Description

He built walls to survive. She came home to break every one of them.

Bruce has spent forty years believing he's immune to love. One of the best large-animal veterinarians in the country, he's respected, admired, and completely closed off. The small town sees him as a quiet hero, a man devoted to animals and fiercely loyal to the few he calls family.
But beneath the rugged exterior is a heart full of secrets… and a past that taught him love is dangerous.

He never expected her.

Raven returns home after eleven years, forced back by the news her father may not survive. The town she once fled is filled with ghosts—of a broken childhood, her parents' brutal split, and the man who abandoned her when she needed him most. At least, that's the story her mother built her life around.

But the biggest shock is the man waiting on the other side of her grief: her father's best friend.
A man twice her age.
A man she was never supposed to want.
A man who looks at her like she's the only thing wild enough to burn down the life he's built.

As buried truths surface and old wounds begin to bleed, Bruce and Raven are pulled into a forbidden attraction that threatens everything—friendships, reputations, and the fragile peace both have fought to protect.

She came home searching for answers.
He spent years running from the past.
Together, they might finally be brave enough to face it.