Note: This NetGalley expires 11/22/11.

Dean Silverthorne’s mother may be dead, but she still has matchmaking to do.

When an injury dashes NFL Quarterback Dean Silverthorne’s Super Bowl dreams, he heads back to Deer Lick, Montana with a chip on his wounded shoulder, more determined than ever to get back in the game. He loves his kooky family, but this trip home is going to be a very brief Christmas visit.

His game plan doesn’t include an instant attraction to Emma Hart, a feisty kindergarten teacher who seems to be the only person in Deer Lick not interested in the hometown hero. Or his dearly departed mom popping up with mistletoe in hand and meddling on the mind. Now Dean can’t help but wonder if there’s more to love than life between the goal posts.

Candis Terry was born and raised near the sunny beaches of Southern California, and now makes her home on an Idaho farm. She’s experienced life in such diverse ways as working in a Hollywood recording studio, scooping up road apples left by her daughter’s rodeo queening horse, and working as a graphic designer. Only one thing has remained constant: Candis's passion for writing stories about relationships, the push and pull in the search for love, and the security one finds in their own happily ever after. Though her stories are set in small towns, Candis's wish is to give each of her characters a great big memorable love story that is rich with quirky characters, is tons of fun, and has a happy ending.