Book excerpt: After years of battling the Ladd family, Annie Owens has finally procured her daughter’s legacy, title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of streams and springs in the eastern Tennessee mountains—only she can’t afford to keep it. Cal Foster’s father owns the biggest bank in town and has devised a way to help Annie retain the property, but when hotel developer Jillian Devane offers to buy the land outright, Annie is torn. She’s tempted by the huge sum of money—money that will secure her daughter Casey’s future, something Cal cannot guarantee. According to Annie’s sister, Lacy Ward, an insider with the Ladd family, Jillian’s proposal is tainted by revenge—the depth of which Annie has no idea. She only knows the woman is out to compete with the upcoming Ladd hotel making any deal with Jillian Devane tantamount to betrayal. When Cal is offered a position with Hotel Ladd, Annie is backed against a wall. Selling to Jillian will end any hope for a future together with Cal, a man she has come to love. But it isn’t until Casey’s romance with Troy Parker blows apart that Annie’s decision is made. Will “selling out” exile Annie from the Ladd family, including any chance for happiness with Cal Foster? Or can she find a way to make amends, ending a long-standing feud once and for all? Find out in this episode of Ladd Springs...