I’m a big fan of Nicole Helm’s books – when I heard she was doing a new series with Kensington, featuring bearded brothers and their best friend who run an outdoors adventure company I got very excited! I’m happy to share the covers of the first two books with you today! They are verra smexy!!

Gracely, Colorado, was once a booming mining town. No one knows that better than Brandon Evans. His father s company kept the town thriving for years until Brandon threatened to expose his illegal practices and drove him away. Everyone blames Brandon and his brother for turning Gracely into a ghost town but the tenacious residents cling to a long-held legend about the land s healing powers. And Brandon has a plan to spin that legend into reality . . .
Lilly Preston took a leap of faith and moved to Gracely a year ago to save her nephew from an abusive situation. She would do anything for him, even sacrifice her glamorous job. Reluctantly, the former PR hot shot takes a job at the ruggedly handsome Evans brothers Mile High Adventures, a company offering restorative Rocky Mountain vacations.
Brandon thinks PR is pointless, and Lilly knows less than nothing about the outdoors. Which is exactly why they need each other in ways neither ever imagined . . .

Need You Now releases May 30 Goodreads l Kindle 

Sam Goodall knows how to hide. And in the years since his sister s death, he’s done just that, burying himself in his work at the Evans brothers Mile High Adventures as a backpacking guide. Clients don’t mind his strong, silent demeanor, and he’s happy to leave the rest of the world behind when he’s hiking, or holed up in the off-grid cabin he calls home. But he owes his life what there is of it to the Evans boys, and when they ask for a favor, he can t refuse.
Hayley Winthrop is looking for something she’s never had a true sense of family, and a purpose. Finding her half brothers was the first step discovering where she belongs in the world is the next. Could it be in the fresh air of small-town Gracely? With hunky Sam agreeing to train her as an outdoors guide, she’s torn between exploring her newfound skills and getting closer to him. But chipping away at the walls around Sam could take a lifetime . . .
Sam is stuck in the past, and Hayley is looking toward her future they’re a mismatched pair from the start. But the connection between them right now is too good to let go . . .

Mess With Me releases in August Goodreads l Kindle 

Excerpt From NEED YOU NOW

Brandon waited at one of the slab benches they’d installed for people exactly like Lilly. Prissy and too confident for their own good.

He’d be lucky if they got back to the cabin by dinnertime.

She finally huffed into view, leaning heavily on a stick she’d found along the way. Her cheeks were red with exertion instead of anger, or maybe there was some of both. Most of her hair had fallen out of its band and hung around her face and in her eyes. Every once in a while, she’d blow at the loose strands irritably.

He’d say she was out of shape, but her shape was just fine. Quite unfortunately. He’d walked behind her for a while, a gallant attempt to let her set the pace.

But her ass in those jeans had been in his face. No matter how slow he’d tried to go, every time he’d looked up . . . there it had been. Her coat ended right at the top of her jeans, so he’d found himself wondering—more than once—how that subtle curve might feel underneath his palms.

Naked.

It was his turn to blow out a breath. He had to push his unfortunately overzealous imagination about the shape or feel of her anything far, far away.

He wasn’t his father. He wouldn’t be his father.

She finally reached him.

“I hate you,” she said between huffed breaths.

That at least cheered him a little. “You won’t soon enough.”

She snorted, slumping onto the bench. “Unless there is a giant hot fudge sundae and a hot, muscle-bound man to carry me down this mountain while I eat said hot fudge sundae, I will still hate you.”

“You have quite the imagination.”

“We’ve been walking for hours and you’ve said maybe two words. What the heck else am I supposed to do with my time?”

Brandon handed her the water he’d previously dug out of his pack. She gulped it down and he got off the bench. She’d shown up with bright pink lipstick this morning, but it’d all worn off.

Unfortunately, when she wrapped said lips around the water bottle, it didn’t particularly matter how bright or not bright they were.

He stared at the trees that lined the path, tried to focus on counting individual pine needles rather than think about her mouth around anything. Her mouth, period.

“What time is it?” she asked. No, not just asked. Whined. He glanced at his watch. “We’ve only been at it an hour.”

“That’s it?”

“Come on. If you sit there much longer you’re never going to want to get up.”

“I already don’t want to get up.”

“Don’t be a child.”

“No, being a child would be calling you a giant butt, which is what I’m doing in my head.”

“A giant . . . butt.” He couldn’t help but laugh. It was a baffled laugh that escaped him, but it was a laugh nonetheless. “You’re sitting there calling me a butt.”

She put the water bottle down and tugged the band out of her hair, the riot of colors cascading over her shoulders and obscuring her face. “Yup. I live with my ten-year-old nephew. You’re lucky I’m not calling you a poop fudge sundae.”

“I . . .” He laughed again, because what on earth was one supposed to do when his very prim and proper employee referenced poop?

In quick, efficient movements, she pulled all her hair back into its band. Somehow, the messy tangle looked chic and alluring. Why was every damn thing about her alluring?

“Is it so very difficult?” she asked gravely.

Could she read his mind or something? “Is what difficult?”

“Smiling. Laughing. Normal positive human emotion.” She pushed off the bench and took a deep breath, motioning for him to lead the way up the remainder of the trail.

“I’m a serious guy, with serious plans,” he grumbled, feeling moderately shamed that he’d been . . . so grumpy with her. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her fault she was distracting and he had about eight million reasons not to be distracted.

It wasn’t her fault Will and Sam had overruled him to hire her, and it wasn’t exactly her fault that it irritated him she was so good at her job.

“I have serious plans myself, but I’ve never forgone laughter and enjoyment for them.”

“Then you’ve never had to atone for a sin.”

Nicole Helm grew up with her nose in a book and a dream of becoming a writer. Luckily, after a few failed career choices, a husband, and two kids, she got to pursue that dream. Nicole writes down-to-earth contemporary romance. From farmers to cowboys, Midwest to the West, she writes stories about people finding themselves and finding love in the process. When she’s not writing, she spends her time dreaming about someday owning a barn. She lives with her husband and two young sons in Missouri. She is slightly (okay, totally) addicted to Twitter (@nicolethelm), the St. Louis Cardinals, and someday owning a barn. Her website is www.nicolehelm.com.