Beck Graham can charm almost anyone. Baristas. Bellhops. Traffic cops. Men who think they are immune.

Then she lands in rural Montana with a missing grandmother, a possible ranch inheritance, and hidden notes tucked inside essential-oil bottles. Suddenly, charm is useless against snowstorms, secrets, and a town that goes quiet whenever someone mentions The Bear.

And it is especially useless against Eli Walker.

The scarred Navy SEAL barely reacts to her smile. He does not flirt. He does not fall. Half the time, Beck cannot tell whether he is protecting her because he cares or because letting her die would be inconvenient.

Which is maddening, because Walker keeps showing up.

When she is stranded, freezing, or finding some brand-new way to nearly get herself killed.

But someone killed Beck's grandmother, someone wants the ranch, and the deeper she digs, the more dangerous Montana becomes.

Now the only man she cannot charm is the only man who makes her feel safe.

Falling for Walker would be reckless.

Trusting him might be worse.

But if Beck wants to survive long enough to uncover what her grandmother died protecting, she may have to depend on the one man she cannot read, cannot manage, and definitely should not want.

The Peppermint Villain is a clean romantic suspense with hidden clues, Montana danger, essential oils, forced proximity, and a wounded Navy SEAL who may have finally met trouble he cannot walk away from.