Aspen’s INDIE PUBLISHED Stories
Crawford Ridge Ranch BOOK ONE
The first thing Holden Crawford noticed about his wife was her eyes. Thirteen years, two kids, and one separation later… they barely look his way.
Leni Crawford is a yoga-loving, small-town B&B employee who never planned on raising kids alone. Her husband Holden is a rugged cowboy who thought providing for his family was enough—until the day Leni asked for a separation.
With their future hanging in the balance, the only thing they can agree on is how much they love their kids—and how far apart they’ve grown. But when their son finds the old bucket list they made as love-struck teens, he convinces them to give it one last shot:
Finish the list. Every single item. Together.
Mechanical bull rides ~ Pie-eating contests ~ Karaoke ~ Line dancing.
It was supposed to be a farewell. Instead, it might be the beginning of something new.
A swoony, second-chance romcom about high school sweethearts, small-town charm, and falling in love all over again.
Crawford Ridge Ranch BOOK TWO
Everything in Walker Crawford’s life was going just fine . . . until her.
Birdie Stewart came to Utah for love and ended up stranded. Broke, betrayed, and far from home, she’s determined to avoid cowboys while proving she belongs as the Crawford family’s new high-end event planner – even if it means becoming someone she never used to be.
Walker Crawford is big, tall, and not about to let anyone boss him around—especially not the fiery redhead who “borrowed” his mischievous dog. Quick with a comeback and always ready for a challenge, he matches Birdie quip for quip in a constant battle of wills.
Forced into close quarters, their head-butting turns into chaotic moments of support, nonstop banter, and sparks that neither of them planned.
Enemies? Definitely. Opposites? Absolutely. Falling in love? Unplanned, unstoppable, and maybe exactly what they need.
Crawford Ridge Ranch BOOK THREE
He’s loved her quietly for years. But staying quiet never got the girl.
Landry Crawford has loved Kit Brannigan since high school—but his best friend got to her first and he had to settle for being her friend. Now, years later, Kit’s finally single, and Landry has one chance to prove he’s more than the easygoing sidekick who runs a ranch and races dirt bikes too fast. He’s the man who’s cared for her all along.
Kit’s learning to live life on her own terms after ending a long relationship that left her doubting herself. When Landry starts showing up—steady, kind, and far too good at understanding her—she doesn’t know whether to lean in or run for cover. How can the man who’s always been her friend suddenly be everything she’s always needed and exactly what scares her most?
But small towns love to talk, and old friendships don’t always survive new love. Still, sometimes the risk is worth the fall—and sometimes, the boy who waited turns out to be the dream that finally comes true.
THORNBACK SOCIETY PREQUEL NOVELLA
See how it all began!
Lizzie Duncan was in danger of disappearing into the void of monotony. After nearly a decade of teaching elementary school, she needed an adventure. So, when her friend offered to book a river rafting trip over summer break, she was the first one to yell “all aboard”.
The thing is, she never expected to know – and we’re talking know – the tour guide when they arrived on the first day.
Jackson Walker: best kiss of Lizzie’s life, summer nights eating ice cream cones, her doodling their names together. He was her ultimate dream guy. The same dream guy who left town and broke her heart.
The heart doesn’t care about time, though, and it was either sink or swim . . . Or maybe there was a third option here. One she’d totally given up on . . .
THORNBACK SOCIETY BOOK ONE
It started out innocently enough . . .
Hailey Thomas is perfectly content living a quiet life as a second-grade teacher. She’s definitely not looking for a husband. But when one of her students can’t stop bragging about her single dad, she decides to do some sleuthing and what she finds turns her into a part-time internet stalker, complete with daydreams she can never admit to.
When the object of her research shows up at her school and accuses her of scheming with his eight year-old daughter, she vows to put an end to all of it and avoid him at all costs. Ford Whittaker may be a wealthy businessman and ridiculously handsome single dad, but he’s definitely not the man she’d imaged he was.
