Books by Ann Heap

New Tomorrows is the first book in Ann's Hidden Valley series of clean, feel-good romances, each of which explores a serious, real life, contemporary issue.

Is it a twist of fate or something more? On September 11, 2001, Jon was a nurse working in a New York City Hospital and Alliie was an EMT in an all-volunteer fire/EMS company near Washington, D.C. Both are still struggling with fallout from that pivotal day when their paths accidentally cross in Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. A surprising bond grows between them, but they both must find the courage to overcome the barriers they have built around their hearts. Dreams, memories, and unexpected discoveries reveal the events that have shaped their lives since 9/11.

While battling to overcome their individual traumas, Allie and Jon gather a group of Hidden Valley friends to help Allie create a domestic abuse program and shelter.

Strongly immersed in the fire/EMS brotherhood of a remote mountain community, this clean, contemporary romance explores how the effects of poverty, abandonment, domestic abuse, and personal loss influence our lives for years to come. New Tomorrows shows that there is hope for healing from trauma and, if we allow it, love can break through barriers of the past. 

Trigger alert: This book contains themes of domestic and intimate partner abuse, including sexual abuse. There are no scenes depicting explicit sexual assault. 

If you are looking for a story with unexpected plot twists, an intriguing mystery, moments of nail-biting danger, and a teenage love in need of mending, this is the book for you.

Wanda Marlow and Randy Sullivan fell in love when they were young teens, both involved in the volunteer fire and rescue company in their remote valley home in Virginia's Appalachian Mountains. They are sure their relationship as a forever couple will survive being apart while Randy pursues a carpentry apprenticeship out of state and Wanda goes away to college. However, at the end of her freshman year Wanda comes back to their Hidden Valley home pregnant and holding onto a secret about the father of her child. 

Wanda feels shame over the circumstances of her child's conception and blames herself for betraying their love. She keeps trying to push Randy away, but they have never stopped loving each other. When her son Carter is only three months old, Wanda and Randy agree to start over as a couple, but the secret is still between them.

Randy's greatest fear is having Carter's father show up one day to claim the child he has come to love as his own. As Carter grows, he begins to ask questions about his father. Once the secret begins to hurt Carter, Wanda and Randy know the truth must be revealed. But what is the truth? Is it what Wanda believes? Or is it something entirely different? Their search for the truth leads them on a path to solve an unexpected ;mystery about Carter's biological father.

Carter becomes convinced that Paws, his pup since they were both babies, can help solve the mystery. In a drama-filled scene, Paws must help Randy rescue the nine-year-old from the danger he finds himself in as a result of that belief.

Told against the backdrop of the Hidden Valley Fire & Rescue company, this closed door romance is more than a happily-ever-after love story. It's a story of compassion, friendship, community, and finding courage to overcome personal trauma.

You may read this book as a stand-alone, but you will enjoy a richer experience by reading the books in the Hidden Valley Fire & Rescue series in the order published. 

 Matilda Carpenter (Tillie) was born in Virginia’s Southern Appalachian Mountains. the sixth-generation offspring of Irish immigrants who came with knowledge of folk remedies. Building on the rich abundance of the hills and hollers, they passed their craft on from generation to generation. They were the Granny Women. The Healers. 

Young Matilda had a thirst for knowledge and learned from her Granny. Still, she yearned for more. She sought what lay beyond her limited horizons, driven by a desire to merge traditional folk remedies with science-based research. She went to college and left her Hidden Valley home behind. 

Tillie’s compassionate nature quickly drew her into the explosive Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. As her horizons and her mind expanded to include new ideas and new people, she faced a personal conflict, with attachments to the old and the new pulling her in opposite directions.

Two men were equally beloved and important in her life. And each represented opposite sides of her conflict. Harold Johnson became her best friend on the day they first met in Middle School. Their platonic friendship survived the years, kept alive by letters when she lived beyond Hidden Valley. Raymond Forge was a young activist whose life goal was to become a lawyer and bring justice to the Black people of his Mississippi roots. Their mutual involvement in Civil Rights activities lead to a romantic relationship that was derailed when he was drawn into the Black Power movement.

Tillie’s Granny gifted her with handwritten journals from her forebears, voices of strong mountain women from Civil War to modern times. They revealed news about her lineage that increased her personal conflict. Should she stay and pursue her commitment to the Civil Rights battle, or should she return home and take on the mantle of her heritage?

Over the years Tillie did make her way home, where she committed herself to supporting women from all walks of life in the valley. Her life-long personal conflict seemed to be resolved. 

That is, until the day Raymond showed up, expressing regret and asking her to let him back into her life. His arrival forced the sixty-five-year-old to look deeply at the two men who had so greatly impacted her life. 

Will Tillie ultimately find her own late-in-life happily-ever-after?