Take a journey to a place where the men still call ladies “ma’am,” they’re always willing to lend a hand—and are eager to take a stand. Happily Ever After, Texas Style collects 11 delightful short stories set in the Lone Star State about love and life and finding home.

Here are stories, all with strong women at their center, that speak to unpredictable nature of love, its ability to find us no matter where we are, and the adventure that often leads to it. In “Times When Things Just Happen,” Janet and Valerie, two small-town secretaries, bet on finding a dream-cowboy within three weeks—or they’ll go the singles-bar route. But it’s when neither is on the hunt that Mr. Right shows up. In “A Top Of The Line Romance,” two old loves reunite after time and travel has pulled them in utterly separate directions. But they soon discover the interlude hasn’t extinguished the flames. And in “The List,” a harrowing murder-intrigue sets the stage for an unlikely romance.

Through it all, Patti Witter’s gift for drawing small-town love and small-town life is guaranteed to charm readers from every background. In the end, Happily Ever After is about the extraordinary occurrences that take place every day in ordinary lives. It is about the strength of women to chart their own course. And it is about the magic and greatness of places like small towns in Texas, where it’s still possible to live “happily ever after.”