The Hometown Heartbreaker

Valentine Bay #1

by Melanie Shawn

A second chance, reformed playboy, first love, small town romance

Sadie Rose Shepard was supposed to leave Valentine Bay in her rearview mirror.

Unfortunately, nobody told her grandfather. Or her ex. Or her traitorous libido.

When a family emergency sends Sadie racing back to the tiny Oregon town she escaped years ago, she has exactly three goals:
· Take care of her grandpa.
· Stay out of the town gossip mill.
· And avoid Dawson Lockhart—the cowboy-shaped reason she left in the first place.

That last one lasts approximately five minutes because this is Valentine Bay, filled with meddling families who won’t take no for an answer.

Seeing Dawson again confirms her greatest fear, that despite years of telling herself otherwise, she wasn’t over her first love, her biggest heartbreak, and unfortunately, the boy who broke her heart has turned into a six-foot-something rancher with rough hands, worn jeans, smoldering hazel eyes, and enough swagger to make Sadie reconsider several perfectly reasonable life choices.

Including sanity.

And maybe pants.

Dawson Lockhart never thought Sadie would come home.

He’s spent years telling himself letting her go was the right thing to do, so that's exactly what he did. There was just one problem with his brilliant plan.

He never stopped loving her.

Now Sadie is back with her big-city attitude, smart mouth, and the same smile that has haunted him for years.

Staying away from her should be easy.

Except this is Valentine Bay—a town where privacy is an insult, neighbors treat gossip like an Olympic event, and, apparently best friend’s think it’s okay to ask out your ex.

Jealousy has Dawson showing up on her doorstep. Sadie forgets why she hates him. And one extremely bad decision involving his mouth proves their chemistry didn’t disappear with time.

It got hotter.

Now old feelings are turning into new kisses, Sadie’s temporary trip home is becoming dangerously complicated, and Dawson is starting to wonder if he can convince the woman he once let go to stay.

But Sadie still doesn’t know the whole truth about why Dawson broke her heart. And when it finally comes out, their second chance could be over before it really begins. Because Sadie thinks Dawson was the hometown heartbreaker who chose Valentine Bay over her.

She has no idea letting her leave nearly destroyed him.

And this time?

Dawson isn’t sure he can survive watching the only woman he’s ever loved walk away twice.

The Hometown Heartbreaker is a spicy, laugh-out-loud small-town second-chance romance featuring first loves, a rugged rancher who never got over her, a city girl who definitely got over him (she’s lying), meddling family, shameless town gossip, forced proximity, scorching chemistry, buried secrets, and years of delicious unresolved tension.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2026

About the author

NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Melanie Shawn writes HEAs filled with sweet and sassy heroines, heroes who are cinnamon rolls in the streets alpho-holes in the sheets, casts of supportive *cough: meddling* friends and family who put the fun in funny, toe-curling combustible heat, and sugary sweet “aww” moments that will have your hearts and e-readers melting.

Reviews

[Tina Buchberger Oase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome back to Valentine Bay!
This is the first in the series for Lockhart Ranch and it all starts as a perfect second chance story.
Sadie and Dawson used to be high school sweethearts. They thought they had their future all planned out, then life intervened and caused a major set back causing Sadie to leave heartbroken. After her grandfather falls ill, she needs to return to town and life gives them the chance to get back on track
Valentine Bay is the perfect small town and you will fall in love with the town and the people.
Sometimes you need to listen to your heart.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hometown Heartbreaker is the first book in the Valentine Bay: Lockhart Ranch series and it's always so much fun to visit Valentine Bay! And, this is a fantastic second chance romance!

Sadie Rose Shepard thought that she had her life figured out at the young age of 12. She and Dawson Lockhart had been together for most of their youth and they had plans for a future right in their hometown of Valentine Bay. When Sadie found Dawson in bed with someone else the night after their high school graduation, she hightailed it out of town and to New York City and she hasn't looked back. Until now.

Sadie has made a life for herself in NYC and she has be come successful in the advertising realm. While she's tried to move on from Dawson, she still hasn't found someone she wants to move on with. Now she has gotten the news that her grandfather, the man who took care of her following her mother's death, is in the hospital and needs her. Sadie knows that heading back to her hometown is going to stir all kinds of emotions, but she's not sure she's ready to face any of it but especially Dawson.

Dawson is now the CEO of his family business and while he has tried to move on from Sadie, he hasn't been successful at doing it. He ends up running into Sadie when she is brought back to their family farm by his mother where she insists she stays. It's obvious from the get that the chemistry between Dawson and Sadie is still as strong as ever, but will what happened with them over a decade ago ever be able to be forgiven?

