Ember Grove Romances Series by Lily Seabrooke

Emily Garrett had a plan for after college: back to her hometown of Ember Grove, where she had a great job waiting for her that she was going to focus on. After forgiving her last girlfriend too many times and only finally getting out, she's not keen on dating again--not for a good, long while.Vanessa Schreier is a different person from when she was a kid--or at least, she hopes she is... moreEmily Garrett had a plan for after college: back to her hometown of Ember Grove, where she had a great job waiting for her that she was going to focus on. After forgiving her last girlfriend too many times and only finally getting out, she's not keen on dating again--not for a good, long while.Vanessa Schreier is a different person from when she was a kid--or at least, she hopes she is. A clique ruler in school who used her influence to bring down anyone who got in her way, she's come back to Ember Grove not too long ago to make amends. Most people know her as the woman who'll help anyone, anywhere, anytime, but some people aren't so quick to let go of the her past mistakes. One of those people is Vanessa herself.And one is the girl who just moved back in next door: Emily Garrett, her brother's best friend, her old next-door neighbor, and her favorite target to pick on as a kid.Emily's not stupid. She knows she had a crush on Vanessa as a kid even when she was bullying her, and judging by the way it feels to look at Vanessa now, she knows part of her still feels the same way. After spending college accepting one apology after another from an abusive girlfriend, she is done with accepting apologies from anyone--especially girls who make her heart race.But Vanessa, and the drive she has to make things right, are hard to avoid.The Simple Answer is a 70k-word girl-next-door romance about growth, forgiveness, and is the first book in the Ember Grove small-town romance series. Content warnings for childhood bullying, emotional manipulation, a car accident but no one gets hurt I promise, people talking about feelings, and more references to J-pop artists than I thought I'd be able to sneak into a novel. less

When Lena Martin gets set up with Ember Grove’s most boring bachelor Will Ashton, she doesn’t realize the worst part will be falling for his sister Grace.Especially when she finds out Grace is the girl she’s been anonymously exchanging love letters with—and who thinks her letter partner is a man.Relying on her friend Cara’s hospitality for a place to live, Lena really doesn’t have a choice when Cara tells her to start seeing her fiancé’s brother and have a date for their wedding... moreWhen Lena Martin gets set up with Ember Grove’s most boring bachelor Will Ashton, she doesn’t realize the worst part will be falling for his sister Grace.Especially when she finds out Grace is the girl she’s been anonymously exchanging love letters with—and who thinks her letter partner is a man.Relying on her friend Cara’s hospitality for a place to live, Lena really doesn’t have a choice when Cara tells her to start seeing her fiancé’s brother and have a date for their wedding. Never mind the fact that Lena’s been starting to realize maybe she’s not as straight as she’d thought—there’s no way she’s telling Cara that. As usual, her way out is to grin and bear it.Grace Ashton is tired of this small town and her family’s backwards attitude. After shoving her eldest brother Dan into planning his wedding with his ex and then lining up a date for her next brother Will, she knows she’s next on the chopping block, and wants to do whatever it takes to drive away this Lena Martin girl who’s apparently got her eyes on Will.And both of them find refuge in the same secret grotto, hidden deep in the woods, where they realize they’re not the only one with this secret hiding place, and leave anonymous letters for one another—and fall headfirst in love without even knowing the other’s name.And for Grace, without even knowing the anonymous letter writer she’s fallen for is a woman.But as wedding planning keeps drawing Lena and the Ashtons together, can Lena and Grace resist that same spark of connection in one another they feel from their love-letter writers?The Safest Place is a 78,000-word slow burn new adult romance set in the same small-town romance setting as and after the events of The Simple Answer, but follows different characters and stands alone. It features two absolute disasters who figure out the people they want to be, a double toaster oven plotline, overbearing family trying to get Lena with Will but her falling for his sister instead, some enemies-to-lovers that’s more like enemies-to-grudgingly-accepting-being-in-the-same-room-to-friends-to-enemies-to-best-friends-to-enemies-to-even-better-best-friends-to-lovers, and some very mushy falling in love anonymously via secret letters. Content warnings for open-door sex scenes, homophobic and abusive parents, mentions of past relationship abuse and of conversion therapy but it never happens I promise, Lena whacking Percy with a stick but he was asking for it, a very boring man who actually turns out to be all right, and a girl who stubbornly refuses to notice she’s a lesbian. less