by: Nancy Fraser
Series: The Orchard Brides
Genre: Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Release Date: April 1, 2022
Publisher: Books From a Romantic’s Heart
Amazon | Paperback | Goodreads
The last place Andrew (Drew) Morgan wants to be is back on the family avocado farm in Plentiful. If he had his way, he’d still be active military and deployed someplace far, far away. Unfortunately, he rarely gets what he wants. And, being back in the orchard is just the latest in a long list of disappointments.
Single mother, Chloe Taylor has relocated from Fresno to the rural area of Plentiful, California to build her marketing business beginning with the local agriculture co-op. It’s her job to convince the local farms to invest in a major overhaul of the co-op’s publicity campaign. A mixture of modern operations, and older, family-owned farms, only adds to her frustration.
At the moment, her biggest challenge is bringing the owner of Plenty Good Farms in line with the others. The fact that the old curmudgeon of an owner, Samuel Morgan, has brought his nephew in to run things gives her hope. Surely, the younger Morgan will be more amenable to her progressive ideas.
When Chloe first presents her plan the Morgan men, it’s Drew who throws a monkey wrench into his uncle’s agreement to sign the necessary contract. What she doesn’t realize is that Drew’s reluctance has more to do with his uncle’s health issues, and the possibility that he won’t be able to talk the man who raised him into retiring.
When Drew is forced by the military medical team into choosing between a desk job or retirement, he shares his frustrations with Chloe and she helps him find a new purpose outside of being a full-time farmer. It also helps that their attraction is growing. Drew has definitely fallen for the independent woman, and her adorable daughter.
Will Chloe’s faith and determination help her lead Drew through his difficult decisions and bring them what they both need... a love that transcends their everyday challenges.
Chloe Taylor sorted through the last few co-op contracts, happy to see three of the five holdouts had finally signed on the dotted line. If they were going to make this work—rebrand and revitalize an area that was far off the recognition map—everyone had to come on board.
Even Sam Morgan.
The grumpy relic was her staunchest naysayer, a man badly in need of being dragged by his thumbs into the modern world of marketing.
She doubted Mr. Morgan even owned a computer, much less had internet out at that farm of his. If he could only see what she’d created. Appreciate the hard work she’d put into revitalizing the entire county, and especially the area known as Plentiful, then maybe he’d fall in line with the others.
Rumor around town was that his health was failing. Madelyn Pickard, bookkeeper for the co-op, had mentioned Sam’s nephew was coming back to Plentiful to help him out with the spring harvest.
Perhaps the younger Morgan would be more amenable to her sales pitch. Maybe he’d hold more sway with his uncle than—what had Sam called her—a prissy city girl with high falutin ideas.
Who even talked like that anymore? Obviously, a man still stuck in the early to mid-twentieth century.
“Mom! Where’s my backpack?”
Chloe turned away from her computer and met the frantic gaze of her eight-year-old daughter, Jessi. “Last time I saw it, the straps were draped over the arm of the chair in the family room.”
“I just looked,” Jessi assured her. “It’s not there.”
Chloe pushed herself to her feet intent on helping with the search. “I thought you’d finished your homework already.”
“I did. But I left a granola bar and half a cheese sandwich in there, and I don’t want it to get all gross.”
Navigating an immediate U-turn, Chloe made her way to the corner of the spare bedroom. Jessi followed closely on her heels.
“There’s your culprit.”
“Boomer, no!” Jessi screeched. “Not my new backpack.”
Strips of red corduroy material lay spread out on Boomer’s dog bed. The only remaining sign of Jessi’ cheese sandwich was the plastic baggy. The wrapper from the granola bar was torn to pieces with no more than a few crumbs left clinging to the shiny silver paper.
“That’s the third one this school year,” Chloe pointed out. “You’ve really got to be more careful what you leave in your bag, and where you hang it up when it’s not in use.”
“I’m sorry, mom. I’ll use my birthday money to buy a new one.”
“How about we split the cost?”
Eagerly, Jessi accepted. “That would be great. Thanks, mom.”
“Go set out your clothes for church in the morning. Then, take your bath and get into your pajamas. We’ll watch a movie before you go to bed.”
“Can we have popcorn?”
“We’ll see. Now scoot while I clean up this mess and pack away my laptop.”
Once she’s discarded the remnants of Boomer’s thievery, Chloe returned to her desk in the cramped den and gathered up the signed contracts, adding them to the files for the Plentiful Fresh Food Cooperative. The two unsigned contracts were placed in her briefcase for her scheduled Monday meetings.
