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Valentine Valley #1 Finalist in the Contemporary Single Title category of the National Readers' Choice Awards Order from Barnes and Noble Order from Books-a-Million Order from Amazon Order the Ebook Order from Indie Bound Order from iBooks Order from Kobo Order from Google Play ~~~~~ Discussion Questions for Readers' Groups |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Town Called Valentine by Emma Cane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emily Murphy never thought she'd return to her mom's rustic hometown in the Colorado Mountains. But after her marriage in San Francisco falls apart, leaving her penniless and heartsick, she returns to her old family home to find a new direction for her life. On her first night back, though, a steamy encounter with handsome rancher Nate Thalberg is not the fresh start she had in mind... Nate has good reason not to trust the determined beauty who just waltzed into town--he's no stranger to betrayal. Besides, she's only there to sell her family's old property and move back out. But as Nate and Emily begin working side-by-side to restore her time-worn building and old family secrets change Emily's perception of herself, both are about to learn how difficult it is to hide from love in a place known far and wide for romance, family ties, and happily-ever-afters: a town called Valentine. ~~~~~ Reviews: "Cane’s debut contemporary sparkles with charm and gentle humor...With an engaging narrative and charming setting, this cozy tale makes for a pleasurably satisfying read by a crackling fire on cold winter nights." Publishers Weekly "Will leaving you smiling long after you've closed the last page." Lori Wilde, NY Times Bestselling Author "More than just a romance, it's also a tale of love in all its aspects." RT Book Reviews Magazine "...great laugh-out-loud moments, a ton of charm and smokin' hot cowboys" Romance Junkies "This is a town I can't wait to return to!" Lush Book Reviews "...a setting with just the right emphasis on romance and Valentine's Day characterizes this touching, family-centered contemporary debut." Library Journal "A feel-good tale filled with a bit of emotion, humor and sexiness." Romance Reviews Today "A TOWN CALLED VALENTINE is the perfect novel to curl up with on the infamous holiday and let your heart strings tear." Love Romances and More "a love story that tends to stick to you and leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling" Fresh Fiction "Valentine Valley is the place to be! Emma Cane has created a heartwarming, fun unforgettable town filled with characters the reader will fall in love with. A TOWN CALLED VALENTINE swept me off my feet.... I can’t wait to visit Valentine Valley again!!" Joyfully Reviewed Excerpt: (The
following is the property of the author and Avon Books, and cannot be copied or
reprinted without permission.) (Story Setup: Emily
Murphy arrives in Valentine Valley, a small town in the Colorado mountains,
late at night, and stops for food at a near-deserted tavern. She’s left behind
a nasty divorce and has little money. She doesn’t feel like herself anymore,
and flirts with a handsome cowboy. They play a game of pool that leads to a
scorching kiss. She stops it, appalled to be leading him on, then flees the
tavern, only to discover that her car won’t start.) Nate Thalberg felt
perfectly steady on his feet, though still hot under the collar, as he turned
off the light in the back room and reentered the bar. Three pairs of eyes fixed
on him. Tony De Luca’s were the first to drop, as he smiled and continued to dry
a tall glass before hanging it on the rack above the bar. The other two men,
twin brothers Ned and Ted Ferguson, plumbers for Sweet Construction, were a
good ten years older than him, and long past their pickin’-up-women-in-bars
prime. But they still snickered. Nate ignored them and
sat down at the bar. “Another Dale’s.” “You might as well
head to Aspen if you’re going to drink that stuff,” Tony said, his usual
response. He set it before Nate without another word. Nate was grateful. He
was still aroused and embarrassed and feeling like a fool, all at the same
time. He hadn’t behaved like that since college, and that was almost ten years
ago. Of course, he hadn’t left Valentine Valley much since then, and he was
careful picking up a local woman in a bar. He knew them all, and all their
relatives. A little fun wasn’t worth what would happen the next day, the
assumptions of what he now owed them, the way they’d look at him as if he were
their newly acquired property. Nope, when he went out with a woman, and that
happened regularly enough, she knew exactly where she stood with him. And it
wasn’t on the road to any sort of relationship. But he’d come into
Tony’s after a long day riding in the White River National Forest checking the
herd. Once it would have been enjoyable to hang with his brother and talk about
nothing and everything. But lately he and Josh had clashed over minor things,
and every physical exertion ended up being a contest of wills. It made for a
long, frustrating day. Tonight Nate had
needed some peace. He knew Tony could be quiet, at least when he didn’t have a
hockey stick in his hand. So he’d come to the tavern to enjoy the rest of the
baseball game. Until she’d
