SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT!
I’ve been sitting on this news for TOO long, and it’s finally time to share it! I am so thrilled to announce that Ember Leigh and I have teamed up to bring our readers a brand-new series! This is a planned trilogy that will launch on APRIL 9TH, and all books are set in the fictional small-town of Winter Harbor, Oregon. But we have so much more than just quirky small-town goodness ahead. SO MUCH MORE!
The first book, THE BASTARD HEIR, follows Callum Winters, the eldest of the three estranged brothers who have gathered in Winter Harbor to face each other in the wake of their father’s passing. Their father has left them a fascinating inheritance, but there’s one catch: if they want it, they need to spend a year in the family home, Hope Creek Manor. Together.
But adapting to life together isn’t the only thing they’ll learn. Winter Harbor has so much more in store for these brothers … like finding the loves of their lives and changing the way the town views the Winters family.
THE BASTARD HEIR is releasing in ONE MONTH! Get ready for teasers and snippets galore. We’ve got a HOT second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance headed your way, and I can’t wait until you see what Ember and I have come up with!
I’m the heir to a secret family fortune, facing down brothers I hate, and trying to get back the one that got away …
Eight years ago, she broke me.
Her secrets drove a wedge between me and my brother that can never be fixed.
Now, with my life in shambles, I’m forced by the ludicrous demands of my dead father to face the one woman I ever loved, and the brother I can not stand.
I need the money. But a year is a long sentence to serve in a house with people I hate, and in a town that hates me.
A year is a long time to dodge Harlow Jackson and the eyes and smile that made me fall harder than I’ve ever fallen before.
But it only takes days to show me that what happened eight years ago was a mistake. Now I need every last second of the year ahead to convince her to take a second chance on us.
Excerpt
The sky had faded into darkness while I was inside, the tiny sliver of the moon catching my attention as I stormed outside. I needed a brisk, bayside walk to cool off. A hand clamped my wrist a moment later as I started off down the sidewalk.
“Wait,” Callum growled.
I snatched my wrist out of his grip, turning to face him. “What do you want from me, Callum? I offered for us to put the past behind us, but apparently, all you want to do is shove it in my face at every turn.”
His nostrils flared as his gaze washed over me. Something tender creased his face, and for a moment, my anger dissolved. Illuminated in the golden light of the dangling sconces that lined the sidewalk, he looked both impossibly weary and the same Callum I’d fallen in love with.
“This is all really fucking confusing.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
His sadness shone through so clearly it broke my heart. In previous times, this is where I’d gather him to my chest and try to absorb some of his pain. Because even though he was so strong and bull-headed, he could never outrun his wounds. Not then. Certainly not now. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you until I saw you again.”
That made two of us.
My heart slammed against my ribs at his words, tempting me to fall face-first into his deeper meaning. But I was done going on the roller coaster that was Callum Winters.
I swallowed and straightened my spine. “Can we keep things professional now or what?”
“I have one thing I need to get off my chest,” he finally said.
“What is it?”
“Carson said you’re my lawyer for a reason.” His throat bobbed, and he looked over my shoulder like maybe he was regretting saying anything. “But what reason is that? Did he ask for you specifically? Is he still hellbent on hurting us?”
The rawness on his face was heartbreaking. Emboldening. I took a step closer, remembering why I had always seized the opportunity to console him in times like these. The crack in his hard, bullish facade wasn’t just an opportunity to help him. It was a chance to glimpse into the infuriatingly complex core of him. Where mesmerizing light and warmth spilled out.
And in a blink, we were back to where we’d always been.
I shook my head. “This case was dumped on me, and I took it because it puts me one step closer to a promotion. I assure you, he had zero say in me taking this case. I did everything I could to hand it over to someone else,” I said, unable to keep the teasing tone out of my voice. “I saw the name Winters on the file and nearly quit on the spot. Almost bought a one-way ticket to India to go and live in an ashram.”
And then, there it was. The curl of his lips at the corners. Suddenly he was twenty-two again, hair flipping out from underneath his ball cap, and before I knew it he’d snagged me by the waist, gathering me up against him like something he didn’t want to lose or let go of.
He was all steel and heat beneath those designer clothes, the same way I remembered but oh, so much more. His cedar scent washed over me, turning my knees into Jell-O, and I took a fistful of his pressed cream shirt.
“Still funny, I see,” he murmured, his breath coming out hot against my forehead as his lips drifted along my hairline.
“Still a fucking tease, I see,” I shot back. Everything inside me was pounding and wild. If he didn’t kiss me, I’d combust, but I couldn’t go further than that, because I was still so hurt and angry at him.
I couldn’t bed the enemy, but I could certainly kiss him.
