Halstead House

On her twenty-fifth birthday, Grace Burke finally breaks free of her domineering mother and travels from Rhode Island to Lavender Island, Texas, to see Halstead House—the mansion her beloved adopted grandmother spoke of fondly. There she lands a job as an event planner, makes her first real friends, and slowly transforms from a repressed 'sheep' into her true self. When she clashes with—and then falls for—the guarded Halstead heir, Grace must decide whether she's brave enough to claim the life and love she truly wants.

Mother's face transformed from cold disdain to mocking humor. "You've set your cap for the Halstead heir. Darling girl, you're a fool to think that a worldly man like him will be interested in ever settling down. Look around you. There's no place for you here. As soon as you leave, things will return to normal and they won't miss you one little bit."

The candles were to blame-twenty-five flames dancing wildly, their wax dripping and marring the perfect white frosting on a birthday cake that whispered, "Grace, those dancing flames had said to me, you want more than this." So Grace had packed her bags and gone to a place where her past life could never hurt her again-or so it seemed. . . .

But some things never change. Why did her mother have to follow her? Grace had not gone to Lavender Island to seek out Lucas. He hadn't even been on the list of reasons for her to run away. She had fallen in love with him, and he loved her back-didn't he? Yet her mother's words made sense in a bizarre way. Grace was left to struggle with a broken heart filled with doubt and the fear that for once in her life, her mother was right.

And now it all depended on Lucas. Did he love her enough to insist on her staying, or would he watch and do nothing as she was forced to leave, never to return?

Perfect for readers who enjoy Sarah Adams and Esther Hatch—charming, clean, character-driven romance.