shown up. Emily. Every other man at Tony’s had stared at her, however briefly,
and he hadn’t wanted to be one of those. But she’d had this pink raincoat on,
and when she’d taken it off at the door, her black sweater had ridden up an
inch at her waist, and her long strawberry blond hair curled damply near her
neck. She was short and curvy in all the right places, and when she’d looked
around at the nearly empty bar with wide but tired blue eyes, something in him
had paid a bit too much attention. Remembering how he’d
stared at her, unable to stop, he took another swig of beer in disgust. He was
weak. “That should be your
last,” Tony said, leaning back against the shelf near the cash register. “You
have to drive.” Before Nate could
take offense, Tony glanced with a frown at the door. “Maybe I should have
stopped her, too.” “Emily,” Nate said
without thinking. Tony grinned. “At
least you got her name. Or did you get more?” Nate winced and
sighed. “Nope. Shouldn’t have been trying for more.” “She seemed willing
to me.” “And tipsy. I
shouldn’t have—” The door jangled, and
Nate automatically turned to look. Emily stepped back inside, rain dripping
down her coat, her fingers gripping her purse. Without looking at
Nate, she said coolly to Tony, “My car won’t start, and I’m not certain who to
call for a tow. Could you please give me a name?” Tony walked to the
end of the bar. “Sorry, but Ernie won’t come at night if it’s not an
emergency.” “Oh.” Nate thought she
looked blank for a moment, as if it never occurred to her that there were parts
of the country where you couldn’t have what you asked for twenty-four hours a
day. She took a deep
breath, still not glancing at Nate. “Then if you could call me a taxi, I’d
appreciate it.” “It’s too late.” Nate
said quietly. “Pardon me?” she
said, meeting his eyes at last. He felt a jolt of
need. Damn, but she still affected him, even though he regretted their little
game and his lack of control. And then she bit her plump lower lip, making
everything worse. “Only one taxi driver
in Valentine Valley,” Tony explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “Let me guess,” Emily
said with a touch of bitterness. “He only comes at night if it’s an emergency.” “She,” Nate said
reluctantly. Her posture seemed to
slump as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He’d smelled that
hair, tasted the skin on her neck. He stirred on the barstool, wishing he could
adjust himself. And it had been his stupid idea to head back to the pool room. “Since you’re not
from around here,” Tony said, “there’s a motel just down the block.” Nate could see her
jaw clench from across the room. “I own a building in
town,” she finally said. “I need to get there.” Tony and Nate shared
a surprised glance. Both of them knew just about everybody—and every
building—in town. Who was this Emily? “I can drop you off,”
Nate offered. It was the least he could do. She studied him,
wariness in her narrowed eyes. “If you can tell me how to get—” “You can’t walk there
in this,” Tony interrupted. “You can trust Nate to take you, regardless of what
happened in the back room.” Her eyes shut as she
grimaced. Ned and Ted Ferguson gave another matching set of snickers. Nate frowned. He
could see Emily’s blush like a beacon. He glared at the brothers, and they both
hunched their shoulders and turned back to the game. “But first,” Tony
continued. “I’ve just brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Nate, how ’bout something
to eat?” He was just about to
protest that he was not drunk, but then he remembered kissing a woman he didn’t
know a thing about. “Sounds good.” Emily perched on a
chair closest to the door. “Thank you. I’ll wait.” Tony served him some
fajitas with the coffee, and although Nate offered her some, she didn’t leave
the safety of her chair, making him feel even more like a monster. After a half
hour, he quietly said, “Guess it’s time to leave, Tony.” Tony smiled and
glanced at Emily. “I might have to call you tomorrow.” “There’ll be nothing
to report.” He stood up and slid on his jacket. Emily waited by the
door, wincing as she glanced out at the rain. He opened it and
gestured. “After you.” He ran toward the pickup
as rain dripped off the edges of his hat. He followed her to open the door, but
she veered toward her own car first and tried to lug a suitcase out of the
trunk. He grabbed it out of her hand, opened the truck door, and slid it onto
the rear bench. She was short enough that she had trouble getting up inside,
and he almost boosted her up by the ass, but figured she wouldn’t appreciate
it. He ran to his side and hopped in, and the slam of both doors echoed in the
rain-drumming silence. He started the car and quickly rolled up the partially
opened window, swearing again at the rain that streaked the inside of his door. At the soft “whoof”
from the back seat, Emily gave a little cry. Scout stuck his black and white
nose over the seat and sniffed at her. Nate held back a smile as she sagged
against the door with a shudder. “Afraid of dogs?” he
asked. “No, but he startled
me.” She eyed Scout. “Does he like strangers?” “Yep.” She put out her hand,
palm up, and within a second, Scout turned traitor and happily licked her,
before settling down again next to her suitcase on the bench seat. “What’s his name?”
