Scent of Cedar
The Friendly Beasts of Faraday Book 1
She needed a change of pace. . .
No one said anything about a friendly camel or a hunky mechanic
Cedar Haynes has a choice: change her high-pressure lifestyle, or end up dead by the time she’s thirty. Not one to do things by half measures, she quits her demanding corporate job, swaps her sports car for an SUV, and moves to the peaceful mountain community of Faraday. She envisions a quiet, peaceful Christmas, surrounding by silence and sparkling snow. When a camel takes up residence on her porch, she realizes small-town life may be more quirky and complicated than she imagined. Thankfully, the local mechanic seems to have all the answers – plus good looks, bad-boy charm, and a mysterious aura that leaves her wanting to know more.
Rhett Riggs left big city life behind the moment his small-town uncle needed his help. To make ends meet, he takes over Faraday’s one and only garage and gas station. He gets more than he bargained for, though, when Uncle Will passes away, leaving Rhett a run-down farmhouse, a wacky camel named Lolly, and a deep-rooted love for the community he considers his home. With the holidays approaching, he watches with interest as a new neighbor moves in next door. He waits for Lolly to send the woman running, like she has the last handful of residents. Only this time, if his beautiful neighbor leaves, she’ll take his heart with her.
Between spilled secrets, mistaken identities, and a camel determined to spread a little love, it will take more than mistletoe and holiday magic to help Rhett and Cedar find their happy ending.
Come along on a sweet Christmas romance adventure sure to uplift the spirit, touch the heart, and imbue the warmth of the holiday season.
Excerpt:
“I’m not losing my mind, I’m not losing it,” she chanted. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and found herself staring once again into a hairy, hideous face.
She screamed louder this time as she raced to find the cell phone she’d tossed on the kitchen counter last night. Her fingers trembled as she punched in 9-1-1 and waited for an operator. Surely they had some sort of emergency response program in this tiny town, didn’t they?
Cedar slammed the kitchen window closed then frantically paced the floor, one hand flapping back and forth as though that might make someone answer faster. Finally, a voice came on the line.
“Operator 2377. What is your emergency?”
“Oh, thank goodness. My name is Cedar Haynes. I just moved to town, and there’s some kind of wild animal trying to get inside my house!”
“Wild animal, ma’am?” an unruffled voice questioned.
“Yes! A wild animal!” Cedar cautiously peered out the kitchen window. She caught sight of a furry backend stepping off the porch and disappearing around the corner. “It’s kind of brownish-tan, furry, big, and it smells weird.”
“What’s your address, ma’am?”
Cedar rattled off her street address, surprised she could remember it in her distraught state.
What sounded like a chuckle made her pull the phone away from her head and glare at it a moment before she scowled and returned it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Sorry, ma’am, but if you look out your kitchen window, can you see a big pasture and a red barn?”
Stunned by the fact the operator described the exact view she had from her kitchen, Cedar almost demanded to know how in the world the operator knew her home so well. Then again, she had moved to a small town where secrets were rare and everyone knew everyone else’s business. “Yes, I see the pasture and barn.”
The operator laughed. “That’s the old Bolton place. Will Bolton is known around here as an eccentric in everything from his house to his pets. You’ve just met Lolly, a unique welcoming party of one. She’s harmless, if not a bit frightening first thing in the morning.”
Cedar frowned. “Lolly? What’s a lolly?”
“A camel.”