I really liked Dawson and Sadie. Their connection was clear and I also enjoyed the interactions with Dawson's brothers and his mom. It was nice that Dawson and Sadie handled what had happened like adults and talked things through instead of holding a lot of anger toward one another (not that it wasn't there). I can already tell that the stories of the rest of the Lockhart boys are going to be a fun ride and I'm looking forward to it!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title in exchange for an honest review**

[Sherri Babb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved returning to the town of Valentine Bay! Melanie Shawn has crafted such a beautiful story full of heart, warmth, and memorable characters. The small-town atmosphere and meddling family dynamics added so much charm, but the absolute highlight was the incredible connection between Sadie and Dawson. Their chemistry is electric right off the page, and watching them navigate years of unresolved feelings and misunderstandings to find their way back to each other was so satisfying. A fantastic start to the series—highly recommend! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hometown Heartbreaker is the first novel in the Valentine Bay Lockhart Ranch series by Melanie Shawn. The series is based in the Lockhart family and revisits some of the amazing characters from Valentine Bay.

Sadie is back in town for her grandfather and that means she has to face her past. This story is one of second chances and so much love.

Dawson is the eldest Lockhart brother and has pined after Sadie for over 10 years and he finally has a chance to get her back. I enjoyed the fact that our hero of this story is not the frustrating character where you are thinking to yourself, just have the conversation! Get it out in the open! Sadie and Dawson are adorable. Dawson's mom and brothers are a hoot and Valentine Bay is back!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hometown Heartbreaker is the first in a new series set in Valentine Bay. Sadie returns home to Valentine Bay after her grandfather has a heart attack. She had left town after having her heart broken by her high school sweetheart Dawson. I loved this book. Second chance romance is one of my favorite genres and this one had a great setting, characters you wanted to root for and a lot of spice. Every time I start a new Melanie Shawn book, I know it’s going to be good and this one didn’t disappoint. Valentine Bay is going to be a great setting for more HEAs.

[Elisabeth Scherer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice small town romance that is steamy and filled with characters that you want to know better. I love the entire town and it's characters and I know Ms. Shawn is really good at creating hilarious and unique characters, families with fun dynamics and characters with heart as well has characters who have been hurt.

I am looking forward to revisiting this town when the next book comes out.

[Argie · Rating 5 out of 5]

second chances

Hometown Heartbreaker by Melanie Shawn is a feel good small-town romance packed with irresistible chemistry, humor, heart, and swoon-worthy moments. The characters are easy to love, and their emotional journey pulled me in completely.

If you enjoy second chances, charming small-town settings, and romances that leave you smiling, add this one to your TBR! ❤️📚

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A second chance at love! Who doesn’t love a HEA? Dawson and Sadie show us how it’s done. Great new series with some amazing characters! Loved it!💕💕💕💕

[Michelle Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

hope filled and happy

I love this new series and can’t wait for the other journeys to come. Loved the connection, spunk, all the flavor and feels. Another hit!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great trip out to Valentine Bay. Loved this story. Dawson and Sadie got their second chance.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawson & Sadie
It might be the same small town setting, Valentine Bay, but we get a different view of the town. This time through the eyes of the Lockhart family. Dawson had his whole life planned out at an early age, including the girl he was going to marry. Except that she left after graduation night and has been gone for 12 years. Sadie did what she thought was right and left her hometown for the big city and a job that she loved. When her larger than life grandfather ends up in the hospital she comes rushing back home. When the past hurts are finally discussed and the truth of what happened and why, so many things were explained. Dawson and Sadie are explosive together and they share some super spicy encounters.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hometown Heartbreaker is a new series based in Valentine's Bay (a former series' locale) that takes you back into the small town world.  While you only briefly see characters from the former series, you do get the same sense of home that we loved. 

 

Sadie left town right after graduation after seeing her high school sweetheart in a compromising position after a night of partying.  She fell into a marketing career in New York City and did her best to move on from small town life aided by the fact that her grandfather who helped raise her after her mother died seemed to push her away and didn't seem to want her around.  

 

When Buddy (her grandfather) ends up in the hospital with a heart attack and stroke, she immediately leaves the conference she was supposed to be at to rush to see him. 

 

Dawson, named after one of his mother's favorite TV characters, woke up after a high school graduation night party next to another girl after spending the last 6 years with Sadie.  He has been trying to move on from his mistake for years but rather than moving on, he just seems to be moving through people trying to forget the one that got away due to his mistakes. 

