A secret. A scandal. And a blacksmith who's done waiting.
She hid her heart in the pages of a bestselling novel. Now the town wants her gone, and the man she wrote about is giving her every reason to stay.
Sadie
I came to Sierra Rose Ridge with nothing but a broken past and a pen name no one could trace back to me. Five years later, I have a bookshop, a life I built from scratch, and a bestselling romance novel inspired by the town that saved me.
I also have Mateo Herrera, the blacksmith down the road who makes me custom bookends, calls me tesoro, and looks at me like I'm something worth keeping.
We're friends. Just friends.
Even if my whole body betrays me every time he stands too close.
Then my secret comes out. And the town that gave me a home decides I don't deserve one.
Boycotts. Vandalism. Threats. The loudest voices want me gone—and they're loud enough to drown out everything else.
Except him.
Mateo
I fell in love with Sadie Pierce the moment she walked into my forge, sunburned, out of breath, with a box of books in her arms and a smile that made me forget how to speak.
Five years of waiting, watching her lean into me and then pull away. Hiding behind a word that makes her feel safe—friends—when we both know it stopped being enough a long time ago.
Now her secret is out, her shop is destroyed, and she's reaching for the boxes again.
But I'm not letting her disappear without knowing the truth—that I've been hers since the day she walked through my door.
