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The Fireside Hours

Taylor Deister

A warm fireside storytelling podcast where slow-burn romance meets quiet mystery. Each episode offers original, intimate read-along stories filled with longing, soft tension, and atmospheric charm. Cozy, romantic, and a little enigmatic - these tales invite you to settle in, breathe deeply, and let the night unfold. I also want people to send me their original stories too.

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21 episodes
weekly
Avg 16 min
English

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Episodes 21

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S1 · E31
Yesterday · 17 min
The Unbroken Thread
In the past, Ginny calmly stands her ground against Veronica’s cruel comments at the general store, backed by Wes’s unshakeable presence. On the truck ride home, a tender moment of encouragement from Wes leads to a near-kiss between them that is suddenly interrupted when Jed drops a metal bucket on the porch. That same electric spark echoes into the past during a violent summer downpour, where Ginny and Wes rush up to the hayloft to save the dry hay bales. Trapped in the dim loft by the storm, they share their deepest dreams for the future, with Wes making a steady vow to always help her hold up the roof. In the present day, after standing by Wes at Jed’s packed funeral service in the south pasture, Ginny retreats to her granddad's study. She opens another letter from Jed urging her to stop running from her pain and come back to where she belongs. Overwhelmed by bittersweet tears, Ginny is swept up into Wes’s arms as he holds her tightly, promising her that she is finally home.
S1 · E30
September 9 · 14 min
The Long Road to Steady
In these chapters, Taytum is tired of the same old thing with Ryder. Then one morning she gets a Snapchat from Ryder and that was the final straw. Taytum was done with Ryder messing it up every single time so she chose herself. As the years went on she met a steady guy named Luke and started a life with him but still kept in touch with Ryder. But what Taytum didn’t know what Ryder was living his own hell with a girl he started “dating.”
S1 · E29
September 1 · 17 min
The Riverbank & The Written Legacy
Overwhelmed by lingering pain and bitter whispers from town, Ginny retreats to her sanctuary by the creek, only to be surprised when her granddad navigates the steep slope in his truck to join her. Sitting together on the damp riverbank, Jed cries with her, acknowledging that while neither of them understands why God allowed such tragedy, they will carry the weight of grief together as he shares stories of her parents. A few days later, a peaceful breeze settles over the farm as Jed hands Ginny her mother’s worn, leather-bound Bible, revealing pages filled with handwritten prayers and notes left specifically for her before she was born. After sharing these deeply personal scriptures aloud with Wes by the baler, Ginny returns to her childhood bedroom in the present day. Safe in Wes’s comforting embrace, she opens her nightstand to find her mother's Bible preserved alongside a letter written by Jed before he passed—a tender message forgiving her for running to the city and reminding her that her true home, and her heart, never stopped belonging on the farm.
S1 · E28
August 11 · 19 min
Wranglers and Redemption
Taytum is still navigating her through her grief. But a country concert with Ryder and Sadie might just be what she needs. After the concert, Ryder and Taytum go to the bar to meet up with Ryders friends and Ryder makes it known that Taytum is with him. She feels like he might be changing but after getting dropped on her head by Ryder she feels like Ryder will always just be Ryder.
S1 · E27
July 19 · 24 min
The Sanctuary and the Altar
An evening of shared laughter at the kitchen table brings Ginny her first real sense of peace since losing her parents, prompting her to sneak out later—not to run away, but to share her secret creekside sanctuary with Wes. Sitting on the tailgate under the stars, they find rare solace in each other as Ginny opens up about her fractured soul and Wes shares the heavy burden of supporting his family. Refreshed and free of a hangover the next morning, Ginny eagerly joins her grandfather for church, pausing to stack hay with a teasing Wes before dressing in a beautiful sundress that reminds Jed of her late mother. At the service, a powerful sermon on grief softens Ginny’s bitter anger toward God, but the spiritual breakthrough is instantly shattered in the courtyard by a cruel, toxic comment from a local girl named Veronica. Overwhelmed by the painful reminder that she will always be seen as "the orphan," a weeping Ginny flees into the open pasture, leaving a protective Wes to be gently held back by Jed, who knows she just needs time to face her demons before she can come back around.
S1 · E26
July 12 · 15 min
The Heavy Crown of Grief
In these chapters Taytum finds out that James is gone. While she tries to navigate through her grief, Ryder tries to be there for her the best way he knows how but when a sudden wave of panic comes over Taytum at the bar Ryder tries to calm her with one of his stupid jokes. Once they get back to Ryder’s house Taytum is scared that her grief will be too much for Ryder. WARNING mention of death
S1 · E25
July 4 · 14 min
The Legacy Replanted
With the wolves finally defeated, Ben returns from the hospital to see the center spruce standing tall and proudly passes the ranch's operations down to Tessa and Brooks as equal partners. Under the warm glow of the amber tree lights, Brooks and Tessa finally dissolve the boundaries of the last fourteen years, confessing their deep devotion and sharing a long-awaited embrace. The book wraps up with an optimistic springtime epilogue, showing the couple planting the first of many new saplings together on the North Slope, their future permanently anchored in the land they saved.
