He fixes everything—except his heart. I came to Maple Ridge to open a bakery, not to start a war with the brooding mechanic across the street.
Sawyer Blake is a widowed veteran, a fortress of rules, and father to a little girl who smells the cinnamon on my apron and decides I belong. The town watches. Gossip sharpens. Every run-in with Sawyer sparks like flint—flat tires, midnight blackouts, festival disasters—until our enemies-to-lovers banter turns into a slow, scorching pull neither of us admits.
He wants safety. I want a life that finally fits. Between his fierce devotion and my stubborn hope, we juggle small-town scrutiny, meddling relatives, and the risk of a little girl's heart. I promise sweetness; he promises nothing—yet his quiet kindness keeps showing up at my door.
When one rumor threatens everything I'm building, I have to decide if I'm brave enough to want more than cookies and coffee... and if the grump with steel-gray eyes will let me in before we both lose the only home we've started to find in each other.
A tender, steamy age-gap small-town romance with grumpy/sunshine heat, found family feels, and a guaranteed happily ever after.