Hell's Bells: Eric's Story

by Lynn Hubbard

Hell’s bells. Eric Phillips had enough problems before Joanie Caldwell came home. Now she’s stealing his jacket, wrecking his peace, taking over his Cadillac’s radio, and making him fall for the one girl he should know better than to love. Welcome to 1959—where trouble has green eyes and answers to Joanie.

Eric Phillips is nineteen, working hard, carrying more responsibility than most people realize, and doing his best to keep the temper that has gotten him into trouble from controlling his life. He knows exactly where the lines are supposed to be—especially the one surrounding his best friend’s younger sister.
Then Joanie Caldwell comes home.
Eric remembers a scrappy kid who used to trail after the boys. The girl standing in front of him now is sixteen, sharp-tongued, stubborn, funny, and entirely too good at getting under his skin. He tells himself she is trouble. He tells himself Brad would kill him. He tells himself a lot of things.
None of them help.
As autumn turns toward winter in 1959 Cincinnati, Eric finds himself pulled deeper into Joanie’s drive-in movies, basketball, family dinners, snowstorms, school drama, and the kind of ordinary moments that somehow become the ones he can’t stop thinking about. But loving Joanie means confronting more than Brad’s disapproval. Eric must face his own grief, anger, fears, and the question of whether a man can become more than the mistakes he has made.
Hell’s Bells is the companion novel to Return to Love, telling the same unforgettable season from Eric’s point of view while opening the door to the moments Joanie never saw. Romantic, funny, emotional, and unmistakably Eric, it is the other half of their first-love story.

539 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2026

About the author

Hi thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoyed writing them!


Lynn Hubbard is a historical romance author. Her titles include: Run into the Wind, Chase the Moon, Return to Love, Desperado, War of Hearts and several others.

Lynn likes to instill humor and realism into her books & characters, because Sex is Funny.

I have been writing for over ten years and published for four. I have a twisted sense of humor and try to impart that into my writing. I am a sucker for happy endings. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to read, but when I do, I enjoy non-fiction books as well as fiction. I am currently reading a book on K2, the second tallest mountain in the world. My favorite book series is Trixie Belden. Trixie was my best friend growing up and we still visit from time to time. I have two very creative and talented sons, and two dogs. I live in rural Georgia and love it!