S1 · E24
June 28 · 25 min
The Sentinel and the Solace
Stepping inside her late grandfather's house in the present day triggers a flood of intense memories for thirty-eight-year-old Ginny. She remembers a stormy dinner twenty years ago when an exhausted Jed, tired of her dangerous, booze-fueled rebellion after her parents' death, ordered a reluctant Wes to shadow her for the night. Furious, Ginny sneaks out to a chaotic field party anyway, only to find Wes watching her like a silent sentinel from the tree line. When a local guy tries to force her into the dark woods against her will, her desperate screams bring Wes crashing through the brush to level the guy with a single punch. Safe on the tailgate of his truck, Ginny finally drops her guard, sharing a rare moment of raw vulnerability with the young cowboy. The next morning, overwhelmed by shame for having told her grandfather she hated him, Ginny wakes up and throws her arms around Jed in a tearful, healing embrace, receiving his unyielding love and forgiveness. She channels that new energy into a brutal, exhausting four-hour shift stacking hay alongside Wes in the blazing sun, cementing a silent bond of mutual respect between them that even her return to a bonfire that night cannot shake.
S1 · E23
June 20 · 17 min
The Deliverance
In these chapters, the tide turns as Tessa and Brooks transition from desperate defense to a calculated counter-offensive. The journey begins with a breakthrough when they spot the rusted truck of Brooks’s brother, Marcus, hidden near an abandoned timber mill. Confronted by Brooks, a terrified Marcus reveals that Leo isn't just collecting a debt—he is working for a Great Falls syndicate trying to force a foreclosure to steal the valley's lucrative timber rights. Armed with this critical intelligence, Tessa and Brooks launch a daring midnight trap at the east ridge hunting lodge where Leo is staying. While Brooks uses a heavy timber-skidder to drop massive ponderosa pines across the only escape road, effectively trapping the criminals, Tessa bravely enters the lodge alone to play a high-stakes psychological game, using a decoy bag of market cash as bait to keep Leo talking. The trap springs perfectly as state fraud investigators—tipped off by the couple with the secret ledger and Marcus's signed affidavit—flood the cabin, arresting a stunned Leo and permanently neutralizing the threat to Evergreen Ranch.
S1 · E22
June 10 · 18 min
Whiskey and Wildflowers
Thirty-eight-year-old Virginia is a polished, high-flying city executive who has spent two decades running from her past. Her carefully constructed corporate armor is completely shattered by a phone call delivering devastating news: Jed, the deeply pious grandfather who raised her, has passed away. Leaving her sterile office behind, she drives back to the Maryland farm she abandoned long ago. As she pulls up to the empty porch swing, the familiar scents of whiskey and wildflowers trigger a vivid, emotional flashback to her reckless youth. At nineteen, consumed by grief over the sudden death of her parents, Ginny was drowning her pain in late nights and rebellion. Despite her furious resistance, her grandfather extended unyielding grace, forcing her up at dawn to work the land. It was during one of these miserable, hungover mornings that she first clashed with Wes, a handsome, sharp-witted nineteen-year-old cowboy Jed had hired to help keep her safe. Back in the present, the memory fades as a man steps out of the evening shadows. It is Wes—now a rugged, powerfully built man in his late thirties who stayed behind to tend the roots Ginny left behind, his piercing green eyes holding the exact same knowing intensity she hasn’t forgotten.
S1 · E21
June 3 · 21 min
The Gathering Storm
In these chapters, the battle for Evergreen Ranch escalates into a high-stakes confrontation against both legal and criminal forces. The tension reaches a boiling point during a tense morning showdown at the farm, where Tessa's elitist ex-husband, Grant, arrives with his legal team to freeze the ranch's assets, flanked by the ruthless debt collector, Leo. Seeking guidance, Tessa visits her recovering father, Ben, in the hospital, where his fierce reminder of their family legacy inspires her to fight back. That night, Tessa and Brooks transform the farmhouse kitchen into a war room, analyzing the secret ledger to find a legal loophole—a moment of intense strategy that nearly crosses into romance with a breathless, almost-kiss before they are interrupted. The following morning, they take their fight to the county courthouse, where Tessa successfully uses Brooks's years of anonymous financial sacrifices to convince the judge to deny Grant's injunction. However, their legal victory is instantly overshadowed on the courthouse steps when Leo delivers a chilling ultimatum: if he does not receive his money by Friday morning, he will burn the ranch's prized sixty-foot blue spruce to the ground.
S1 · E20
May 26 · 14 min
The Light and the Vigil
In these chapters, the quiet anticipation of the ranch gives way to a bittersweet triumph and a lingering threat. After a late-night conversation by the fire where Brooks reveals the silent, decade-long devotion that kept him tethered to the property, the morning brings the long-awaited opening of the "Christmas at Evergreen" market. The ranch is flooded with holiday joy and community support, but the peace is shattered when Leo delivers a chilling, subtle threat directly to Tessa at the registers. This confrontation sets the stage for the annual tree-lighting ceremony, where the beauty of the glowing blue spruce contrasts with the danger lurking in the shadows. The chapters conclude with a tense all-night watch in the warming hut, where Tessa and Brooks share a profound, guarded conversation about duty, survival, and what it truly means to hold the line against the wolves at the gate.
