Stirred A Love Story

If only life were as simple as choosing between shaken or stirred. Sage Jeffries grew up an overachiever. She studied, excelled, and became a mechanical engineer for a firm in San Francisco. Yet much to her family’s surprise, at age thirty, she made a bold move to Los Angeles and became a bartender at The Yard. Now, she spends her time mixing drinks and trying new things. Her life is good, fun . . . except for two teeny tiny challenges—she’s in love with her best friend’s older brother, and her sister bought her a book, Nice to Naughty in Ten Easy Steps, and dares her to master every step. Sage never backs down from a challenge. Garrett Rye is Ryeland Farms. He grew up under his father’s wing and has now taken over operations. Working the fields was nothing compared to the hassle of managing, but keeping the farm running without hiccups is what’s expected. His brother and sister may run The Yard, but Ryeland Farms is the rock of their family. No matter how many changes swirl around him, Garrett intends to keep it that way. It’s New Year’s Eve and Sage, who’s had too much tequila, is realizing it’s easier to read about “naughty” than actually put it into practice. Instead of a wild night, she ends up tucked into Garrett’s truck, spilling her heart. Now, Garrett is finding it impossible to concentrate on keeping things business as usual when the woman he’s only noticed behind the bar suddenly wants to raise the bar. Both stirred and shaken, Sage and Garrett will have to decide whether to keep mixing things up or if they should put their feelings on ice. Below are courtesy content warnings to the best recollection. They cover the major topics/themes, but may not be as nuanced as other trigger/content warning sites. alcohol

If only life came with instructions. Boyd McNaughton is working on balance. He is a father, a brewmaster, and the oldest brother of four. When he’s not running Foghorn Brewery with two of his brothers, his days are packed with carpools, teenage angst, and well-intentioned school moms determined to send him on the perfect blind date. After a simple argument ends with a visit to the emergency room, Boyd discovers the one thing he’s been neglecting—his life. Ella Walters is working on connection. Having grown up in a less-than-affectionate family of overachievers, she moved to Petaluma for a slower pace and to escape her past. She has friends now instead of accolades, chooses chocolate croissants over super foods, and cherishes the peace that’s replaced the drama. Sure, she occasionally misses the buzz of the San Francisco General Hospital ER, but Ella is learning that navigating a fuller life can be just as exciting. When Boyd’s son, Mason, seeks out Dr. Ella for “advice” and Boyd stumbles all over her newly healed heart, she finds herself longing for something she never knew existed. But families are messy, and they’ll both need to let go of the past if they want to find a future that’s more than by the book. Below are courtesy content warnings to the best recollection. They cover the major topics/themes, but may not be as nuanced as other trigger/content warning sites. divorce, medical procedures, alcohol, toxic parental relationship, toxic ex relationship

I don’t want him. I can’t do this. That’s what my ex said after our son was born, leaving me a single dad. These days, my world consists of two things: Noah and my bar. Until her—the woman I want —but can never have. My ex’s sister wasn’t supposed to be stirred into the mix. Even though I try to push her away, my son falls in love with her. As much as I want to keep my distance, I can’t break his heart. Lines become blurred, and fighting our attraction becomes nearly impossible. Even though we know it’s wrong, desire doesn’t always fade away. As soon as we cross that line, nothing will be the same and everything will fall apart. And it does.

Susan Napier's family once lived on the success of the high-end restaurants founded by her late grandfather. But bad luck and worse management has brought the business to the edge of financial ruin. Now it's up to Susan to save the last remaining restaurant: Elliot's, the flagship in Edinburgh.

When eleven-year-old Pascale Chardon finds herself on a lifeboat drifting toward an uncharted island with no memory of how she got there, all she wants is to get back to her family. The islanders, however, have a different objective. For many decades, the islanders have been anticipating the arrival of someone foretold only as the Long Awaited. The Long Awaited is said to have knowledge of the island’s future and will tell the islanders of their fate seventeen days after their arrival. At first Pascale is sure she’s not the Long Awaited, but when strange happenings occur, she finds it impossible to be certain of anything. Could she be the Long Awaited after all? A Bend in the Breeze, award-winning author Valerie Sherrard’s 30th novel, is a delightful tale about the importance of love and compassion.

The only girl in a house of boys, Julia Martini worked extra hard to get noticed. That has made her business-minded and driven, and she’s determined to turn her family’s struggling bar around. Simple. All she has to do is remodel, re-staff, and rebrand the place, work insane hours and ignore the sexy blonde who comes in to...she’s flirting, right? ’Cause Julia’s rusty and has zero time for dating, even if their chemistry is off-the-charts steamy. Savannah McNally’s needs always come last. A caretaker by trade, she also takes care of her widowed dad, her brother, her sister, and everybody else on the planet, it seems. When her dad finally starts dating, Savannah can focus on her own life for once—her career, her house, maybe even that super-hot bartender at Martini’s who has her thinking naughty thoughts. When family feuds are exposed and a popular blog trashes the bar, the weight of business decisions, family loyalty, and life in general may outweigh their attraction that could lead to more.

Sometimes, I think my story is about addiction and adultery. Other times, I think it's about bad luck with the Avon lady. And not just one—one I could chalk up to chance. Two rotten Avon ladies feel more like a curse. So begins the story of Poppy Koslowski. She's trying to recover from a hysterectomy, but her family has other ideas. She's the one with the legal right to call time on her alcoholic grandfather in North Carolina. So she's dragged back across the country from her rebuilt life into the bosom of a family who barely notice the old man's imminent death. Poppy understands why her grandfather is dying alone. She remembers how his drinking terrorized his family. But she also remembers the man who made her feel worthwhile and wanted after her parents' marriage collapsed, a time when she felt like she was dying alone. Plunged into a crazy kaleidoscope of consulting doctors, catching fire with an old flame, and negotiating lunch venues with her mother and grandmother, Poppy still manages to fall in love. With her best friend. Because nothing in the Koslowski family is ever straightforward. Joan Opyr brings a wry insight to the absurdity and devotion that holds families together. Her first novel Idaho Code was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and won a Golden Crown Literary Award. Opyr lives in Idaho.