Smoky Mountain (Stepp)

The deep secrets - that restrict us and limit our lives - are at the heart of this first, engaging novel in the Smoky Mountain series. Vivian Delaney - in The Foster Girls - arrives in the quiet Wears Valley, on the backside of the Smoky Mountains, carrying a heavy load of hidden problems - and eager to find a quiet place to escape the recent troubles of her past. However, secrets are hard to keep, and right away Vivian encounters unexpected challenges with her landlord, Scott Jamison. From Vivian's first meeting with Scott - at the end of a rifle barrel - Scott seems purposed to push past all Vivian's defenses and to find a way into her heart. Just as Vivian begins to trust Scott - and is able to share her secrets with him and new friends in the valley - love for a little foster girl, Sarah Taylor, challenges Vivian and Scott's new relationship. When Sarah is lost in the mountains, the suspense and conflict build - with the lives of several characters caught tantalizingly in the balance.

It is difficult to recover when hurt by those we love and trust, but in this second novel in the beloved Smoky Mountain Series, a young woman finds healing and new confidence while staying in a mountain cabin on the quiet side of the mountains. New Yorker Jenna Howell has spent many pleasant hours listening to her older neighbor, Sam Oliver, spin stories about his beloved home place on Orchard Hollow Road in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Townsend is far, removed from Jenna's life in downtown Manhattan, but when, several shocking events and marital betrayal come her way, Jenna decides to take Sam up on his offer to visit his cabin in the mountains. At Sam's place, Jenna meets many new friends, including her good-looking neighbor, artist Boyce Hart. A quick attraction sparks between Jenna and Boyce, proving to be both exciting and confusing. It's not the right time for a new relationship for either Jenna or Boyce. However, as spring blooms in the Smokies, Jenna blooms. She gains a new appreciation for unselfish love and simple pleasures, develops confidence in herself and her talents, and gains new understandings about faith. An unexpected tragedy forces her to return to New York City. Here she must test her newfound strengths, resolve the problems in her life, and decide on the direction for her future. Choosing the right course proves to be more difficult than expected-as two very different lives vie with opposite allures for Jenna's heart.

A young woman with six foster children under twelve hopes for patience, peace, and a bigger house - but love? Not hardly. However, sometimes fate deals an unexpected hand. When Alice Graham came back to look at the sale property at the base of the Smoky Mountains in Greenbrier, it was absolutely not because of that recurring dream of the cowboy. She'd seen him high on the ridge top back in the winter and felt a peculiar drawing and attraction flash between them - but she certainly never expected to see him again. When she did, a month after buying the rural property, that odd attraction surprisingly still sizzled in the air. It seemed unlikely though that anything would come of any romantic feelings, because Alice had bought the property as a home for herself and the six Stuart siblings she'd agreed to foster. Six kids were enough to scare any man off right away - especially a confirmed bachelor like Harrison Ramsey with unsolved mysteries and unpleasant rumors floating around in his past. However, fate soon pushed Harrison into mixing with Alice's and the children's lives despite his best intentions. His nearby riding stable proved a natural draw for the kids, and he soon found his life more and more entwined with Alice, as well, and having no idea how to handle it. PRAISE FOR LIN STEPP'S SMOKY MOUNTAIN NOVELS "Stepp has a grasp of character and a love for the mountains of Tennessee." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Book Reviews "Lin Stepp has an amazing way of making the reader feel like they are sitting in a rocking chair, taking in the Great Smoky Mountains, whether they can physically see them or not. Descriptive writing, characters that embrace you and an amazing storyline make Stepp's novels highly anticipated and thoroughly enjoyable". - Jennifer Alexander - WKJB-FM Radio - Popular Midday Host B97 and creator of the Book of the Month Club reaching over 100,000+ listeners "I love the Smoky Mountains so it is such a treat for me to read your stories especially since you are so wonderfully talented in weaving them... Can't wait to read the next one!" - Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, SOUTHERN WRITERS MAGAZINE "Lin Stepp is a gifted storyteller who skillfully captures the mystical and enduring history and beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains and the faith, loyalty, and resilience of the people who call them home. ...Stepp's writing is smooth and easy, bringing the reader into the hearts of her characters. I'll be returning for more of Lin Stepp's engaging and heartwarming stories." - PJ, ROMANCE DISH Reviews

Follow Delia through surprising twists of sorrow, suspense, and sweetness-amid the charm of Gatlinburg and the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains in this warm, contemporary romance. Delia Eleanor Walker's life is perfectly planned-the wedding date set, the invitations mailed, and her family gathered at the North Carolina beach house ready to celebrate-when Delia receives Prentice's unexpected fed-ex announcing he's married someone else! What on earth will she do? She's centered every aspect of her future on her upcoming marriage and knows her family will somehow blame the breakup on her. They always do. They'll call it one more immature botch by the baby of the family. In her lap, among the mail just received, Delia seizes on an answer-an invitation from Maureen Cross for a last visit to her Aunt Dee's old cottage behind Gatlinburg. It's cowardly to run, but Delia does, hoping to find in the mountains time to heal and space to chart a new direction for her life. Instead of peace and quiet, in Gatlinburg though, Delia finds a troubled cousin she's never met hiding out in her aunt's house and an old childhood heartthrob, Tanner Cross, back in town, reminding her of yet another time she made a fool of herself romantically. To top it off, a criminal is soon on the loose, along with an increasingly complicated array of new problems that Delia never, in a million years, expected to encounter.