Her hard work on the co-op’s website had finally turned Abel Marks around and she expected he’d sign at their nine o’clock appointment.
Then, with everyone else in place, she’d make yet another appeal to Sam Morgan. Surely a man who’d been in business for what seemed like forever wouldn’t want to be left out in the cold to fend for himself when everyone else was benefiting from her aggressive campaign. Would he?
Even Sam Morgan.
The grumpy relic was her staunchest naysayer, a man badly in need of being dragged by his thumbs into the modern world of marketing.
She doubted Mr. Morgan even owned a computer, much less had internet out at that farm of his. If he could only see what she’d created. Appreciate the hard work she’d put into revitalizing the entire county, and especially the area known as Plentiful, then maybe he’d fall in line with the others.
Rumor around town was that his health was failing. Madelyn Pickard, bookkeeper for the co-op, had mentioned Sam’s nephew was coming back to Plentiful to help him out with the spring harvest.
Perhaps the younger Morgan would be more amenable to her sales pitch. Maybe he’d hold more sway with his uncle than—what had Sam called her—a prissy city girl with high falutin ideas.
Who even talked like that anymore? Obviously, a man still stuck in the early to mid-twentieth century.
“Mom! Where’s my backpack?”
Chloe turned away from her computer and met the frantic gaze of her eight-year-old daughter, Jessi. “Last time I saw it, the straps were draped over the arm of the chair in the family room.”
“I just looked,” Jessi assured her. “It’s not there.”
Chloe pushed herself to her feet intent on helping with the search. “I thought you’d finished your homework already.”
“I did. But I left a granola bar and half a cheese sandwich in there, and I don’t want it to get all gross.”
Navigating an immediate U-turn, Chloe made her way to the corner of the spare bedroom. Jessi followed closely on her heels.
“There’s your culprit.”
“Boomer, no!” Jessi screeched. “Not my new backpack.”
Strips of red corduroy material lay spread out on Boomer’s dog bed. The only remaining sign of Jessi’ cheese sandwich was the plastic baggy. The wrapper from the granola bar was torn to pieces with no more than a few crumbs left clinging to the shiny silver paper.
“That’s the third one this school year,” Chloe pointed out. “You’ve really got to be more careful what you leave in your bag, and where you hang it up when it’s not in use.”
“I’m sorry, mom. I’ll use my birthday money to buy a new one.”
“How about we split the cost?”
Eagerly, Jessi accepted. “That would be great. Thanks, mom.”
“Go set out your clothes for church in the morning. Then, take your bath and get into your pajamas. We’ll watch a movie before you go to bed.”
“Can we have popcorn?”
“We’ll see. Now scoot while I clean up this mess and pack away my laptop.”
Once she’s discarded the remnants of Boomer’s thievery, Chloe returned to her desk in the cramped den and gathered up the signed contracts, adding them to the files for the Plentiful Fresh Food Cooperative. The two unsigned contracts were placed in her briefcase for her scheduled Monday meetings.
Her hard work on the co-op’s website had finally turned Abel Marks around and she expected he’d sign at their nine o’clock appointment.
Then, with everyone else in place, she’d make yet another appeal to Sam Morgan. Surely a man who’d been in business for what seemed like forever wouldn’t want to be left out in the cold to fend for himself when everyone else was benefiting from her aggressive campaign. Would he?
Purchase Avocado Toast from:
Also available:
Treats From the Orchard: A Companion Cookbook to The Orchard Brides Series
Just 99 cents or Kindle Unlimited. All proceeds to benefit the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
The Orchard Brides Series:
Nancy Fraser is a best-selling and award-winning author who happily jumps across multiple romance genres with gleeful abandon.
She's also the granddaughter of a Methodist minister known for his fire-and-brimstone approach to his faith. Nancy has brought some of his spirit into her Christian romances. And, her own off-beat sense of humor to her clean & wholesome books.
When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.
Places to find Nancy Fraser:
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteThis book sounds good. I have also never read a book set on an avocado farm.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janine. When we set out to choose our fruits for the series, I saw everyone was going 'traditional' so, of course, I needed to be different. I'm an avocado nut, so the idea just stuck.
DeleteI love your blog. So bright! Thank you for hosting this stop on my tour. I'll check back later for comments/questions.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. And thank you for stopping by. Congratulations on your new release. You are a very busy woman, with all the books in this series coming out 2-4 weeks after each other.
DeletePretty cover and a great excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThe books sound great, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete