Alaskaâthe last frontier.
The nights are long. The days are cold.
And the men are really, really hot!
Can you think of a better excuse for a trip up north?
Come on back to the unorthodox and
unforgettable town of Good Riddance and experience someâ¦
Alaskan Heat!
Letâs face it, can you really think of anything better
to do during those long, long nightsâ¦
Dear Reader,
Welcome back, yet again, to Good Riddance, Alaska, where the citizens and visitors get to âleave behind what ails them.â But sometimes life isnât so much about leaving things behind as it is dealing with those things youâve avoided the most. And thatâs precisely the situation facing my hero and heroineâthe handsome, footloose and fancy-free Sven Sorenson and Good Riddanceâs quietly intense bush pilot, Juliette Miller.
Both Sven and Juliette have to dig deep to find out exactly what theyâre made of before they can figure out that theyâre made for each other. People come with a myriad of problems, some of which some run deeper than others. And while weâre not responsible for another human being, we can offer love and support and acceptance. Sometimes, as Sven and Juliette discover, love enables us to see the best in someone. And that insight buoys them up to be the person we know they can be.
I hope you enjoy watching Sven and Juliette discover a lot about themselves ⦠and each other.
If you did, please let me know. I love to hear from my readers. Visit me at www.jenniferlabrecque.com.
And as always ⦠happy reading!
Jen
âHEY, HOTTIE, wait up, Iâve been looking for you.â
Sven Sorenson, heading down the only real street in Good Riddance, Alaska, stopped.
Heâd recognize that voice anywhere. Grinning, he turned. âHowâs my favorite girl?â
Alberta Reynolds, her bright red hair sticking out sporadically from a yellow-and-purple scarf rather like a hedgehog, returned his grin, minus a few teeth here and there. Her bottom lip bulged with the dip of smokeless tobacco she kept tucked there.
Alberta was something of a living legend in these parts. She claimed descent from European Gypsy stock, psychic powers and unparalleled matchmaking abilities. Sven had always been a skeptic when it came to that psychic stuff and he figured people either clicked or they didnât, but Alberta had a reputation for putting together lasting hookups. Well, except for when it came to herself. Already married five times, rumor had it Alberta was on the lookout for Husband Number Six.
Sheâd shown up yesterday, her beat-up Datsun pickupâthe hood held on with baling wireâpulling a one-room travel trailer that appeared damn near as old as Alberta herself, and that was pretty old. A couple of years ago sheâd adopted a three-legged cat sheâd named Lord Byron.
Sven and Alberta had crossed paths numerous times in the past ten years in the small towns scattered across Alaskaâs vast wilderness. Sven in his capacity as a professional builder, Alberta in her capacity as a Gypsy queen. She was a hoot for sure and had a good heart.
âI heard you were here,â she said.
He gave her a quick hug. âAre you following me again?â he said with a smile as he released her.
It was a running joke between them. Sven was almost as much of a rolling stone as Alberta. Heâd followed work all over the state for years, preferring the smaller towns to Anchorageâs sprawl.
âYou know it. Heard youâve been here nearly ten months. Thatâs some kind of record for you.â
He shrugged. âI was lucky enough to win the contract to build the new day spa, then it burned. I had remodel work in the winter and then rebuilding the spa, and Skye and Daltonâs place. Now Iâm knee-deep in a new build and a remodel project. I like it here, so itâs all good.â
For the first time heâd had an odd reluctance to leave a place. Well, actually, this place. Heâd done a couple of jobs over the years in Good Riddance. Packing up and changing locations had never been a problem before. And it wasnât that it was a exactly a problem now, heâd just been glad to stay put for a while.
He pushed aside the thought and picked back up on the banter. âYouâve got to quit chasing me this way, Alberta. People are going to talk.â
âAlways.â She winked at him. âI know a good catch when I see one.â
Which was questionable considering her five matrimonial forays. Sven supposed the flip side of that was five times sheâd snagged what had seemed a good catch at the time.