He was my first love, my biggest heartbreak… and now, I’m ready to claim what was always meant to be mine.

Life as a single mom wasn’t what I imagined, but raising Jake has been my greatest joy—and my greatest challenge. I built a stable life in Cedar Cove, running my salon and keeping our world simple. But when Cory Harrison, my high school sweetheart and the man who disappeared from my life over a decade ago, unexpectedly returned, everything I thought I’d buried came rushing back.

Cory isn’t just the boy I used to love. He’s a man now—grittier, more guarded, and hiding secrets that could change everything. He’s built an empire and wears his success like armor, but beneath it, he’s still the man who made my heart race. And when my son’s innocent questions start to unravel the truth about who Cory really is, I know the time for secrets is over.

As Cory fights to make things right and earn his place in our lives, I can feel the walls I’ve built beginning to crumble. But trust isn’t something easily restored, and the dream of a family doesn’t come without its struggles. When fate throws us an unexpected curveball, I’m left wondering if this second chance is more than I can handle—or exactly what I’ve been waiting for all along.

He was a cocky guy with a broken ankle, and I was just trying to help. Then things got complicated.

I hadn’t signed up to play nurse to a smug, arrogant man like Liam. But when he broke his ankle on one of Cedar Cove’s trails, I couldn’t leave him there. Turns out, he needed a little more help than just a ride home—he had no one. And neither did I. So, I offered to help. Big mistake.

I didn’t know he was a billionaire—Liam kept that little detail under wraps. To me, he was just an infuriating, hard-to-please guy who somehow managed to look even hotter while being a pain.

Then came the offer. Work with him. Side by side. That’s when things really started to heat up. The more time we spent together, the harder it was to ignore the sparks between us.

He was cocky, frustrating, and everything I swore I didn’t want. But behind that arrogant smirk was a man I couldn’t walk away from.

I was in too deep. The closer we got, the harder it became to keep my distance. Especially when I realized he was hiding more than just his feelings.

Falling for the man I was supposed to hate was never part of the plan.

Ethan Sterling was the last person I expected to see in Cedar Cove. Handsome, and far too smooth for a small-town girl like me, he seemed like he belonged in a glossy magazine, not in a mechanic's shop. But from the moment we met, sparks flew—unexpected, undeniable, and impossible to ignore. Beneath his infuriatingly cocky exterior, there was a softness, a vulnerability that I couldn't resist.

I had my life all mapped out. After a painful breakup, I was focused on rebuilding—no distractions needed. But Ethan? He was the kind of distraction that made my pulse race and my heart skip a beat. When I started to believe there could be something real between us, I uncovered the truth—Ethan was hiding a secret that could shatter everything.

How do you forgive someone who lied from the start? I tried to keep my distance, but Ethan made that impossible. Every time I pushed him away, he pulled me back in, and I found myself questioning everything I thought I knew. Was I just another chapter in his secret life, or could we be something more?

Cedar Cove was supposed to be a quiet, uncomplicated place to start over. But with Ethan in town, nothing was simple anymore. The closer I got to him, the more tangled my emotions became. Now, I'm caught between the life I planned and the love I never saw coming—and I'm not sure which one I'm willing to fight for.