Hearts of Stonebridge Cove
Welcome to Stonebridge Cove, a big-hearted town filled with enough small-town Nova Scotia charm to rival the innumerable stars hanging in the boundless sable skies above.
Nestled on a promontory jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, but with a natural harbour carved into its rocky shoreline, Stonebridge Cove endured the War of 1812, its rugged stone fort, wall, and bridge standing their ground like the craggy cliffs on which they are perched. Today these rough stone buildings still stand proud and strong against the most violent Atlantic winter storms, and are a silent monument to the strength and tenacity of the town’s founding families. The descendants of the Barringtons, Prentisses, and Lawsons, with quiet dignity, are honoured to call Stonebridge Cove ‘home.’
A real-life castle, lying in ruins on an island offshore, is rumoured to be haunted, and adds to the town’s romantic air. There’s a lone lighthouse, still manually operated, one of the last along the Atlantic shore. And, of course, there’s a story behind every gravestone that marks a life lived in the cemetery lying beside the old stone church.
Stonebridge Cove garners its name from the many stone bridges that cross the mighty Pembrooke River. Each bridge — some are of remarkable historic value, up and beyond their incredible beauty — closes the chasm wrought by Pembrooke’s serpentine course as it empties into the sea.
What makes Stonebridge Cove truly unique, though, other than its spectacular vistas and its historical significance to the Sovereignty of Canada, is its ability to meld its history with leading-edge technology. A new regional cancer treatment hospital, along with a first class golf resort, and a small airstrip, bring the world to its doorstep. Cruise ships and small private jets ferry in a regular wave of colourful individuals, seeking respite from work-weary lives, restoration to health, and Stonebridge Cove’s old-world appeal. Their sojourns help stoke the rich sea of characters of which page-turning romances are made. An old Celtic adage declares that a house full of love has expandable walls. Stonebridge Cove is bursting at its seams.
When a local citizen or a weary visitor sips a cup of Scottish Breakfast tea at the ‘Hard Tack and Oatcakes Tea Shop,’ or strolls down Main Street with the glorious amethyst and tangerine hues of a setting sun plastering a dusky horizon, the worries of the world seem to slip away on the outgoing tide.
Come, sit quietly and meet the Hearts of Stonebridge Cove. They’re eager to touch your heart, and if you’ll listen, they all have a story to tell—stories of love, of hope, of overcoming extraordinary odds, and of happily ever after.
Highland Roses — the first in the Hearts of Stonebridge Cove series
They say less is more. Holly Prentiss agrees. Penny-less, family-less, home-less, and job-less, Holly is more hopeless then most.
Robbed of her inheritance, she moves back to her hometown, her beloved Stonebridge Cove. The only luxury she allows from her former life is a seasons’ ticket to the symphony.
Imagine her surprise when she finds a single white rose on her seat opening night. She looks around. No other seat has a rose. It must be a mistake, of course…
The mistake turns to hope, and hope to exquisite anticipation when a rose is waiting for her the next month…and the next month…
Holly strives to turn her life around, working hard from month to month, her heart soaring with the promise of mysterious roses.
Chase Barrington, successor to the Barrington fortune, is miserable when he discovers he doesn’t love his fiancée, but is obligated to marry to ensure his family’s fine pedigree. A break-up would not only cause scandal in the tight-knit community of Stonebridge Cove, but would break his father’s heart. He struggles to honour his father, yet finds himself longing for the company of another woman—Holly Prentiss. With her family name disgraced, she’d be considered the worst possible choice from the Barringtons’ ostentatious viewpoint.
Chase panics when he learns Holly has a secret admirer. He doesn’t have a plan. How can he convince his family and Holly that he is all she needs before she makes a decision that will separate them forever?