 

When Sadie and Dawson see each other for the first time in years, they are both breathless and don't know what to say or do.  Sadie thinks that Dawson never tried to reach out to her after she blocked him and he thinks that she ignored all of the letters he gave to Buddy to give her.  Both of these characters want to move on with their lives but can't seem to move away from each other and sparks were flying every time they were alone. 

 

As parts of the past come to the surface, decisions about their futures are up in the air.  Sadie needs to decide if she wants to go back to New York and just hire someone to help Buddy at home or if she wants to stay home to help him herself.  Dawson needs to decide if he can let her go again and go back to how his life was the last decade or so. 

 

I loved the story and am looking forward to the next brother's story that was very briefly teased. 
 

 

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valentine Bay is baaaack! Sadie and Dawson get their second chance to be together when she comes home to take care of her grandfather. The family is awesome and I can’t wait to read more from these wonderful characters.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valentine Bay - so glad to be back in one of Melanie Shawn's small towns!! Ths is the first story of the Lockhart Ranch boys, and a great one. Sadie suddenly ends up back in Valentine Bay when her beloved grandfather is ill and knows she will see the ex she has been avoiding for 12 years. Little does she know he has never forgotten her, just as she has never forgotten him, and their reunion and figuring out what really happened in the past makes for a wonderful HEA!! Looking forward to the next book!!

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as a great book. I like the small town and the characters we get to meet throughout. It flows well and is jam packed full of content.
I love that there is always a little segue into what is going to be coming next.

There are little dramas that pop up but they all get resolved in the end. It is the sweetest happily ever after. The spicy bits are pretty spicy. I love it all!

[Brandi Sartin lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadie’s back in town and doesn’t know how how her life is going to turn upside down. When she gets a call that her grandpa is in the hospital she rushes home. After leaving the hospital, she’s trying to decide what she’s going to do and stay. She has a job that she left high and dry. Then she runs into her exes mother who is going to help her out and offers a place to stay. She wasn’t expecting to run into Dawson on the first night and his girlfriend. But did she get the full picture? If she states, can she forget stuff that happened in the past and move forward-hopefully with Dawson?

[Phyllis Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

I loved this story! She is one of my favorite authors and her stories are not boring!! I can't wait to start her next book .

[Michelle Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are back in Valentine Bay. I have to say I love Sadie and could see pieces of myself in her. She left a speaking engagement for her career and came back home to take care of Buddy and maybe rekindle a romance from the past. She was barely back in town when her ex’s mother ran into her and brought her back to where they live to stay but it was also where another one of her son’s was getting married and Sadie’s ex Dawson wasn’t supposed to be there but he was there with a date. This opened a huge can of worms especially with the way things ended between them. We also have Gio who used to be part of their friend group - - Sadie, Dawson, and Gio and while Gio and Sadie are hanging out we also have Sadie and Dawson also spending time together, we have Sadie’s ex from New York calling and we also learn a lot about the past especially letters that weren’t sent to Sadie and the details of the night that eventually broke them up. Sadie is being pulled in two directions staying in Valentine Bay to take care of Buddy and help with his eventual release from the hospital and her career which it sounds like she is amazingly good at but I loved that she trusted Janine to give her the opportunity of a lifetime with her clients. I also liked that Uncle Ronnie and Lorenzo made an appearance of sorts. I’m really glad that things from the past were talked about and things are going well for Sadie and Dawson but I wish that Jeremy didn’t get off scott free, I get it, but he deserved some sort of punishment. I’m also glad that Sadie is using her knowledge to help Buddy. Another wonderful book from beginning to end but as I’ve mentioned before with this author I wanted MORE story. I wasn’t ready for this story to end, I wanted MORE. #GreatBook!

[Yvonne Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadie Rose Shepard had dreams of a life with Dawson Lockhart, the boy she had loved since she was 12 years old. But that all changed the night after their HS graduation when she finds him in a compromised position with someone else. Heartbroken , she left her hometown and her grandfather behind for a new start in NYC.
Twelve years later, she’s a successful advertising wiz and making a name for herself.
When her grandfather, the man who took her in during her tough childhood, has a heart attack and a stroke, she leaves NYC and heads home. She just hopes not cross paths with Dawson. The boy that broke her heart.
But in a town like Valentine Bay, that wish comes crashing down immediately and the old feelings surge to the surface.
The chemistry between these two is still there but Sadie’s heart has second thoughts about Dawson, even when he is just as kind and thoughtful with her and her grandfather as he was years ago.
What happens when the truth about their breakup is different than they thought? What happens when what Sadie believed her grandfather thought of her is not what she thought?
Lastly , will these two hard working individuals with big hearts find their way back to each other, or will the past and fear keep them apart?
This story is not only about family, heartbreaks, and misunderstandings. It is also a story about second chances in life and love.
I was entrusted a copy of this book. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

