is a slightly insecure, mostly bored tech writer who likes her cat a lot more than her boss. When she inherits her great aunt’s house, she finds it's filled with pets and complications. After coping with out-of-control dogs, cat fights, dust dinosaurs, massive spiders and roof problems, things get more interesting when Kat meets Joel, an unemployed techie type with an enigmatic past. FUZZY LOGIC Librarian Jan Carpenter likes things just so. Nestled in her tidy little cottage on the outskirts of the small hamlet of Alpine Grove, she enjoys her quiet life with her friendly, rotund black lab, Rosa. Jan's orderly life is turned upside down when she attends her mother's latest wedding in San Diego where she encounters Michael Lawson, the obnoxious neighbor kid from twenty years ago. He's still irritating, but not as annoying as his dog who has a habit of eating...everything. THE ART OF WAG With the exception of a few failed forays into higher education, Tracy Sullivan has lived her entire life in the small town of Alpine Grove. When she is fired from her hostess job, Tracy hits a new all-time career low. Now she's officially a repeat underachiever and almost completely broke. Desperate for a change of scene, Tracy splurges on a digital art class in the city where she meets Rob Thompson, a geeky computer networking guy who wants a new career as much as she does. After seeing her illustrations, he offers Tracy a temporary job, but adding "starving artist" to her dubious list of achievements doesn't seem wise. SNOW FURRIES After a life-altering setback destroys Rebecca Mackenzie's career, she starts over as a real estate appraisal trainee in her uncle's office. Map reading has never been her strong suit, and on a trip to Alpine Grove, Becca's navigational skills are pushed to the limit in a town that doesn't believe in road signs. When the supposed-to-be flurries turn out to be a record-setting blizzard, the trip literally goes downhill after Becca's car slides off the road into a ditch. Accompanied by his huge mountain dog, a scruffy stranger wearing a massive coat with dozens of pockets drags Becca to safety.
Some trips are longer and stranger than others. So far, 1997 has been a spectacularly bad year for reporter Meg Jennings -- and it's only March. Uncontrollable, debilitating visions have forced her to give up driving and take a leave of absence from her job. When her mother demands that she visit without explaining why, Meg sets aside her worries and heads for the small town of Alpine Grove. But her arrival is greeted by an empty house and no sign of Mom. Help arrives in a cherry-red classic convertible Mustang with Riley O'Shea behind the wheel and his fluffy white dog Zelda riding shotgun. Summoned by his father, Riley is disturbed to find that Dad has disappeared along with Meg's mother. Meeting his possible future step-sister for the first time, he learns that he isn't the only one who has been plagued with sensory anomalies that doctors can't explain. A cryptic note from Dad sends the threesome on a quest across the southwest US to find a mystery man who may have the answers they need. Navigating through hallucinations, malodorous bakeries, Elvis impersonators, and evil clowns forces Meg and Riley to put aside their differences and confront the secrets and conspiracies behind their parents' disappearance. Along the way, they begin to suspect that having messed up senses might not be as coincidental as they thought.
Kat Stevens is a slightly insecure, mostly bored technical writer who likes her cat a lot more than her boss. When she inherits her great aunt Abigail's house in the small town of Alpine Grove, Kat's life gets a lot more complicated because the inheritance comes with some hairy conditions: four dogs and five cats. After coping with out-of-control dogs, cat fights, dust dinosaurs, massive spiders and serious roof problems, things get even more interesting when Kat meets Joel, an unemployed techie type with an enigmatic past.
Since the accident that killed her fiancé, Erin Quinn's life has been on hold. Locked in grief, she's in no mood to embrace holiday cheer, but she runs out of excuses to avoid her family when her parents send her a plane ticket so she can spend the holidays with them in Alpine Grove. Erin hasn't been back to her hometown in more than two decades. And she never tells anyone that until she was twelve she lived in a hippie commune with no electricity or indoor plumbing. The years at the Dancing Cedars commune was a drama-filled part of her past she's worked hard to forget. When her childhood friend Dylan Bryant picks Erin up at the airport, the past starts to catch up with her. Since the commune disbanded, he's been working at his family's Christmas tree farm, a place chock full of elves, twinkle lights, questionable baked goods, and family crises. Sure, he might be three feet taller than the last time she saw him, but Dylan's offbeat personality hasn't changed. Neither has his ability to see through her defenses. At an eccentric Thanksgiving gathering, everyone discovers the old Hodgepodge Lodge at Dancing Cedars is filthy and overrun with feral cats--and maybe a skunk. Against her better judgment, Erin agrees to help Dylan clean up and repair the abandoned log structure, which has more holes than a cheese grater. In between bizarre dreams filled with oversized Santa possums and jingle bears, Erin reconnects with Dylan and finds herself increasingly drawn to the timeless serenity and beauty of the Dancing Cedars property. But when a developer makes a play for the land, they might need a miracle to save it.
After a life-altering setback destroys Rebecca Mackenzie's career, she jumps at the chance to start over as a real estate appraisal trainee in her uncle's office. Although a job change had been in order, being the new kid did have some downsides, including being forced to do a rush appraisal in the small town of Alpine Grove over Thanksgiving weekend. Although map reading has never been her strong suit, Becca's navigational skills are pushed to the limit in a town that doesn't believe in road signs. When the supposed-to-be flurries turn out to be a record-setting blizzard, the trip literally goes downhill after Becca's car slides nose-down off the road into a ditch. Accompanied by his huge mountain dog, a scruffy stranger wearing a massive coat with dozens of pockets drags Becca to safety. In the darkness of a small log cabin in the woods, Becca confesses far too many secrets to Jack Sheridan. Sure, if she'd known she'd end up trapped in the middle of nowhere with a guy named Jack, she never would have watched that scary movie. But maybe Jack isn't such a dull boy after all.