she asked. “Scout.” With a sigh, Emily
buckled herself in then sat facing forward, hands in her lap. When Nate didn’t
put the truck in gear, she glanced at him with a frown. He could sense the
tension as if it were a force field around her. “So where are you
going?” he asked. “Sorry. Two Oh Four
Main Street.” Damn, he knew that
building. His luck had definitely run out tonight. “I’m sorry if I
didn’t appear grateful for the ride,” she began, speaking quickly. “It’s just
that—” “You don’t know me. I
get that.” She didn’t look at
him, didn’t say anything more. He didn’t blame her. And she was about to find
out some bad news. Two Oh Four Main
Street was less than six blocks away, so the drive didn’t take long. In the
rain-soaked darkness, he could see nothing but the blurry image of lights along
the street, and the flat-fronted buildings nestled side by side along each
block of Main Street. There wasn’t even a traffic light to slow them down. He
pulled into the alley behind the two hundred block. Of the four commercial
buildings, three had lights shining above the door to help—but naturally, hers
was out. He knew this building, knew it had recently been a small restaurant
that had closed down just a few months before. “Is this it?” she
asked, obviously trying not to sound disappointed. “You really haven’t
been here since you were a kid?” She shook her head.
“This used to be my grandmother’s store. I was eight when she died. My mother
never brought me back after that.” “Did you have the
electricity turned on?” She sighed. “No. I
had planned to arrive during the day.” “There’s a motel
back—” “No, I need to go
in.” She unbuckled herself. With a sigh, Nate
brought a flashlight out from beneath the seat. She gave him a quick, grateful
glance, then jumped down into the rain. Nate glanced over his shoulder at
Scout, who panted and watched her curiously. “I know what you
mean, buddy,” Nate said. “I’ll be back.” When he joined her,
she was already shivering, trying to enter a code in a numeric box next to the
door. The flashlight helped, and soon she’d removed the keys from the box and
was able to unlock the door. He followed her into a little hallway with two
doors. He assumed one led upstairs to an apartment, like most of the buildings
on Main Street. She used another key on the door directly in front of her and
stepped inside. The place smelled musty and unused, but before he could even
shine the flashlight around, he heard the squish of his foot stepping in water.
Uh oh. Emily felt the last
hope she’d cherished dissolve inside her. As Nate slowly moved the flashlight
around the room, she saw that they were in the kitchen of the restaurant. The
stainless steel gleamed dully from counters and appliances, and she winced as
she saw a splash of paint spattered down the door to the walk-in refrigerator.
Holes gaped in the walls, and the sink, with a slow stream of water coming from
the tap, had overflowed, leaving the floor wet, although a drain at her feet
took the worst of it. Garbage was strewn everywhere and shelves toppled. “Let me check in
front,” Nate said. “Wait here.” Offended by his
peremptory attitude, she reached to take the flashlight, but he didn’t see her
as he walked away. She gritted her teeth, put her hands on her hips, and waited
in the dark until he returned a minute later. “No sign of a
break-in. The restaurant owners were your tenants?” he asked. “Yes.” “Guess they were mad
at you.” “I had to raise the
rent after my mother died.” She didn’t owe him any explanations, especially not
since he seemed angry with her over their mistake earlier in the evening. “They weren’t from
here,” he said. Maybe he was thinking
Outsiders, and that she was one, too. “What did you plan to
do here?” he continued. “Open another business?” “God, no. I need to
sell it, but I certainly won’t get a good offer like this. I won’t be leaving
as quickly as I’d hoped.” He remained silent,
probably disappointed. “You can go,
Mr.—Nate.” “Thalberg. Nate
Thalberg.” “Emily Murphy,” she
said, knowing their formal introduction was a bit too late. He hesitated, then
said, “I can’t leave you like this.” At last she turned to
him. His face was in shadows, since the flashlight beam was aimed away from him,
but she could see the gleam of his eyes. “Of course you can
leave.” She spoke more sharply than she’d intended. “You’re going to stay
here?” he demanded. “It’s mine.” The
last thing I own, she thought. But it was hers. “There’s an
apartment upstairs.” “And you think it
will look any better?” “Guess I’ll go see.