[Becky Claxon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in Valentine Bay. I can’t imagine falling in love as a young teenager and staying in love as an adult. Sadie and Dawson had grown up in the same town and fell in love at a young age. It was really bad when actions happened with no recollection of how they happened tore up two lives— Sadie and Dawson. My heart went out to Dawson as he had such guilt and couldn’t forgive himself. The one constant was he always loved Sadie and wondered why she never answered his letters. In Sadie’s pain she fled to New York City. Another heart broken, but still in love with Dawson. At least ten years later, Sadie’s grandpa was hospitalized and she didn’t know if he would make it. I was so glad that she dropped everything and flew back to her hometown to be with her grandfather. He was a stubborn old man that was determined to take care of himself. I loved how Dawson’s mother gave Sadie no chance to not take her offer to stay in one of the houses on the ranch while she was there to take care of her grandfather.

I couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to know what was going to happen next and see if Dawson and Sadie would get back together. It was amazing how many misunderstandings came out in the story. You can’t help but love Dawson’s mother and how the heartbreak brothers gave each other a hard time with love. I loved the book and strongly encourage you to read the book.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

**The Hometown Heartbreaker** is the first book in a new series set in Valentine’s Bay, a town we’ve visited in some of Melanie Shawn’s previous books. It’s nice to be back home, although maybe not so much for Sadie. She left many years ago after a betrayal and built a new life for herself in New York. But when she is called home following her grandfather’s health crisis, all the memories she tried to leave behind come rushing back—including Dawson, a very important part of her past.

Dawson stayed in Valentine’s Bay and tried to move on with his life while coming to terms with the mistakes of the past. When Sadie and Dawson meet again, they quickly realize that the spark between them is still there. Once the misunderstandings from the past are finally cleared up, they find their way back to each other.

As with most of Melanie Shawn’s stories, the secondary characters are fun, sweet, and very entertaining. The chemistry between Dawson and Sadie is electric, and their relationship is both sweet and poignant. I really enjoyed watching them work through the past and find their way back to each other.

It was lovely to return to Valentine’s Bay, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in the series.

[greenapplemojito · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a heartbreaker because I expected it to be nice, but it ended up breaking my heart instead. For one, within the first few pages, when I came across the whole Vicki thing, I just didn't want to continue reading the book. I felt disgusted seeing how things were heading. I did push through because I've read similar books that tried to recover from it, and I wanted to see what this one was like, and it was that same predictable recovery. Later, the MCs reconciled almost immediately into their old ways, way too soon without much talk or discussion. Third, I was so shocked by how little any of them even question or communicate things. Fourth, I was shocked by how Gio's role in the story was heading because I genuinely wanted more supportive and good characters, and I was even more shocked by how the conversation they had about something so crucial was so easily brushed off or forgiven. Things moved too fast, and the characters honestly didn't question anything, which is what I was so shocked about.

Bummer of a read for me, but I am sure there might be a lot of others who might like this book!

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful second chance love story that was over a decade old!! You will fall in love with this couple, family and friends!! Melanie Shawn has a way of crafting a story that will keep you riveted and wanting more!! After all the hurt and secrets finally come out this couple needs to find a way back to each other and find their HEA!! The chemistry is electric every time they are together and you can't help but root for this couple!! A must read that I highly recommend you grab today!! If you love small town romance and second chance teenage love story revisited this book is definitely your jam!!

[Urvashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hometown heartbreaker is a beautiful 2nd chance romance. Sadie and Dawson feel in love when they were 12, and despite the misunderstanding that kept them apart for 12 years, they haven’t stopped living each other.
Sadie and Dawson share a beautiful connection made stronger by the electric chemistry. Watching them navigate all the misunderstandings and their feeling as they make their way back to each other was heartwarming and beautiful. The small town dynamics and meddling family members made for some hilarious moments.
This was a beautiful start to the series and I can’t wait to read the next book.

[Linn Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A second chance and new characters to the already charming world we've enjoyed in previous books. Great main characters in Sadie and Dawson. Sadie returns to her hometown due to her Grandfather Buddy being ill and her teenage boyfriend Dawson is the eldest son of Selma Lockhart, Deacon's birth mother. It's a redemtion story, a story about reconnecting with yourself, your family and your past, to create the future that was always there. Even if you didnt' know it. Do recommend.

[Laurie Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Sadie and Dawson is a great second chance HEA! In their case, their love started when they were kids and ended because of a terrible trick and a misunderstanding. Luckily as adults they realize they have always loved each other. What a great way to start a new series. Definitely a must read!