Audrey Halliwell's Sneak Peeks.

Title pending. Series title: (Lilac Mountain Ridge #1)

I came back to Lilac Mountain Ridge for a second chance, not to be labeled the town’s most delusional liar.

Five years ago, I did the unthinkable. Fresh off a bruising divorce, I got drunk and married Boone McGregor—the rugged, reclusive mountain man. Then, I let shame drive me right out of town before the sun came up.

Now at forty-five, I’ve poured my life savings into a new salon back home, and I’m ready to face the truth; or so I thought.

When the town’s newest resident starts staking a claim on my secret husband during a community party, I decide it’s time to tell everyone about our legal marriage. After all, now that I’m back home I don’t want to keep secrets, and Boone and I will divorce, anyway. But when I tell the room that Boone is mine, he does the one thing I never expected: In front of everyone, he says we aren’t married.

Now, my reputation is in tatters and my business is failing before it even opens. Infuriatingly, Boone isn’t done with me. He’s been waiting five years for me to come home, and he has no intention of signing those divorce papers. He says he was protecting me by saying we’re not married. I say he’s a liar.

He might be a mountain man who gets what he wants, but he’s about to learn that this woman isn’t going down without a fight.

Features:

—Sweet Home Alabama vibes in small-town Pacific Northwest

—Secret marriage/ marriage-in-crisis

—Reclusive, protective hero who refuses to sign the divorce papers

—Betrayal through public embarrassment

—OWD

—A stolen peacock named Susie

First chapter snippet:

Lelane

Some people come home because they have no choice. Perhaps a family member is sick, or they are sick themselves. Others get dragged back by guilt. Some even truly miss it and wish they’d never left. I came back because I had bought a business.

The “Welcome to Lilac Mountain Ridge” sign appears around the curve before I’m ready for it. Population 2,847. That number hasn’t changed in fifteen years, but I bet it’s still close to accurate. People come and go, but the number levels out.

I keep both hands on the wheel and continue to drive. Main Street opens up exactly as I remember it. There’s the feed store, selling food for dogs, cats, goats, horses, pigs, and chickens.

Speaking of the feed store, I remember when Conrad Sigmund’s parents got him a peacock named Susie. It polarized the entire town. Half of them thought Susie was adorable, but the other half hated her. She screamed constantly, pooped everywhere, and scratched paint off cars when walking by, thinking it was another peacock. Conrad kept her on a leash and pranced her around everywhere.

Anyway, the point is: Conrad and his parents petitioned the feed store to start stocking peacock food, since there weren’t any. And they did, for exactly six months until Susie “ran away.”

Except, that’s another local legend. Did Susie run away, or did Boone McGregor steal and release her on Lilac Mountain? Boone McGregor—my husband for the last five years. We weren’t married back in Susie’s days, though.