A Hopeful Harvest. Ruth Logan Herne

      

      You can’t always pick who you fall for…

      Her orchard. His heart.

      Can they successfully heal both?

      When her family’s apple orchard is damaged by a storm, single mom Libby Creighton knows the harvest she’s depending on is in jeopardy. Though he prefers a solitary life, Jax McClaren has the skills to revive Libby’s orchard—and her guarded heart. But he’ll have to overcome the secrets of his past if he and Libby are going to have a fruitful future together.

       Golden Grove

      USA TODAY Bestselling Author Ruth Logan Herne

      Multipublished bestselling author RUTH LOGAN HERNE loves God, her country, her family, dogs, chocolate and coffee! Married to a very patient man, she lives in an old farmhouse in Upstate New York and thinks possums should leave the cat food alone and snakes should always live outside. There are no exceptions to either rule! Visit Ruth at ruthloganherne.com.

       Also By Ruth Logan Herne

      Golden Grove

      A Hopeful Harvest

      Shepherd’s Crossing

      Her Cowboy Reunion

      A Cowboy in Shepherd’s Crossing

      Healing the Cowboy’s Heart

      Grace Haven

      An Unexpected Groom

      Her Unexpected Family

      Their Surprise Daddy

      The Lawman’s Yuletide Baby

      Her Secret Daughter

      Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

      A Hopeful Harvest

      Ruth Logan Herne

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ISBN: 978-0-008-90072-4

      A HOPEFUL HARVEST

      © 2019 Ruth M. Blodgett

      Published in Great Britain 2019

      by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

      All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      Jax didn’t want to help.

      This place, this farm, this family had too many needs. He could handle any one of them and maintain his distance, but to face all three?

      That would call to the protector in him, a side he’d buried when he’d lost four good men to an accident that should never have happened.

      He needed to walk away. They’d get by, one way or another. Folks always did.

      But when Libby drew the little girl in, laughing about the wind, and shrugging off the blown-down barn as if it was no big deal, he realized he had no choice.

      He tugged his faded army cap into place. “I’m going to let this wind ride itself out, then I’ll be back.”

      Libby frowned. “What? Why?”

      “To help.” He brushed one finger to the brim of his hat. “I’ll be here first thing in the morning.” He turned, not waiting for permission that might not come.

      Dear Reader,

      I enjoyed writing this story because we all have so much to thank the Lord for, even in hard times.

      I love blending faith and romance, and I love adding children into stories because they are the hope for the future. But Cleve was a big part of my love for this story.

      The road of Alzheimer’s and dementia is not easy. It is nothing to be undertaken lightly. The scourge of Alzheimer’s runs in my husband’s family. His father, his grandfather, his uncles and all of his great-uncles had it. That makes this a personal experience for us as a new generation tiptoes into that age group.

      I hope you loved Libby and Jax’s story. It was inspired when I read about this new treatment for PTSD developed by Frank Bourke to help post-9/11 victims. His work has been refined to help returning soldiers. When I read the positive results of the clinical trials, I saw my hero, Jackson Ingerson. The brain’s a funny thing. When one moment replays in our heads incessantly, it can mess with our emotional stability until we learn how to hit that mental off button without guilt.

      Libby’s story hits close to home for me and so many people who come from dysfunctional families. It’s hard to live your life categorized by others’ actions, isn’t it? But she learns and rises above, and I just love her.

      Thank you so much for reading this story. I love hearing from readers. You can email me at [email protected] or through my website, ruthloganherne.com, and I love it when folks follow my friends page or author page on Facebook!

      God bless you all, and I hope you love all