Who could ever forget that summer in Lake Bittersweet... It’s been seventeen years since Carly stepped foot in the sleepy lakeside community where she experienced her first love...and her first heartbreak. Since then, she’s struggled with her confidence, which is why she’s shocked that her father, an actual rock legend, chose her as the executor of his will. Besides dealing with his shut-down music club and mountain of bills, did he also lure her back to Lake Bittersweet to face the man who shattered her heart? Carly Gault. The girl who got away. The girl he gave away. The moment he sees her, Fire Chief Thomas Cooper is hurled back in time to the summer that changed his life. He made the choice to put his family first, but Thomas has never forgotten the passionate, loving girl with the smoky-green gaze. She’s more beautiful than ever—but since that summer, his family has expanded in a way Carly may never, ever understand. As long-ago secrets come to light, passion reignites between Carly and Thomas. But will one last shocker make it all go up in smoke like the last summer bonfire?

Finger is a descendant of the tribal remnant that avoided removal in the 1830s and instead remained in North Carolina. Most now live on a reservation adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

"Our Voices: Essays in Culture, Ethnicity, and Communication examines intercultural communication through an array of cultural and personal perspectives, with each of its contributors writing a first-person account of his or her experiences in the real world. While most readers are collections of scholarly essays that describe intercultural communication, Our Voices presents short, student-oriented readings chosen with an eye toward engaging the reader. Collectively, the readings tackle the key areas of communication--rhetoric, mass communication, and interpersonal communication--using a uniquely expansive and humanist perspective that provides a voice to otherwise marginalized members of society. Praised by students for its abundance of short, first-person narratives, Our Voices traverses topics as diverse as queer identity, racial discourse in the United States, "survival mechanisms" in Jamaican speech, and codes of communication in nontraditional families."--Google Books viewed Mar. 5, 2021.

In Lake Bittersweet, life is full of friends, laughter, and countless ways to find happy ever after ... THE FIRST LOVE It’s been seventeen years since Carly Gault stepped foot in the sleepy lakeside community of Lake Bittersweet where she experienced her first love...and her first heartbreak. The moment he sees her, Fire Chief Thomas Cooper is hurled back in time to the summer that changed both their lives. As long-ago secrets come to light, passion reignites between Carly and Thomas. But will one last surprise make it all go up in smoke like the last summer bonfire? THE FLING Emmaline Curtis has never been outside the state of Minnesota before, so when she meets an intriguing hottie at a Hawaii resort, she’s ready for anything. No last names. No personal details. Just two willing strangers enjoying each other in paradise. Their worlds couldn’t be more different—Conor’s a wealthy financial whiz, she’s a farmgirl. But in a startling twist of fate, Conor and Emmaline discover their pasts are linked in ways they never imagined. Ways that may ensure their fiery affair will never be more than a temporary fling. THE SETUP Kirk Williams is back in Lake Bittersweet for some peace and quiet, but once he sees Gina Moretti, that’s out of the question. His best friend’s tomboy little sister is now a gorgeous woman with secrets of her own. When she asks him for help tracking down someone from her past, he jumps at the chance to win her trust. As for resisting their intense attraction...he might be famous for his heroic rescues, but he’s not that strong. THE SEDUCTION Successful model Bliss Gault is known for her smile and her sunshiny attitude. She has a habit of getting in and out of messes by the skin of her teeth. But when she returns to Lake Bittersweet for her sister’s wedding with an international mess in tow...this time, she might be in over her head. It’s a good thing she has FBI agent Earl Granger pretending to be her bodyguard. From international baddies to a passion they never saw coming...some seductions are impossible to resist.