Valentine Valley

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Welcome to Valentine Valley!
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The Town

Valentine Valley, Colorado, a historic, picturesque ranching village in the Roaring Fork Valley northwest of Aspen, has become known as the Love Boat in dry dock. People come to marry here, to propose, to renew their vows, to find or resurrect love. Everyone wants the postal stamp “Valentine Valley CO” on their wedding invitations. The villagers themselves take advantage of these superstitions, creating businesses that cater to tourists, even as longtime ranchers are uneasy with the changes.

It all began during the 1880s silver mining boom. Someone had to feed all those miners coming down from the high mountains, so the ranching community of Valentine Valley was born. When the silver boom went bust, the farms and ranches kept the valley going. Once Aspen and its famous ski resorts splashed onto the international scene, Valentine Valley became a cozy village for Aspen visitors to explore.

Although the Valentine Valley books are a series, each book will stand alone, and won't need to be read in any order. Keep reading to find out all about the wonderful inhabitants you'll meet in A Town Called Valentine.

The People:

Emily Murphy:
Raised in San Francisco, housewife Emily was abandoned by her husband in the cruelest way, and her last inheritance is an abandoned store on Main St. in Valentine Valley. Determined to find a career, Emily returns to town planning to sell, but she discovers a family secret that upends everything she thought about herself.

Nate Thalberg:
Nate, rancher and prominent resident of Valentine Valley, thinks he has everything under control--a great family, the thriving Silver Creek Rranch, and the knowledge that he doesn't let women get too close, because he always screws things up. And then he meets Emily in a tavern late at night, where a game of pool leads to a relationship neither of them expects.

Grandma Thalberg:
Emily has nowhere to stay, and Nate takes her to the Widows' Boarding House, where his grandmother and her quirky friends take Emily in and make her their new project. The widows are founding members of the Valentine Valley Preservation Fund, and they've even chains themselves to a historic, rundown brothel to preserve "women's history" in the west.

Brooke Thalberg:
Nate's sister and soon one of Emily's staunchest supporters, she works on the ranch alongside her brothers, proving herself in a man's world, but never managing to find her own man to stand at her side.

Monica Shaw:
Owner of Monica's Flowers and Gifts, the store next door to Emily's broken down building, she takes a chance on Emily.