Only, avoiding Ford is becoming impossible thanks to her honorary uncle, her four best friends, and the daughter that actually is a schemer. Every week it’s something new, and the more they get thrown together, the more Hailey wonders if maybe she’d been a little bit lonelier than she realized.
And maybe Ford was too.
THORNBACK SOCIETY BOOK TWO
Meredith Atwood has been described as a lot of things. Her friends call her determined, strong, and dedicated. Her enemies, well, their words are a little less flattering. But, Meredith doesn’t have time to worry about appearances, especially not when she finds herself locked in a life or death battle with her new HOA president – a man, incidentally, who didn’t even want the job that should have been hers.
Brooks VanOrman doesn’t have a lot of time or interest in fighting battles. However, when he finds himself unwittingly in the position of HOA president, he realizes he’s going to have to start caring, and soon. To complicate matters, his neighbor – the feisty, dark-haired woman of his nightmares – refuses to follow the rules and he’s the one called in to enforce them.
It’s an instant clash of wills.
Only the more Brooks gets to know Meredith, the more he realizes that there’s a lot more to the fierce warrior than meets the eye.
THORNBACK SOCIETY BOOK THREE
Aryn Murphy loves her family and friends, sports, and teaching school. What she doesn’t love is all the wrong attention she receives from men who don’t know the first thing about her.
When her childhood friend Wesley moves to town and lands a job working at the same school where she teaches, she has the perfect idea – he can be the decoy that keeps all the men away while she focuses on her otherwise perfect life. After all, Wesley has always been someone she’s felt safe with.
Wesley Baker harbored a secret crush on Aryn in high school, and when he arrives at his new job to find Aryn there too, that crush comes raging back. Now she wants him to play the part of doting boyfriend by night, and forgotten coworker by day.
But he had enough of playing pretend all those years ago. This time, he’s looking to play a different game – one with high stakes, and the potential to make them both winners.
THORNBACK SOCIETY BOOK 4
Ruby Jenkins is obsessed with two things: romance novels, and making life into an adventure. She’s never weary of flirting, and always watching out for Mr. Right.
However, when her latest conquest ends abruptly, she finds herself in need of a summer job. In desperation, she agrees to be the on-site nurse at a sleepaway summer camp for kids, where her younger brother will be her boss.
Her biggest consolation is picturing the romantic moments she’ll create in the mountains. Sadly, none of Ruby’s daydreams included bunking with her brother and his best friend – the robot.
Nico Crawford is ex-military, and while he may look like he stepped off the cover of a magazine, to Ruby he’s always been a machine with less personality than a rock, a real side character with nothing to add to the plot.
As the weeks roll by, however, Ruby’s assumptions are put to the test. And when plot twists threaten her way of thinking, only she can decide if she’s truly ready to turn the next page.
Book One in a Multi-Author Collaboration about six cousins and finding love around the world.
Chloe Moore doesn’t fly.
Chloe Moore has always refused to step foot on a plane – a.k.a Death Bucket. Not happening. However, when she goes down a rabbit hole of self-help books after a painful breakup, she finds herself signing up for a humanitarian trip to Peru in order to rediscover herself by serving others.
She manages to get to the airport, and even survive the first leg of the trip without disgracing herself, but when she comes face-to-face with the very cause of her impromptu service mission, she immediately understands that the universe is not her friend.
Holt Alvarez firmly believes the universe is his very best friend. Why else would the woman he can’t forget – and who would never fly – end up at the same airline gate, going to the same humanitarian facility?
Holt isn’t going to let this opportunity to reunite pass him by.
But is Chloe willing to take the risk?
Aspen’s TRAD PUBLISHED Stories
Dating isn’t just complicated, it’s confusing. Especially when you’re a young widowed single mother with a gift for getting herself into interesting situations. It’s been two years since Kate Evans unexpectedly lost her husband and moved to Colorado with her son to live in her aunt’s guest cottage.
Just when Kate is starting to get comfortable in her new reality, three very different men enter her life, but is she really ready to jump into the dating scene again? Or does she stay in the same safe place free from heartache?
