He rebuilt his life with walls and rules. I move in next door...and keep finding the doors.
One lightning-hot kiss makes "neighbors only" impossible.

I come to Oak Ridge for quiet, a steady teaching job, and zero complications. Instead I get Graham Wolfe—tattooed carpenter, ex-soldier, and widowed single dad whose glare could sand wood. He parks in my driveway, orders me to stay out of his temperamental garage, and notices everything I don't mean to show. I'm sunshine and sarcasm. He's storm clouds and control. Sparks are a terrible idea.

But sparks don't ask permission.

When a rain-soaked mistake turns into a kiss neither of us can forget, our truce fractures. Graham fights to protect the world he rebuilt for his daughter; I'm fighting for the fresh start I promised myself. Gossip swirls. Boundaries blur. And the man who doesn't do "more" keeps showing up with steady hands, late-night coffees, and a heart he swears he can't risk.

If we fall, it won't be casual—it will be all consuming. And it could cost us the only peace we've found.

GRUMPY DADDY is a steamy, age-gap, single-dad, neighbors-to-lovers romance with sharp banter, small-town heat, and a hard-won happily-ever-after.