Can I use the flashlight?” He handed it over,
then crossed his arms over his chest, obviously planning to wait. “If I could borrow
this until morning…” she began. “The apartment won’t
look better, Emily, but go ahead and check. I’ll wait here.” She went back to the
hallway off the alley, used another key while holding the flashlight under her
arm, and went upstairs. The smell alone already convinced her, and the debris
was just as bad, if not worse. Piles of furniture and boxes were toppled around
her, and she couldn’t even get a sense of the apartment. It felt like a horror
movie set, where she didn’t know what she’d find when the lights were
eventually turned on. What was she supposed to do now? Without answers, she
trudged back down and found Nate in the hall, waiting for her. She couldn’t see
his face, with that cowboy hat hiding everything. “Let’s go,” he said
quietly. She frowned and
opened her mouth to protest. He took the
flashlight back. “I shut off the water. There’s nothing else for you here
tonight. You can come back tomorrow and see the rest of the damage.” She felt exposed,
vulnerable, and suddenly so weary. He’d seen the mess in the restaurant, just
as if he’d seen the mess in her life. She couldn’t waste the last of her money
when she was going to need every dime to fix this place. “Listen, cowboy,” she
said firmly, “I know this looks bad, but it isn’t up to you to make my
decisions for me.” “Is that right?” He
tipped up his hat to look her in the eyes. She suddenly noticed
that his drawl had disappeared, and he spoke in crisp, cool tones. “Well, it’s a shame
you didn’t tell me what you were doing here from the beginning, because I could
have saved us all this hassle. I do have a say in your decisions”—he briefly
looked past her—“or at least my father does, because you don’t own this
property outright. My dad lent your mother money, and he has a lien on the
place. She’d been paying him back over time.” Emily gaped at him,
still standing a step up so he couldn’t crowd her in the tiny hallway. “You’ve
got to be kidding me.” “I wish I was. I’ll
tell my father about your arrival and word of your mother’s death.” “She died last year!” “We’ve been receiving
regular payment through a lawyer. If you don’t believe me, I’ll bring the
papers to show you.” He sighed. “He would never stand in the way of you selling
the building—to an appropriate business, of course.” She felt her face
heat. “Excuse me?” “With how land is
selling in Valentine Valley,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “you’ll
have no problem getting a decent price, and you’ll be able to keep most of it.” Swallowing, she knew
it was best to keep her temper until she saw these papers. She’d thought she
was on her own, independent at last, and now to find out someone else
controlled her, after everything that had happened in her marriage…To her
mortification, she felt her eyes sting. Thank goodness for the darkness. Nate was still
watching her. She stiffened and met his gaze with what she hoped was a look of
cool defiance and a tilt of her chin. “I’m glad you’re
being calm and reasonable about this,” he said. “That means you’ll also
understand that you can’t stay here tonight. It may be spring, but the nights
are cold in the mountains. I have a place you can stay.” When she drew in a
furious breath, he held up both hands. “Not with me. My grandmother has a
boarding house for her and all her friends, and I do occasional work for her.
There’s an empty apartment right now, and you can stay there until you figure
things out.” For a crazy moment,
Emily wanted to refuse, to kick him out, to hunker down in the only place that
was hers. But common sense intervened at last, and she let out a frustrated
breath. “I guess I don’t have a choice. I’m sorry you’re forced to help me once
again.” He didn’t answer,
just stood looking at her. She was suddenly very conscious of the quiet, of the
lateness of the hour, of how very alone they were. Without thinking about where
she was, she took an instinctive step back—and hit her heel on the next stair
and started to fall backward. He caught both her
arms and briefly steadied her. Even that little touch brought back those hot
moments when he’d stood between her thighs and they’d kissed. “Let’s go,” he said gruffly, and walked out of the building into the rain.
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Copyright © Emma Cane |