Essentially Sweet Romance

Stephanie Pierce has a system for everything. Keys go in the bowl. Shoes go in the closet. Lavender goes in the diffuser. Feelings, ideally, go somewhere quiet where they cannot make a mess. Then she finds her apartment manager murdered in the stairwell. Now her spotless world has a crime scene in it, her goldendoodle may be in danger, and the detective assigned to the case is the kind of calm, observant man no amount of lavender can fix.

Beck Graham knows how to handle traffic, coffee shops, and city life with style. What she does not know how to handle is rural Montana, a dead grandmother she barely had time to know, a ranch she may have just inherited, and a town that keeps whispering about something called The Bear. One minute she is chasing answers through hidden notes tucked inside essential-oil bottles. The next, she is snowbound, stranded, and in far deeper trouble than any city girl should ever face. Then Eli Walker steps in.

Sydney Smith knows three things about Harper Wasden... He kiss can ruin a woman’s common sense. He disappears when duty calls. And she shouldn’t trust him with her heart. Unfortunately, he is the only man reckless enough to help when Sydney becomes America’s most wanted woman. Framed for assassinating a senator, the Montana sharpshooter is running for her life with borrowed disguises, a wrecked reputation, and a homeless pit bull named Cooper who has apparently adopted her. Then Harper walks back into her disaster like he belongs there. He says he can help clear her name.

Olivia Stanton Welsh can handle almost anything with money, confidence, and a perfectly timed insult. A luxury cruise? Miserable, but survivable. A dead woman in her car dressed exactly like her? Less survivable. A killer trapped somewhere on board? Deeply inconvenient. Kai Falleron? Absolutely unacceptable.