The Backup Plan

Dinah Davis is a foreign correspondent who has spent years getting herself out of dangerous places abroad. Now she returns to the Low Country of South Carolina with a plan: settle down with the dependable man who promised her his devotion long ago.

The plan goes sideways almost at once. Instead of the safety she came for, Dinah ends up in the arms of his brother, Cordell Beaufort, the family's black sheep.

Cord has written Dinah off as an opinionated debutante, and more trouble than she is worth. When she lowers her guard, he sees a different woman and starts to doubt his own harsh verdict. He also has to admit there is a reason he can't stand the thought of her marrying his brother.

This is a contemporary romance set in the American South, built on a triangle inside one family. Dinah would never have picked Cord, and he has his own reasons for keeping his distance. The tone is light and warm, with banter between two people who rub each other the wrong way.