STRAWBERRY HILL is the fifth book in Catherine Anderson's Mystic Creek series. As always each story in this lovely series stands alone.

Have you ever heard the expression "life isn't fair?" Well for many of the characters in this book that would be an accurate mantra. Life just didn't play fair and circumstances piled up against them. Luckily they're tough enough to break through barriers and find measures of success, and perhaps find a life that did ultimately provide some goodness.

Slade spent most of his life building a successful business as a well- respected rancher. The one thing he always wanted was a family. Sure, he has some extended family but the one woman he saw as his future, Vickie, abruptly ended their engagement. And believe it or not, Slade never filled the void she left. The future of his ranch, as he approaches mid-sixty, is in question. The likely candidate to take over is his niece, but Erin had joined the sheriff's department and lately is too busy to visit her favorite uncle.

Wyatt, Slade's foreman, has developed a tough demeanor with Erin. He know that his boss covets idea of family, and what most don't realize is behind that facade of being okay, Slade is still nursing a broken heart. Slade hasn't seen Vickie in over forty years. But what's in the past is gone and done. Or is it?

And that's the core of STRAWBERRY HILL... For many folks, the past just doesn't want to fade away in the background. For some it leaves just a glimmer of hope. For others it opens a previously unknown door. And for some, it lays some harsh reminders of deceit.

As always, Catherine Anderson creates totally awesome and unforgettable characters in STRAWBERRY HILL. Slade is a wondrously silent hero who actually speaks the loudest as one of the stars of book. STRAWBERRY HILL breaks the rule that in the end, all should be forgiven. Some seemingly innocent deeds can impact the future in unspeakable ways. STRAWBERRY HILL is a romance about what could have been and what still can be. It's about love and hope.