S1 · E19
May 11 · 13 min
The Ghost and the Guardian
In these chapters, the mounting tension between Tessa and Brooks reaches a breaking point as the dangers of the outside world invade their sanctuary. After a night of shared vulnerability where Tessa admits her fear of being "broken," Brooks reveals the intensity of his decade-long devotion, though they both retreat into the safety of sleep before crossing the final line. The following morning brings a violent intrusion when the drug dealer, Leo, confronts Tessa in the snow; Brooks intervenes with a lethal protectiveness, realizing his past has become a direct threat to her safety. Their journey then takes them to the hospital, where they face a double-edged confrontation: first with Tessa’s elitist ex-husband, Grant, and then with a recovering Ben, who notices the undeniable shift in their relationship and demands the truth about the ranch—and each other.
S1 · E18
May 8 · 14 min
The Weight of Hidden Truths
In these chapters, the emotional and physical storms finally converge on Evergreen Ranch. Tessa reaches her breaking point in a raw "fire scene," where she burns the remnants of her past life and confronts the gut-wrenching betrayal of her divorce. Brooks is there to catch her, leading to a moment of deep, shared vulnerability as they comfort each other by the embers. The connection between them deepens during a brutal blizzard that knocks out the power, forcing them to huddle together in the farmhouse to survive the sub-zero temperatures. Amidst the cold, the stakes reach a new high when Tessa discovers the ranch’s secret ledger, revealing that Brooks has been anonymously sacrificing his entire life’s savings to keep her father’s legacy from collapsing.
S1 · E16
April 21 · 14 min
The Weight of the Silence
In these chapters, the focus shifts from physical survival to emotional reckoning. While keeping a tense vigil at the hospital for Ben, Tessa and Brooks share a rare moment of vulnerability, uncovering the deep bond of gratitude Brooks feels for the man who saved him. However, the peace is short-lived as Brooks is forced to confront the wreckage of his own family. He tracks down his brother, Marcus, to deliver a final warning about the dangerous debts threatening the ranch, before visiting his paralyzed mother in a nursing home. There, amidst the smell of antiseptic and old memories, he receives a long-awaited apology for his traumatic childhood—a moment of emotional release that strengthens his resolve to protect the new life he has built with Tessa.
S1 · E14
April 7 · 13 min
Brittle Ground
The quiet sanctuary of the ranch is breached by the harsh realities of the past and the fragility of the present. As Tessa attempts to find her footing in the physically demanding world of the North Slope, she witnesses the dark shadow of Brooks’s history when a local debt collector arrives to demand payment for his brother’s mistakes. The tension between their worlds—Tessa’s polished past and Brooks’s rugged, guarded present—comes to a head during a raw conversation among the pines, only to be shattered by a medical emergency. When Ben suffers a heart attack, the two are forced to set aside their internal conflicts and join forces, realizing that they are now the only ones left to protect the legacy of Evergreen Ranch.
S1 · E12
March 25 · 16 min
Roots of Redemption
On this episode I’ve decided to take a break from Sparks in the Quiet and read a little bit of my new story called Roots of Redemption. At thirty, Tessa is facing a reality she never imagined. With a painful divorce finalized and her heart shattered by her husband’s betrayal, she returns to her father’s Christmas tree farm with her head bowed and her spirit bruised. Brooks is a man of silence and scars. A runaway at sixteen, he escaped a home fueled by addiction to find a surrogate father in Ben, the owner of Evergreen Ranch. Now the ranches foreman, Brooks has spent years building a life of quiet faith, but the ghosts of his past are beginning to catch up to him. On the next episode we’ll get back to sparks in the quiet!
S1 · E4
January 29 · 14 min
Episode Four of The Warmth Beneath the Pines
This is the last episode of The Warmth Beneath the Pines, I hope you guys enjoyed it! There is a sneak peek of the new book that I’m going to start next week! But in this last episode Hazel and Weston go back to the forest and they finally figure out why they both have the same pendants. After they find out why, they both tell each other they love each other and end up staying together. Thank you so much for listening to this story! Again if you have a story you want me to read or if you have any questions or comments email me at thefiresidehours@mail.com!
#3
January 25 · 14 min
Episode Three of The Warmth Beneath the Pines
Weston and Hazel headed back to the forest and they went past the archway and it finally opened for them. Weston realized the door they were standing in front of was the same door from his dreams. They both step through and their pendants both pulse. They both witnessed the magic that was behind the doorway and they were both pulled to each other. On the way back to the inn Hazel asked Weston to stay with her that night.
S1 · E2
January 13 · 22 min
Part two of The Warmth Beneath the Pines
Hazel and Weston decide to journey into the forest together where they learn about their pasts. As they’re drawn deeper into the forest by the humming noise it starts to snow heavy again and they head back to the inn. The next day they head to the attic and find journals that lead them back to the forest.

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