Matthew Birch is on the run... well, maybe that's a little dramatic. After a surprise proposal from his soon-to-be-ex girlfriend (or at least that's what he thought), he buys a new phone, packs a bag, and drives until his gas tank hits empty and sends him into the first town he can find: Lighton, Montana, population 1,304. Looking for a reprieve from the rain, Matthew finds himself at The Dusty Rose and asks for a job before he can even think the question through. All he wants is to start over, even if it means sleeping in his car and living off of tips. Things are falling into place faster than he could have expected. That is until Matthew comes face to face with the owner of the bar.

Isla Marron, the ice queen of Lighton, has spent her life being perfect. Perfect grades, perfect relationship, perfect family. To survive living under her little town's microscope, she's been trying to convince herself of that too. But when she can no longer turn a blind eye to the walls falling down around her, she chooses to disappear from the public eye instead. Returning two weeks later, Isla is full of even more secrets than she left with. When she comes back to her bar, she thinks she'll at least have one thing that hasn't changed. Until she sees a stranger working behind her bar.

Despite attempts to ice him out, even Isla can hardly resist the smiles and charm that Matthew throws her way. When closing the bar together one night, the two discover that they aren't as different as they thought. Especially with the people they're on the run from. In a moment of vulnerability, Isla opens a small door for Matthew: the one to a spare bedroom in her house.

When both of them end up in the crosshairs of their exes, a split-second decision, a squeeze of a hand, and a kiss on the forehead makes Lighton flip upside down. Now, Isla and Matthew will really have to play house. But how long will it be just for show?

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• Literature & FictionContemporary FictionRomance
• Literature & FictionWomen's FictionRomance
• RomanceSmall Town Romance

• Publication Date: July 2, 2025
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 374 Pages
• File Size: 21 KB