From roller skates to croquet games and art galleries, Kate’s journey is anything but predictable. Through it all Kate is forced to confront things she’d rather leave buried, along with the possibility of a new love that is exactly what she needs.
When Rachel’s roommate Hannah announces her engagement, Rachel finds herself imagining her future as a crazy cat lady, living single forever with two fuzzy and aloof companions. She is frightened by how unfrightened she is by the idea.
Seeing the need for an intervention, Hannah offers up a challenge. Rachel must go on six blind dates before Hannah says “I do.” Despite her misgivings, Rachel agrees. But as each blind date somehow gets more comically awkward, distressingly uncomfortable, and unbelievably terrible, Rachel starts to think that maybe a solitary life with two cats wouldn’t be that bad after all.
As if that weren’t enough, her first, long-lost love has moved back into town, and fate keeps throwing them together. James says he is over her . . . But is Rachel over him?
Buy Blind Dates, Bridesmaids . . .
Liv Phelps is a woman on a mission: Get a degree, stay independent, and start a new life away from her small hometown. Love is nowhere on that list.
However, when dashing Blaine Harris enters the diner where Liv works, she’s flattered enough to give him a chance. Different from anyone she’s ever known, he introduces her the world she’s long dreamed about. Things are going surprisingly well, until he pushes her to get her beat-down car seen by the local mechanic.
Connor Hunt has been at the very top of Liv’s ‘do not disturb’ list ever since she had a front row seat to watching him create his terrible reputation. A magician with cars, he can’t stand to see a machine suffer. So, he comes up with a plan to fix Liv’s in spite of her inability to pay.
But will his solution cost more than she’s prepared to give?
Grace Natalie Burke was named after her mother’s two favorite Hollywood actresses, but the only thing they seem to have in common is the ability to put on a good show. Growing up under the iron thumb of her mother, she’s never made a mistake or gone off script. But as her 30th birthday comes, the illusion shatters.
Motivated by a need for more, Grace sheds her sheepish ways and buys a one-way airline ticket to Lavender Island, TX in order to fulfill a lifelong dream of hers to see the Halstead House mansion she’s heard so much about.
When Grace arrives on the island she’s caught up on the swirl of it all, landing a temporary job as an assistant event planner, making new friends, and finding herself on the receiving end of some interestingly fun therapy sessions with the head housekeeper.
Then there’s John Lucas, the Halstead heir and aloof businessman. No one could have prepared her for the feelings he would stir in her, or the way he’ll do anything to keep her at arms length.
DRAKE DUOLOGY BOOK ONE
Lucy Moore never lost faith in her fairy godmother, and when she lands an unbelievable dream job working for Drake Enterprises, she knows exactly who to thank for the opportunity. That dream job, however, comes with a twist that has her heading to northern Montana for the monthlong annual family retreat at The Lucky Wolf ranch. Once there she comes face to face with the Drake brothers.
Alexander, Lucy’s new boss, is literally a magazine cover model. Daniel is the first person Lucy meets when she arrives and his warmth and humor quickly put her at ease.
In one short month Lucy contends with animal attacks, a temporary roommate who’s more robot than human, some ranch-hand flirting sessions, and a little eavesdropping, all while attempting to show her new boss that she can do the job.
When the month ends, and it’s time to return home, her story is far from over. Now her heart belongs to the one man who seems perfect for her. Can they overcome all the obstacles in their way?
DRAKE DUOLOGY BOOK TWO
The first time I saw Alexander Drake, I was looking at his picture on the cover of a Financial Life magazine. I’d have to have been blind not to notice what a total catch he was. Rich, handsome, and completely make believe.
Only, he wasn’t some fake cover model. He was a real person, soon-to-be brother-in-law of my best friend Lucy, and when she introduced us for the first time, I swooned. Hard.
Me. Kayla Benson. Master of male-female relationships, strong, independent, and the one usually being swooned over. The worst part? While I was busy catching my breath – my eyes so dazed they might as well have been crossed – he hadn’t even bothered to look my way.
Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to ruffle his feathers and see what could happen if I became a force in his life’s bubble. So . . . I did.
