Dear Reader,

There's never a good time for a crisis. Especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. But the "season of giving" has a way of bringing family and friends together—when we're lucky, in ways that last forever.

Chase Armstrong has been avoiding the heartache at home for years when he finally decides to return to his Texas roots. He knows it will be tough seeing the only family he has left. He doesn't expect to be hit with news that will change his life.

Merri Duncan is worried about Chase's homecoming, too. She's been wondering what he plans to do, regarding the niece and nephew he has long neglected. And she knows he isn't likely to approve of what she has done to the Armstrong clan's Broken Arrow ranch, in his absence.

What neither Merri nor Chase expect is the stark realization that turns their lives upside down. Suddenly, there are important choices to be made. Chase believes that with faith and hope and heartfelt resolve, everything will turn out all right in the end. Merri has been burned before by her naivete. Experience has taught her that wanting something to happen doesn't make it so. But both are willing to do the honorable thing and bring the family together the way it should be, even if it means big sacrifices for both of them. Because in big, bold, brash Laramie County, family always comes first. Happy reading, Cathy Gillen Thacker

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