Surely a girl can be forgiven a moment of fantasy dancing with a tall dark stranger? And surely, nothing can come of it? Wrong. Life's chance, indulgent moments always find a way of coming back to complicate everything. Life is sometimes hard as a widowed, single mother with three young children, a business to run, bills to meet, and debts to pay. Despite it all, Rosalyn McCreary tries to count her blessings. She cherishes her shop, Second Hand Rose, her family and friends. A practical woman by necessity, she seldom indulges in impulse and fancy-except for that crazy spring day she danced with a total stranger she'd never met. Whatever was she thinking? And, to later learn her mystery stranger, Kendrick Lanier, plans to move to Wears Valley. Great. Just one more problem she doesn't need. Kendrick soon pursues her, despite Rosalyn's efforts to crowd him out, finding ways into her life, and into the lives of her children, and creating complications Rosalyn simply doesn't want to deal with. Especially since the more she learns of the man's life and secrets, the more she realizes how ill-suited they are. With Rosalyn and Kendrick's troubled pasts, and Rosalyn's temper, you'll find it a toss-up to decide if these two stubborn, determined individuals should, or shouldn't, ever get together.

Set against the backdrop of Tennessee's breathtaking Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp's Down By the River is a warm-hearted novel that proves it's never too late--or too early--for a fresh start. . . While on a visit to the Smokies, Grace Conley makes a stunning decision: she's going to walk away from her busy life in Nashville to move to tiny Townsend and open a bed and breakfast. There's a beautiful old inn for sale along the Little River that will do perfectly. Of course, Grace's family is scandalized. After all, she's a middle-aged widow! And as a career homemaker, she's always been available for babysitting, chauffeuring, and generally being the peacemaker among her grown children. Has Grace lost her mind? She begins to wonder the same thing once she finds herself attracted to the local ladies' man. But the surprises don't stop there. . . To further complicate her move, Grace's daughter, Margaret, has grudgingly come to live with her. Having just graduated from college, remote Townsend is not where she envisions her future. Yet the handsome young minister next door is convinced he and Margaret are meant for each other. As life choices abound, soon both women will discover that the biggest decisions require confidence, a sense of humor--and a deep, abiding faith.

Set in Tennessee's postcard-perfect Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp's Makin' Miracles is an inspiring tale that reveals why love and forgiveness are most important just when they seem most impossible. . . Zola Devon has always been a little different. Half Tahitian, with long black hair and dark eyes, she's especially distinctive in the mountain town of Gatlinburg. She even stocks her gift shop, Nature's Corner, with items that reflect her island heritage and tantalize tourists. But it's her spot-on intuition that truly sets Zola apart. When she gets a hunch about a person, she's almost always right. And when the surly photographer who owns the gallery next door starts meddling in her business, she can only hope that, for once, her instincts are wrong. The one thing Spencer Jackson loves more than his camera is the majestic scenery of the Smoky Mountains. Reeling from his painful past, he's settled in a cabin in the woods to train his lens on the breathtaking landscape. A woman as uniquely beguiling as Zola could only throw his simple, uncomplicated days into chaos--and force him to lay bare his darkest secrets. But as their lives become unavoidably intertwined, they both may discover the beauty of the truth, and the joy of the unexpected.

In a heartwarming novel set amid the lush splendor of the Great Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp reunites two kindred spirits in a charming story of first love and surprising second chances... See ya later--and love you forever, Rhea Dean. Those are the words Rhea's childhood sweetheart, Carter Layman, used to say whenever they parted. Not that she places much stock in words anymore. After all, Carter drove off to college in California, promising to make a fortune to help save their families' vacation resort. Instead he stayed there and married someone else. It fell to Rhea to keep Laurel Springs going and she's done just that, working long hours on the camp grounds, buoyed by the beauty of her Smokies home. Now a widower with a young son, Carter has achieved huge success as a games developer. But he always planned to return to the spring-fed lake and the soaring mountains, to the covered bridge where he and Rhea made wishes and traded kisses. He's coming home to turn Laurel Springs into the place they planned to build together. And as he reveals the truth about his past, Rhea must decide whether to trust in the man--and the dreams--she's never forgotten.

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp's sweet and touching story follows one woman's journey back to the home--and the husband--she left behind… When Lydia Cunningham left her husband and moved to Atlanta ten years ago, it was with equal parts sadness and certainty. She loved her home in North Carolina, with its lush green hills and crisp, clean air. And in truth, she still loved John, too. But she could no longer live with her mother-in-law's constant criticism and the distance it created in her marriage. Now, thanks to a job offer at her alma mater, Lydia is moving back, renting the old country house where she and John lived as newlyweds. She hopes to strengthen the frayed ties with her daughter, Mary Beth, and build a relationship with her grandsons. As for John--it's clear from the moment Lydia sees him standing in her doorway that he hopes they might rekindle their bond. The spark between them hasn't dimmed--but neither have Lydia's memories of past hurts. Yet in this magnificent landscape that's always felt like home, she might find a way to forgive and begin again…